Vergecast: James Webb Space Telescope’s Launch Next Week, Cool Gadgets Launched This Week – The Verge

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories. On the final Vergecast of 2021, Nilay and Dieter invite Verge managing editor Alex Cranz and senior space reporter Loren Grush to the show to cover the last bits of news before the holiday break.

Next week on Christmas Eve, we will see the James Webb Space Telescope — successor to NASA’s famed Hubble telescope — finally launch into space. Loren explains what the JWST will be used for, how the telescope will launch, and the complications with its launch along the way.

In the second half of the show, Nilay, Dieter, and Alex go through all the gadgets and software updates announced this past week — from a Sony speaker that looks like a bong to the latest phones that fold in half.

You can listen to the full discussion here or in your preferred podcast player.

Thanks to everyone who listened to The Vergecast this year. We’ll see you in 2022!

Stories discussed on this episode:

• NASA’s massive next-generation space telescope arrives in South America ahead of launch
• NASA sets new date for James Webb Space Telescope launch
• Five former SpaceX employees speak out about harassment at the company
• Sony Glass Sound Speaker review: it’s not what it looks like
• Analogue Pocket review: Game Boy games have never looked so good
• Opal’s C1 offers DSLR-rivaling video quality in a small form factor
• Dell’s Concept Stanza converts your chicken scratch to digital text
• Amazon Echo Show 15 review: Alexa’s on your wall
• Oppo’s Find N is an impressive first folding phone
• Huawei’s P50 Pocket is a stylish clamshell foldable launching this month
• Samsung’s working on a rollable smartwatch with a camera
• Apple releases iOS 15.2 with App Privacy Report, Digital Legacy, and more
• Apple scrubs controversial CSAM detection feature from webpage but says plans haven’t changed
• Universal Control won’t be coming to macOS Monterey until sometime this spring
• Adobe launches Creative Cloud Express, a new app that simplifies its powerful editing tools
• Snap launches Story Studio, a standalone video editing app for mobile
• Log4j is patched, but the exploits are just getting started
• ‘No easy solution’ for Tesla Cybertruck’s comically large windshield wiper, Elon Musk says
• Chrome OS tablets are getting fancier but not better
• Former FCC officials are worried about air safety fears delaying 5G rollout
• Toyota is going to make you pay to start your car with your key fob
• Delivery failed
• How to sneak into a Bored Ape Yacht Club party
• Matter’s plan to save the smart home