Vergecast: Apple event preview, social media hearings, and monopoly week

This week on The Vergecast, Nilay, Paul, Russell, and Dieter dedicate half the show to The Verge’s monopoly week, which dives into the future of tech monopolies. They also discuss the social media hearings that happened on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

In the second half of the show, the crew updates us on what to expect for next week’s Apple event, from the mysterious third phone to the updated AirPods rumors.

There’s a whole lot in between that — like a whole section dedicated to Roombas — so listen to it all, and you’ll get it all.

01:33 - Trump says Amazon, Facebook, and Google represent a ‘very antitrust situation’

08:08 - The 7 biggest moments from Wednesday’s social media hearings

26:13 - “This week in Elon Musk” with Sean O’Kane

30:39 - The 9 most plausible rumors about the new iPhones

35:28 - Pixel 3 XL found in a Lyft, had already leaked enough for driver to recognize it

37:39 - New 6.5-inch iPhone X model reportedly called the ‘iPhone XS Max’

38:25 - Third-party USB-C to Lightning cables are reportedly happening

42:41 - Five things to expect at the Apple event next week

45:16 - Paul’s weekly segment “The decline of dirt”

50:59 - Google’s Pixel 3 event will take place on October 9th

51:53 - BMW is the latest automaker to introduce its own in-car voice assistant

52:04 - Netflix and YouTube are most throttled mobile apps by US carriers, new study says

52:20 - Razer confirms it’s working on a second-generation Razer Phon

53:17 - Samsung teases foldable smartphone launch for later this year

We’re also doing a separate interview show in The Vergecast feed each week, so listen to the interview with Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith if you haven’t already.