Techdirt
397 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 21 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 48 ratingsThe Techdirt Podcast, hosted by Michael Masnick.
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Episodes
Games That Tell Stories
December 12, 2017 20:08 - 46 minutes - 52.7 MBGaming is changing the nature of storytelling. Video games of course — but also the modern rise of board games, tabletop RPGs and other forms of analog gaming. A good game does more than just arbitrarily pair play with a veneer of narrative, it marries the mechanics and the ideas to enable interesting new ways of conveying and exploring complex ideas. This week, we're joined by game designer Randy Lubin to discuss how games can tell stories in a way nothing else can.
Can A Trivia App Resurrect Appointment Viewing?
December 05, 2017 19:49 - 32 minutes - 36.7 MBNormally, we wouldn't dedicate a whole episode of the podcast to talking about a single app — but every now and then something small comes along that contains innovations worth exploring. So this week, we're taking a look at the hit trivia app HQ, which is one of the first new things in recent memory to gain real momentum with "appointment viewing".
Tom Wheeler Reacts To Trump's FCC
November 28, 2017 21:07 - 37 minutes - 42.9 MBIf you're a Techdirt reader or just a general regular on the ol' internet, our topic this week — the current situation with net neutrality and the FCC — needs little introduction. And we've got two very special guests joining us to discuss it: former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler (author of the rules that Ajit Pai is currently undoing) and his former advisor Gigi Sohn (who joined us on the podcast in February to predict pretty much exactly what is now happening). There are few people as qualified to ...
The Perils Of Internet Platform Regulation
November 14, 2017 21:01 - 45 minutes - 52.4 MBWe've been talking about internet platform regulation for a long time, but in the past year these issues have gotten a huge amount of increased focus — for a bunch of fairly obvious reasons. But a lot of people who are fairly new to the issue tend to make a lot of questionable assumptions and jump to some problematic conclusions, so this week we're joined by someone who has been studying these questions for many years — Annemarie Bridy, a law professor at the University of Idaho and Affiliate...
No Easy Answers: Facebook & The Election
November 07, 2017 20:35 - 47 minutes - 54.2 MBI don't think I need to say much to introduce this week's topic — we're all well aware of the conversation about Facebook's role in the presidential election, including questions of filter bubbles, fake news, foreign influence, and so on and so on. As is always the case in situations like this, a lot of people seem to be looking for easy answers, and easy places to point fingers of blame, so in this week's episode we're discussing why it's just not that simple.
Who Still Needs A Personal Computer?
October 24, 2017 19:43 - 36 minutes - 41.3 MBAs smartphones and other mobile devices have gotten smarter and smarter, they've taken over more and more of most people's general computing needs, and the importance of the classic personal computer has waned. And so for some time the question has been: will the PC ever go away entirely? That's our topic this week as we try to figure out who really needs a PC these days, and when and if that will change.
Donald Trump, Howard Stern... And Copyright
October 17, 2017 20:16 - 35 minutes - 40.1 MBThis episode was supposed to come two weeks ago when the news was a little fresher, so by now you almost certainly know all about the copyright claims on Donald Trump's appearances on the Howard Stern show. Though delayed by an outage at our cloud recording provider, the episode is still an interesting listen, with frequent Techdirt contributor Cathy Gellis joining the podcast to discuss the deeper question of whether copyright truly even exists on the interviews in the first place. Sorry for...
WTF With Tim O'Reilly
October 10, 2017 20:08 - 45 minutes - 52.6 MBThe rapid forward march of technology has long bred two leading camps of onlookers: the techno-optimists and the techno-pessimists. Honest people on both sides, however, must admit that technological innovation has had both positive and negative effects. Internet legend Tim O'Reilly is one of the people who think a lot about these issues, and his new book WTF? What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us — which discusses in detail the world that we are building with technology — was released toda...
How Scandalous Are Facebook's Ad Scandals?
September 26, 2017 17:41 - 51 minutes - 59.3 MBFacebook is under a lot of scrutiny these days over its advertising and content moderation systems, especially since the high-profile revelation of Russia-backed ads during the election. But are things being blown out of proportion? And what, exactly, is to be done? This week we dig in to Facebook's ongoing advertising scandals, and debate what they really mean.
When Godwin's Law Met The Streisand Effect
September 19, 2017 19:59 - 27 minutes - 31.4 MBLast Friday on Techdirt, we posted video from the World Hosting Days, in which Mike Masnick sat down for a talk with Mike Godwin — a.k.a. the originator of "the Streisand Effect" meeting the creator of "Godwin's Law". As promised, we've got the audio from the event for this week's podcast, so if you haven't watched the video (or you just want to revisit it) tune in for a fun discussion about the history and changing meaning of these now-famous terms. Watch the video: https://www.techdirt.com...
Customize Everything!
September 12, 2017 18:32 - 42 minutes - 49.1 MBWhile the 20th century was defined by mass production, since the digital revolution there has been talk about what might be the main trend of the 21st century: mass customization. Today, we're starting to see customizable mass-produced offerings pop up in a number of spaces such as apparel, and this week we discuss whether mass customization is finally approaching critical mass.
Pokémon Gone?
August 29, 2017 20:01 - 38 minutes - 43.8 MBJust over a year ago, when Pokémon Go was taking the world by storm, we dedicated an episode of the podcast to discussing what made it so successful, and ended up with some differing predictions about what its future would be. Now, with the hype long and truly over but the game still far from dead (though just how far is up for debate), it's time to revisit the subject and figure out who, if anyone, was right about the future of Pokémon Go. Hear the original episode: https://soundcloud.com/t...
20 Years Of Techdirt
August 22, 2017 19:58 - 1 hour - 79.6 MBCan you believe it? Tomorrow is our 20th anniversary! Techdirt has come a long way since Mike started it as a newsletter on August 23rd, 1997, and this week's episode of the podcast is a celebration and exploration of that history. Mike and Dennis are joined by Medium's Alex Feerst acting as moderator/interviewer to discuss the past 20 years of Techdirt.
The Problems With SESTA And Why Section 230 Matters
August 15, 2017 18:33 - 45 minutes - 51.8 MBRecently, we've been writing about SESTA, Congress' latest attack on Section 230 of the CDA, and helping to organize a campaign against it. But there's still a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation out there regarding the bill, so this week we're joined by Daphne Keller from Stanford's Center For Internet And Society and Emma Llansó from the Center for Democracy and Technology to dig deeper into the problems with the bill and why protecting Section 230 is vital.
These Scammers Picked The Wrong Guy
August 08, 2017 19:13 - 36 minutes - 42.1 MBIf you're a fan of the Reply All podcast, then you're probably still processing the story they told in a recent two-part episode about the insane lengths that host Alex Goldman went to track down a phone scammer. If you haven't heard the story, and you think you've seen all there is to see on the "messing with scammers" front... well, you're in for a surprise. We strongly suggest you listen to the Reply All story first — then listen to our conversation with Alex about the whole saga on this w...
Is There Any Smartphone Innovation Left?
August 01, 2017 20:22 - 44 minutes - 50.6 MBSmartphones have been one of the most world-changing innovations of our time — and for a long time, smartphone design was a hotbed of innovation. But more recently that innovation seems to have stagnated. So where does this technology go next? That's the subject of this weeks episode, in which we try to figure out whether smartphone innovation is still happening.
Is The Economy More Important Than Democracy?
July 25, 2017 19:54 - 50 minutes - 58.2 MBThe economy is important — very important. But is that because it matters in and of itself, or because it's the engine for achieving the things we really do care about? Here at Techdirt we've always been strong advocates of the free market, but we've never been absolutists about things like regulation, and we believe it's very important to explore these issues in detail. This week on the podcast we're joined by James Allworth, co-host of the Exponent podcast and author of a recent post entitl...
Is It Bad If Facebook Copies Everything Snapchat Does?
July 18, 2017 20:06 - 52 minutes - 60.3 MBYou may have heard the joke: the best way to do product design for Facebook is to get a job at Snapchat. We've all seen how, after failing to buy the company, Facebook has wasted little time in building its own versions of most of Snapchat's key features. So... is this a problem? That's the subject on this week's episode, were we discuss the ins and outs of this kind of copying and what it might mean for the future of social media.
Rob Reid On Writing & Publishing A SciFi Novel In 2017
July 11, 2017 19:37 - 52 minutes - 60.1 MBIf you read our post yesterday, you know that Techdirt friend Rob Reid is releasing his latest novel, After On by publishing the first near-half of the book for free on Medium ( https://medium.com/s/after-on/ ). As promised, today we're joined by Rob on the podcast for a discussion about the book, the launch, and what it's like to publish science fiction in 2017. And don't forget to get your copy of the book at http://amzn.to/2sWUBRE
Patent Trolls, With Cloudflare's General Counsel
June 27, 2017 19:15 - 39 minutes - 44.8 MBAs we reported last month, CDN provider Cloudflare has decided to hit back against patent troll Blackbird Technologies with an aggressive strategy. Leading this charge is Doug Kramer, Cloudflare's General Counsel, who joins us this week to discuss the current situation with Blackbird and the broader patent landscape.
Copyright, Music & 'Theft'
June 20, 2017 19:42 - 55 minutes - 64.1 MBThis week's episode is all about copyright and culture, with a pair of the best guests you could ask for on the subject. Almost ten years ago, law professors Keith Aoki, James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins released a comic book about copyright called Bound By Law, and now they are back with a sequel: Theft: A History of Music. This week, James and Jennifer join us to discuss the new comic and the history of copyright and music (with lots of fair use music snippets to demonstrate the legacy of 't...
Talking Freedom Of Information With A "FOIA Terrorist"
June 13, 2017 19:56 - 40 minutes - 55.9 MBWe've made FOIA requests several times over the years, with varying results — but there are others out there who have dedicated their careers to understanding and using the FOIA process. One such person is Jason Leopold, a Buzzfeed reporter and FOIA litigator who was dubbed a "FOIA terrorist" by the government. He joins us this week on the podcast to discuss the ins and outs of Freedom Of Information.
Re-Decentralizing The Web
June 06, 2017 19:39 - 53 minutes - 73.6 MBOne of the fundamental strengths of the internet has always been its decentralization, but over time we've seen a bunch of different forces start to distort this setup. This week, we're joined by Jamie King, director of Steal This Film and host of the Steal This Show podcast to discuss the ongoing efforts to restore the decentralization of the web.
The Future Of Internet Copyright, With TechFreedom
May 30, 2017 19:32 - 32 minutes - 44.2 MBThis week we've got a special crossover episode with our friends at TechFreedom. Mike joined their Tech Policy Podcast recently to discuss notice and takedown systems and the future of internet copyright, and we're cross-posting the conversation as an episode of the Techdirt Podcast too.
No, The MP3 Isn't Dead
May 23, 2017 20:04 - 40 minutes - 55.9 MBWhen the "death of the MP3" started being reported, we were among the very few blogs that said umm, no — but the deluge of eulogies for the still-thriving format has been overwhelming and quite surprising. This week I join the podcast to discuss why the MP3 isn't dead, and how so much of the tech press got it so wrong.
Truth And Fiction With Cory Doctorow
May 16, 2017 19:39 - 48 minutes - 66.8 MBMost Techdirt readers are already familiar with Cory Doctorow, whether via his EFF work, the BoingBoing blog, his novels, or all of the above. This week, he joins us on the podcast to discuss his new book Walkaway and much, much more.
The Crypto Wars May Never End
May 09, 2017 19:20 - 41 minutes - 56.8 MBThe current instalment of the crypto wars hit full stride with the clash between Apple and the FBI, but in truth the tension over encryption has been around for a long time — and it doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. As our readers know, Tim Cushing has been following these developments closely, and this week he joins the podcast for a discussion about encryption, law enforcement and "going dark".
The Surveillance State
May 02, 2017 19:59 - 1 hour - 97.4 MBIn the post-Snowden era, we don't have to tell you how important it is to stay engaged with (and vigilant about) the surveillance state in America. Jennifer Granick is the Director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, and author of the new book American Spies — and this week she joins us for an in-depth discussion about the surveillance state today. Of course, shortly after we recorded this podcast, the NSA made major changes to one of its surveillance programs,...
Does Pharma Really Need Patents?
April 27, 2017 19:54 - 53 minutes - 73.4 MBIt doesn't take many stories of people suffering due to unaffordable medicine to make you question the state of pharmaceutical patents, but the arguments in their defense are loud and frequent. Most are variations on the same theme: without the promise of a monopoly, important drugs would never be researched and developed. But does this argument truly hold up? It's come up as a tangent in previous episodes of the podcast, but this week we're dedicating a full episode to questioning the popula...
The Evolution Of The Office
April 18, 2017 20:25 - 41 minutes - 57.4 MBWe've talked before about how the very nature of work is changing thanks to technology, with telecommuting being an obvious trend — but despite some early predictions about the death of the physical office, the reality is offices have been evolving and changing thanks to technology and innovation too. This week, we discuss co-working spaces and other trends in the evolution of offices.
Why This ISP Supports Net Neutrality, Privacy Rules And More
April 11, 2017 19:48 - 52 minutes - 72.5 MBSince Congress threw out new privacy rules for ISPs that were supposed to come into effect soon, there's been a renewed uproar on all sides of the debate about internet regulation. While the big ISPs generally want to be able to do as they please, there are smaller service providers out there that fully understand and embrace the need for privacy, net neutrality and more. One such ISP is Sonic, and this week we're joined by CEO Dane Jasper to discuss why these rules are a good thing.
The Truth About VPNs
April 04, 2017 19:44 - 40 minutes - 55.1 MBFor a long time now, "use a VPN" has been the default online privacy advice — but is it really so effective? Following the recent VPN boom that came on the tails of Congress scrapping new ISP privacy rules, a few security experts have stepped forward to explain how VPNs aren't all they're cracked up to be, and choosing and using one isn't as easy as many articles and social media posts suggest. Among them are this week's guests, Kevin Riggle (who provided a quick and dirty primer with the key...
The End Of Ownership
March 28, 2017 19:31 - 46 minutes - 63.3 MBThe basic impetus behind DRM is obvious: a frantic, misguided desire to make digital products behave like physical ones. But the truth is DRM goes far, far beyond that, restricting all sorts of activities that are intrinsic to the idea of "owning" something. Two people who have thought a lot about this are law professors Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz, authors of the new book The End Of Ownership. This week, Aaron and Jason join the podcast to discuss the book and the worrying status of ...
Alexa, Play This Podcast
March 21, 2017 20:05 - 49 minutes - 67.5 MBAlways-on, voice-operated assistants are on the rise, and most of the industry seems to have agreed that Amazon's Alexa is at the top of the pack. Podcast host Dennis Yang was and is an early adopter of these devices, so this week he's brought along Alexa, Google Now and Siri as guests for a discussion about the future of this technology.
Will Regulations Ground Drone Innovation?
March 14, 2017 19:39 - 41 minutes - 56.7 MBThe rise of drones in both the personal and commercial spheres has happened with stunning speed, and its created a whole bunch of hard-to-answer regulatory questions. This week we're joined by Notifleet's Siggi Hindrichs to discuss the current state and future of drone regulation by the FAA.
When A Typo Breaks The Internet
March 07, 2017 20:49 - 54 minutes - 75.1 MBFrom its humble origins as an online bookseller that many people worried might not survive, Amazon has grown into a critical piece of the web's backbone via its Amazon Web Services platform. Last week's S3 outage made this painfully clear, and understandably raised lots of concerns — especially after it was revealed that the whole thing was caused by a typo. So this week we're discussing whether something needs to be done, and what that might be.
The Miracle Of Booking Flights
February 28, 2017 23:06 - 39 minutes - 54.7 MBThe finding and booking of flights is a massive and elaborate global mechanism that contains both fascinating technology and useful secrets. This week, we're joined by Adam Fletcher, co-founder of Gyroscope Software and an architect of Google's airline reservation system, to talk about all the technology behind commercial air travel today.
Luck In Silicon Valley, With Robert Frank
February 21, 2017 21:08 - 39 minutes - 54.4 MBInnovation isn't easy, but success in Silicon Valley involves a bigger dose of luck than a lot of entrepreneurs seem prepared to admit. Chance gets left out of the economic equation all too often, and this week we're joined by Mike's own Econ 101 professor from Cornell, Robert Frank, to discuss the role of luck in the world of entrepreneurs and innovation.
The New FCC
February 14, 2017 20:38 - 45 minutes - 62.6 MBNet neutrality is at risk. The FCC under Ajit Pai is clearly intent on destroying it, and this is quickly turning into a fight for the future of the internet. This week, we're joined by Gigi Sohn, one of former chairman Tom Wheeler top advisors at the FCC and now a fellow at the Open Society Foundation, to discuss what's happening at the FCC and what needs to be done in response.
Autonomous Cars Are Accelerating
February 07, 2017 20:39 - 41 minutes - 57 MBThe adoption of self-driving cars is rapidly changing from science fiction to present reality. We had a preliminary discussion on the subject here on the podcast a couple years ago, but today we're digging more deeply the impact this is having, especially on policy. R Street Institute senior fellow Ian Adams joins us as a special guest this week for a discussion about the many implications of this accelerating technological shift.
Changing Government Starts With You
January 31, 2017 21:13 - 41 minutes - 56.5 MBFor obvious reasons, politics and government are on just about everyone's mind at the moment, prompting a vast range of reactions and opinions. A lot of people who share a desire for change are divided not only by what form they think that change should take, but by what methods they think should be employed to achieve it. Former Senate staffer and long-time Techdirt friend Jennifer Hoelzer recently wrote a column entitled Your Government Won't Change... Unless You Do and this week she joins ...
An Office In A Bag
January 24, 2017 20:10 - 53 minutes - 73.5 MBAfter years of working on the go, Mike has the mobile office down to a science — and wherever he sets it up, nearby gadget geeks have plenty of questions and comments. So this week we're joined by Espree Devora, host of the podcasts Women In Tech and We Are L.A. Tech, for a fun discussion about today's high-tech offices-in-bags.
The CES 2017 Post-Mortem
January 17, 2017 20:39 - 50 minutes - 69.6 MBLast year, we got a lot of positive feedback on our episode taking a look at the Consumer Electronics Show with the help of journalist Rob Pegoraro. So this year, we've brought Rob back for another look at the highs and lows of CES.
The Pros And Cons Of Pros And Cons
January 10, 2017 20:57 - 45 minutes - 62.7 MBOn the surface, the idea of "pro and con" debates seems like a good way to ensure an issue is fully explored. But is it truly a productive approach? This week, we debate the nature of debates and possible alternatives to the adversarial approach.
Is The Internet Of Things The Future, A Total Mess, Or Both?
December 20, 2016 20:32 - 50 minutes - 69.5 MBThe internet of things has been taking plenty of flack ever since the first time someone floated the idea of a connected fridge or some-such in the 90s — but despite the knee-jerk instinct to scoff at some things, the truth is there are all sorts of interesting possibilities emerging from all these "pointless" connected devices. Of course, there are also some serious security concerns... This week, we discuss IoT and what the ever-increasing presence of such devices means for the future.
Can We Really Colonize Mars?
December 13, 2016 18:36 - 45 minutes - 62.7 MBElon Musk got plenty of attention recently for announcing his plans to colonize Mars. But that's not exactly a new idea — so we wondered if it was really a different, exciting and realistic plan, or just a reiteration of the standard far-flung dream. To answer that question, we brought in three experts: Amy Shira Teitel (a space and flight historian and creator of YouTube's Vintage Space videos), JPL's Fred Calef (a Mars geologist and "keeper of the maps" for Mars rovers), and the New Space I...
Where Do You Get Your News?
December 06, 2016 20:53 - 47 minutes - 65.8 MBThe news industry has been in an ongoing state of upheaval ever since the dawn of the internet. In addition to the many ways that technology changes reporting and publishing, there has also been a profound effect on how people find their news. This week, we step away from the big debate about echo chambers and filter bubbles, and talk about evolving news-finding habits and what they mean for the industry.
Supporting Creators, With Patreon Founder Jack Conte
November 30, 2016 17:16 - 39 minutes - 53.6 MBIt's our 100th episode! And to celebrate, we're not only talking with Patreon founder Jack Conte, we're announcing that the Techdirt Podcast is now on Patreon too!
Debating The Facebook Filter Bubble, With Mathew Ingram
November 15, 2016 20:22 - 47 minutes - 65.2 MBThough the notion of the Facebook "filter bubble" has been around for a while, it's picked up a huge amount of steam following the election of Donald Trump — perhaps just a little too much steam. While Techdirt has long been of the opinion that pointing fingers at Facebook is misguided, there are plenty of people who disagree. This week, we're joined by one such person — long-time media commentator and senior editor at Fortune Mathew Ingram — for a lively debate about just how much of a probl...
Is There A Better Way To Pick A President?
November 08, 2016 18:07 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBWell, today's the day. By tomorrow there will be a new President of the United States, and a large segment of the population claiming that they were robbed by the system. But immediate anger aside, that system is hardly above criticism: the Electoral College has had all sorts of unanticipated and often undesirable effects on democracy, and a wide variety of alternatives have been proposed. This week we discuss the question: is there a better way to pick the president?