Iran Targets U.S. Tech; Polymarket’s Bar Flop; Trump's Plans for Midterms
Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
4.1 • 571 Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The team is back this week to discuss how top U.S tech companies are increasingly finding themselves as targets in the ongoing war with Iran. We also get an inside view into how Polymarket’s pop-up bar in D.C went sideways. Plus, we go through the steps that the Trump administration is taking to control the upcoming midterm elections.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
- Iran Threatens to Start Attacking Major US Tech Firms on April 1 | WIRED
- Polymarket’s Coming-Out Party in Washington Was a Disaster | WIRED
- This Is How Trump Is Already Threatening the Midterms | WIRED
Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Brian. |
| 0:02.3 | Zoe, Leah, and I have really enjoyed being your new host these past few weeks, and we want to hear from you. |
| 0:07.1 | If you like the show and have a minute, please leave us a review in the podcast or app of your choice. |
| 0:11.5 | It really helps us reach more people. |
| 0:13.0 | And for any questions and comments, you can always reach us at Uncanny Valley at Wired.com. |
| 0:17.4 | Thank you for listening. On to the show. |
| 0:22.6 | Leah, did you make it to Chicago? |
| 0:24.9 | Honestly, barely. |
| 0:26.1 | I have spent more time in airports in the last three days than I care to admit. |
| 0:32.2 | You told me yesterday that you were excited to be flying out of Newark instead of other, which is the first time I've heard that. |
| 0:40.2 | I can't even. I was young when I said that. |
| 0:44.8 | Welcome to Wired's Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoe Shipper, director of business and industry. |
| 0:50.2 | I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor. And I'm Leah Feiger, senior politics editor. |
| 0:54.8 | This week on the show, we have a pretty well-rounded episode for you all. |
| 0:58.3 | A little bit of international politics as Iran threatens to target U.S. tech firms. |
| 1:03.2 | There's also election news as we're tracking Trump's attempts to control the midterms. |
| 1:07.8 | And a scene report from our D.C. colleague who had the great assignment of hitting up the |
| 1:12.0 | polymarket pop-up bar, which was a bit of a firefest situation. |
| 1:23.7 | To let people in behind the scenes of the Magic of the Uncanny Valley podcast, we're recording |
| 1:28.7 | this on a Wednesday. It's going to come out on Thursday. That's the magic. So things could |
| 1:33.2 | happen but John then. But on this Wednesday, yesterday, Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary |
| 1:39.0 | Guard Corps warned that it planned to begin attacking more than a dozen American companies across the Middle East, |
... |
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