how the internet learned to extract

For a while, the internet felt like it might actually work. Dexter talks with legal scholar and author Tim Wu about his new book The Age of Extraction and how that early optimism faded as companies learned how to extract value from just about everything.  Got something you’re curious about? Hit us…

how an editor uncovered an AI journalist

When an editor at a local magazine in Toronto received a pitch from a promising new freelancer, he didn’t expect it to spiral into an obsessive investigation. What followed was a deep dive into a web of fake interviews, impossible bylines, and fake reporting. Dexter talks with Nicholas Hune-Brown t…

the hack that broke myspace

In 2005, Myspace pages were flooded with the saying “Samy is my hero” and then suddenly, the platform went dark. Dexter talks with Jack Rhysider, host of the podcast Darknet Diaries, about Samy Kamkar, how he accidentally took down the biggest social media platform at the time, and how it changed t…

everything’s a game… even baptisms

From language learning to investments to Amazon leaderboards, it seems like everything has become a game. But are these gamified things actually fun, or are we the ones being played? Dexter talks to philosopher C. Thi Nguyen, who recently wrote a book about why gamification can suck the life out of…

how to: protect yourself from online harassment

Journalists, public figures, and just about anyone with an online presence today can suddenly face harassment: ranging from nasty posts and replies to real life threats like doxxing. Dexter talks with Ramy Ghaly, a security professional, about how online harassment has gotten worse, how to respond …

The App Where Strangers Lend Each Other Money | What’s Your Problem? Podcast

We’re sharing a preview of another podcast we think you’ll enjoy: What’s Your Problem? Hosted by former Planet Money host Jacob Goldstein, What’s Your Problem? asks entrepreneurs and engineers about the problems they’re trying to solve to build a bigger and brighter future.  In this episode: How …

from ‘click here’: an illusion of control

This week, we’re sharing an episode from the podcast Click Here, from our friends at Recorded Future News and PRX: Jake Gallen was a rising star in crypto. Then, after what seemed like a routine YouTube interview, his digital world unraveled. His NFTs? Liquidated. His social accounts? Hijacked. It…

now you can bet on real life. but should we?

Betting used to be something you did in a casino. Now it lives in your pocket and you can bet on just about anything: sports, Labubus, elections, and even forest fires. Dexter talks with Emily Stewart, senior correspondent at Business Insider, about why betting is everywhere, how any of it is legal…

social media reveals life behind bars. prisons want to block it

Social media has gotten a bad rap over the past decade – we blame it for our growing loneliness, shorter attention spans, and polarized politics. But for incarcerated people, social media can still live up to its original promise of connection. And for those on the outside, contraband cell phones g…

when the ref’s a robot

In the high-stakes world of sports, referees have always been under intense scrutiny… but what if tech could take some of the pressure off? Or will we lose something by replacing the referee with a robot? In this episode Dexter talks with Joe Lemire, senior writer at Sports Business Journal, to exp…