CYBER artwork

CYBER

388 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratings

Hacking. Hackers. Disinformation campaigns. Encryption. The Cyber. This stuff gets complicated really fast, but Motherboard spends its time embedded in the infosec world so you don't have to. Host Matthew Gault talks every week to Motherboard reporters about the stories they're breaking and to the industry's most famous hackers and researchers about the biggest news in cybersecurity.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Episodes

Why Congress's Fears of Russian Space Nukes Is Political Theatre

February 16, 2024 18:31 - 1 hour - 45.8 MB

Cyber is a show covering a diverse range of topics. We’ve covered everything from crypto to AI to online cults. If it touches technology or online culture, we’ll talk about it. That’s how you get an episode like today’s, which is both a deep dive into professional wrestling’s latest scandal and a discussion of the latest existential threat: nuclear weapons in space. Vice features editor Timothy Marchman can do it all. First, Marchman walks us through the newest allegations against WWE boss ...

AI Deepfakes Are Everywhere and Congress is Completely Out of Their Depth

February 09, 2024 17:38 - 50 minutes - 40.4 MB

An AI-generated Biden called voters in New Hampshire ahead of the primary and told them to stay home. X locked down the search term “Taylor Swift” after AI-generated nudes of the pop giant flooded the platform. In the wake of both scandals, Congress has struggled with how to fight back against the flood of fake bullshit. Keeping the world from drowning in fakes affects all of us, but some of the cures sound worse than the sickness. This week on Cyber, Motherboard Senior Editor Janus Rose an...

Tech Used to Be Bleeding Edge, Now it’s Just Bleeding

February 02, 2024 17:03 - 1 hour - 54.3 MB

Ten years ago, Big Tech reached a peak. Facebook had wormed its way into the lives of billions of people. The mainstream news covered iPhones releases like they were Taylor Swift concerts. Elon Musk was promising to colonize Mars and fill the streets with self-driving cars. In 2024, the wheels have come off all these dreams. Musk has filled the sky with satellites, but no colonists, and constantly fights people on X. Self-driving cars are killing people. Apple has released a $3,500 VR headse...

How to Read Leaked Datasets Like a Journalist

January 26, 2024 16:35 - 55 minutes - 44.6 MB

We live in a golden age of data. Every day, hacktivists release terabytes of data on sites like DDoSecrets, but sorting through it all requires some technical knowledge. What if you don’t know XML from SQL let alone how to write a simple Python script? Micah Lee is the director of information security for The Intercept and he’s on Cyber today to talk about his new book: Hacks, Leaks, and Revelations. The book is a manual for people who want to learn how to parse and organize hacked datasets...

What a Novel About an AI Documenting the Last Human Says About Our Real Dystopia

January 19, 2024 16:40 - 53 minutes - 42.5 MB

The unreliable narrator of After World, the new novel from author Debbie Urbanski, is an AI tasked with writing a book about Sen, the last human on Earth. In this world, humanity is done. The world is moving on without us and Sen was born for a purpose: to watch the planet change itself without humanity. After World is a story about artificial intelligence, climate change, and what we can hope to leave behind for our children in a doomed future.  On today’s episode of Cyber, Emily and Matth...

The Future of Nukes Involves AI and Nobody Knows What Happens Next

January 12, 2024 17:13 - 1 hour - 50 MB

According to the hype, artificial intelligence is changing everything. The truth is more complicated, but that doesn’t mean that companies and governments aren’t rushing to embrace the new technology. It’s even being used to update an old and destructive technology: nuclear weapons. America is modernizing its force, Russia is building new kinds of nuclear weapons, and China is increasing its nuclear stockpile. At the same time, all three countries are looking to AI to outsource the dangerou...

OpenAI’s Make or Break Lawsuit and the Golden Idol of AGI

January 05, 2024 14:30 - 58 minutes - 46.5 MB

The New York Times kicked off the holiday season by suing OpenAI and Microsoft. The paper of record believes that ChatGPT is violating various copyrights by using its articles as training data. It’s a landmark case that may end up before the Supreme Court and might change copyright law in America forever.  This week on Cyber, Sharon Goldman of VentureBeat sits down with us to discuss the lawsuit, the coming presidential election, and all the other big AI stories she’s watching in 2024. Sto...

The Great American Train Wreck Isn’t Going Away

December 20, 2023 16:12 - 57 minutes - 41 MB

On February 3, a train crashed in East Palestine, Ohio releasing toxic chemicals into the air. Almost a month later, another train owned by the same company also derailed in Ohio. That’s not all. Trains in Charlotte are running slower than they should. NYC can’t fit trains into its new station. The list goes on and on. What the hell is going on with mass transit in America? If you’re a long time Cyber listener, you might already know some of the answers to this question. That’s thanks to r...

The Old Internet Is Dying, and Something Worse Is Being Born

December 13, 2023 21:24 - 1 hour - 55.1 MB

As we slide into the winter holidays, Cyber is taking some time to relax with old friends and discuss the things that truly matter: the decline of the internet, creator culture, and the transcendent power of movies.  This week on Cyber, Aftermath co-founder Gita Jackson stops by to talk about “Napoleon,” the death of film criticism, and what happens when a big name on YouTube plagiarizes you. Stories discussed in this episode: Please Stop Asking Me To Sue James Somerton Cyber Live is com...

How Online Fights Affect Real World Battlefields

December 01, 2023 17:39 - 51 minutes - 40.9 MB

Your posts matter more than you think. Social media has changed the way wars are fought and the internet has become a new battlefield.  Twitter may be dying, but it still matters an awful lot to policy makers. TikTok is ascendent, but often because its content can be repurposed on other platforms. Telegram can give you the news on the ground, but only if you trust the sources. With all this information flowing and everyone motivated by personal politics, who can you trust? This week, Emer...

You Can’t Automate the Difficult Decisions

November 27, 2023 05:00 - 19 minutes - 27.3 MB

The tensions between security and operations and developer teams are the stuff of legend. DevSecOps is trying to change that, and automation is a big part of making it possible. But automation alone can’t overcome entrenched behavior. Joylynn Kirui shares how Microsoft is helping teams prioritize security without bogging down development. Follow and listen to Code Comments: https://link.chtbl.com/codecomments?sid=podcast.cyber Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite OpenAI Chaos, Wall Street Is Still Betting Big on AI

November 22, 2023 21:17 - 54 minutes - 43.5 MB

What happens when a for profit company is run by a non-profit board of directors who are ideologically opposed to the company’s product? You get something like what happened to OpenAI over the past week, which saw its board of directors sack CEO Sam Altman before eventually reinstating him and resigning. It’s a weird story that involves AI, predictions of the end of the world, strange pagan rites in Silicon Valley offices, and a Harry Potter fanfic. Join us this week on Cyber as Motherboard...

What Happens When an Anti-Sex Trafficking Operation Goes Wrong

November 20, 2023 21:08 - 1 hour - 75.4 MB

When “Alison” started working for Operation Underground Railroad, she wanted to make a difference in the lives of kids. She was a former Marine and social worker who’d seen the devastating effects that abuse could have on people. She wanted to stop it before it happened. She ended up with a broken orbital bone, bleeding and vomiting in a gym after a training exercise gone wrong. This week on Cyber, Anna Merlan and Tim Marchman walk us through their latest reporting on Tim Ballard and Operat...

Crypto One Year After the Collapse: All My Apes Blinded

November 10, 2023 18:53 - 1 hour - 51 MB

It’s a bad time to be a crypto-person. Some of crypto’s biggest evangelists are facing serious federal jail time. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering after a disastrous trial. Some owners of Bored Ape NFTs experienced vision injuries at a recent gathering. Prices are in the toilet and SEC regulators are circling. And yet, many crypto holders are holding out hope that the number will go up again soon. This week on ...

The Landlord Tech Company That Turned Security Deposits Into a Monthly Fee

October 31, 2023 13:12 - 52 minutes - 41.7 MB

Rhino sounds like a good deal at first. When people move into a new apartment, they often have to pay a large lump sum security deposit to their landlord. For people who can’t pay, Rhino offers to bill them a little bit every month in lieu of the deposit. But there’s a catch: unlike security deposits, money sent to Rhino is never returned.  The company uses algorithms to make the wealthy pay less than poorer people, some renters are still paying for places where they no longer live and no on...

The Viral ‘Kia Boys’ Car Theft Trend That’s Going Viral on Instagram

October 20, 2023 20:03 - 1 hour - 57 MB

Kias and Hyundais are being stolen in America at an alarming rate. Using a screwdriver and a USB cable, it’s trivially easy to steal one. Kia and Hyundai blame social media, but the problem is so overwhelming that several cities are suing the car manufacturer for creating a crime epidemic by electing not to build a $100 anti-theft device into some models. This week on Cyber, Motherboard Reporter Aaron Gordon stops by to walk us through what’s really behind the viral crime wave. ‘Kia Boys’ ...

Space Junk, Nuclear Waste, AI Nukes and the Reason We’re All Still Here

October 10, 2023 20:49 - 56 minutes - 45.1 MB

There’s a lot of reasons to be worried about the future. Climate change, nuclear weapons, space junk, and World War III are all threats both present and long-term. But, every day, people are trying to make the world a better place. It lands them in weird situations like skinny dripping with Soviet officers at the height of the Cold War or getting drunk with engineers in North Korea. This week on Cyber, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis stops by to tell us all about the brave men and women who took a chance...

Cory Doctorow on Why the Internet Broke and How to Fix It

October 04, 2023 20:22 - 1 hour - 53.9 MB

Have you noticed your internet is …. kinda shitty? Does Spotfiy’s smart shuffle keep playing the same Cure song over and over again? Does a quick google search give you page after page of obvious advertisements? Want to leave Facebook behind but that one group chat keeps you checking in day after day? Well have I got the book for you. It’s The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation. It’s a little bit history, it’s a little bit manifesto, and it’s all about one simple concept th...

You Can't Automate Buy-In

October 02, 2023 07:50 - 18 minutes - 28.1 MB

Putting new technology to use is an exciting prospect. But going from purchase to production isn’t always smooth—even when it’s something everyone is looking forward to. Code Comments covers the bumps, the hiccups, and the setbacks teams face when adjusting to new technology—and the triumphs they pull off once they really get going. In this episode, World Wide Technology (WWT) helps organizations set up their tech infrastructure. But they also have to do it for themselves. It’s a lot to jug...

The Real History of the Luddites

September 29, 2023 19:28 - 47 minutes - 37.9 MB

Luddites! It’s a dirty word, right? One that’s become synonymous with anti-technology crusaders that want to return us to an idyllic past where everyone is free from their phones. But who were the Luddites? Where does the term come from? How has it been misused and do we, perhaps, need a little more King Ludd in all our lives? Brian Merchant is here to answer all our burning questions about Luddites and his new book Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. He’s a...

Operation Underground Railroad, Psychic Intelligence, and ‘The Sound of Freedom’

September 25, 2023 21:13 - 1 hour - 55.8 MB

This summer, a movie called The Sound of Freedom took America by storm. The hero was Tim Ballard, the founder of an organization called Operation Underground Railroad. The movie depicted Ballard as an avenging hero who rescued trafficked children from a life of slavery. The truth, we’re all finding out, is something more complicated and a lot less heroic. Ballard left the organization around the time Sound of Freedom premiered, following an investigation into his sexual misconduct. It’s a w...

‘Extremely Online’ With Taylor Lorenz

September 15, 2023 20:10 - 2 hours - 98 MB

It’s time for a new history of the internet, one that focuses on the recent revolutions that define the world we all live in. Social media has changed the way many of us live and work. It’s a world defined by a new economy of creators and influencers. The new media is here and it’s Extremely Online. That’s the title of the new book from Taylor Lorenz, which is the untold story of fame, influence, and power on the internet. Lorenz is a columnist for The Washington Post and she joined us to a...

Hot Labor Summer

September 05, 2023 19:58 - 43 minutes - 34.6 MB

The heat is still here, but the summer will soon be over. Here at the precipice of fall I wanted to take a moment to reflect on one of the big stories that Motherboard covered this season: labor, strikes, and unions. Here to tell us all about it is Motherboard labor reporter Jules Roscoe. Stories discussed in this episode: Instacart Tells Shoppers in Hurricane ‘Bad Weather = Good Tips’ 'It Feels Horrible': Amazon Workers Delivered Packages During Destructive Tropical Storm Amazon Told D...

The Jason Koebler Exit Interview, Part Two

August 25, 2023 05:25 - 1 hour - 56.2 MB

It’s part two of our bittersweet episode of Cyber where we bid farewell to Motherboard editor-in-chief Jason Koebler. This week we do a deep dive into the Motherboard lore. The stories that broke us, the controversies that made us who we are. Come find out which popular web comic wrote a strip about us that’s aged like milk, how much horse shit you can buy for $10 in Bitcoin, why the director of Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story hates Motherboard, and why you should never bowl with someone...

Rare Motherboard Lore and a Goodbye to Jason Koebler

August 18, 2023 19:58 - 1 hour - 62.7 MB

It’s a bittersweet episode of Cyber as we bid farewell to Motherboard editor-in-chief Jason Koebler. It’s a long episode so we’ve split it into two parts. This week you get some discussions about the topics of the day including Planet of Bass, Oliver Anthony, and the vibes-based economy. After that we start dishing all of Motherboard’s secrets, including how Jason came to work there and what it’s like to walk out of a meeting with 8 missed calls from Disney on your phone. Next week we’re ta...

The Viral Science Video That Will Save the World or Do Nothing At All

August 04, 2023 19:17 - 56 minutes - 45 MB

Room-temperature superconductors are here! Maybe! Look, science is a liar sometimes, especially in the internet age. Motherboard science reporter Becky Ferreira is here to help us parse the truth from fiction of LK-99. It’s either one of the biggest science stories of our entire lives or … just another science hoax. Later in the show, Joseph Cox is stopping by to tell us about another group of researchers who’ve uncovered a backdoor in police radios. Stories discussed in this episode: DIY...

The Barbenheimer Special

July 28, 2023 19:08 - 2 hours - 97.2 MB

We’ve got a super sized Cyber for you today that’s all about the two hottest movies in theaters. One is a mythological take on the creation of the modern world and the devastating weapons that ushered it in. The other is about an idol forged from plastic that came to dominate that world. That’s right. It’s Barbenheimer time. Emily Lipstein is co-hosting with me and we’re joined by nuclear historian and master of secrets, Alex Wellerstein as well as journalist and critic Gita Jackson. We’re...

Adam Conover On the Hollywood Strike

July 24, 2023 15:38 - 43 minutes - 34.5 MB

It’s a brutally hot summer, a great time to cool off in an air conditioned movie theater or to catch up on some of those TV shows you’ve had on your list forever. But did you know the people who make the fine entertainment you know and love are on strike? Both writers and actors are picketing, trying to get a fair shake out of the studios and companies that bet big on streaming and used the shift to screw over the workers who keep us all entertained. With us today to talk about it is stand...

The False Claims Behind an Anti-Trafficking Group’s Hollywood Moment

July 14, 2023 19:12 - 46 minutes - 37.1 MB

A movie about a Mormon anti-trafficking activist made headlines when it beat Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the box office. But Sound of Freedom’s box office numbers aren’t all they’re cracked up to be and the group behind the movie, Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) has a long and troubled history. Motherboard Senior Staff Writer Anna Merlan joins us this week on Cyber to explain OUR and Sound of Freedom. Stories discussed in this episode: Tim Ballard Has ‘Stepped Away’ From...

Celebrating the End of the Usable Internet

July 07, 2023 18:52 - 40 minutes - 32.6 MB

It feels like the old internet is breaking apart and no one is sure where to go. The first three pages of search results on Google are dreck. Reddit is shutting down the third party apps that make it usable. AI generated content is flooding beloved old websites. This might just be the end of the usable internet. On this episode of Cyber, we talk it all out with Motherboard editor-in-chief, Jason Koebler. Stories discussed in this episode: Threads: The Motherboard Review You Can't Look at...

The Increasingly Violent Discord Servers Where Kids Flaunt Their Crimes

June 23, 2023 18:42 - 34 minutes - 27.6 MB

Discord and Minecraft servers are part of an ecosystem where young people brag about crimes. SIM swapping, cryptocurrency, extortion, and violence-for-hire are all part of an disparate online community where people gather to swap stories and videos about crime. It’s called The Comm, and this week on Cyber, Motherboard reporter Joseph Cox comes on the show to tell us all about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoDl73J5EJY Stories discussed in this episode: Bloodied Macbooks and Stacks of...

Big Tech Wants You to Think AI Will Kill Us All

June 16, 2023 17:23 - 38 minutes - 30.5 MB

Did you know that AI is set to automate as many as a third of your tasks? In the future we’re all going to be saving a lot of time. That’s as long as no one invents artificial general intelligence that fires all the nukes or turns us all into paperclips. Which, some experts seem to think, will surely happen. Today we’re gonna talk about hype. Not the exciting kind of hype, but Criti-Hype, a kind of techno doomerism we’re often fond of here at Motherboard. Social media, biogenetics, Artifici...

The DHS Is Reading Travelers' Posts at the Border

June 02, 2023 19:35 - 36 minutes - 29.6 MB

Customs and Border Protection is scanning people’s social media, the feds have arrested some swatters, and the FTC has ordered Ring to cough up a fine. This week on Cyber, Motherboard’s premier cyber crime reporter Joseph Cox is back to walk us through the latest in privacy violations done by Washington and the private sector. We’ll also take another look at the criminal world of SIM swappers and auto-swatters. Stories discussed in this episode: Homeland Security Uses AI Tool to Analyze So...

AI Can Read Your Dreams and Collect Your Debts. What’s Next?

May 26, 2023 18:26 - 37 minutes - 30 MB

Is there anything artificial intelligence can’t do?Debt collectors want AI to push people into coughing up what’s owed. An AI created photo of an attack on the Pentagon generated a minor panic. There’s an AI that can read your mind and the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, just testified before Congress. This week on Cyber, Motherboard reporter Chloe Xiang comes on to walk us through the big headlines in the world of AI. Stories discussed in this episode: Debt Collectors Want To ...

CYBER: Crime and Crypto with Cory Doctorow

May 19, 2023 14:03 - 38 minutes - 30.9 MB

Crypto and crime, crime and crypto. They go together like spreadsheets and tax evasion. When cryptocurrency hit the scene it was, according to its evangelists, going to usher in a world of decentralized currency and free everyone from the shackles of oppressive central banks. Turns out it’s also been a pretty great way to launder money. It’s also the subject of the new book Red Team Blues, a novel from writer Cory Doctorow. In Red Team Blues a 67 year old forensic accountant finds himself a...

CYBER: Inside the Italian Mafia’s Encrypted Phone of Choice

May 11, 2023 20:15 - 34 minutes - 27.3 MB

We talk a lot about encrypted phones on Cyber. Everyone loves a secure communication channel that no one can peer into. But some companies, well, if there’s criminal activity going on they’re gonna sell you out. And the cops have gotten very good at setting up honeypots and hacking into existing networks. But there’s one encrypted service out there that is, as far as we know, still secure. It’s called No. 1 Business Communication and it’s a favorite of the Italian Mafia. On this episode of ...

Apple II and How the Computer Became Personal

May 04, 2023 20:33 - 57 minutes - 46.4 MB

If you’re watching or listening to this show you’re probably doing it on a device that owes its very existence to the Apple II. But these days we remember the iPhone, 90s era Windows, and even the Macintosh as these big benchmark moments in widespread adoption of tech. But all those devices wouldn't be here if it weren’t for the little Apple II board that could and the people who turned a hobbyist curiosity into a fundamental part of every household in the world. That story is the subject ...

Wondery Presents - Flipping The Bird: Elon vs Twitter

May 03, 2023 14:59 - 5 minutes - 4.67 MB

When Elon Musk posted a video of himself arriving at Twitter HQ carrying a white sink along with the message “let that sink in!” it marked the end of a dramatic takeover. Musk had gone from Twitter critic to “Chief Twit” in the space of just a few months but his arrival didn’t put an end to questions about his motives. Musk had earned a reputation as a business maverick. From PayPal to Tesla to SpaceX, his name was synonymous with big, earth-shattering ideas. So, what did he want with a soci...

Thieves are Stealing Cars Using Old Nokia Phones

April 20, 2023 20:27 - 33 minutes - 26.8 MB

It looks like a bluetooth speaker or an old Nokia cellphone. But that’s a disguise. Inside these small devices is everything car thieves need to break into your vehicle. There are telegram channels now where, for a few thousand dollars, you can buy a device that will break into a car in seconds. Motherboard reporter Joseph Cox is here on Cyber this week to walk us through it. Stories discussed in this episode: The Car Thieves Using Tech Disguised Inside Old Nokia Phones and Bluetooth Spea...

Someone Is Selling Computer Generated Swatting Services

April 14, 2023 16:50 - 31 minutes - 25.6 MB

Automation is making everyone’s lives easier, including people who call in fake bomb threats on crowded public locations. We live in a world where pranksters and criminals can summon a massive police presence with the click of a few buttons. On this episode of Cyber, Motherboard staff writer Joseph Cox is here to tell us all about it. Stories discussed in this episode: A Computer Generated Swatting Service Is Causing Havoc Across America Smart Garage Company Fixes Vulnerability by Breakin...

What We Know about the Pentagon Leaks

April 11, 2023 20:33 - 37 minutes - 30.1 MB

Top Secret classified Pentagon documents leaked on a Minecraft Discord server. The pages of documents contain sensitive information about troop placements in Ukraine, rumors about allies, and—weirdly—a character sheet for a tabletop roleplaying game.  On this episode of Cyber, host Matthew Gault takes a back seat and lets Motherboard editor-in-chief Jason Koebler interrogate him about what’s in these classified Pentagon documents. Pentagon’s Ukraine War Plans Leaked on Minecraft Discord Be...

Uber's April Fools Glitch

April 07, 2023 20:40 - 49 minutes - 39.4 MB

A terrible April Fool’s day glitch screws over Uber drivers, tenants in California are striking back against landlords, and private banks: do we need them? Today’s episode of Cyber is a cypher, that infrequent version of the show where we decipher some recent tech news. It’s a potpourri for the panopticon age. A grab bag of tech horrors, a not so gentle reminder that our work is not yet done. Motherboard reporter Roshan Abraham is here to talk about it all. 'Screwed': Uber Claws Back Doub...

How Russia Uses Facial Recognition to Stop Protestors

April 06, 2023 15:44 - 36 minutes - 29.1 MB

Facial recognition systems are here. They’ve been deployed extensively along America’s southern border and in its cities. Authoritarian regimes in Iran and Russia are using the technology to crack down on dissidents and what’s going on in Moscow right now paints a horrifying picture of how dangerous the tech has become. On this episode of Cyber, Lena Masri is here to talk about it. She’s the author of a new report at Reuters about how Putin uses facial recognition to curb dissent. Stories ...

What’s Driving the AI Hype?

March 31, 2023 19:59 - 31 minutes - 24.9 MB

Love it or hate it, you can’t escape artificial intelligence. People are using Midjourney to make viral photos of Donald Trump’s arrest and the Pop’s puffy coat. Redditors are creating entire fake historical events and backing it up with AI-generated photos. Silicon Valley seems to think this tech is the next big thing, with Google and Microsoft betting big on it and some people begging everyone to pause development for six months. Is AI changing the world? With us here today to try to answ...

The DEA Is Skipping Warrants and Buying Data from Rogue Employees

March 29, 2023 21:10 - 34 minutes - 27.4 MB

In America, no one can protect you from a transportation employee being paid off by the feds.   The Drug Enforcement Agency has a single remit: to prosecute America’s long-failed war on drugs. Joseph Cox is on today’s episode of Cyber to talk about one its shadier practices and the senators who want answers from the Department of Justice. It turns out that the DEA has been paying Amtrak and commercial package companies to act as informants and supply data on customers without having to get...

Why Does Congress Want to Ban TikTok?

March 24, 2023 19:07 - 45 minutes - 36.3 MB

America is thinking about banning the most popular social media app in the world. TikTok has exploded in the past few years and whether you love it or hate it, you can’t deny its huge influence. Legislators in America are concerned about that influence, especially because of TikTok’s connections to China. On Thursday, TikTok’s CEO testified before the House’s Committee on Energy and Commerce and fielded questions about the app, its connection to China, and what it might be doing to America’...

Scalpers Are Selling Whole Ticketmaster Accounts Now

March 23, 2023 13:30 - 51 minutes - 41.1 MB

It’s almost impossible to get retail priced tickets to The Cure’s newest live tour. Fans are, once again, turning to the secondary market despite the band’s insistence that Ticketmaster shut it down.  This week on Cyber, Joseph Cox and Motherboard Motherboard editor-in-chief Jason Koebler take us into the world of the ticket scalper, where whole Ticketmaster accounts are being sold in bulk and a “verified fan” is just someone the algorithm approves of. Stories discussed in this episode: T...

You're going to love The Hustle Daily Show

March 17, 2023 06:00 - 31 minutes - 43.6 MB

Today we’re sharing an episode of The Hustle Daily Show — a daily dose of irreverent, offbeat, and informative takes on business & tech news. In this episode, they take a look at how getting stuff for “free” affects consumer behavior. Why do we care so much when a crummy t-shirt gets shot out of a cannon at a sporting event? It's all about the power of "free," a price point that makes us feel high and act so irrationally that we forget that even free stuff comes with a cost. And to reall...

This Is Why America's Trains Keep Crashing

March 16, 2023 20:06 - 57 minutes - 46 MB

In America the trains never seem to run on time. On February 3, a train crashed in East Palestine, Ohio releasing toxic chemicals into the air. Almost a month later, another train owned by the same company also derailed in Ohio. That’s not all. Trains in Charlotte are running slower than they should. NYC can’t fit trains into its new station. The list goes on and on. What the hell is going on with mass transit in America? If you’re a long time Cyber listener, you might already know some of...

WTF Is Up With the Silicon Valley Bank Bailout?

March 14, 2023 21:00 - 42 minutes - 34 MB

Collapse. It’s the word on everybody’s lips. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature are no more. The banks, folks, they’ve collapsed. But don’t worry, these aren’t your typical banks. SVB and Signature were not the kinds of places working class folks were holding checking accounts. These were massive institutions that propped up America’s ailing tech sector. If you’ve been hustled by an NFT startup in the past year, there’s a good chance it had deposits at SVB. But now they’re gone and, after so...

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