The Verge Weekend Questionnaire

Kai Wright is the cohost of Stateside with Kai and Carter over at The Guardian. But Wright has been bringing his unique insights to listeners for years. He’s also hosted Notes From America, The United States of Anxiety, and Indivisible. He’s a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has profiled powerful men, explored what it means to be American, and chronicled the AIDS epidemic.

When he’s not diving deep on sex, race, and politics, he’s gardening, listening to John Coltrane, and steadfastly refusing to buy a new phone. Wright was kind enough to give us a glimpse into his daily routine, how he unwinds, and offer some simple but powerful advice.

Stefan Paul Goetsch, better known as Hainbach, is a German experimental composer, artist, and YouTuber who is perhaps most famous for making music with laboratory equipment and scientific instruments. He describes it as being like the “Dark Souls of synthesis.” Despite using “hard mode” production techniques that often rely on telephone line testing equipment and gear salvaged from nuclear testing facilities, Hainbach is also incredibly prolific, releasing six albums in 2025 alone, along with a handful of singles and EPs. His latest, Gentle Hum, is a collaboration with Ah! Kosmos (Turkish composer, Başak Günak). The album is a melancholic collection of unconventional percussion, droning analog synths, processed vocals, and, of course, burbling test equipment.

His award-winning composing career and frequent musical collaborations would be enough to keep most people busy 24/7, but Hainbach is also a successful YouTuber. His channel explores experimental music techniques, obscure vintage gear, and even modern oddities like the Bastl Kalimba. As if that wasn’t enough, he also frequently collaborates with companies like AudioThing to bring the essence of his arcane music-making setup to modern DAWs. (I personally own several of them, including the amazing Wires plugin.)

Mike Rugnetta is a writer, podcast host, producer, audio engineer, educator, musician, sound designer, and father. In short, the man wears a lot of hats. He’s the cocreator and host of the award-winning Never Post, an absolutely must-listen podcast about the internet, as well as Fun City, a TTRPG podcast where he’s the GM. He’s also hosted two different Crash Course series and PBS’s Idea Channel.

If you’re thinking that sounds like a lot, you’re not wrong. It made us want to know how Mike stays focused with so much on his plate, and what tools are most indispensable to him with his hectic schedule. But, what we got was so much more than that. Mike has a lot to say about the creative process, the value of reliable electricity, and how the loss of the headphone jack is evidence of our societal collapse.

Benn Jordan may have initially gained notoriety for his music as Flashbulb and later, reviewing synths and effects pedals on YouTube under Benn and Gear. But about five years ago, Benn decided to take his YouTube channel in a different direction. He didn’t stop covering music gear overnight, but as time progressed, his channel became more focused on science and technology investigations. He even turned the entire enterprise into a nonprofit.

While there will still be the occasional video focused on music or audio — say, poisoning AI music systems or storing data in bird song — lately Benn has been largely focused on the surveillance state. He’s uncovered glaring security flaws in Flock’s camera systems, demonstrated how easy it is to hack a Ring camera, and seemingly confirmed a conspiracy theory that Unitree’s robot dogs are secretly sending data back to servers in China.

Cecil Baldwin’s résumé includes appearances on Gravity Falls, narrating the documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, and performing as part of the New York Neo-Futurists theater company. But he is best known as the host of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, a long-running fiction show that blends macabre Lovecraftian horror with absurdist comedy. As Cecil Palmer, the voice of Night Vale Community Radio, Baldwin keeps the people of the titular town abreast of all the goings ons with the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home and offers tips on how to best maintain their Bloodstone circles.

He also cohosts Random Number Generator Horror Podcast No. 9 with Night Vale cocreator Jeffrey Cranor, recently directed the play As Sylvia and raises awareness for LGBTQ+ issues and HIV. In short — he’s a busy man. So we’re excited that he found some time to tell us about his tech pet peeves.

Roger Linn is a legend in the world of musical instruments. He’s been at the cutting edge of music technology for decades. He created the LM-1, the first drum machine to use samples, and its successor, the LinnDrum, is one of the most iconic drum machines of all time. They were used on countless records in the 1980s, including hits by Tom Petty, Queen, and Tears for Fears. But the most notable fan was probably Prince, who used them extensively on Purple Rain and 1999.

Somehow, those are not his greatest contributions to the music world. That would, undoubtedly, be the MPC. Linn partnered with Akai to create one of the most popular and important samplers ever. The MPC60 and its successors became the tool of choice for countless hip-hop and house producers. J Dilla’s MPC 3000 even sits in the Smithsonian.

Manoush Zomorodi is an accomplished reporter, podcast host, and author. Her new book, Body Electric, takes a comprehensive look at how technology is impacting our physical health. It’s a collaboration between NPR and Columbia University Medical Center that picks up where her first title, Bored and Brilliant, left off. That book looked at how technology was hampering our mental health. I highly recommend it to anyone who feels like being constantly attached to a device is sapping their energy and creativity.

Both books grew out of her extensive podcasting work. After heading up WNYC’s Note To Self, Zomorodi went on to host NPR’s TED Radio Hour, and even gave a TED Talk of her own in 2017 that has racked up over seven million views. So we wanted to know, how does Manoush stay productive, and what does her current relationship with tech look like?