Money is tight these days. Holiday shopping, ballooning inflation, and a looming recession have forced people to more carefully consider their finances. Those factors might help explain the explosion of Buy Now, Pay Later services. BNPL plans offered by companies like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna let you spread the cost of a purchase over multiple installments, without the fees or interest rates of most credit cards. Of course, free money always comes with a catch. This week on Gadget Lab, we dig into the Buy Now, Pay Later phenomenon and what it means for the future of shopping. Show Notes Read Lauren’s interview with Max Levchin. Check out more of WIRED’s reporting about buy now, pay later programs. Follow our coverage of all things ecommerce. Recommendations Lauren recommends the third season of the show Dead to Me. Mike recommends the Select Five podcast, specifically the episode with him on it (episode 19). Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Companies love sticking chips in everything. That's how you get a feast of connected kitchen tech: app-controlled Instant Pots, $400 touchscreen toasters, and Wi-Fi enabled fridges that let you check Twitter while you wait for some crushed ice. It's all very high tech and modern, but does any of it actually help you cook—or live—any better? This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED contributor and food writer Joe Ray joins us to talk about how to navigate the smart kitchen and whether any of these connected gadgets will really improve your cuisine or bring you happiness. This episode originally ran on September 29, 2022. Read the transcript. Show Notes Read Joe Ray’s many reviews of smart kitchen tech. Recommendations Joe recommends the cookbook I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To) by Ali Slagle. Lauren recommends pasta e ceci. Mike recommends the Oxo Brew Precision Scale With Timer. Joe Ray can be found on Twitter @joe_diner. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter doesn't work like it used to. Under new ownership, the site is operating with half its usual staff and an entirely new set of executive pressures. As a result, Twitter has become a more unstable platform. As features break, security measures lapse, and personnel struggle to keep up, Twitter is likely to also become more vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED security writer Lily Hay Newman joins the show to talk about what could happen if Twitter gets breached by hackers. Show Notes Read Lily’s story about the problems with Twitter’s SMS two-factor authentication. Read all of WIRED’s recent Twitter coverage. Recommendations Lily recommends Wicked protein bars, specifically the maple flavor. Lauren recommends Andy Greenberg’s book Tracers in the Dark. (WIRED has published a few excerpts.) Mike recommends the show The Sandman on Netflix. Lily Newman can be found on Twitter @lilyhnewman. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amid all the Twitter hubbub, the lesser known social site Mastodon has seen a surge of new users. Mastodon is a loosely connected network of individually run servers, which all play by their own rules and answer to their own moderators. It's a very different environment than Twitter. But even though Mastodon aims to be a new form of social media, it could still be prone to the same kinds of troubles that have plagued the platforms that existed before it. This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior editor of security Andrew Couts joins us to talk about the ins and outs of Mastodon, and whether something like the decentralized network can ever truly replace Twitter. Show Notes Read more about how Mastodon is handling the influx of users. And here's how to find your friends on Mastodon. Recommendations Andrew recommends Fi smart dog collars. Mike recommends So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley by Roger Steffens. Lauren recommends the new season of the HBO show White Lotus. Andrew Couts can be found on Twitter @AndrewCouts He's on Mastodon @[email protected] Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Her Mastodon handle is @[email protected] Michael Calore is @snackfight. He is not on Mastodon yet. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you've been on Twitter in the past week, you may have noticed that the platform has been emanating some slightly different vibes. Mostly because everybody on there is talking about how Elon Musk just bought the place. There's no doubt Twitter—as a company and as a community—is in flux. So far Musk has already fired top executives, flirted with adding additional paid tiers of service, tasked employees with finding ways to make the company more money, and spread his own share of misinformation. This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED platforms and power reporter Vittoria Elliot about the changes coming to Twitter and how they may affect the future of the social network. Show Notes Vittoria covered the news of the takeover deal closing. Users are flocking to other platforms because of Elon’s ownership of Twitter. Read more about the potential privacy risks that could arise from Elon cleaning house. Read Twitter users’ reactions to the power shift. Read all of our stories tagged with “Elon Musk.” Recommendations Vittoriai recommends encouraging your male-presenting friends interested in fathering children to watch House of the Dragon on HBO. Mike recommends the new album from Natalia Lafourcade, De Todas las Flores. Lauren recommends reevaluating your relationship with Twitter, and social media in general. Vittoria Elliott can be found on Twitter @telliotter. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices