What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future cover image

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

Latest episodes

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Jul 3, 2019 • 38min

Healthcare via Video Chat

In this episode, Shannon Palus explores the growing telehealth industry, where doctors and patients connect via video chat or sometimes just a secure message system. To figure out the benefits and potential drawbacks of telehealth, Shannon talks to Roy Schoenberg, president and CEO of American Well, one of the first big players in the space. Then Shannon talks to Slate writer Aaron Mak in this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Jun 26, 2019 • 44min

When Tech Journalism Took A Critical Turn

In this episode, April Glaser catches up with her former co-host Will Oremus. Then the two of them are joined by Future Tense editor Torie Bosch and New York Times opinion writer Farhad Manjoo to discuss why tech journalism has become far more critical in recent years.Plus, April and Will discuss futuristic science fiction scenarios on this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Jun 19, 2019 • 35min

When a Scooter Makes More Sense Than a Car

In this episode, guest host Henry Grabar looks at how Zillow is trying to disrupt the real estate business—and why it might work in some cities but not others. Then Horace Dediu answers Henry’s questions about bikes, scooters, and other miniature contraptions that might replace the automobile in cities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Jun 13, 2019 • 27min

How Driverless Cars Will Actually Work

In this episode April Glaser talks to Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora, a company that builds the technology for self-driving cars. Urmson offers a timeline for when we might see autonomous vehicles on the road and lists the different hurdles the industry still needs to overcome. According to Urmson, driverless cars shouldn’t require a lot of extra infrastructure or government funding. Instead, they should work within our existing system.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Jun 5, 2019 • 28min

Re-Up: Senator Mark Warner

In this episode, April Glaser revisits an interview with Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who released a policy paper proposing possible regulations for U.S. social media and technology companies. In the interview, April and her former co-host Will Oremus talk to Senator Warner about what worries him most about the largely unregulated tech industry, which can’t seem to keep our data private and stop muddying our elections. They also ask him what he thinks congress can do to rein in these companies and why lawmakers haven’t been quick to act.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 29, 2019 • 42min

Luxury Bunkers for the End of the World

In this episode April Glaser is joined by Max Read, an editor and writer at New York Magazine who writes the column Life in Pixels.First, April and Max talk to Patri Friedman, founder of the Seasteading Institute, which he started in 2008 with seed funding from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Seasteading is the process of forming new societies on the open ocean, and it’s getting a lot of attention from Silicon Valley. Then Robert Vicino joins the show to talk about his company, Vivos, which designs and builds high-end bunkers to help people ride out natural disasters and other potential catastrophes. Vicino talks about his clientele and the concerns that drive people to buy fancy underground apartments.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 22, 2019 • 47min

Why It’s So Hard to Live in California

In this episode April Glaser is joined by co-host Kim-Mai Cutler, a partner at Initialized Capital, an early-stage venture firm. She’s also a former full-time journalist at TechCrunch. First, April and Kim-Mai discuss the lack of affordable housing in California and the political battles that are hindering progress. Then they talk about the upcoming wildfire season with Faith Kearns from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Lizzie Johnson from the San Francisco Chronicle.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 15, 2019 • 37min

Designing a Better Facebook

In this episode, April Glaser is joined by guest co-host Max Read, an editor at New York magazine who covers technology and the internet.First, April and Max talk about Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes’ apostasy. Last week, Hughes wrote a long op-ed in the New York Times about why he thinks the company that made him so wealthy should be broken up.Then Katherine Lo joins the hosts to discuss how Facebook’s redesign will change how we communicate on the platform. These days she leads the content moderation team at a nonprofit called Meedan, which works with journalists on disinformation. While we talk a lot about how large social networks are governed—and misgoverned—it’s less frequent that we talk about how these platforms are designed, and how that can lead to toxic behavior. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 8, 2019 • 43min

Cyberspace Didn’t Stay Free

In this episode April Glaser is joined once again by guest co-host Meredith Broussard, a data journalism professor at NYU and author of Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World. First, historian Mar Hicks joins the show to talk about the tech industry’s long-time aversion to organized labor and how that’s clashing with recent worker actions at major tech companies like Google and Uber. Then Alexis Madrigal joins the hosts to talk about his recent piece in the Atlantic called “The End of Cyberspace” where he argues that the 90s dream of an unregulated internet is starting to fade. According to Madrigal, it’s time to create a new alluring vision for what cyberspace should be.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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May 1, 2019 • 35min

Public Education, Facebook-Style

In this episode April Glaser is joined by co-host Meredith Broussard, a data journalism professor at NYU and author of Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World. First they talk about the history of  Silicon Valley’s decades-long quest to replace teachers with computers. Then the hosts have a conversation with Nellie Bowles, tech reporter for the New York Times, about a Kansas town that’s struggling with the implementation of Summit Learning, a personalized web-based education program funded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan. Also joining the show is Tom Henning, a parent in Kansas who pulled his son out of his local public school after Summit Learning was adopted. Henning discusses how he and other parents organized to try to bring human-centered learning back to their schools, citing the physical and emotional problems their kids came home with after being stuck in front of a computer all day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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