Ben McKenzie vs. crypto

Key takeaways

Crypto was incorrectly marketed as a trustless, decentralized alternative to traditional money but relies heavily on corporate interests and technological limitations.
Mainstream adoption of CGMs among non-diabetics presents both health benefits and risks such as obsession, disordered eating, and misinterpretation of data.
Technological and market forces favor incremental design changes over radical innovation in consumer gadgets, leading to homogenization.
Innovation often requires new fundamental technologies, and without those, companies prefer safer, cheaper, and more familiar designs.

Summary

Ben McKenzie's Crypto Journey and Critique

Ben McKenzie, known for his acting roles including Ryan in 'The O.C.', shares his extensive investigation into the cryptocurrency world driven by skepticism during the crypto craze. His documentary 'Everyone Is Lying to You for Money' explores the deception and scam nature of crypto, highlighting that it claims to be trustless money but is fundamentally dependent on corporate and human trust. McKenzie discusses his travels, including a visit to El Salvador to test Bitcoin's use as a real currency for remittances, which heavily failed in practice. He critiques the technology's limitations, the culture of crypto as a quick riches scheme, and its ties to crime and manipulation, asserting that the entire ecosystem is driven by speculation, fraud, and vested financial interests.

The Rise of Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) Beyond Medical Use

Victoria Song delves into the recent mainstream adoption of CGMs, devices that used to be exclusively for diabetics but are now popular among wellness enthusiasts. Since FDA approval for over-the-counter use in 2024, CGMs have surged in popularity as a tool for metabolic health optimization. Song explains how these devices work, their potential for tracking non-diabetics' health, and the risks of obsessive behavior, disordered eating, and misinformation. She discusses how government regulation and the wellness industry are shaping the future of these devices, highlighting both the benefits for at-risk populations and the potential pitfalls of overuse and misinterpretation, emphasizing the importance of nuanced understanding and caution.

Gadget Convergence and Innovation Barriers

The podcast explores why modern gadgets, especially smartphones and laptops, have converged towards a uniform design, mainly due to economies of scale, user familiarity, and the risks associated with innovative redesigns. It discusses how market dominance, cost reduction, consumer habits, and existing infrastructure discourage manufacturers from creating radically new devices. The challenge of balancing innovation with user comfort and the high costs of developing and manufacturing new technology are highlighted, along with the idea that breakthrough innovations often require technological revolutions, like new display tech, to truly disrupt and reinvent device categories.

Show notes

During the height of the cryptocurrency craze a few years ago, the actor Ben McKenzie found himself wondering why no one else was seeing what he was seeing. He joins the show to explain his yearslong attempt to understand Bitcoin and the crypto world, all of which is in his new documentary Everyone Is Lying to You For Money. (You can probably guess how he feels.) After that, The Verge's Victoria Song tells us about her testing of continuous glucose monitors, which have gone from medical device to influencer trend in some worrying ways. Finally, we answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about why all our gadgets seem the same these days.

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