Kevin Nguyen

In his new podcast Shell Game, journalist Evan Ratliff uses AI to clone his voice — and that AI clone tricks his friends and family, shows up to meetings, and even makes small talk with scammers. The show launches July 9, but you can listen to a trailer now.

Criterion Channel’s new film series spans four decades, featuring ‘70s conspiracy thrillers, (Night Moves and Blow Out), both Bad Lieutenant movies (Keitel and Cage), ‘90s favorites L.A. Confidential and Out of Sight, as well as the deeply underrated Coen brothers’ The Man Who Wasn’t There. There are plenty of others, too — perfect viewing if your summer is feeling a little too sunny.

“People are babies and children and they cry when they can’t win.”

You can catch the tremendous concert film Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus live during its online premiere June 30 at 8:00 PM ET on the Criterion Channel. And don’t worry if you miss the stream — you’ll be able to watch it on any time starting July 1.

David Pierce journeyed to Sin City (or is it Sphere City now?) to witness the Microsoft Excel World Championship. Among the planet’s best spreadsheet makers, he discovered one truth: if you can manipulate Excel like a pro, you become a god among humans.

I am assured by our friends at Polygon that this is, indeed, a real holiday.

When you need to write something down fast, the last thing you want is software that demands you format, organize, and tag your document. Bebop, which launched today on iOS, is a lightweight app designed specifically around the idea of jotting something down for later. I haven’t gotten to mess around with it too much, but it’s free and the “pro” version is a $5 upgrade — for life. No fussy subscription!