Best Of: AI's Writing Critique / The Rise And Fall Of Condé Nast

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

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Summary

After writing chapters of her new book about how tech companies help and exploit us, tech journalist and novelist Vauhini Vara fed those chapters to ChatGPT. She told the AI chatbot she needed help with her writing. But her real goal was to analyze and critique the chatbot’s advice. Her book is Searches.

Also, before social media, before influencers, the magazines Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, and Architectural Digest were among the most significant tastemakers, informing readers what clothes, celebrities, and trends were hot. We’ll talk with Michael Grynbaum about how Condé Nast cultivated a mystique that captivated subscribers.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from the Walton Family Foundation,
0:05.1	working to create access to opportunity for people and communities by tackling tough social and environmental problems.
0:12.0	More information is at walton family foundation.org.
0:16.3	From W.HYY in Philadelphia, this is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Sam Brigger. Today, tech journalist and novelist Wahini Vara.
0:25.7	After writing chapters of her new book about how tech companies both help and exploit us, she fed those chapters to chat GPT.
0:33.6	She told the AI chatbot she needed help with her writing, but her real goal was to analyze and critique the chatbot's advice.
0:41.2	Is it ethical to mislead a chatbot?
0:43.4	A hundred percent. I say that as a journalist,
0:46.4	with the full expertise and authority of my role as a journalist.
0:50.3	I think our relationship with these products is really different
0:53.6	from our relationships with other human beings.
0:56.1	Also, before social media, before influencers, the magazine's Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, and Architectural Digest
1:04.1	were among the most significant taste makers, informing readers what clothes, celebrities, and trends were hot.
1:11.3	We'll talk with Michael Grinbaum about how Condé Nast cultivated a mystique that captivated subscribers.
1:18.4	That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend.
1:21.8	Support for NPR and the following message come from the Walton Family Foundation,
1:26.6	working to create access to opportunity for people and communities by tackling tough social and environmental problems.
1:33.4	More information is at walton family foundation.org.
1:37.9	This is Fresh Air Weekend. I'm Sam Brigger. Terry has today's first interview. Here she is.
1:43.9	Here's the kind of conflicted
1:45.7	relationship my guest has with big tech. Tech journalist and award-winning novelist Wahini Vara
1:52.0	has ethical reasons why she shouldn't shop on Amazon, and at least as many reasons why she does.
	...

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