Hype Hazard
12 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsHype Hazard is your source for exposing the tech behind the hype. Tech analysts Jessica Groopman and Jaimy Szymanski cut through the noise, exploring the flashiest tech du jour to expose what's really at stake. Each episode focuses on an emerging tech company and its market implications to help you, discerning innovator, decide whether you and your organization should pay attention, or avoid the froth! At the end, we rate each company: Is it... Trash, Flash, Cash, or Splash. Tune in now!
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Episodes
Episode 10: Smart Home Bonanza!
June 22, 2021 16:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBWhat better hub of tech hype and hazards than the Smart Home?! For our Season 1 Finale, we take you on a tour exploring gadgets galore in this flash round of four devices. Are Smart Home devices just "assisted living for millennials," or real innovations toward improving quality of life and longevity? Come in, and stay a while, as we go room to room, navigating novelty and searching for utility ... Bathroom: is Willo, the toothbrushing robot the answer to democratized oral hygiene, or ju...
Episode 9: Rivian & Electric Vehicles
June 07, 2021 20:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBIn this episode, we explore Rivian and the highly charged electric vehicle market. Are we in the fast lane toward zero-emissions driving, or stuck in a perpetual jam of consumer, commercial, technological, and political blockades? Buckle up as we plug in ... What is Rivian and just how much of this $5 TRILLION market can it steal from incumbent OEMs and Tesla? Why the dynamic duo of electrification + digitization represents both an existential threat and the future imperative to automoti...
Robinhood & Investing Apps
May 25, 2021 16:00 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBIn this episode, we explore Robinhood and the raggedy rich world of investment apps. Are we witnessing the democratization of finance, or is buying-in to the egalitarian story actually happening at our own expense? #HODL (hold on for dear life) as we investigate the viral and the volatile... What is Robinhood and why has the last year catalyzed growth in both retail investors and its valuation? What does commission-free trading reveal about the influence of incumbents, the leverage of li...
Episode 8: Robinhood & Investing Apps
May 25, 2021 16:00 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBIn this episode, we explore Robinhood and the raggedy rich world of investment apps. Are we witnessing the democratization of finance, or is buying-in to the egalitarian story actually happening at our own expense? #HODL (hold on for dear life) as we investigate the viral and the volatile... What is Robinhood and why has the last year catalyzed growth in both retail investors and its valuation? What does commission-free trading reveal about the influence of incumbents, the leverage of li...
Episode 7: Deepfakes & Synthetic Media
May 10, 2021 16:00 - 33 minutes - 22.8 MBIn this episode, we explore "deepfakes" and the head-spinning breakthroughs in AI-generated synthetic media. Does the ability to digitally doppelgänger anyone doing or saying anything preface the end of trust, a revolution in reputational risk, or just the next era of entertainment? Seeing is no longer believing, so listen up as we peer deep to parse: What are deepfakes and why does AI-generated media differ from traditional CGI (computer graphic imagery) and Hollywood special effects? Wha...
Episode 6: Noom & Personalized Weight Loss
May 03, 2021 17:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBIn this episode, we explore Noom and the big wide world of personalized weight loss. Is app-powered psychological training the real recipe for transformation, or just the dish du jour served up by the zillion dollar Diet industry? Phew, we worked up a sweat navigating the narratives on this one... What is Noom and why does it claim to care more about how and why we eat, than what we eat? As long as we have an ocean of exercise, food, sleep, and other apps disconnected from one another, is...
Introducing Hype Hazard!
April 22, 2021 16:00 - 3 minutes - 2.15 MBJaimy and Jess share a brief overview of Hype Hazard.
Episode 5: ClearviewAI & Facial Recognition
April 12, 2021 16:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBIn this episode, we explore Clearview AI and the fascinatingly factious facial recognition market. Is the ability to identify any individual in one click the future of safety, justice, and frictionless verification, or are we staring down the barrel of an irrevocable surveillance state? Get ready for your close up, as we zoom in on the apparatus of panopticon potential... What is ClearviewAI, and why has this tiny start-up prompted a global uproar? What's worse: lawlessly crossing the faci...
Episode 4: Kahoot! & EdTech
April 05, 2021 20:00 - 25 minutes - 17.4 MBIn this episode, we explore Kahoot! and the suddenly booming market for educational technology (EdTech). Is the future of learning supposed to feel like a game show, or does gamified learning only further stunt academic preparedness and equity? Pens and paper optional, but 1000 points for your attention as we didactically debate... What is Kahoot! and how did digital bar trivia morph into a choice educational and enterprise learning platform for over a BILLION people? What are the pros an...
Episode 3: NFTs & Digital Art Mania
March 29, 2021 22:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBIn this episode, we explore non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and what on earth they mean for the arts, artists, and the future of digital media. Are digital property titles -- on a JPG, PDF, baseball card or tweet -- really worth six-figure valuations, or we just drunk on crypto speculation again? Hold on to your acronyms as we dive into the NFT wormhole to help you understand: WTF are NFTs and what does crypto-mania have to do with a 250 year old art auction house? Why NFTs for virtual game p...
Episode 2: Woebot & Mental Health AI
March 16, 2021 20:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MBIn this episode, we explore Woebot and the rise of artificial intelligence used for mental health and therapy. Are cute chatbots really the solution to scale mental health support for the billions? You might want to lie down on a couch as we unpack the big questions... What is Woebot and how on earth are we programming Cognitive Behavioral Therapy into code-based talking bots? What are the trade-offs of sharing our most intimate thoughts (and health data) with a machine-powered confidant?...
Episode 1: Clubhouse & Social Audio
March 15, 2021 16:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MBIn this episode, we explore the hot new voice-only app called Clubhouse, and the rise of voice interactive social media, better known as social audio. Why are people freaking out about Clubhouse, and is it really a new market, or just a new feature? We cut right to it and explore this super-hyped new platform to help you navigate: What is Clubhouse and why is there so_much_noise about another social media app?? Are we looking at (much-needed) innovation in social media, or just another d...