It’s the most wonderful — and tech-obsessed — time of the year. In this festive, no-holds-barred holiday special of Techishly Jenn, Jenn and Producer Scott unwrap the best gadgets of 2025, roast the biggest tech flops, and hand out the annual Naughty & Nice List to companies and CEOs who shaped the year — for better or worse.

This episode is equal parts gadget gossip, holiday confession, cultural critique, and consumer survival guide. From AirPods that finally live up to the hype, to AI tools that quietly save time (and sanity), to tech leaders who lost the plot entirely, Jenn pulls zero punches. Along the way, she shares the products she actually uses, the tech she refuses to tolerate, and why 2026 needs to be the year we demand more — from our gadgets, our platforms, and ourselves.

Questions? Comments? Email us at jj@techish.com or scott@techish.com and find us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

*If you care about privacy, policing, tech ethics, or just want to understand who’s tracking your license plate and why — this episode is for you.*

It’s pretty safe to say we all want less crime — but what are we willing to trade for it? In this episode of Techishly Jenn, Emmy Award–winning journalist Jennifer Jolly steps into the rapidly expanding world of AI-powered safety tech — where license-plate readers scan our streets and data promises to solve crimes before we even know they’ve happened.

Flock Safety — America’s fastest-growing surveillance company — has quietly installed more than 80,000 cameras across 6,000+ communities, from school zones to shopping centers. Valued at $7.5 billion, it’s the crime-fighting giant most people have never heard of…until now.

Jennifer sits down with Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley to explore how license-plate readers, AI, drones, and data are changing modern policing — and what that means for safety, privacy, public trust, and everyday life.

What starts as a straightforward Q&A with a well-messaged CEO, quickly becomes a deeper conversation about crime prevention, civil liberties, data transparency, and how much responsibility technology companies should (or should not) have in how their tools get used.

This episode is part crime-tech explainer, part civil-liberties gut check — asking not just can we build this technology, but ultimately who’s responsible for how it gets used? It pulls back the curtain on the gadgets shaping our world — asking hard questions, while keeping it smart, human, and just a little bit funny.

NOTE: This episode was recorded in August 2025

• How Flock Safety became a $7.5B crime-tech powerhouse
• Why cities and neighborhoods are racing to install automated license-plate readers
• The controversies sparking lawsuits, watchdog warnings, and “Handmaid’s Tale vibes”
• Garrett Langley’s response to critics — and what he sees as the future of policing tech

• Jennifer’s YouTube video on Flock Safety
• Jennifer Jolly’s USA Today column: The $7.5 Billion Eye in the Sky
• Background on Flock Safety’s tech and controversies
• Follow Jennifer on Techish.com and Instagram

• Newsletter: Techish by Jennifer Jolly
• Instagram: @JennJolly
• YouTube: @TechishbyJenniferJolly
• TikTok: @JenniferJollyTechish
• Twitter/X:

If you’ve ever looked at your monthly cell bill and thought, “Why am I paying premium prices to get doom-scrolled into a bad mood?” — this one’s for you.

In this episode of Techishly Jenn, Emmy-winning tech journalist Jennifer Jolly sits down with Andrew Yang — yes, the former presidential candidate — who’s now CEO of a brand-new wireless carrier called Noble Mobile. The pitch: save real money, get rewarded for using your phone less, and stop being the product in a data-harvesting economy. Is this refreshingly human… or just really good branding? We dig in.

What starts as “new phone plan, who dis?” quickly turns into a bigger conversation about money, mental health, attention, trust, and how tech could reflect our values instead of hijacking them. We also go behind the curtain on politics, power, and why switching carriers after 25 years can feel like breaking up with your high school sweetheart — but in five minutes.

What You’ll Learn

• The big idea behind Noble Mobile: why it charges less, how the month-end rebate works, and why your data isn’t for sale

• How a carrier can nudge you to doom-scroll less without turning into your nagging aunt

• Why so many famous folks are launching MVNOs — and what makes this one different (or not)

• The money–mental health loop: why saving $50–$100 a month actually changes how you feel

• Yang’s 10-year prediction: your phone as a reflection of your values, identity, and community

• A candid look at politics, polarization, and why “we are the adults in the room” now (weird, right?)

Episode Resources

• Noble Mobile (plan details, rebates, referrals, and savings calculator)

• Andrew Yang’s recent talk on media, polarization, and optimism about the future

• Jennifer’s coverage and ongoing review notes at Techish.com

Tell Us What You Think

If a carrier paid you to scroll less — would you switch? What would it take? Send questions and hot takes for our follow-up Q&A.

Connect with Jenn

• Newsletter: Techish by Jennifer Jolly
• YouTube: @TechishbyJenniferJolly
• TikTok: @JenniferJollyTechish
• Instagram: @JennJolly
• Twitter/X: @JenniferJolly
• LinkedIn: Jennifer Jolly

Support the Show

If this episode helped you think differently about tech (or your bill), please rate and review Techishly Jenn. It helps more people find the show — and keeps us from becoming just another boring tech podcast.

Ever wished your backup battery was, well, bigger?

In this episode of Techishly Jenn, I sit down with Lynn Ames, GM’s behind-the-scenes “energy whisperer,” to unpack the bold idea behind GM Energy: electric vehicles that don’t just drive you to the store — they can keep your house running when the grid goes dark. We talk about vehicle-to-home (V2H), vehicle-to-grid (V2G), real-life blackout stories, safety, incentives, affordability, and what it takes to make 100-year-old industries work together.

Quick note: we recorded just before GM reported a $1.6B EV loss — so we also tackle the big question head-on: can cars that give back still move the company (and the country) forward?

Also — Producer Scott talks about his latest Techish review of the Garmin Bounce 2 smartwatch for kids. Can it give his kids a little more freedom and give him fewer worries about letting them roam? What works, and what doesn’t, for parents and kids alike.

🔑 What You’ll Learn

• How V2H actually works in a blackout: what stays on, what switches over, and why it’s silent, seamless, and fume-free.
• From driveway to micro-grid: the path from V2H to V2G, where millions of EVs can stabilize the grid — and potentially earn you money.
• Control, safety, and security: who decides when energy flows, how protections work, and why mobility needs always come first.
• Real incentives, real numbers: rebates, utility programs, and why a $499 “generator” isn’t the only smart family investment we talked about.
• Access & affordability: under-$30K entries (hello, Bolt return), used-EV dynamics, lower maintenance, and where costs are falling fastest.
• Women leading the future of energy + mobility: two women talking candidly about the next era of vehicles, power, and family resilience.

📌 Episode Resources

• Can EV’s Save the Grid? Jenn’s USA Today article about powering her home with an EV for a week – [link]
• Jennifer’s Hands-on Video with the GMC Sierra – [link]
• Jennifer’s Hands-on Video Powering Her Home – [link]
• GM Energy: V2H, PowerBank, utility partnerships, and program eligibility – [link]
• Getting Started with V2H: home assessment, transfer switch basics, and safety checklist – [link]
• Find Incentives: federal, state, and utility rebates for EVs and home energy – [link]
• Techish coverage and hands-on tests from Jenn’s blackout experiences – [link]
• Scott’s Techish coverage and hands-on review of the Garmin Bounce 2 – [link]

💬 Tell Us What You Think

Would you let your car keep your lights on — or sell...

A screen that fixes screens? That’s the bold new idea behind a brand-new gadget called Board — a 24-inch tabletop console where physical pieces are the controllers: knives that cut, stairs you build, spaceships you fly — all on a shared digital board.

Founder Brynn Putnam (who sold Mirror to Lululemon for half a billion dollars) and game veteran Seth Sivak (ex-Blizzard, World of Warcraft) join Jennifer to talk about their bigger bet: ending solo screen time and making face-to-face play effortless for toddlers, teens, parents, and grandparents alike.

We dig into how it works (and why an iPad can’t), why the “Best Family Game” can’t keep being single-player, what $499 actually buys at launch (12 original games and the pieces), and what it takes for a woman-led hardware startup to create a whole new category in 2025.

What starts as “Isn’t this just a big iPad on a table?” quickly turns into a deeper conversation about how we use screens, what real connection looks like, and why this one — powered by physical play — actually feels like magic.

🔑 What You’ll Learn

• Why Board exists: the problem with “family” tech that still keeps everyone alone on their own screens

• How the hardware + software + object recognition work together (and why a tablet can’t do this)

• Why Board’s games beat nostalgia, especially when the controller is a robot, a spaceship, or a stair block

• The intentional multi-generational design: From toddlers to grandparents, Board needed to figure out a way to make the platform seamless, regardless of age

• Price and value: why $499 aims to compete with consoles, not tablets, and what comes next

• Category creation in 2025: the realities of fundraising, shipping hardware, and a woman leading in gaming

📌 Episode Resources

• Board - ORDER TODAY [URL]

• lululemon athletica inc. to Acquire Home Fitness Innovator MIRROR [URL]

• Jenn’s Board review on Techish.com [URL] and USA Today [URL]

💬 Tell Us What You Think

Would you spend $499 to bring everyone back to one screen? What game would sell you on the concept? What topic do you want us to tackle next? Drop a comment and send your questions and hot takes for our follow-up Q&A.

• Spotify: Techishly Jenn
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