Marketplace Tech
1,048 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 19 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 1.2K ratingsMonday through Friday, Marketplace demystifies the digital economy in less than 10 minutes. We look past the hype and ask tough questions about an industry that’s constantly changing.
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Episodes
Antitrust regulators have an eye on Big Tech’s spending spree
May 20, 2020 10:33 - 5 minutes - 11.8 MBUber looking to buy Grubhub. Facebook buying Giphy. Apple nabbing NextVR. Host Molly Wood speaks with Mark Lemley, who teaches antitrust and internet law at Stanford University, about whether regulators will take action against any of these deals. He says Facebook buying Giphy, for example, may not be any worse than its purchase of Instagram. But the combined weight of so many acquisitions could prompt regulators to wade in.
A new strategy for 5G without Huawei
May 19, 2020 10:10 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBThe Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei sells a lot of the complex hardware needed for 5G. But what if there were a way to build the networks that didn’t depend on Huawei? A group of 31 companies are pushing for devices that let software do most of the heavy lifting. Host Molly Wood speaks with Doug Brake, director of broadband and spectrum policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
Real estate disruptors got disrupted by COVID-19
May 18, 2020 10:24 - 6 minutes - 11.8 MBThe biggest instant homebuyers — Opendoor, Zillow, Offerpad and Redfin — stopped making purchases in March, in some cases backing out of deals and forfeiting their deposits. Now, some iBuyers are coming back, but they’ll need to prove the model can survive a downturn. Marketplace’s Amy Scott speaks with Mike DelPrete, who watches iBuying closely. He’s a scholar-in-residence at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Ransomware attacks against hospitals are on the rise
May 15, 2020 10:22 - 5 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Marketplace correspondent Scott Tong about the increase in ransomware attacks against hospitals and other health-care facilities. Tong says places that are working on coronavirus testing and vaccines appear to be especially popular targets. And because these institutions are anxious to restore access to potentially lost patient information, they may ignore authorities’ advice and pay the ransoms.
COVID-19 is pushing notaries into the digital age
May 14, 2020 09:52 - 5 minutes - 11.8 MBNotarization has been around for centuries. It’s when an official of the state verifies a person’s identity so she can buy a house, adopt a child or draft a will. Lots of states allow online notarization, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced others states to follow. On “Marketplace Tech” today, a look at how online notarization works, why it costs more and how secure the practice is.
Finding ways to mourn online, as the coronavirus keeps us apart
May 13, 2020 10:41 - 7 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Sarah Chavez, executive director of the nonprofit group The Order of the Good Death. Social distancing makes it hard to mourn together deaths from the pandemic or other causes. So people are turning to digital spaces to remember their loved ones. Chavez says some people are even creating digital altars in the video game Animal Crossing.
Coronavirus conspiracy theories don’t go viral by accident
May 12, 2020 09:47 - 9 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Renée DiResta, the technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory, about coronavirus disinformation campaigns. YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have been trying to chase the conspiracies off the internet, but DiResta says it’s not an accident these theories reach so many people. It’s an old playbook that’s even more effective in a time of fear and uncertainty.
Zoom could be the new language of film
May 11, 2020 09:44 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Ann Hornaday, a film critic at The Washington Post, about the future of films in the pandemic era. Since lots of people are working from home and using Zoom, she says it will eventually be a stylistic option for directors trying to convey what it was like living through 2020. It’s just a matter of time, she says, before the first Zoom movie.
Etsy is doing very well during the pandemic
May 08, 2020 10:51 - 11 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Etsy CEO Josh Silverman about how the platform has been a go-to for people looking for fabric masks. Silverman says that Etsy sellers had to pivot to making and selling masks after the CDC announced that everyone should be wearing them outside. The company helped sell more than 12 million masks last month.
Political advertising during COVID-19 is the calm before the storm
May 07, 2020 10:35 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams, who covers politics and the economy, about how political ads are changing during the pandemic. Adams says online ads may be cheaper, helping cash-strapped campaigns, but consumers are even less in the mood for content that doesn’t either cheer them up or inform them about COVID-19. It could also mean that online ads are way more accessible to bad actors looking to spread misinformation.
The tech industry says immigration makes the U.S. more competitive
May 06, 2020 10:55 - 6 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Michael Petricone of the Consumer Technology Association about the Trump administration’s executive order on green cards and how it’ll affect the tech industry. Petricone says that immigrants make the U.S. economy and tech industry stronger. He adds that limitations on green cards and visas could make it harder for the economy to recover once the COVID-19 pandemic recedes.
Safety or surveillance: drones and the COVID-19 pandemic
May 05, 2020 10:30 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Ryan Calo, a professor of law at the University of Washington, about the legalities involved in police using drones to monitor social distancing requirements during this pandemic. Calo says that though it can be legal, he is worried about surveillance being combined with AI tools that purport to detect whether people are sick. He raises concerns about companies selling “technical snake oil” and increasing anxieties in an already anxious environment.
Scientists are working furiously to create COVID-19 tests
May 04, 2020 10:47 - 11 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Dr. Loren Wold, from the nursing school of Ohio State University, about how he and OSU colleagues have adapted to create COVID-19 tests. He says they’ve needed to create their own fluids to stabilize samples, 3D-print their own nasal swabs and figure out supply chain logistics for test tubes.
Small business emergency lending program expands fintechs’ portfolios
May 01, 2020 10:41 - 9 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Felix Salmon, chief financial correspondent at Axios, about fintech companies getting involved in the PPP loan program for small businesses. He says PayPal, Square and other fintechs aren’t likely to beef up that side of their businesses beyond the federal program, mainly because they’re not well-equipped to gauge risks on loans that aren’t guaranteed by the government.
COVID-19 tracing apps might not be optional at work
April 30, 2020 11:03 - 11 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with David Sapin, who works for consulting firm PwC, about the company’s new contact-tracing app. After an employee self-reports being positive for coronavirus, Sapin says, the human resources department could see if the exposed employee came into contact with co-workers and notify them. He says the app only traces contacts at the workplace, not outside.
If it looks phishy, don’t click. COVID-19 is spawning lots of online scams.
April 29, 2020 10:51 - 9 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Lily Hay Newman, a reporter at Wired, about the recent surge of phishing emails. Newman says with the distraction of the pandemic, people online are more vulnerable to hackers asking for information like login credentials. Some of these messages, she adds, are disguised as fast-food coupons, making it challenging to detect the fraud.
Houseparty is having a moment. Are your guest lists updated?
April 28, 2020 10:45 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with the CEO of Houseparty, Sima Sistani, about the sudden surge in the use of the app as people quarantining at home connect for video chats with friends and family. Like Zoom, Houseparty’s privacy practices have come under scrutiny as millions more are using the platform. Keep a close eye on your connections lists, Sistani says, and privacy should not be an issue.
The coronavirus outbreak means an opportunity for fintech companies
April 27, 2020 11:00 - 5 minutes - 11.8 MBIn the United States, we’ve traditionally liked using cash and credit cards to pay for things. But the COVID-19 crisis means we’re buying different things in new ways. That represents an opportunity for people to start using financial technology apps like Venmo and Square, even in typically analog places, like farmers markets.
We can still watch TV together — virtually, that is
April 24, 2020 11:07 - 7 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi about simultaneous show and movie watching options that are helping us be alone together during the pandemic. He says people have the options of creating group watches via Netflix Party and gaming streaming sites. “Gaming is the new social network,” he says.
Digital ads are disappearing, seriously denting revenue for Big Tech
April 23, 2020 10:26 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Sara Fischer, a media reporter at Axios, about the state of the digital advertising industry. Usually, Fischer said, the ad industry as a whole grows along with U.S. GDP, with the digital segment outperforming. Since the economy has gone south during the coronavirus pandemic, the digital ad industry’s initial 2020 growth estimate of 12% has dwindled to 4%. Yet even its shriveled prospects look good relative to other media.
Is 3D printing ready to fill the gaps in COVID-19 medical equipment needs?
April 22, 2020 10:34 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Avi Reichental, an early pioneer in 3D printing, about how 3D printers could help fill the gap for much needed PPE during this pandemic. He says that not only are companies making things, but so are many people who have 3D printers at home. Now, he says, FDA regulations should be revisited and revised so 3D PPE can be quickly approved and certified.
Elections 2020: Pandemic may accelerate online voting solutions
April 21, 2020 11:09 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks to Michael Alvarez, professor of political and computational social science at Caltech, about the possibility of people voting online in the November general election. During this pandemic, when people want to minimize coming into contact with other people and anything physical that can potentially transmit COVID-19, like paper, Alvarez says there might be the possibility of people voting through an app to minimize that friction. But federal and state governments, he a...
Doing school online: plenty of tech tools, and a learning curve
April 20, 2020 11:02 - 9 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Holli Plummer, who teaches English and history at a Los Angeles private school, about the learning curve all teachers and students are facing now that everything is being taught online. Plummer says teachers from all over the world are coming together to find solutions to making online learning as effective as traditional classes.
Not enough VR headsets to meet demand. Thanks / no thanks, COVID-19.
April 17, 2020 10:51 - 7 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Adi Robertson, a senior reporter at The Verge, about how virtual reality is having its time right now. However, due to the global pandemic, VR headsets are on a shortage, which might make the product miss its spotlight. Robertson says we shouldn’t think of VR as a tool for online and homeschooling because it’s expensive and inaccessible for students, given the shortage — not to mention students who already have a hard time getting access to the internet and a dece...
Can tech trace the spread of coronavirus? Maybe. Maybe not.
April 16, 2020 10:55 - 9 minutes - 11.8 MBWhen someone tests positive for COVID-19, one way to try to prevent its spread is for public health officials to track down all the people that person has been in contact with and then isolate them. This is called contact tracing, and the U.S. hasn’t done a great job of it so far. Now Big Tech wants to get involved. Apple and Google announced a program where they allow people who’ve tested positive for the virus to tell an app, which then alerts people nearby via Bluetooth technology. Will i...
Startup helps feed bank accounts of food stamp recipients
April 15, 2020 10:48 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of the startup Propel, which makes an app called Fresh EBT. The app helps recipients of SNAP, also known as food stamps, digitally check their balances. Now, Propel has partnered with GiveDirectly, a nonprofit, to give a one-time cash gift to users of the Fresh EBT app, beginning in areas hardest hit by COVID-19.
Does my COVID-19 moment look good on Instagram? The creator economy tries new angles
April 14, 2020 10:40 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Sarah Frier, a social media reporter for Bloomberg News, about her new book “No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram.” Originally, the incentive on Instagram was to get as many followers, likes and comments as possible on content posted, but during this pandemic, Frier says, influencers on the platform are sharing entertainment via live videos and stories — tools that were less popular pre-pandemic. She also predicts that Instagram won’t go back to mostly aspirat...
Climate change + pandemic means new math for investors
April 13, 2020 10:48 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Jay Koh, managing director of the private equity firm the Lightsmith Group, which focuses on climate adaptation technology. As the pandemic keeps people quarantined at home, the fight against climate change isn’t paused. And Koh says after the pandemic, people may reevaluate the way they travel, which could permanently lower our carbon footprint.
Unemployment programs can’t handle signups because … COBOL?
April 10, 2020 10:48 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Joseph Steinberg, a cybersecurity consultant, about why some state and federal computing infrastructures are still running on the decades-old coding language COBOL. New Jersey’s recent surge of unemployment benefit claims overwhelmed the system. It might need to be replaced or at least scaled up, Steinberg says, and that can be expensive.
Feds should call Big Tech to fight COVID-19, says Silicon Valley lawmaker Ro Khanna
April 09, 2020 10:26 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California, a Democrat whose 17th District includes Silicon Valley, about how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting business for tech companies. Many of these companies, he says, have been pitching various tech-based solutions, and many are still not being used. Right now he is also working with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other legislators to help gig workers maintain their flow of income.
Venture-backed startups were left out of COVID-19 relief bill’s loan program
April 08, 2020 10:30 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Aziz Gilani of venture capital firm Mercury Fund about why venture-backed startup companies are not included in the coronavirus relief bill, which allows small businesses to apply for loans. Congress did not intend to leave startups out, he says, but the oversight means his company is scrambling to find ways to support some 40 companies in Mercury’s portfolio.
This gig worker had to choose between work and her health
April 07, 2020 10:30 - 5 minutes - 11.8 MBKimberly James, 46, of Rome, Georgia, is a gig worker who has delivered food and transported passengers. But she has health problems, and has had to stop working to minimize her exposure to COVID-19. But, as a gig worker, not an employee, she has way fewer options for how to keep herself afloat financially.
How tech connects older people with mental health services as COVID-19 isolates
April 06, 2020 10:55 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Kimberly Adams speaks with her sister, Nichole Adams-Flores, psychology supervisor for CHE Behavioral Health Services, about how telehealth has changed during the pandemic to allow her to continue offering mental health care to the elderly patients she works with. Now, Adams-Flores says, they are allowed to use popular apps like WhatsApp or FaceTime to stay in touch with loved ones and doctors. It does pose some patient privacy questions, and Adams-Flores says that’s been a big topic of...
Ubiquitous Amazon and our new COVID-19 life
April 03, 2020 10:47 - 7 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Kimberly Adams speaks with Matt Day, a tech reporter at Bloomberg, about Amazon’s current state as it is still shipping out products during this pandemic when people are being ordered to stay at home. Workers at Amazon warehouses, Day says, have organized walkouts and speaking out about their working conditions — working more to ship out both essential and nonessential goods. Day notes, however, that Amazon’s core business model isn’t only e-commerce, but also anything regarding Amazon ...
Is it possible that Zoom is not ready for its moment in the spotlight?
April 02, 2020 10:45 - 7 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Kim Zetter, a cybersecurity journalist, about the spike of Zoom bombing — a new phenomenon where strangers obtain Zoom meeting IDs and barge in digitally to disrupt the meeting. Zoom is also facing different scrutiny, Zetter says, now that it was discovered that the platform had been sharing data to Facebook without being fully transparent. Zetter adds that Zoom users — especially those hosting digital meetings — should be mindful of the privacy breaches the platf...
For the most efficient humanitarian response to COVID-19, mine the data
April 01, 2020 10:37 - 11 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation. Back in 2014, Shah was in charge of leading the Ebola response in West Africa, and only with data metrics, he says, was his team of epidemiologists able to identify those who had tested positive with the disease and those who at least had symptoms of the disease. With that in mind, Shah says the U.S. should create some sort of data-driven response to identify the same issues with COVID-19 — who’s tested positive...
The tech that can help crank out more critical care hospital space
March 31, 2020 10:45 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Chris Giattina, CEO of the Alabama-based manufacturing and design firm Blox, which specializes in modular medical facility construction. During this time of crisis, when hospitals are reaching their capacity to treat regular patients on top of treating those with COVID-19, Blox is beginning production on its mobile isolation care units, or MICUs, to help alleviate hospital space. With Blox’s technology, these modular medical facilities are built in only weeks, rat...
Creating COVID-19 tests is complicated science, and business
March 30, 2020 10:36 - 6 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Jacqueline Linnes, a professor of biomedical engineering who runs a lab at Purdue University, about what sort of tech is needed to produce COVID-19 tests in the face of a shortage. She says production at scale during the pandemic is the biggest challenge. Linnes also says academia may be prompted by the accelerated work during the pandemic to rethink how peer reviews are conducted. A lot of peer reviewers are usually excited to read about the next big thing around...
A futurist on navigating change forced by the pandemic: fight the fear
March 27, 2020 10:55 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks again with Amy Webb, futurist and founder of the Future Today Institute, about the fear-versus-optimism side of tech during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who see this pandemic as an opportunity to pause and really prioritize what sorts of scientific and tech advances should be done, Webb says, will move forward and will be OK at the end. On the other hand, she says, those who oppose the fact that the future will now look different than originally envisioned will have a ...
What tech do we have for living through a pandemic? And what tech do we wish we had?
March 26, 2020 10:43 - 5 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Amy Webb, futurist and founder of the Future Today Institute, about the tech we have and wish we had during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are lucky this pandemic didn’t happen even 30 years ago, Webb says, given the many ways we can now connect and communicate with our colleagues, friends and family via video calls. Webb also expects tech companies to accelerate the technology around drones and autonomous vehicles that deliver essential goods to people’s homes.
Social media platforms are fighting disinformation, but with half the resources
March 25, 2020 10:50 - 11 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former chief information security officer, about disinformation around COVID-19 on social media. A lot of people are working from home, which includes tech employees who are in charge of moderating content on social platforms. At home, they might not be supervised the same way they would at tech company offices, where high security measures might ensure that they are not sharing users’ personal information. So how are social platforms manag...
How COVID-19 may further erode our digital privacy
March 24, 2020 11:04 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks to Alexander Howard, the director of the Digital Democracy Project at the nonprofit Demand Progress, about the need for transparency regarding the data being collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Collecting certain data — like location, who is interacting with whom, and the last time a person was tested for coronavirus — is helpful to epidemiologists, Howard says. And, he adds, there should be discussions about how, and whether, the data will be used for other purpos...
Getting internet access to everyone during a pandemic is not an easy job
March 23, 2020 10:21 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Christopher Mitchell, director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Broadband Networks Initiative. Now that people are expected to work from home and students are required to be home-schooled during the COVID-19 pandemic, internet connectivity has become essential. Mitchell says cities and states need to develop a plan to expand broadband connectivity to those without access — especially now that people are being asked to not leave their homes.
If social media giants collaborate, can they wrestle down COVID-19 misinformation?
March 20, 2020 10:38 - 9 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Shira Ovide, a tech reporter at the New York Times, about how tech companies, like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, are in collaboration to fight misinformation around the coronavirus. Social giants are pushing official information from other organizations like the CDC and the World Health Organization that inform internet users more about the pandemic.
Now? Launch a startup now? History points to opportunity
March 19, 2020 10:37 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Michael Seibel, who leads the Y Combinator accelerator program, about whether it is a difficult thing to launch a startup during this global coronavirus pandemic. Some of the most successful startups began before, during and after the 2008 economic crash, he says.
B+ for secure government networks is not going to cut it in case of cyberattacks
March 18, 2020 10:47 - 6 minutes - 11.8 MBAt a moment when we would prefer it stay healthy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was the target of a cyberattack. Reports say the agency’s servers slowed down because they received millions of hits at the same time. Host Molly Wood talks about it with Mark Rasch, who runs a cybersecurity consulting company.
The COVID-19 crisis is making the internet more available
March 17, 2020 10:35 - 7 minutes - 11.8 MBAs more of us are working or learning from home, there’s going to be increased demands on our digital infrastructure, such as Wi-Fi, VPN and broadband. What can employers do to prepare? And what can workers do to cope? Host Molly Wood talks with Jonathan Reichental, the former chief information officer for the city of Palo Alto, California, and author of the book “Smarter Cities for Dummies.”
How can AI help biotech companies seeking vaccines?
March 16, 2020 10:25 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBAs we work to treat COVID-19, how can artificial intelligence help health care workers find the people who are most likely to become sick? And how could AI help prevent the spread of future viruses? Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks with Michael Greeley, co-founder and general partner of the biotech investment firm Flare Capital.
“Years and Years” showrunner on when tech’s great and grim
March 13, 2020 10:21 - 10 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Russell T. Davies about his BBC-HBO show “Years and Years.” Davies says that the family featured in the saga are forwarded 15 years into time and they experience every technological and humanistic evolution possible, like a character coming out as trans — not transgender, but transhuman (some robot parts in her). They also talk about the technology featured in the series.
#canceleverything = adios tech conferences. Now what?
March 12, 2020 10:34 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBHost Molly Wood speaks with Connie Guglielmo, editor-in-chief at CNET, about how a plurality of tech conferences have been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, and what that might mean for the tech industry. Guglielmo says that this will only allow tech companies to get creative by making the conferences more video-friendly and therefore accessible to anyone who wants to be part of them in a cheaper way. Wood also speaks with Karen Allen, a consultant to artists who livestreams on Twitch, abou...