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The Big Tech Show

The Big Tech Show

Irish Independent 565 Episodes Oct 22, 2026

Irish Independent Tech Editor Adrian Weckler hosts this award-winning business podcast which dives deep into the biggest industry advances and tracks the key movers and shakers behind the innovation. From interviewing Big Tech CEOs to investigations into how tech affects our working lives, the show has become Ireland’s most listened-to technology podcast.

Episodes

From near collapse to Netflix — an amazing Irish scaleup story | Can It Scale?
From near collapse to Netflix — an amazing Irish scaleup story | Can It Scale? Oct 22, 2026 1922 StoryToys chief executive Emmet O’Neill reveals how the Dublin company came within a thread of collapse before an unexpected email from Lego changed its fortunes.  From cutting staff and negotiating million-euro debts to working with Lego, Disney and Netflix, O’Neill explains the decisions that kept the business alive and helped it grow into one of the world’s biggest producers of children’s
The iPhone Duo review: pure delight with one big catch
The iPhone Duo review: pure delight with one big catch Oct 21, 2026 1648 What is Apple’s new folding iPhone Duo really like to use? Is its huge screen worth the eye watering price, and what compromises come with the design? Adrian Weckler joins Saoirse Hanley to discuss a week of testing Apple’s first folding phone, from its impressive display and pocket friendly design to its missing Face ID, lack of a telephoto camera and eye watering price tag. With a premium build
The Irish woman at the top of AI's biggest company — OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar on AI doom, AI accounting and using Ireland as a growth base
The Irish woman at the top of AI's biggest company — OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar on AI doom, AI accounting and using Ireland as a growth base Oct 20, 2026 1510 OpenAI’s chief financial officer Sarah Friar joins us to discuss the company’s growing ambitions in Ireland, where weekly ChatGPT usage has more than doubled to 2.5 million people. She outlines plans for 450 additional jobs, the prospect of Irish data centres and how AI could transform businesses. But with mounting concerns over cyber security, rogue AI agents and the vast cost of infrastructure,
Mark Zuckerberg gets the villain treatment in a disappointing Social Network sequel
Mark Zuckerberg gets the villain treatment in a disappointing Social Network sequel Oct 13, 2026 1756 Aaron Sorkin returns to Facebook with The Social Reckoning, a follow up to The Social Network exploring whistleblower Frances Haugen’s allegations about the platform’s role in extremism. But does the film capture the scale of the scandal, or fall short of its predecessor? On this week’s Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler and Irish Independent journalist and host of the No Encore podcast Dave Hanratty a
Will AI kill us all? Yes, says Gates; no, says Huang. Plus: Apple's new Watch Series 12 and Xiaomi's three-day-battery phone reviewed
Will AI kill us all? Yes, says Gates; no, says Huang. Plus: Apple's new Watch Series 12 and Xiaomi's three-day-battery phone reviewed Oct 6, 2026 2082 Bill Gates says AI could contribute to the deaths of a billion people. Geoffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, says we may have only a year to regulate it. But Meta’s Yann LeCun, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg are far more optimistic. In this week’s Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler and Irish Independent technology journalist Darragh Nolan examine the growing divide over whether AI poses an e
'Burn it to the ground' — Mark Little on the future of social media
'Burn it to the ground' — Mark Little on the future of social media Sep 29, 2026 3526 When Mark Little sold his news verification startup Storyful to Rupert Murdoch for $25m, he was summoned to the Australian's New York office. "Let's go make some f***ing money," Murdoch told him, according to Little. In this week's episode of the Big Tech Show, the former RTE anchorman-turned-entrepreneur talks in depth about his time running Twitter in Ireland, his challenges as a startup founder
The Irish priest in Silicon Valley advising AI giants on ethics and morality
The Irish priest in Silicon Valley advising AI giants on ethics and morality Sep 28, 2026 1960 Today we have the extraordinary story of Fr Brendan McGuire, a priest from Bray who runs a parish in Silicon Valley and has become an advisor o Anthropic and other AI giants on spiritual, moral and ethical matters By day, he says mass. By night, urges reflection and restraint to executives within those AI giants, some of which are now warning of humans being wiped out by the technology. I sat down
How Trinity College is dealing with AI and cheating
How Trinity College is dealing with AI and cheating Sep 15, 2026 1795 On this episode of The Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler is joined by Dr. Alan Eustace, an assistant professor at the School of Law in Trinity College Dublin, to explore how AI is changing third level education. They discuss students relying on AI to complete coursework, the challenge of assessing genuine learning and how universities can adapt their approach. Eustace explains how Trinity is using res
The iPhone Duo: is it worth €2,369?
The iPhone Duo: is it worth €2,369? Sep 10, 2026 1420 Apple has unveiled its first foldable iPhone, but is the eye watering price justified? On this episode of The Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler talks to Ben Wood, chief marketing officer with FDM CCS Insight about the iPhone Duo, its book style design and whether Apple can make foldables mainstream. They discuss the phone's impressive screen, camera compromises and the changing cost of smartphones as
The world according to Annrai O'Toole — Iona, AI and how to run a society
The world according to Annrai O'Toole — Iona, AI and how to run a society Sep 8, 2026 2234 Irish tech veteran Annrai O’Toole believes fears about AI becoming a threat to humanity are overblown but says we should be far more concerned about how the technology is affecting society today. On this episode of The Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler talks to the Iona Technologies co-founder about AI, regulation, Ireland’s technology sector and his latest venture, VCola. They discuss why AI systems
How a journalist used an AirTag to track a book bought by AI giants to be pulped
How a journalist used an AirTag to track a book bought by AI giants to be pulped Sep 1, 2026 1353 On this episode of The Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler is joined by Emanuel Maiberg, journalist and co founder of 404 Media, to explore how AI companies are buying up old and rare books for training data.  They discuss reports of books being physically cut apart and scanned, why obscure manuals and textbooks are particularly valuable to AI companies, and what could be lost when printed materia
AI and loneliness 
AI and loneliness  Aug 25, 2026 2037 On this episode of The Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler is joined by psychotherapist Colman Noctor to explore how social media, algorithms and AI are changing the way we communicate and connect. They discuss the pressure on young people to chase likes, views and online recognition, and how algorithms can encourage risky behaviour. Noctor explains why human relationships need real world interaction, d

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