Your next laptop could be a foldable phone

February 17, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

The Format: Casual tech podcast with host monologue, in-depth interviews, ads, and a listener hotline Q&A.
The Key Players:
- Host: David Pierce, Verge senior writer, geeking out over Nintendo Switch games and phone experiments.
- Guest 1: Alison Johnson, Verge senior reviewer, testing foldables as daily drivers.
- Guest 2: Jacob Feldman, Sportico reporter, decoding sports streaming chaos.
The Vibe: Fun, geeky, and optimistic—tech enthusiasm mixed with frustration over software glitches, perfect for gadget nerds.

🗝️ Key Themes & Topics

The episode dives into gadget hacks, streaming evolution, and phone form factors amid 2026's tech landscape.

Topic 1: Foldables as "Purse Computers": Alison details her real-world experiment using the Samsung Z Fold 7 as a lightweight laptop replacement for writing, Slack, and Google Docs—pairing it with portable keyboards for coffee-shop productivity, highlighting hardware wins but Android app frustrations.
Topic 2: Sports Streaming Wars: Jacob breaks down YouTube TV's new sports bundles (just $17 less than full cable), ESPN's messy DTC launch, Peacock's Olympic triumph with 400 streams and drones, and Amazon's gateway ambitions amid NFL rights battles.
Topic 3: Flip Phones & AI Wearables: David riffs on Motorola Razr Ultra's ergonomics and psy

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What you'll learn

1 (04:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Alison Johnson**
2 (09:15) **Fold Hardware and Keyboard Choices**
3 (16:24) **Workflow Boundaries and Limitations**
4 (20:00) **Android Software Frustrations**
5 (33:20) **Weekend Travel Test**
6 (38:04) **🎙️ Introduction: Jacob Feldman**
7 (38:34) **Winter Olympics Streaming**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

The Verge's Allison Johnson has recently been doing the unthinkable: she's been leaving her laptop at home. Allison joins the show to explain how she turned her Samsung foldable into a useful computer, and why it feels so good to do so. Then, Sportico's Jacob Feldman joins the show to talk about the Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl, and the overall state of sports streaming in 2026. (Unfortunately, it's all still very complicated.) Finally, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether flip phones might have a future in an AI world.