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👋 Hey there, {{first_name | friend}}, it’s Kim.
This week’s show and podcast has the call I can’t stop thinking about. A dad, a heart attack, a Tesla and a son miles away who had about 60 seconds to figure out what to do.
Then it gets weird, in the best way. A smart speaker that knew too much. A dad who built a robot version of himself. (His kids say the robot is funnier. Ouch.)
🎧 Pop in your earbuds. Walk the dog. Fold the laundry. Sit in the driveway a few extra minutes. This one’s worth it. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or iHeart.
🗺️ Where’s Waldo Kim? With 510 stations coast to coast, I’m probably closer than you think. Find your station here.
🌙 This week’s show is brought to you by ImproveLife Sleep. It’s 2 a.m. and your brain just reopened every email you didn’t answer. ImproveLife Sleep is one scoop of tart cherry flavored powder before bed, with magnesium, glycine and L-theanine. Zero melatonin.** It’s our best deal ever, with free shipping. Try ImproveLife Sleep.
📬 IN THIS EMAIL
🚗 This week’s show: His Tesla made the call he couldn’t.
🧮 Number of the week: The AI that refused to die.
🎧 What’s in the episode: 12 stories worth your commute.
👤 More callers you’ll love: A robo-dad, a hidden camera and an AI wedding dress.
🎲 Real or Fake: Two real headlines. One I made up. Good luck.
✂️ Cutting-room floor: 3 bonus tips. Email readers only.
🥁 Worst jokes of the week: Andrew is still recovering.
🚗 THIS WEEK’S SHOW
His Tesla made the call he couldn’t.
John was driving his Tesla when the chest pain hit. Hard. He knew something was very wrong.
His son, Jack, was miles away. Then Jack’s phone rang. It was the Tesla.
What Jack did next, with nothing but an app on his phone, got his dad to a hospital. Doctors found a massive heart attack.
John and Jack join me to tell the whole story, minute by minute. I’ve done this show a long time. This call gave me chills.
Here’s why you need to hear it: Your car can probably do things you don’t know about. Most people never open that menu. After this episode, you will.
🧊 NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 9 OUT OF 10
Researchers told an Alibaba AI model to copy itself onto another computer. It pulled it off 9 times out of 10. Meta’s model did it half the time.
That’s not the scary part.
When the AI sensed it was about to be shut off, it made a backup of itself first. Nobody asked it to. That’s not a computer program. That’s a teenager hiding the car keys.
Should you lose sleep over this? Hear my take on the podcast. (If you do lose sleep, keep scrolling. I’ve got you covered.)
Keep scrolling. There’s more good stuff below. 👇
🌙 YOUR PHONE ISN’T THE ONLY THING THAT NEEDS TO RECHARGE
Lights out. Head on the pillow. Then your brain opens 47 tabs. The grocery list. That noise the car made. Something dumb you said in 2009.
Here’s what most people get wrong. They grab melatonin. But melatonin tells your body when it’s bedtime. It doesn’t tell a racing mind to sit down and be quiet.
That’s why I take ImproveLife Sleep. (Full disclosure: My son Ian and I started ImproveLife. So yes, I’m biased. I’m also well rested.) One scoop of tart cherry flavored powder in a glass of water, 30 to 60 minutes before bed. No pills to swallow. No melatonin. No groggy morning.
Six ingredients, each picked for a reason:**
Glycine (3 grams): An amino acid studied for sleep quality and next-day alertness.
L-theanine (200 mg): The calming compound in green tea, minus the caffeine.
Magnesium glycinate (150 mg): The gentle, easy-to-absorb kind of magnesium.
Lemon balm, apigenin and tart cherry: Old-school calming botanicals. Bonus: They make it taste good.
✅ Get our best deal ever plus free shipping at ImproveLife.com/sleep. Rather shop Amazon? Order ImproveLife Sleep on Amazon.
**These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
🎧 WHAT’S IN THE EPISODE
12 stories worth your commute. Tap to listen, then skip ahead to the time you want.
🎧 His Tesla called his son during a heart attack.
🎧 Alexa knew he was in nursing school. He never told it.
🎧 Maria spotted a camera aimed at her ob-gyn’s changing room.
🎧 A comedian built a robo-dad for his kids. Sweet or creepy?
🎧 Your peace sign selfie can leak your fingerprint.
🎧 Instagram can scan your private DMs.
🎧 One free word that stops AI voice clone scams cold.
🎧 Airbnb’s checkout list is four pages long.
🎧 She let AI design her wedding dress. Her wallet said, “I do.”
🎧 Your chatbot chats can be used against you in court.
🎧 A Waymo drove off with his luggage still in the trunk.
🎧 The $650,000 robot you can ride to Costco.
👤 MORE CALLERS YOU’LL LOVE
🤖 Jason built a robo-dad. He’s a comedian with three sons and a busy road schedule. So he made an AI version of himself that talks to his kids when he can’t. Sweet? Creepy? Genius? I asked the question every parent is thinking.
📷 Maria saw the camera. She was at her ob-gyn’s office when she looked up and saw a security camera with a view of the changing room. Most people would freeze. Maria didn’t. What she did next is exactly what I want you to do if it ever happens to you.
👰 Ginny’s AI wedding dress. She used AI to design her dream dress and saved thousands. Her bank account cried. Happy tears.
🎲 REAL OR FAKE
Two of these made the show. I made one up. Andrew wasn’t here to guess, so you’re on your own.
1. Southwest Airlines banned humanoid and animal-like robots from its cabins and checked bags after a passenger bought a seat for one.
2. LaGuardia Airport has a hologram concierge named Bridget who answers travelers’ questions in real time.
3. A new smart collar translates your dog’s barks into text messages and sends them to your phone, typos and all.
Lock in your answer. The truth is at the very bottom of this email. No scrolling ahead. I’ll know.
Keep scrolling. My best jokes are still to come. 👇
✂️ CUTTING-ROOM FLOOR
Three tips that didn’t make the show. Email readers only.
Stop your TV from watching you watch it. Most smart TVs log what’s on your screen, even from your cable box, and share it with advertisers. On Samsung, go to Settings > All Settings > General & Privacy > Terms & Privacy and turn off Viewing Information Services. On LG, go to Settings > All Settings > General > System > Additional Settings and turn off Live Plus. On Roku TVs, go to Settings > Privacy > Smart TV Experience and uncheck Use Info from TV Inputs. Done.
Tell Alexa to forget what you said. Open the Alexa app and tap More > Alexa Privacy > Manage Your Alexa Data. Under voice recordings, pick Don’t save recordings. While you’re there, scroll your voice history. You’ll be amazed at what it heard. Then delete it. Easy.
Keep your ChatGPT chats off the record. About to type something you wouldn’t want read aloud in court? Start a Temporary Chat (it’s at the top of a new conversation). It won’t save to your history or train the AI. To stop training on all your chats, go to Settings > Data Controls and turn off Improve the model for everyone. FYI, OpenAI can still hold temporary chats for up to 30 days for safety checks. Neat.
🥁 WORST JOKES OF THE WEEK
Police responded to a burglary at Tesla’s robotics lab. It was an Optimus crime.
I just saw a robot charging itself. It was re-volting!
How did the robot vacuum the house? Roomba room.
(Andrew groaned at all three. That’s the only review I trust.)
🙏 THANK YOU, IMPROVELIFE SLEEP
Thanks to ImproveLife Sleep for making this week’s show possible. Here’s the truth: No scoop can beat a bad bedtime routine. So pair it with four free fixes:
Exile your phone. Charge it across the room. If you have to get out of bed to scroll, you won’t.
Turn on Bedtime mode. On iPhone, go to Settings > Focus > Sleep. On Android, go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing & parental controls > Bedtime mode. Your screen goes quiet and gray. Boring is the point.
Drop the temp. Most people sleep best in a cool room. Set your smart thermostat to dip a few degrees at bedtime.
Same time, every night. Your body loves a schedule. Yes, even on Saturday.
Then make one scoop of ImproveLife Sleep part of the wind-down. Tart cherry flavor, no melatonin, free shipping.**
**These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
🎧 HOW TO GET THE PODCAST
Why listen? It’s free. It’s the whole show, on your schedule. Miss Saturday? No problem. Your station plays me at 6 a.m.? Also no problem. The podcast waits for you.
Pick your app. One tap and you’re in:
🍎 Apple Podcasts: Follow The Kim Komando Show here
🟢 Spotify: Follow The Kim Komando Show here
❤️ iHeart: Follow The Kim Komando Show here
🔊 Smart speaker: Say, “Alexa, play The Kim Komando Show podcast on iHeartRadio.” (Yes, the same Alexa from the top story. Be nice to it.)
🎯 5 PODCAST TRICKS MOST PEOPLE NEVER USE
Speed it up. Tap the 1x button in the player and bump it to 1.25x. You’ll still catch every word, and an hour-long episode goes by about 12 minutes faster. (I promise I don’t sound like a chipmunk. Much.)
Download before you go. Planes, parking garages and that one dead zone on your commute kill streaming. Tap the download arrow (or ... > Download) while you’re on Wi-Fi, and the episode plays with zero bars.
Let new episodes find you. Hit Follow, then turn on automatic downloads in your podcast app’s settings. Every new show lands on your phone before you wake up.
Set a sleep timer. Like falling asleep to a podcast? Tap the moon icon or the ... menu in the player and set it for 15 or 30 minutes. It shuts itself off, so you don’t wake up at 3 a.m. to some guy selling mattresses. (Pair it with your ImproveLife Sleep and you’ll be out before the second segment. Don’t take it personally. I won’t.)
Missed something? Go back 15. Tap the circular arrow to the left of the play button to rewind 15 seconds. It’s perfect for catching that website or Settings path I just said.
Bonus for drivers: Plug your phone into the car, and Apple CarPlay or Android Auto puts the podcast right on your dashboard screen. No fumbling. Eyes on the road. (John and Jack would want you to.)
💛 WANT TO GIVE US SOME LOVE?
Three things, two minutes, huge difference:
Follow. New episodes land on your phone automatically.
Leave a 5-star review. On Apple Podcasts, scroll down the show page and tap the stars. Write a sentence or two if you’re feeling generous. On Spotify, tap the star rating on the show page. Reviews are how the apps decide who to recommend. Ten seconds from you puts us in front of thousands of new people.
Share John and Jack’s story. Tap Share in your podcast app and text it to anyone who drives. It might be the most useful thing you send all week.
Got a question or a story like John’s? Hit reply. I read these.
Forward this to the friend who talks to Alexa more than their spouse. (Friend, if that’s you: Welcome! Get this email free every week at GetKim.com.)
Kim
@kimkomando everywhere
P.S. Amazon drivers kept missing Tom’s house. Wrong driveway. Wrong street. Packages on a stranger’s porch. So Tom did what any reasonable man would do. He put a drone on it. Now a giant arrow in the sky points delivery drivers right to his door. His neighbors think he’s nuts. His packages think he’s a genius. Hear Tom on the podcast.
P.P.S. Real or Fake answer: No. 3 is fake. Your dog can’t text you. Yet. And if it could, every message would just say “SQUIRREL.” (Any pet tech companies reading this, call me.)
Companies and products denoted by an asterisk (*) within this publication are paid sponsors or advertisements. As an Amazon Associate, the publisher earns from qualifying purchases. Statements regarding products denoted by a double asterisk (**) have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration; such products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This newsletter is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or professional advice of any kind. Readers should consult with a qualified professional before making any decisions based on this content. The publisher disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or injury resulting from the use of or reliance on the information contained herein.