Shell Game – Details, episodes & analysis

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Shell Game

Kaleidoscope

Technology

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/33d. Total Eps: 19

A podcast about things that are not what they seem, hosted by journalist Evan Ratliff. Season 2 tells the story of enterprise and entrepreneurship in the AI age. Or: how Evan tried to build a real startup, run by fake people.

This season, Evan confronts head-on the assertion from tech entrepreneurs and VCs that we’re on the precipice of AI remaking the workforce. That we should expect not just AI colleagues working alongside us, but also — by Sam Altman’s telling, at least — the dawn of a billion-dollar company with only one human involved. Evan learns what it would take to create such a company … by doing it: Launching a real startup with five AI employees. Over the course of eight episodes, he explores what AI agents tell us about the work we do, the meaning we find in it, and the world that their makers say we’ll all be living in soon enough.

Shell Game was named one of the best podcasts of 2024 by Apple, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Vulture, The Information, and The Economist. It's "riveting," says The New Yorker, "awesome" says The Verge, and "slightly terrifying," says The Globe and Mail.

New episodes are published on Wednesdays.

www.shellgame.co

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🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
08/03/2026
#47
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#48
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🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
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#42
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🇺🇸 USA - technology
07/03/2026
#42
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🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
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#39
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🇺🇸 USA - technology
06/03/2026
#37
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🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
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#38
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🇺🇸 USA - technology
05/03/2026
#37
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🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
04/03/2026
#40
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🇺🇸 USA - technology
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#40
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https://omnystudio.com/listener
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http://shellgame.co
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RSS feed quality

Good

Score global : 74%

Publication history

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The One-Human Unicorn

Season 2

mercredi 5 novembre 2025 • Duration 02:02

As AI agents infiltrate the workforce, some tech entrepreneurs are imagining a not-so-distant future of successful companies with only one human at the helm. That got investigative journalist and former startup CEO Evan Ratliff wondering: Could he start such a company? What will it feel like to work alongside and manage (or even be managed by) AI agents? In this season of Shell Game, Evan explores what AI agents tell us about the work we do, the meaning we find in it, and the world that their makers say we’ll all be living in soon enough.

New episodes are published on Wednesdays starting November 12.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season 2 Is Coming!

Season 2

vendredi 10 octobre 2025 • Duration 02:48

The next season of Shell Game arrives November 12.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 6: The Future Isn't Real

Season 1 · Episode 6

mardi 13 août 2024 • Duration 53:07

Evan pushes the experiment one step further, sending his AI voice agent to talk to his closest friends and family — his buddies, his daughters, his dad. With their alternately joyful, skeptical, and painful reactions to meeting an AI version of him, he tries to come to terms with what generative AI means in this machine-made age.Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 5: My Digital Twin

Season 1 · Episode 5

mardi 6 août 2024 • Duration 43:21

Will AI bots replace humans in the workforce? Could one replace Evan… right now? That’s what we tackle on this week’s Shell Game, in which Evan sees just how much of his job his voice agent can handle on his behalf. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 4: Take a Deep Breath

Season 1 · Episode 4

mardi 30 juillet 2024 • Duration 40:45

Evan looks into the depths of his AI-powered voice agent by sending it on a new mission: going to therapy. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 3: Conversations With Myself

Season 1 · Episode 3

mardi 23 juillet 2024 • Duration 33:47

Evan takes his experiment in a new direction by having his AI-powered voice agent converse with … another of his AI-powered voice agents. What can these surreal and hilarious conversations between two AI incarnations of Evan Ratliff tell us about identity, authenticity, and the best and worst of human interaction? Enter this digital hall of mirrors to find out.Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 2: Me and My Scammer

Season 1 · Episode 2

mardi 16 juillet 2024 • Duration 37:24

Evan turns his AI-powered voice agent loose on the people who are always at the forefront of technological adoption: the fraudsters and the rip-off artists. How will the scammers and spammers react when they face Evan’s voice agent in a battle of wits? And what happens when they deploy the same kind of AI voice agents on Evan that he’s using on them? Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's produced and edited by Sophie Bridges, and written and hosted by Evan Ratliff. Samantha Henig is our executive producer. Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 1: Quality Assurance

Season 1 · Episode 1

mardi 9 juillet 2024 • Duration 32:43

This is the story of what happens when Evan Ratliff, a longtime tech journalist, makes a digital copy of himself, powered by AI, in order to understand how amazing and scary and utterly ridiculous the world is about to get. In Episode 1, Evan clones his voice, hooks it up to a chat bot and his phone line, and sends it off to tangle with customer service representatives.Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's produced and edited by Sophie Bridges, and written and hosted by Evan Ratliff. Samantha Henig is our executive producer. Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introducing Shell Game, a Strange and Immersive AI Experiment

Season 1

mardi 2 juillet 2024 • Duration 02:52

What would happen if you created a digital copy of yourself, powered by AI, and set it loose in the world? Evan Ratliff, longtime tech journalist, decided to find out. He combined a clone of his voice, an AI chatbot, and a phone line—many phone lines, actually—into what are called “voice agents.” Then for the six months, he sent them out… as himself.This show is made by humans. More specifically, it’s produced and edited by Sophie Bridges. Evan Ratliff is our host, and Samantha Henig is our executive producer. Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 1: Minimum Viable Company

Season 2 · Episode 1

mercredi 12 novembre 2025 • Duration 32:57

In Season 2 of Shell Game, journalist Evan Ratliff tells a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age; or, how he tried to build a real company, run by fake people.

Meet Kyle Law and Megan Flores, Evan’s AI agent cofounders, as he puts to the test the claims about an emerging future in which AI employees work alongside — or instead of — humans.

Over the course of the season, the three cofounders will grind it out in a sprint that would sound familiar to any start-up founder. They’ll churn out software code, hire interns, and even sit down with investors. But first, they need to come up with a name for their company. And make sure that Kyle and Megan can remember it.

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