The podcast episodes discussed address the topic of encryption and privacy, particularly in the context of email communication and government efforts to access encrypted data.

In Episode 172: Tantalizing Liquid, the hosts discuss Protonmail's new feature for automatically encrypting emails to recipients with verified public keys, as well as Apple's resistance to government demands for backdoor access to encrypted communications.

Additionally, in Waveform Awards: Looking Back and Peeking Ahead!, the hosts mention the implications of quantum computing potentially breaking modern encryption methods as a notable news story they wished they had covered.