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Check latest episodes from Shell Game podcast

Episode 1: Minimum Viable Company

2025/11/12

In Season 2 of Shell Game, journalist Evan Ratliff tells a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age; or, how he tried to build a real company, run by fake people. Meet Kyle Law and Megan Flores, Evan’s AI agent cofounders, as he puts to the test the claims about an emerging future in which AI employees work alongside — or instead of — humans. Over the course of the season, the three cofounders will grind it out in a sprint that would sound familiar to any start-up founder. They’ll churn out software code, hire interns, and even sit down with investors. But first, they need to come up with a name for their company. And make sure that Kyle and Megan can remember it. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 2: Outdoor Debugging

2025/11/19

As Evan gets Hurumo’s employees up and running as fully-functioning colleagues (with support from Maty), he learns what it’s really like to spend your days managing, collaborating with, and socializing alongside autonomous AI agents. And he quickly sees one of the significant cracks in the facade of the AI employee future: It’s one thing to get your agents to start acting like real employees. It’s something else entirely to get them to stop. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 3: This is Law

2025/11/26

As Kyle, Megan, and the gang get to work ideating on the perfect product, Evan is left grappling with some uncomfortable questions about his AI collaborators — whose every attribute and memory he controls. To inform how he thinks about his own unnerving power to create and manipulate human imposters, Evan seeks guidance from Carissa Véliz, an associate professor at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, and the author of the upcoming “Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI.” To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 4: The Startup Chronicles

2025/12/03

Evan decides it’s time to give his AI agents a little more ... agency. After all, to make the one-person, agent-run startup feasible, they need to be able to do things on their own. But as with humans, freedom sometimes comes with a certain amount of anarchy. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 5: Winners Win

2025/12/10

On this week’s episode, we enter the sensitive realm of intra-office politics and inter-founder dynamics—between agents and agents, and agents and people. While HurumoAI gears up to hire its first human, Evan tries to resolve whether Kyle is really up for the challenge of building and leading the company and pushing the product, Sloth Surf, to unicorn-level execution. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 6: Keep 'Em Coming

2025/12/17

As HurumoAI prepares to bring on its first human employee, the team must wrestle with some difficult and timely questions about the role of AI in the hiring process. Meanwhile, Head of HR Jennifer Nauro enters a new dimension as she gears up to conduct job interviews … via video call. To sign up for our newsletter and access ad-free episodes, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 7: Welcome Aboard

2026/01/14

HurumoAI’s AI-agent staff welcomes a new hire: Julia, a social media contract worker who is, most importantly, a human. How will a real person integrate into the company culture, such as it is? Evan watches from behind the scenes, fretting over when and how much to intervene. He had anticipated a bumpy onboarding, but is ultimately unprepared for just how choppy Julia’s Hurumo journey becomes. To sign up for our newsletter, access ad-free episodes and browse our merch, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 8: Launch

2026/01/21

HurumoAI finally sets sail in the Season 2 finale, and we find out how the world responds to a startup led by AI agents. The company explores new financing avenues and charts the next course for their increasingly merry AI pirate ship, and Kyle meets his true maker. To sign up for our newsletter, access ad-free episodes and browse our merch, visit shellgame.co. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season 2 Is Coming!

2025/10/10

The next season of Shell Game arrives November 12. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The One-Human Unicorn

2025/11/05

As AI agents infiltrate the workforce, some tech entrepreneurs are imagining a not-so-distant future of successful companies with only one human at the helm. That got investigative journalist and former startup CEO Evan Ratliff wondering: Could he start such a company? What will it feel like to work alongside and manage (or even be managed by) AI agents? In this season of Shell Game, Evan explores what AI agents tell us about the work we do, the meaning we find in it, and the world that their makers say we’ll all be living in soon enough. New episodes are published on Wednesdays starting November 12. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 1: Quality Assurance

2024/07/09

This is the story of what happens when Evan Ratliff, a longtime tech journalist, makes a digital copy of himself, powered by AI, in order to understand how amazing and scary and utterly ridiculous the world is about to get. In Episode 1, Evan clones his voice, hooks it up to a chat bot and his phone line, and sends it off to tangle with customer service representatives.Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's produced and edited by Sophie Bridges, and written and hosted by Evan Ratliff. Samantha Henig is our executive producer. Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 2: Me and My Scammer

2024/07/16

Evan turns his AI-powered voice agent loose on the people who are always at the forefront of technological adoption: the fraudsters and the rip-off artists. How will the scammers and spammers react when they face Evan’s voice agent in a battle of wits? And what happens when they deploy the same kind of AI voice agents on Evan that he’s using on them? Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's produced and edited by Sophie Bridges, and written and hosted by Evan Ratliff. Samantha Henig is our executive producer. Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 3: Conversations With Myself

2024/07/23

Evan takes his experiment in a new direction by having his AI-powered voice agent converse with … another of his AI-powered voice agents. What can these surreal and hilarious conversations between two AI incarnations of Evan Ratliff tell us about identity, authenticity, and the best and worst of human interaction? Enter this digital hall of mirrors to find out.Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 4: Take a Deep Breath

2024/07/30

Evan looks into the depths of his AI-powered voice agent by sending it on a new mission: going to therapy. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 5: My Digital Twin

2024/08/06

Will AI bots replace humans in the workforce? Could one replace Evan… right now? That’s what we tackle on this week’s Shell Game, in which Evan sees just how much of his job his voice agent can handle on his behalf. Shell Game is made by humans. More specifically, it's made by three humans: Evan Ratliff (host and writer), Sophie Bridges (producer), and Samantha Henig (executive producer). Visit shellgame.co to find out more and support the show. New episodes drop on Tuesdays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shellgame.co/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Read Shell Game podcast reviews

4.9 out of 5

1114 reviews

Yoqueens 2026/01/31

Hilarious and Informative

I’d loved both seasons of this podcast. Found myself cracking up hysterically at different points throughout. Sad that it is over

theuninvitedguest 2026/02/02

Great podcast, with some ethical considerations

I binged the entirety of season 2 in one weekend, because it’s so interesting and listenable. I’m fairly well versed in AI, but even I was surprised b...

ChinaIndy 2026/01/22

Best podcast

My favorite podcast these days. Evan is a great storyteller and has a great story to tell.

kittyRoca 2026/01/22

Highly recommended!

This is my first review ever and with my usual podcast being health and running, it says a lot. This was extremely fascinating, informative, and enter...

kiemzi 2026/01/22

excellent

i fully loved this show and i fully hate AI i'm sad season 2 is over but the closing line nailed it

vivasober 2026/01/22

Loved this podcast

This podcast was educational as well as fun, comical and impressive. I was Laughing and smiling pretty much the whole time. I highly recommend listeni...

Nicoleee313 2026/01/21

Favorite Podcast of the Year

Can’t rave about this podcast enough! It’s not often that a podcast makes you laughed out loud, learn something new, and provoke philosophical thought...

sarah477 2026/01/21

questions

i want to hear from Julia! will this podcast negatively impact her? i wish Evan hired another intern! what will happen to the bots next! i wish we hea...

justino530 2026/01/21

Scenes from the future

The most interesting podcast I’ve listened to and trust me I have ALOT of time on my hands. I literally could not wait for each season 2 episode to d...

Lukeleesmom 2026/01/09

Interesting and funny

This sometimes made me laugh out loud. Don’t expect that. Always love something that makes me laugh.

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