Latest news with #GoodRobot
Vox
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vox
Vox's Unexplainable podcast expands to twice a week
More of Vox's Unexplainable podcast is coming your way! Starting today, the award-winning show — which explores mysteries in science and beyond — will publish twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. Unexplainable isn't about finding an answer or defining some phenomenon, but about trying to see the world in new ways, revealing how much there still is to learn, and celebrating the wonder we've yet to discover. A refreshed brand identity reflects this spirit and helps mark the series' expansion. To kick off its new increased cadence, the show will debunk a favorite myth among us Homo sapiens: Turns out, Neanderthals were smart. During the next few weeks, Unexplainable will take you to the inside of a volcano, to an imaginary planet that feels extremely real, and to meet a scientist who walks butterflies around a lab on leashes. Fans will get the same great work they've come to expect, twice as often. This expansion was led by senior supervising producer Meredith Hoddinott, along with editorial director Jorge Just, co-host Noam Hassenfeld, senior producer Byrd Pinkerton, engineer Cristian Ayala, and the show's newest member, co-host Julia Longoria, who also hosted the Good Robot audio documentary in the Unexplainable feed.
CTV News
30-04-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Nova Scotia brewers pay tribute to industry pioneer with new brew
Nova Scotia brewers are raising a glass to the late Kevin Keefe, a pioneer in the industry, with an English-style bitter. 'When you think of English styles, he was the guy, and he represented that so well in Nova Scotia,' says Kellye Robertson, a production manager at Good Robot Brewing Company. Keefe founded Halifax's Granite Brewing, the first craft brewing in Nova Scotia. He passed away in 2024 and left behind a legacy for those in the industry. 'Kevin was like a beer dad for everybody in this industry because he was the first,' says Robertson. 'He added so much to the scene here, when you're drinking a great craft brewed beer at a pub somewhere in Nova Scotia, honestly, I'm not sure how much of that would have been in place if it hadn't been for somebody like Kevin,' says Brian Titus, with Garrison Brewing Co. 'He started doing this in 1985, and he was completely unique in what he was doing and a lot of us looked up to that and said if he can do it, what the heck.' Robertson and Gordon Vale of Good Robot created the 2025 'Together We Brew' beer in collaboration with dozens of brewers across the province. 'The concept for Kevin, somebody put it out there, and immediately everybody said heck yeah let's do it,' says Titus. 'Our chance to really show him that he was appreciated for what he did and making sure everyone knows what he did and keeping his legacy going,' says Vale, Good Robot's head brewer. Robertson says they produced around 4,000 litres of 'Together We Brew,' which is about 8,500 cans. 'It has a bit of a bready body to it, nice and full. It starts off rather sweet, a bit caramelly, it's very malt-forward. You are going to get a nice toasty, roasted kind of finish. The aroma is very rich and roasty and it's just a really unique, very quenching brew. Low carbonation, so it won't make you feel too full and easily enjoyed,' Vale describes it. The beer hit the shelves at the beginning of April. The 'Together We Brew' initiative also serves as a way to kick start beer season. 'We produce a batch, and it gets released and we raise a few thousand dollars for the association, which then goes to marketing it to make it stronger and better for all these other local businesses,' says Titus. The brewers say they are impressed with the positive response they have received about the beer so far. 'Honestly, we have been getting nothing but awesome feedback from both our peers and general social media intel,' says Robertson. The funds made from the beer are beneficial for the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia (CBANS) and the industry. 'Having that funding to go back into the organization, whether it be through education and training, I know is always a big part because all these breweries, they started off as small size, now they're medium size and now your large-scale breweries. Each time you hit one of those goal posts there are more learning curves, so the more resources we can obtain and use through CBANS to help us as a whole makes us all that much better,' says Robertson. This year was different, as it was the first year 'Together We Brew' carried a special meaning. 'This is the first that we have done (something) quite like this. It is great to have that extra layer of meaning and deeper back story,' says Titus. Brewers say it's a beer that represents Keefe and his unique style perfectly. 'Even to this day, when I have English beer styles, I always think of him and have fond memories of the last couple decades,' says Robertson. 'It's a really great beer, it's a bit of an older style. That's kinda where he came from, was more the U.K.-style beers,' adds Titus. For brewers across Nova Scotia, Keefe was seen as the leader, the pioneer and for who many looked up to. 'An absolute inspiration… cranky old guy, but absolute heart of gold and so much back knowledge and experience and we have all learned something from Kevin over the years,' says Titus. The 2025 'Together We Brew' beer is expected to be around until mid-summer, according to Robertson. When the stores and brewers are sold out, it's gone. 'It is one and done, it's a moment in time and like the creativity with that particular brewing and that particular group that was there, that's the best part about making beer sometimes,' says Robertson. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
Vox
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Vox
The dismantling of the Education Department, briefly explained
is the senior politics and ideas editor at Vox. He previously worked at Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Politico, National Journal, and Seattle's Real Change News. As a reporter and editor, he has worked on coverage of campaign politics, economic policy, the federal, and homelessness. This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff. Today I'm focusing on the Trump administration's move to cut the Department of Education's staff by half. Before we dive in, a request: If you're enjoying The Logoff, please consider forwarding it to a friend (or text them this sign-up link: I really appreciate it. What's the latest? The administration Tuesday night laid off 1,315 Education Department workers. The cuts, combined with previous staff reductions, mean the agency will be about half the size it was when Donald Trump took office seven weeks ago. What does the Education Department do? Among many tasks, the department is responsible for: Distributing billions of dollars of federal funding to schools and school districts Investigating violations of students' civil rights Managing the $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio Collecting crucial research data about students and schools to inform policymaking Will it keep doing all of that? The administration defended the cuts by saying they'd improve efficiency and keep the organization focused on its core missions. Critics say that's simply not possible at the new staff level: some or all of its functions will suffer. What's (possibly) next? Multiple outlets have reported that Trump was planning to try to close the department by executive order. It's not clear if these cuts replaced that move, or if there's more to come. But Trump would need Congress to eliminate the department entirely, and he doesn't have the 60 Senate votes he'd need to do it. What's the big picture? Conservatives have long had a vendetta against the Education Department. Gutting it won't affect what schools teach — that's controlled at the state and local level — but, through understaffing, Trump can make it difficult for the department to enforce laws and help schools, districts, and anyone with a student loan. The consequences may be quiet, but they could be enormous. And with that, it's time to log off... A confession: I know that I really need to learn more about artificial intelligence, but I sometimes feel like I'm so far behind in the conversation that I avoid it entirely. That's why I'm so excited about Vox's new podcast series, Good Robot, which both provides a great introduction to the topic and dives into the big questions that surround it (starting with: 'Is AI going to mean humanity's end?'). The first episode came out today (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and elsewhere), and I hope you'll get to enjoy it. Thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you back here tomorrow.
Vox
05-03-2025
- Vox
The AI revolution is here. Can we build a Good Robot?
There's a thought experiment that has taken on almost mythic status among a certain group of technologists: If you build an artificial intelligence and give it a seemingly innocuous goal, like making as many paper clips as possible, it might eventually turn everything — including humanity — into raw material for more paper clips. Absurd parables like this one have been taken seriously by some of the loudest voices in Silicon Valley, many of whom are now warning that AI is an existential risk, more dangerous than nuclear weapons. These stories have shaped how billionaires including Elon Musk think about AI and fueled a growing movement of people who believe it could be the best or worst thing to ever happen to humanity. But another faction of AI experts argue that debating those hypothetical risks is obscuring the real damage AI is already doing: Automated hiring systems reinforcing discrimination. AI-generated deepfakes making it harder to tell what's real. Large language models like ChatGPT confidently spreading misinformation. (Disclosure: Vox Media is one of several publishers that has signed partnership agreements with OpenAI.) So what exactly should we actually be worried about when it comes to AI? In Good Robot, a special four-part podcast series launching March 12 from Unexplainable and Future Perfect , host Julia Longoria goes deep into the strange, high-stakes world of AI to answer that question. But this isn't just a story about technology — it's about the people shaping it, the competing ideologies driving them, and the enormous consequences of getting this right (or wrong). For a long time, AI was something most people didn't have to think about, but that's no longer the case. The decisions being made right now — about who controls AI, how it's trained, and what it should or shouldn't be allowed to do — are already changing the world. The people trying to build these systems don't agree on what should happen next — or even on what exactly it is they're creating. Some call it artificial general intelligence (AGI), while OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has talked of creating a 'magic intelligence in the sky' — something like a god.
