It’s become common knowledge that our devices are distracting us. But our attention has been deteriorating for decades now — long before the advent of digital technology. Johann Hari explains why modern life is eroding our capacity to think deeply, and what that means for our ability to solve society’s most pressing challenges.

Claire L. Evans explores the internet that was, through the stories of the women who shaped it. In highlighting these women’s innovations, Claire reveals a completely different history of computation and the internet, one that prioritizes community, trust and the production of knowledge — all things we need a lot more of today.

When Pulitzer Prize finalist Nicholas Carr wrote The Shallows in 2010, many were skeptical of his claims that the internet was changing the way our brains work. Twelve years later, it’s clear he was right. Taylor sits down with Nick to figure out how he saw everything so clearly — and where we’re headed.

Timothy Caulfield, professor of health law and science policy, joins host Taylor Owen to discuss how the Joe Rogan/Spotify COVID misinformation controversy reflects a moment of deep-seated mistrust in science and the weaponizing of the scientific process.

As much as the tech industry thinks it’s about the future, it’s astonishing how profoundly it replicates the past, including our colonial legacy. Animikii’s Jeff Doctor talks about how colonialism is embedded in tech and how tech reinforces colonialism.

Following the success of the General Data Protection Regulation, the European Parliament is working on three new policy proposals to further rein in big tech.

The discovery of neuroplasticity is one of neuroscience’s most important recent advances. Dr. Norman Doidge reflects on how technology is rewiring the brain and shares his views on the societal implications of these changes.

Hélène Landemore thinks that for a government to be truly democratic, it needs to involve citizen deliberation. She calls this radical proposal “open democracy.”

We take you back, to when fake news actually meant fake news, with Craig Silverman, the journalist who popularized the term long before Donald Trump. How did those early years of fake and lucrative viral stories made to look like real news get us to a US insurrection?

Nation-states are building arsenals of zero-day exploits and other cyber weapons to stage surveillance, intelligence gathering and military strikes in cyberspace.

It is important to keep that which makes us human at the centre, both when building and using new technology.

Internet trolls dubbed Catherine McKenna “Climate Barbie.” Over her term as environment minister, that online harassment escalated, making meaningful dialogue on what to do about climate change and tech governance almost impossible.

Most people say they care about their digital privacy. And yet we continue to use products and platforms that extract, and then sell, our personal data. Carissa Véliz argues that needs to change.

Much is made of Peter Thiel’s libertarian provocations. But Thiel biographer Max Chafkin says this framing belies the real scope of Thiel’s technological, and political, influence.

Afrofuturism is an aesthetic that centres the Black diaspora in imaginings of the future. What can Silicon Valley learn from Afrofuturists’ concerns with questions of power and about how tech is never neutral?

Since concluding the last season this past August, a lot has happened in the big tech governance and regulation space. Whistle-blower Frances Haugen and the Facebook Papers shone light on social media’s harmful impacts on our society and reignited the debate over how we regulate platforms. There have been employee-led labour movements at Amazon, Uber and Netflix. And Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his vision for a Metaverse and a new company name, Meta. Join host Taylor Owen in conversation with...

Taylor reflects on six themes that emerged this season in conversations about big tech’s transformation of our economy, society and lives.

The US First Amendment protects free speech, but how does that protection extend to online content moderation?

China has created a technology-driven Orwellian surveillance state, where AI pre-crime systems and social credit scores can decide your fate.

Western nations often paint the Chinese tech sector as a threat to freedom, an attack on surveillance and an extension of the state. Big Tech’s guest in this episode, Hong Shen, argues this simplistic framing isn’t quite accurate.

If we consider the history of the US news industry, it’s clear that journalism has never fully achieved its potential. Now that the traditional model is faced with a complete market failure, it’s time to rethink the business of journalism.

The Indian government has imposed new “IT rules” that compel platforms to give the state unprecedented access to and control over user content.

AI development has been met with questions about its many impacts on our world. Maybe we should consider if it’s worth developing at all?

Using the vast volumes of publicly available data from videos, satellite imagery and social media posts, online open-source investigators are able to verify or debunk state-led propaganda and expose atrocities.

Trust in our institutions is at an all-time low. Mistrust can lead to the spread of misinformation and conspiracy thinking, such as seen in movements like QAnon and anti-vaccination campaigns, but it can also be a force for positive social change.