WIRED Politics Lab

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Earth is teeming with unknown species, and they’re dying off faster than ever. Now biologists are battling over an old question: how to catalog life?

Written by Brooke Jarvis. Originally published on November 10th 2022.

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To hear stories three days earlier, listen on The Big Story: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://swap.fm/l/wi-bigstorypod-feeddrop

Sneaking six Americans out of Iran in 1979 would take an audacious plan, false identities, and an epic Hollywood cover story.

Written by Joshuah Bearman. Originally published on April 24th, 2007.

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To escape the chaos of her Russian childhood, Lili Infante became an American law enforcement prodigy. She pioneered the DEA’s investigations of the dark web—never suspecting who she’d find hiding there.

Written by Joshuah Bearman and Owen Long. Originally published on October 21st, 2026.

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They thought their payments were untraceable. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The untold story of the case that shredded the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity.

Written by Andy Greenberg. Originally published on April 7th, 2022.

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He shed his identity with the goal of disappearing for one month. Then the manhunt began.

Written by Evan Ratliff. Originally published on November 20th, 2009.

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Including what Elizabeth Holmes said to him last week. A WIRED exclusive interview with the comic auteur, as his first feature film hits theaters.

The conversation between Katie Drummond and Nathan Fielder is performed by voice actors. These are not their actual voices.

Written by Katie Drummond. Originally published on October 19th, 2026.

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Maddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back.

Written by EJ Dickson. Originally published on September 14th, 2026.

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Microsoft spawned two billionaires. Paul Allen is the other one.

Written by Paulina Borsook. Originally published on August 1st, 1994.

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A cat wearing a short tie plays music on a cat-shaped keyboard (“Pancake Meowsic Video,” 185,459 views). A woman performs sun salutations with a cat on her back (“Cat Loves Yoga,” 1,539 views). A man slaps two cats on an ironing board to the beat of “Atmosphere” (“Cat Slap Joy Division,” 357,605 views).

Written by Gideon Lewis-Kraus. Originally published on August 31st, 2012.

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Soon, hundreds of new top-level domains, including .meow and .fart, could be added to the internet. WIRED goes inside the backroom shenanigans of ICANN, the organization at the helm.

Written by Pete Millspaugh. Originally published on October 6th, 2026.

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Right now, there are no rules to keep you from owning a bitchin’ corporate name as your own internet address.

Written by Joshua Quittner. Originally published on October 1st, 1994.

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Our most powerful 21st-century technologies—robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech—are threatening to make humans an endangered species.

Written by Bill Joy. Originally published on April 1st, 2000.

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Lost time. Lost jobs. Lost friends. Lost family.

Lost Lives.

How Israeli checkpoints suffocate Palestinian life in the occupied West Bank.

Written by Lama Rabah, Sabrina Slipchenko, Charles Boutaud, Firas Tawil and Elena DeBre. Originally published on September 30th 2026.

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Digging through manuals for security cameras, a group of gearheads found sinister details and ignited a new battle in the US-China tech war.

Written by Amos Zeeberg. Originally published on April 4th, 2023.

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Dispatches from the New American Holiday: Writer Bruce Sterling takes the kids to the Temporary Autonomous Zone, where survival is a personal choice.

Written by Bruce Sterling. Originally published in WIRED on November 1st, 1996.

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No IVF. No surrogacy. No polygenic tests. Emma Waters is leading a national fight against fertility tech—with her hot husband’s permission, of course.

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Donald Trump’s presidency will be unpredictable, but in our final show, we make some guesses about what’ll happen anyway. WIRED’s Tim Marchman sits down with reporters David Gilbert and Makena Kelly to talk about what could go wrong between Trump and Musk, if Christian nationalists will get their porn ban, the rise of human brain organoids and whether the new administration will finally declassify those UFO files.

Tim Marchman is @timmarchman. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Makena Kelly is @kellymakena. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

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Donald Trump has threatened to go after a lot of people — journalists, political rivals and undocumented immigrants to name a few—and starting next year, he’ll have the entire national security apparatus at his disposal. What’s the best way to keep your personal information secure from surveillance, not just by the government, but also data brokers, tech companies, and online scammers? Leah talks with WIRED business editor Louise Matsakis and security editor Andrew Couts about what to expect and practical tips for your phone, computer, and life.

Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Andrew Couts is @couts.bsky.com. Louise Matsakis is @lmatsakis. Write to us at politicslab@WIRED.com. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

Mentioned this week:

The WIRED Guide to Protecting Yourself From Government Surveillance by Andy Greenberg and Lily Hay Newman

Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults and Brothels in Germany by Dhruv Mehrotra and Dell Cameron

A New Phone Scanner That Detects Spyware Has Already Found 7 Pegasus Infections by Lily Hay Newman

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Since the election, a number of organizations, journalists, and left-leaning X users have announced their intentions to leave the town square formerly known as Twitter and move over to Threads or Bluesky. Leah talks with WIRED reporters David Gilbert and Vittoria Elliott about what these X-pats will find on the newer platforms, what happens to X when there are no more libs to troll, and just how fragmented online communities are now.

Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. David Gilbert is @DaithaiGilbert. Vittoria Elliott is @telliotter. Write to us at politicslab@WIRED.com. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

Mentioned this week:

Donald Trump Taps Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to Lead Nonexistent Department of Government Efficiency by Vittoria Elliott

As Trump Takes a Victory Lap, the Crypto Faithful Kiss the Ringby Joel Khalili

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Today on the show, WIRED’s global editorial director Katie Drummond joins Leah to talk about how the internet and online communities contributed to Donald Trump's victory. Plus, one last look at Brat summer, the perils of the Trump-Elon Musk alliance and digital security under the next Trump administration.

Leah Feiger is @LeahFeiger. Katie Drummond is @katie-drummond.bsky.social. Write to us at politicslab@WIRED.com. Be sure to subscribe to the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter here.

Mentioned this week:

The WIRED Guide to Digital Security

Editor’s Note: What’s Next for WIRED by Katie Drummond

It’s Election Week. Brace Yourselves by Katie Drummond

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