Foundering

In the summer of 2020, amid a pandemic, historic unemployment and racial unrest, President Donald Trump developed a bizarre obsession with TikTok. In this episode, reporter Shelly Banjo and her colleagues take you aboard Air Force One and into the surreal tit-for-tat fight between TikTok and one of the most powerful men in the world. Updated May 27, 2021 to reflect ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming's decision to step down. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

After Donald Trump is elected president, tensions between the United States and China escalate. Several American politicians, security experts and even Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg turn their attention toward TikTok. In this episode, reporter Shelly Banjo looks into the fundamental question facing TikTok: What user data does TikTok collect, and can that information wind up in the hands of the Chinese government? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

While TikTok is known primarily as a breeding ground for funny memes, dance routines and lip-synching videos, there’s a dark side to TikTok that starts with the young children who populate the app. In this episode, reporter Shelly Banjo looks into the consequences of TikTok’s failure to safeguard its adolescent user base. Warning: This episode contains difficult and disturbing reporting, including stories about the sexual exploitation of minors. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

TikTok has redefined American pop culture and upended the music industry, advertising and the economics of fame. In this episode, reporter Shelly Banjo examines TikTok’s hands-on approach with its creators and artists, minting a new generation of social media stars and positioning TikTok’s parent company as the first Chinese tech giant to come out with a truly global consumer app. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

TikTok is powered by sophisticated artificial intelligence that predicts what users want to see next. This technology was developed at ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company and the most valuable startup in the world. In this episode, reporter Shelly Banjo explains how ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming fundamentally changed how a generation consumes media on their phones. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Alex Zhu, a Chinese tech entrepreneur, was seated on a train in Silicon Valley across from a group of teenagers. He watched as the kids were listening to music and making videos on their phones, and he decided to create an app that combined the two cultural obsessions. The resulting platform would become the social media powerhouse now known as TikTok. In this episode, reporter Shelly Banjo explains the genesis of Gen Z’s favorite app. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

TikTok emerged as the defining app of a generation: a cultural tastemaker, a musical hitmaker and a launchpad for a new breed of celebrity. But as the app reached over 2 billion downloads, TikTok became a victim of its own success, attracting sharp scrutiny from the world’s two most powerful countries. In this season of Foundering, Bloomberg Technology reporter Shelly Banjo tracks the rise of TikTok by taking listeners inside the mysterious Chinese mega-startup behind the phenomenon and the political hysteria that followed. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A few decades ago, nobody really questioned vaccines. They were viewed as a standard part of staying healthy and safe. Today, the number of people questioning vaccines risks prolonging a pandemic that has already killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. How we got to this moment didn’t start with the rollout of vaccines or in March 2020, or even with the election of Donald Trump. Our confidence in vaccines, often isn't even about vaccines. It’s about trust. And that trust has been eroding for a long time. Doubt, a new series from Bloomberg’s Prognosis podcast, looks at the forces that have been breaking down that trust. We'll trace the rise of vaccine skepticism in America to show how we got here — and where we’re going. Doubt launches on March 23. Subscribe to Prognosis today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

After WeWork's failed IPO, thousands of employees were laid off and the company teetered on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, ousted CEO Adam Neumann flew to Israel with a generous exit package in hand. In this final episode of Foundering, reporter Ellen Huet surveys the wreckage of WeWork. Adam's executives and employees were asking themselves: Did Adam ever really believe in the values he preached? And what lessons will the world draw from WeWork's crash? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

WeWork had spent nine years chasing lightning-fast growth, burning billions of dollars, and expanding around the world. In 2019, the company reached a turning point: WeWork needed even more cash, and Adam Neumann decided to take his company public with a massive IPO. But suddenly, in the span of a few weeks, his plan crashed spectacularly. The almost-IPO flopped and WeWork became a laughingstock. In this episode, reporter Ellen Huet asks: How did the company's fortune flip so fast, and why didn't they see it coming? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The killers of Berta Caceres had every reason to believe they’d get away with murder. More than 100 other environmental activists in Honduras had been killed in the previous five years, yet almost no one had been punished for the crimes. Bloomberg’s Blood River follows a four-year quest to find her killers – a twisting trail that leads into the country’s circles of power. Blood River premieres on July 27. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Adam Neumann always had wild ambitions. By 2017, he had found an even wilder investor who wanted to fund those ambitions: SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Adam spent his billions from SoftBank on competitive tactics, seemingly random investments, and even an elementary school. In this episode, reporter Ellen Huet explores why this free-wheeling spending was so odd: Adam knew this was a bad idea. In exclusive recordings from internal meetings in 2016, he warned his employees that they had to cut back on WeWork's "spending culture." But once the money poured in, it appeared like he forgot his own advice. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

What happened at WeWork when things got ugly between the company and its employees? As WeWork expanded, a handful of employees wanted to speak out and interrupt the public image that WeWork was presenting to the world. In this episode, reporter Ellen Huet follows the stories of two former workers, some of the first insiders to speak up about what they saw on the job.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

To its thousands of employees, WeWork was much more than a job. Founder Adam Neumann leveraged his employees’ emotions to motivate them. In exclusive tapes obtained by Bloomberg, Adam lectured employees that working at WeWork was special: “You do not get a chance like this again.” In this episode, a former employee describes the tumultuous experience of working inside WeWork’s headquarters, from their raucous parties to the late night meetings. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

WeWork sold office space, but also it sold something else: fun. Beer flowed freely, members partied at the office, and your work was your life. But getting these offices off the ground was utter chaos, especially for the burgeoning company’s young, inexperienced workers. In this episode, reporter Ellen Huet takes a look at WeWork’s early days, when the company was growing so fast that some buildings opened without doors or functioning bathrooms. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The WeWork Story, Part 1: When Adam Neumann dreamed up WeWork, he took inspiration from part of his childhood: his years on a kibbutz in Israel. On stage when discussing WeWork, he waxed poetic about the spirit of community he had found there, and how WeWork was similar, but different -- a “kibbutz 2.0.” So reporter Ellen Huet wanted to find out: Was the kibbutz anything like a WeWork? And how did it shape what Adam later built? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Adam Neumann had a vision: to make his startup WeWork a wildly successful company that would change the world. He convinced thousands of other people -- customers, employees, investors -- that he could make that dream a reality. And for a while, he did. He was one of the most successful startup founders in the world. But then, in the span of just a few months, everything changed. Foundering is a new serialized podcast from the journalists at Bloomberg Technology. This season, we’ll tell you the story of WeWork, a company that captured the startup boom of the 2010s and also may be remembered as a spectacular bust that marked the end of an era. Foundering premieres June 25, 2020. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Bloomberg Technology reporter Ellen Huet has some exciting news about what's coming in the Decrypted feed. We’re launching a new show, Foundering, and spending our entire first season looking at the story of WeWork. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

This week on Decrypted, hosts Aki and Brad get together one last time for an announcement: This will be the very last episode of Decrypted. They also look back at some of their favorite episodes from the show, with updates on where those stories are today. (But don't unsubscribe from this feed because we'll be announcing a new show next spring!) For a list of episodes Aki and Brad will be discussing: Young Blood and the Pursuit of Eternal Youth He Sparked the Fake News Boom. Then Facebook Broke His Business A Hacker's Redemption, Part 1 and Part 2 Inside a Multinational Cyber Weapons Deal That Went Bust Meet the Whistleblower Behind a Silicon Valley Meltdown Human vs Machine: Fitness Gadgets Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Computers can now drive cars, identify faces and transcribe speech, but many experts said that it would take much longer for AI to tackle creative endeavors. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Natalia Drozdiak meets three composers using artificial intelligence to make music, and she and host Aki Ito dissect their robo-generated songs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Under pressure from users, advertisers and government regulators, YouTube has implemented sweeping changes to its service over the last three years to minimize the spread of harmful and misleading content. But those changes have made it harder for many of its creators to make a living off of the platform. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Mark Bergen visits YouTube whisperer Tim Schmoyer, who advises other YouTube creators on how to adapt to the changing platform. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The U.S.-China trade war has dragged on for more than a year now, harming the livelihoods of people around the world who depend on the two superpowers getting along. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Shelly Banjo profiles one such person: Michael Michelini, an American who moved to China a decade ago to build out his e-commerce business. At the time, Michelini believed that the internet was making the world a more open and interconnected place. Recent tensions between the world's two largest economies have put that faith in doubt.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Warehouse workers suffer from an unusually high rate of injury. Now, at some facilities, workers can wear a sensor on their chest, which buzzes when they’re at risk of getting hurt. But this tracking device also gathers detailed information about the employee’s movements – and sends this data to their employer. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology’s Joshua Brustein looks at a new technology, whose proponents say will make workplaces safer, but also inspires concern about workplace surveillance. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Over the summer, Elon Musk unveiled the details of his secretive startup Neuralink. Its goal, he said, is to place electrodes in our brains so we can control a computer with our thoughts. Its experiments have so far been limited to rodents and monkeys, but Neuralink builds on strides already made in medicine, where doctors have successfully placed implants into human brains to treat a variety of illnesses. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology’s Sarah McBride visits the primate lab that’s been carrying out Neuralink’s research, and meets the doctors and the patients at the forefront of this emerging field.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Bloomberg's Travel Genius podcast is back! After clocking another hundred-thousand miles in the sky, hosts Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood have a whole new series of flight hacking, restaurant sleuthing, and hotel booking tips to inspire your own getaways—along with a who's who roster of itinerant pros ready to spill their own travel secrets. From a special episode on Disney to a master class on packing, we'll go high, low, east, west, and everywhere in between. The new season starts Nov. 6. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests have ensnared a number of companies, including one U.S. company that has the most to lose in China: Apple Inc. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Alistair Barr breaks down the iPhone maker's controversial decision to reject an app built to aid Hong Kong residents living through the protests, and discusses what's at stake for Apple both at home and abroad.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and state governments across the U.S. are investigating the tech giants for anti-competitive behavior. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology’s Eric Newcomer walks us through those investigations, and outlines how a Democratic president may take it even further in 2021.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

This week on Decrypted, we're re-airing our story about CeCe Moore, who helps law enforcement track down killers by combing through databases of consumer DNA test results. At the end of the episode, host Aki Ito catches up with reporter Kristen V. Brown to see what's new in this emerging field.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Over the last few weeks, WeWork's parent company has lurched from one crisis to the next as it scrambled to keep its IPO alive⁠—resulting in founder Adam Neumann leaving his job as CEO. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet traces We Co.'s meteoric rise to a $47 billion giant and dissects the chaos of the last few weeks.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Ahead of the 2016 elections, Illinois' voter database was infiltrated by Russia's state-backed hackers. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Kartikay Mehrotra investigates what Illinois has done since to prepare for the next presidential election, and whether states and counties across the country are ready for 2020.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For years, critics have accused Amazon.com for not doing enough to curb its impact on the environment—and recently, a group of Amazon employees joined in to try to force the issue by filing a shareholder resolution. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Spencer Soper takes us inside the uprising. And he'll also ask which is worse for the planet: driving to the store ourselves, or having everything delivered to us?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On Sept. 10, Apple will be unveiling its new products for the year. Ahead of the event, Bloomberg Technology’s Mark Gurman previews the changes Apple’s planning for its three versions of the iPhone, as well as the company’s other products. Will these upgrades help Apple out of its recent funk? Also: our own announcement at the start of the show.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On this new season of Prognosis, we look at the spread of infections that are resistant to antimicrobial medicines. You're probably more likely to have heard of these as superbugs. Their rise has been described as a silent tsunami of catastrophic proportions. We travel to countries on the frontline of the crisis, and explore how hospitals and doctors around the world are fighting back. Prognosis’ new season launches Sept. 5.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When police officer David Gomez was first stationed at a school in rural Idaho, he thought he’d spend his time breaking up fights in bathrooms and scanning the hallways for weed. Instead, he found that almost every problem was either happening on social media or started there. This week on Decrypted, reporter Shelly Banjo explores how age-old dangers like drugs, child predators and school shooters have shifted onto new platforms, and how one school has tried to adapt. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A few years ago, reporter Sarah McBride noticed that a top engineer at Twitter was also an expert on the brains of birds. Then, more and more, she started seeing that many top tech companies have bird brain experts in their highest ranks⁠—that includes Apple, Google, Intel and a secretive startup founded by Elon Musk. This week on Decrypted, Sarah and fellow reporter Ashlee Vance set out to understand why Silicon Valley is so interested in avian minds, and what they could tell us about tech’s ability to influence our own. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Google has long had a special relationship with staff, encouraging employee input on all sorts of internal matters. For the last two decades, this approach has worked well. But after a series of controversies and protests in the last two years, some workers are openly at war with Google. This week on Decrypted, editor Alistair Barr speaks to Irene Knapp, a senior software engineer who has had a front-row seat during the tumult inside the company. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Northern White Rhinos are functionally extinct: The two remaining females have no males to breed with. But an ambitious plan is underway to save the species. This week on Decrypted, reporter Kristen V. Brown meets the scientists using cutting edge stem cell science to create a rhino embryo in a San Diego lab. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is an annual pilgrimage for software developers whose businesses are built on the App Store. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Mark Gurman speaks to Phillip Shoemaker, the former head of app review at Apple who played a role in past WWDC conferences. They discuss the early days of the App Store and its place at the heart of Apple's nearly $50 billion-a-year services business.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Marty Markowitz had his share of problems. His parents had recently died. He had troubles at work. A failing relationship. He needed someone to help him through this rough patch in his life. So he decided to get some professional help from a psychiatrist. What he did not count on, was what happened in his life over the next twenty-nine years. This is a story about power, control, and turning to the wrong person for help.  Listen now at bloomberg.com/shrinknextdoor Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Mountain View, California, is home to Google and Silicon Valley's tech boom. Rents and home prices have soared, and hundreds of people have been forced to live in recreational vehicles parked on the city's streets. This week on Decrypted, we explore how the rising cost of living is fueling tension between homeowners and vehicle residents, resulting in a parking ban on RVs.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Cycling enthusiasts have a new way to work out at home: By hooking their bikes up to Zwift, they compete in a video game with other stationary cyclists. This week on Decrypted, reporter Gerrit de Vynck spends a month training on Zwift. He explores whether its new racing leagues could soon become a spectator sport.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

It's finally happening. A decade after Uber started out as a black car service in San Francisco, it's going public in one of the largest IPOs of all time. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Eric Newcomer joins Brad Stone to discuss what it will take for Uber to become a profitable business, the potential of its other ventures, and what it would mean for Silicon Valley if Uber achieves the stratospheric valuation it’s seeking.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A growing number of experts believe that a promising technology, known as carbon capture, will be an essential part of any plan to confront climate change. But until now the science of removing carbon from the air has only ever been demonstrated at a small scale—and the process of turning that carbon into useful products, such as fuel, has cost too much to make a real difference. This week on Decrypted, meet two startups that think they may have a solution. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Jason Boyce built a successful business selling sports equipment on Amazon. As the platform has grown, Amazon has pushed sellers to lower prices, shorten delivery times and compete harder for every sale. This week on Decrypted, we explore whether entrepreneurs like Jason have reached a breaking point. They now face a competitor who's potentially unbeatable: Amazon itself.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Mike Regan and Sarah Ponczek speak with expert guests each week about the main themes influencing global markets. They explore everything from stocks to bonds to currencies and commodities, and how each asset class affects trading in the others. Whether you’re a financial professional or just a curious retirement saver, What Goes Up keeps you apprised of the latest buzz on Wall Street and what the wildest movements in markets will mean for your investments.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

With 40 million users, Blued is a popular dating app for gay men in China. This week on Decrypted, we explore the company's next venture: a service to help gay couples have babies by surrogate in California.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A company called Ambrosia Health signed up about 150 patients for a novel anti-aging procedure: young blood plasma transfusions. The only problem was the FDA. This week on Decrypted, the story of a startup that claimed it could restore lost youth with young people's blood. We’ll hear from a patient who got the treatment, the researchers who say it endangered patients, and the scientists who believe the idea isn’t as crazy as it seems. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Pay Check is back for a second season! For the next six weeks, we’re going to dig into the number one reason women still make less money than men: Motherhood. Women start their careers earning just about the same as men do, but once they have their first kid, that pay gap grows to a chasm. This season, we’ll show you how this “motherhood penalty” plays out for real women, in real life and how it affects the global economy. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Instagram is full of vacation pics, brand campaigns and celebrity posts. But it's also a place where people go to find counterfeit prescription drugs and illegal street drugs. This week on Decrypted, we follow the story of Eileen Carey, who has tried for years to bring this troubling issue to Instagram's attention. Thanks in part to her efforts, Instagram has taken some steps to curbing drug-related content. But the problem still has not been contained. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Decrypted will be back next week. Here's an early peek at the stories we'll be covering this season.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The Pay Check is collecting stories for our upcoming season, and we want to hear from you! Did having a kid change your career trajectory or the way you work? If you have anything you want to share, call and leave us a voicemail at (212) 617-0166. Stay tuned for more very soon! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Francesca Levy and Rebecca Greenfield navigate the productivity industry by way of their own experiences. In each episode, one of the two becomes a human guinea pig as she tries to solve a specific work-related problem. Using the advice of so-called productivity experts, the duo tackles obstacles like ineffective to-do lists, overflowing inboxes and unruly meetings. Follow along with their attempts, insights and missteps, and maybe find a solution that will work for you. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Jody Pagliocco drives for Uber and Lyft in Maine. Like many working mothers, she depends on the income and the flexibility of the job—but she can't stand the constant harassment from male passengers. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Selina Wang and Brad Stone hear from women in the gig economy. Selina and Brad also discuss one study that examines the gender disparities that are putting women at a disadvantage in this emerging corner of the job market. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

'Tis the season to give your loved ones the latest and greatest tech gadgets. The only problem: a lot of them are now listening, watching and tracking us. As part of Decrypted's exploration of the unintended consequences of technology, this week Pia Gadkari and Mark Gurman look at the potential dark sides of your holiday generosity. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Theo Patt was 15 he built a software program that displayed his Google location data on a map online. For the teenager, it was a sentimental keepsake. But since then, hundreds of thousands of people have used it -- often in ways Theo never intended. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Alistair Barr and Pia Gadkari explore the myriad secrets that our location data can reveal and some of the ways it can be used against us. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In August, Apple was worth a trillion dollars and analysts wondered when the other tech giants would join its ranks. But over the last three months, the stock prices of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google have all plunged. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Joshua Brustein and Brad Stone explore what's driving the losses and ask whether it's a sign the tech boom may finally be coming to an end. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

This week on Decrypted, we're bringing you an episode from Bloomberg's newly-launched health and medicine podcast: Prognosis. Bloomberg's Kristen V Brown takes you on a tour of a biohacker's DNA experiment to change how frogs -- and possibly people -- grow muscles. It's an experiment he insists anyone can try at home. He'll even sell you a kit (frogs included) to do it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Facebook’s ad platform is quick to learn, easy to use and incredibly profitable. But the complex algorithms that make the ads run are still a black box for most people, and that can create problems—particularly when it comes to politics. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology’s Sarah Frier and Brad Stone  take a look at how the system works and explain why fixing issues on the platform is harder than you might think. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

What’s the most sure-fire way to get a flight upgrade? How can you find the best, secret local restaurants by asking just one question? What's the first thing you should do when you get into a hotel room? On Bloomberg's new podcast Travel Genius, we'll give you those answers—and plenty more—as hosts Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood quiz the world’s most experienced globetrotters for their tried-and-true travel hacks. Listen weekly, and even your work trips will go from a necessary evil to an expert art form. Plus, you'll be padding out your bucket list with dreams of amazing future vacations.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Cottage Grove, Minnesota, has had a 3M factory in town since 1947. It makes everything from Post-It Notes and Scotch Tape to reflective road signs. In 2017, the city found out the state was lowering the acceptable level of PFAS, a chemical made and used at the factory, in its drinking water. Scientific studies show there could be serious health consequences for people exposed to it. And now dozens of U.S. cities are discovering PFAS is in their water too. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg's Tiffany Kary and Pia Gadkari tell the story of how a Minnesota lawyer first learned of PFAS contamination, and discuss documents revealed through lawsuits that suggest 3M knew of certain risks for decades and never disclosed them. 3M says those documents have been taken out of context and that the chemical isn't a danger to public health. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Where does a medical cure come from? 100 years ago, it wasn't uncommon for scientists to test medicines by taking a dose themselves. As medical technologies get cheaper and more accessible, patients and DIY tinkerers are trying something similar—and mainstream medicine is racing to catch up. Prognosis explores the leading edge of medical advances, and asks who gets—or should get—access to them. We look at how innovation happens, when it fails, and what it means to the people with a disease trying to feel better, live longer, or avoid death. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Electric scooter-sharing programs have become very popular, and very polarizing. With companies like Bird and Lime operating in over 100 cities globally, an increasing number of grisly accidents have made it into the headlines. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Olivia Carville and Joshua Brustein ask whether scooters are as safe as they should be, and who bears responsibility when accidents do happen? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 1987, a young couple was killed in Washington state. This case, and others like it, were unsolved for decades — until a new technology emerged. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg's Kristen V. Brown visits CeCe Moore, who's at the forefront of using genetic genealogy to hunt killers. Her work is made possible by consumers who upload their DNA test results to the internet to learn about their family lineages and their own health. But did these consumers intend for that information to be used to track down criminals? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The e-cigarette maker Juul has seen stratospheric sales since early 2017, making it one of the buzziest startups in Silicon Valley. But now a backlash over the company's popularity with teenagers could jeopardize that. This week on Decrypted, Olivia Zaleski and Pia Gadkari trace the company's story from its origins. Juul says it only ever wanted to help adults quit smoking. Instead, it's become a social media sensation. And critics fear teen vaping is nothing short of a new public health crisis in the making. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Facebook is used to dealing with rogue actors antagonizing politicians on its platform. But what happens when a country's own government is the one bending the rules? This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier and Pia Gadkari look at what happened when officials in Sri Lanka reached out to Facebook to help build the government's online presence, and Facebook's responsibility when ambitious world leaders start using the platform for their own political ends. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For years, Elon Musk had been testing the limits of acceptable decorum for a public company CEO. This summer, he may have finally gone too far. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Dana Hull trace how the two words "funding secured" helped trigger a more than 20 percent decline of Tesla's stock price, and led the government to open two separate investigations into the company. Musk has never seemed to care much about consequences, but now that strategy could have big implications for the future of Tesla. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Advances in photo and video editing technology have enabled fake news, birthed viral hoaxes and even empowered corrupt governments. But they've also had a less publicized consequence: complicating mankind's search for extraterrestrial life. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Austin Weinstein and Pia Gadkari examine the recent boom in UFO sightings -- and how they've become more convincing than ever. This is part of a special season of Decrypted, where we examine the unintended consequences of modern technology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Andrew Friedman pulled out an old Flip Video camera to watch a cherished video of his newborn son, his camera wouldn't turn on. It's happened to many of us: we buy the latest new app or gadget, but within a few years it becomes obsolete as the tech industry moves on, often leaving our files behind with it. So Andrew turned to Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone for help. This week on Decrypted, Brad and Kristy Westgard go on a mission to get the videos back. It's part of a special season exploring the unintended consequences of technology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Ocean Falls in Canada had been mostly abandoned for the last 40 years—until an entrepreneur started building a facility to mine bitcoin there. Residents hoped the new business would help revive the struggling community. This season on Decrypted, we'll be exploring the unintended consequences of technology. In this episode, Bloomberg Technology's Joshua Brustein travels to Ocean Falls to see whether bitcoin's arrival has actually been good for the Canadian town.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The third season of Decrypted launches Sept. 4, and we're dedicating the entire season to exploring the unintended consequences of technology. We'll be releasing new episodes every Tuesday. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We have a new host on Decrypted! Aki and Brad welcome Pia Gadkari to the mic, and Aki fills us in on some exciting news of her own. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Last month, the world's most far-reaching data privacy regulation took effect in Europe. Consumers there can now not only ask companies to delete or hand over their data, but they can also sell that data to other businesses. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Nate Lanxon sets out to get his data back from several businesses and see whether anyone will pay him for his personal  information. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Jared was just a pre-teen his childhood hobby, playing video games, morphed into a  compulsive and eventually harmful obsession. Years later, he's still working to move  past it, and he's not alone. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Pia Gadkari goes  to Boston to meet Jared and his pediatrician Dr Michael Rich, whose research shows there  are mental health repercussions for some children who spend hours online. Pia explores what  parents as well as tech companies can do to identify — and address — the problem. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When entrepreneur Mitchell Lee decided it was time to hire another engineer at his startup Penny, he set out to hire someone who broke the mold of a typical Silicon Valley programmer. This week on Decrypted, we're re-airing this episode that we first published in January 2017. At the end, you'll hear an update from Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet about what's happened at Penny since then. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Texas food delivery startup Burpy was doing well, expanding from Austin to Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. But then Amazon got in to the same business. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Olivia Zaleski goes to Austin to chart one startup's struggle to survive while going up against a tech behemoth. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the unknown creator of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, is one of the tech industry's biggest unsolved mysteries. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Julie Verhage ask the journalists who tried to find Satoshi why this secretive genius remains so elusive. And now that bitcoin is a global phenomenon, does unmasking Satoshi still matter anyway? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Venezuela's spiraling economic crisis has forced many citizens to seek new ways of making money. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg's Camila Russo and Brad Stone hear from one businessman who made the decision to quietly start mining bitcoin -- a smart move until it attracted the attention of the police. Authorities raided his office, and he says, tried to extort him -- forcing him to flee the country. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There's a standoff brewing in Seattle. After years of double-digit growth in home prices, homelessness is surging and the city council is weighing a tax on big businesses to fund new affordable housing. But Amazon, Seattle's largest employer, threatened to curtail its expansion plans in the city if the tax took effect. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Karen Weise and Brad Stone explore this showdown between one of the world's largest companies and a city that has experienced both the benefits and drawbacks of Amazon's meteoric growth. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

It’s a big, expensive, global mystery. Why do women still make less money—a lot less—than men? In the US, the average woman makes 80 cents to every dollar a man makes. Launching May 9, the Pay Check is an in-depth investigation into what that 20 percent difference looks like. In this miniseries we'll show you how the gender pay gap plays out in real life. We'll hear from Lily Ledbetter, Mo’Nique, and a lot of other women who weren’t happy to be paid less. We'll find out what happens when a whole country tries to tackle the pay gap. And we'll talk to some women who are taking things into their own hands.

In July, we brought you an investigation of the Moscow-based antivirus software maker Kaspersky Lab and its connections with the Russian government. A lot has happened since then. This week on Decrypted, you'll hear a shortened version of that original episode, as well as an update to catch you up on the latest developments.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Before they can take away our jobs, robots need to learn how to do them. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Joshua Brustein meets the people training these machines, and gives "robot piloting" a try himself. He also hears from the researchers developing ways for robots to learn more quickly. He discovers that, in some ways, machines capable of completing everything humans can are further away than you might think. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Fasting is taking off in Silicon Valley, with everyone from entrepreneurs to established executives touting the health and productivity benefits. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Tom Giles and Selina Wang try it themselves to see what the hype is all about. They also speak to others in the tech community to understand why fasting has become so popular in the industry, and they examine a couple businesses that are hoping to capitalize on the trend. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Kelly Ellis was excited when Google hired her as a software engineer in 2010. But soon, she started noticing things that made her wonder whether her male colleagues were making more money than her. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet and Aki Ito hear from Kelly as she recounts the red flags she saw, and why, after many years, she decided to sue Google for discrimination. Kelly and three other plaintiffs are now locked in a high-profile battle against a Silicon Valley giant, which has denied their allegations. This episode was produced in partnership with the Reveal podcast from The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Over the last few months, governments around the world have cracked down on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But one country is sticking to its crypto-friendly policies: Japan. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Yuji Nakamura and Aki Ito take you to Tokyo to meet the unlikely characters who helped turn Japan into the world's premier bitcoin hub, including investor Roger Ver, a.k.a. Bitcoin Jesus. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Over the last few decades, Melinda Gates' philanthropy has taken her to all corners of the globe. But recently she's come to focus on an issue much closer to home: a dearth of women in tech. This week on Decrypted, Melinda sits down with Bloomberg Technology's Emily Chang to talk about her decision to back a venture capital firm run by two women, and what she hopes to achieve from that investment. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

As Facebook reels from a public backlash over its handling of user data, former employees are starting to air their hesitations and criticisms of the company they helped build. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier and Aki Ito hear from these former insiders to examine the mistakes that led to the company’s crisis today. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We're hard at work on a new episode about Facebook's data scandal. We'll be publishing that later this week. Stay tuned. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Since the advent of the internet, local newspapers like the U.K.'s Bournemouth Daily Echo have been relentlessly cutting costs to survive. Now, another wave of change is approaching: automation. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Jeremy Kahn visits the Echo's newsroom, which has been experimenting with computer-generated stories produced by a project funded by Google. The technology's helping the paper's editors serve its readers with fewer journalists. But will automation ultimately end up taking even more jobs? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Abigail Stone decided to start an online candle company, she had neither investors nor a product. But she found an early ally in the branding agency Red Antler, which agreed to help her get her business off the ground in exchange for a cut of her company. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Jing Cao and Brad Stone follow Abigail in the frenzied months leading up to and following the launch of her startup Otherland. Along the way, we'll see how much Red Antler can help an unknown entrepreneur stand out in the highly-competitive e-commerce industry—and we'll judge whether its services are worth the considerable price. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

By the time he was 27, Hector Monsegur had become one of the most notorious hackers on the internet. With the vigilante group Anonymous and its offshoot LulzSec, he launched attacks against multibillion-dollar companies and governments around the world. But then he got caught. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Aki Ito and Brad Stone bring you his story in its entirety, in two episodes. Part 1 recounts Hector's childhood as he fell in love with the internet, and gradually descended into the world of cybercrime. Part 2 traces his complicated journey to rebuild his life. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

By the time he was 27, Hector Monsegur had become one of the most notorious hackers on the internet. With the vigilante group Anonymous and its offshoot LulzSec, he launched attacks against multibillion-dollar companies and governments around the world. But then he got caught. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Aki Ito and Brad Stone bring you his story in its entirety, in two episodes. Part 1 recounts Hector's childhood as he fell in love with the internet, and gradually descended into the world of cybercrime. Part 2 traces his complicated journey to rebuild his life. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Decrypted returns on March 6 with a brand new season. Here's a sneak peek of what's in store. We'll be releasing new episodes every Tuesday starting next week.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

This week, Brad and Aki have a special announcement: Decrypted will be on break for the next few weeks. The team's already hard at work on a bunch of new stories for 2018, and we promise they'll be worth the wait. In the meantime, happy holidays! We'll be back with weekly episodes in February.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Cryptocurrencies have exploded in 2017. But while prices are surging, transactions are facing long delays because the networks are flooded with traffic. This is the problem facing the Ethereum network, which, along with its digital currency ether, has quickly become the world's No. 2 cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. And one man, Vlad Zamfir, has a plan to fix it. This week, Bloomberg's Matthew Leising and Brad Stone speak to Zamfir about his big dreams for Ethereum and how his project (codenamed Casper) could pave the way for masses of ordinary internet users to join in the craze. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

From a young age, Cyrus Massoumi knew he wanted to become rich one day. In 2012, he figured out how: by creating an inflammatory, hyper-partisan news site that used Facebook to make its articles go viral. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier and Aki Ito talk to Cyrus about how MrConservative.com's success sparked a frenzy of other sites like it. Cyrus watched the phenomenon snowball—until one day he realized he had created a monster. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Francisco Riordan suspected his company of breaking the law last year, he secretly reached out to federal regulators. His actions helped set in motion events that left Rothenberg Ventures subject to a government investigation and multiple lawsuits -- and according to Francisco, cost him his own job. This week, we're re-broadcasting this May episode, in which Francisco first went public with his role as a whistleblower. At the end, you'll hear a recent conversation between Decrypted's Aki Ito and Francisco, who give us an update on his life. There's valuable advice here for people who are considering calling out their own employers for bad behavior. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

For a decade, Ken Sena has had a classic Wall Street job as an equity analyst, which means he researches companies to help investors decide which stocks to buy and sell. Last year, he met developer Bryan Healey, who helped build the AI assistant Alexa at Amazon. The two of them embarked on a curious challenge: to make a computerized version of Ken that can dole out its own stock recommendations. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Alistair Barr and Julie Verhage meet Ken and Bryan's creation. What does their breakthrough mean for the future of Ken's profession? And will we all soon be taking investment advice from robots?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A few months ago, Bloomberg Technology's Adam Satariano found an unflattering video of himself going viral on Instagram. Someone had filmed him riding the train, furiously typing on his phone. That discovery and his quest to get the video deleted got Adam thinking about the changing nature of online privacy. This week on Decrypted, we meet the man behind SubwayCreatures, the popular Instagram account that briefly featured the video of Adam. As internet companies face growing pressure to police more of what's on their platforms, Adam and Aki Ito ask: do we want these businesses to become the editors of our digital lives? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Fake news, Russia and the U.S. election: It's been one of the biggest stories over the last year. Last week, it all came to a head as Congress summoned representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter to explain how Russia used their platforms to sway the minds of American voters. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier, Gerrit De Vynck and Joshua Brustein discuss how we got here and what consequences these tech giants could face as lawmakers prepare to take action. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 2014, WeWork told its investors that its next big thing would be a product called WeLive: a dorm-like apartment that applies the company's success in providing office space to the home life. Investors were told there would be 34 WeLive locations by the end of 2017; today, there are just two. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet spends five nights at a WeLive apartment in New York to figure out why growth has come so slow, and what that means for the future of this $20 billion startup. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Back in May, we brought you an episode about the life of Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, who at that time had just raised his $93 billion tech fund. This week, we'll play you a wide-ranging conversation that Son had for a Bloomberg TV series called The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations. Among the topics Son discusses: the dot-com crash in which he lost much of his wealth, the 45-minute conversation he had with one investor that led to a $45 billion commitment, and his vision for the future of humanity.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

At the center of the crisis enveloping the world's most valuable startup is Uber's mounting legal problems: The ride-hailing giant today faces at least five criminal probes from the U.S. Justice Department, as well as dozens of lawsuits. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Eric Newcomer and Brad Stone explain how things got so bad. They'll also discuss the challenge ahead as the company's new CEO scrambles to get Uber back on stable footing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In 2015, Iran signed a landmark deal with global superpowers. An end to Iran's isolation pointed to a bright future for the country's budding tech scene -- but then, Donald Trump, a vocal critic of the nuclear agreement, won the U.S. presidency and once-eager foreign investors got spooked. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg's Ladane Nasseri visits the founders of a homegrown e-commerce startup called Koodakoo as well as several other companies. These young entrepreneurs are awaiting Trump's next move -- and what his actions would mean for the future of their businesses -- as he threatens to renegotiate and even withdraw from the nuclear agreement.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Many of Silicon Valley's most celebrated companies build software -- but these days, the startup everyone's talking about is Stance, which makes socks. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah McBride visits Stance to see why venture capitalists have poured $110 million into a business that has little to do with technology.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A devastating cyberattack on Equifax has compromised critically sensitive information on 143 million U.S. consumers. While we won't know the full repercussions for years, this week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Lizette Chapman explores the worst possible things that could happen to these people whose information was stolen. You may think that identity theft ends after a couple canceled credit cards, but Lizette speaks to victims who spent years rebuilding their shattered finances and lives. Lizette and Brad also outline what you can do right now to protect yourself -- although nothing can guarantee complete safety on today's internet.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

As news continues to break about Russia's attempts to influence and hack the U.S. election, this week we're re-airing an episode from 2016 about how investigators traced the breach of the Democratic National Committee's email servers to Russian spies. At the end of the episode, Brad and Bloomberg Technology's Jordan Robertson discuss everything that's happened since then.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Despite tremendous advances over the last decade, electric cars have yet to go mainstream. Even once Tesla ramps up production of its Model 3 cars, one obstacle will remain: a lack of infrastructure lining America's roads. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Pia Gadkari dives deep into the companies, led by Tesla, that are trying to tackle this problem -- by pouring millions of dollars into building a network of charging stations.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In China, parents are desperately seeking good teachers for their children. A number of local tech startups are meeting that demand; one is even connecting them with American tutors halfway across the world. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Peter Elstrom explores VIPKid's data-driven approach to online tutoring, to see what it means for Chinese students, as well as the U.S. teachers who are finding a new source of employment. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The year is 2005, the company is Apple. The iPod is a smash hit, but then-CEO Steve Jobs decides it's time to cannibalize the company's star product with a gamble: a smartphone. A decade after those phones reached the hands of the first consumers and changed the history of computing, Bloomberg Technology's Mark Gurman goes deep behind the scenes with the people who raced to get that original iPhone ready. On the eve of the product's unveiling, a crisis almost derailed the entire project. Mark and Brad also discuss the various features that people can expect from the iPhone 8, which Apple's set to announce next month. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We hear a lot about the approaching end of the fossil fuel era. But as various companies work on wind and solar, there's a group of scientists quietly working on another method of generating electricity, in the lab that once created the atomic bomb. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Jing Cao visits the researchers who are smashing hydrogen atoms together in a process called nuclear fusion. They say they're on the brink of a major milestone, but they face an age-old problem: not enough funding. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A sailor and a windsurfing champion are trying to crack your morning commute with a new kind of transportation device: a zero-emissions boat that looks like it flies above the water. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Marie Mawad and Aki Ito take a look at the challenges that lie ahead for this startup, now that the company has developed a working prototype in France. This follows last week's episode on another entrepreneur's lifelong passion for flying cars. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Silicon Valley currently has a serious case of flying car fever, but this isn't the first time enthusiasm for these vehicles has gripped the industry. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Alistair Barr and Aki Ito visit the man who's spent his entire life trying to turn his Jetson-like vision into reality. It's a story of unwavering and maybe even irrational optimism that's cost Paul Moller more than $100 million and led him to declare bankruptcy and face allegations of fraud.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Over the last few weeks, several woman have come forward with their accounts of being harassed in the tech industry. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Aki Ito and Sarah McBride hear from a woman who's never spoken publicly about her experience. The episode also includes interviews with multiple women who were instrumental in exposing what many have called Silicon Valley's "open secret" and recount what their lives have been like since sharing their stories. Please note: This episode includes discussion of adult content.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

One of President Donald Trump's biggest priorities is to bring manufacturing jobs home, and advances in industrial automation are making it cheaper and easier to do that. But a plant full of robots requires fewer workers. This week Bloomberg Technology's Alex Webb takes a look at whether these factories of the future could still give a boost to communities in the heartland.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A few months ago, a startup called Meta started clearing out the computer monitors that sat on employees' desks -- asking them to instead use the company's augmented reality headsets, which overlay holograms on top of the real world. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Selina Wang visits Meta to see how its workers have fared in this transition. Could desktop computers soon become as outdated as typewriters? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab's software is everywhere in the U.S., keeping ordinary consumers as well as banks and power plants safe from cyber attacks. But some within the U.S. government are getting worried about the Russian company's connections with its own government, questioning whether Kaspersky Lab can be trusted to safeguard key parts of the U.S. digital infrastructure. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Jordan Robertson reveals details from his investigation outlining Kaspersky Lab's connections with the Kremlin. Jordan will also play clips of a conversation with the company's founder Eugene Kaspersky that have never been aired before. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In January, we brought you the story of a cyber weapons deal involving the government of the West African nation Mauritania. It was a deal that ultimately fell apart. But while the Indian businessman brokering the deal managed to walk away with about a million dollars, Mauritanian officials have been holding hostage one of his bodyguards for nearly two years. If you haven't heard the original episode, go back and listen. Because this week, Bloomberg Technology's Jordan Robertson and Aki Ito have a spoiler for you. This episode is an update to "Inside A Multinational Cyber Weapons Deal That Went Bust." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A new generation of fitness gadgets is just starting to reach consumers, and they do so much more than track your activity -- they actually tell you what to do, just like a personal trainer. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Aki Ito tests 17 devices and sees if any of them are as good as the real thing: working out with a human trainer. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

One day, driving a truck could look pretty similar to a call center job. From a desk in an office, "drivers" will remotely monitor one or several trucks as they haul cargo around the country. Or at least that's the future that Starsky Robotics envisions. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Max Chafkin takes a ride down a Florida highway in a truck being driven by a computer to see how close we really are to seeing self-driving technology roll out in the real world. He and Brad will also discuss the implications for the millions of Americans currently employed in the transportation sector. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On November 22, 2015, 47-year-old Victor Collins was found in a hot tub, apparently strangled and drowned. Investigators seized an Amazon Echo device at the scene of the crime, hoping the voice-activated speaker may have captured key evidence. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Nico Grant speaks to friends of the victim as well as digital forensics and privacy experts to put this new kind of evidence under the spotlight. As we surround ourselves with more and more of these internet-connected devices, Nico and Aki will discuss how our data should be used and why consumers should care. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Charles Chao knew his social media platform had potential. But the parent company of Weibo, often referred to as the Twitter of China, was getting slammed in the stock market. That's when Chao decided to go all in. This week, Bloomberg Technology's David Ramli meets the man who cobbled together much of his personal wealth, and took out a loan for a quarter of a billion dollars, to bet on his business' rise just as others were predicting its decline. The gamble paid off, and Chao today is on track to become one of China's newest billionaires. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Masayoshi Son is already one of the Japan's most successful businessmen, and now he's making his biggest gamble yet: To invest a record $100 billion in the technology that will power our future. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Peter Elstrom and Brad Stone trace the life of the billionaire, from his childhood as an immigrant and outsider in Southern Japan to the huge risks that Son took to grow SoftBank into an ever larger company. Peter and Brad also play some old tapes of Son from 30 years ago, back when he was a relatively unknown entrepreneur, that have never been released before. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the U.S., free content -- whether that's cooking tutorials on YouTube or the latest news on Twitter -- is supported by advertising. In China, however, companies have succeeded in getting people to directly pay for what they consume, opening up a new source of revenue for the booming app industry and lucrative opportunities for content creators. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Selina Wang speaks to a former magazine editor who has earned millions of dollars from the weekly column that he publishes on the app De Dao. We'll also hear from two of China’s top tech investors on whether U.S. companies can learn from China’s success. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you have young kids, you may already know the mobile game Talking Tom. What you might not know is that in January a Chinese hydrogen peroxide company announced plans to buy the maker of the app for $1 billion. This is just one of several similar deals. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Adam Satariano and Aki Ito take a look at why a slew of unlikely Chinese buyers - mining and construction firms, even a poultry company - are buying up mobile gaming businesses. This search takes Adam to the home of Lisa Pan, a young Beijing investor who has made millions from gaming investments and is now helping a Chinese chemicals company make the same leap. Is this a smart business strategy to adapt to a new economy, or is it a sign of a bubble? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Francisco Riordan suspected his company of breaking the law last year, he secretly reached out to government regulators. His actions set in motion events that left Rothenberg Ventures the object of a government investigation and multiple lawsuits -- and, according to Riordan, cost him his own job. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Adam Satariano and Aki Ito meet Riordan, who's now ready to speak publicly about his experiences for the very first time. In an industry where corporate governance sometimes takes a backseat to rapid growth, Riordan says he wants to encourage more people to speak up when they see signs of wrongdoing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

After the U.S. elections in November, our favorite internet companies faced a torrent of criticism for not doing more to curb the spread of fake news -- and responded by deploying a series of tools to combat the problem. This week, as French voters prepare to pick their next president, Bloomberg Technology's Pia Gadkari and Brad Stone ask whether Facebook's, Google's and Twitter's initiatives have worked. Will France turn out to be another repeat of what happened in the run-up to the U.S. elections, or has the internet finally figured out how to deal with false information? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We still think of Silicon Valley as the world's technology hub, but China's quickly catching up. For one, consider this stat: China has created as many billion-dollar startups this year as the U.S. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Peter Elstrom and David Ramli travel to Shanghai to visit Colin Huang, the man behind the latest business to join this rarefied club of unicorns. Huang recounts his humble origins in Hangzhou and the various turning points in his life that took him to where he is today, at the center of China's bustling tech scene. At 37, now leading his fourth startup, Huang's just getting started. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Remember Pinterest? Only a few years ago, the pinboard of the internet was one of the buzziest startups in Silicon Valley. Since then, the company's grown quietly, overshadowed in the news by other businesses in the industry. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier visits Pinterest for a rare interview with co-founders Ben Silbermann and Evan Sharp, as well as president Tim Kendall. The three executives discuss what they have been working on, as well as what they have struggled with. Will their new vision be enough to put Pinterest back on the map? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Around the world, people suffer from a genetic condition called hemophilia. Even with expensive and time-consuming treatments, simple injuries for these patients hold the threat of turning into serious complications and even life-threatening events. But now, one biotech company has stumbled upon what very early trials suggest could be a "cure" -- something that, with a single intravenous drip, essentially corrects the genetic mutation that causes the disorder. This week, Bloomberg's Doni Bloomfield visits the scientists behind this treatment and a patient who has actually tried it. If it works, researchers may have pushed the door open to a whole new world of treatments that tackle these diseases at their source: our DNA. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Tech companies face a harsh reality: You're only as good as your latest product. The scramble to identify and lure the best talent has taken recruiters to unusual places. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Lizette Chapman visits a recent hackathon at Stanford, watching as high school and college students code through the night. All the while, corporate representatives and investors are watching, eying the kids who will become future stars. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A crisis is brewing at the world's largest video service. YouTube has seen big advertisers from AT&T to Wal-Mart pull their ads off the platform over fears that their brand will appear next to offensive or extremist content. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Mark Bergen and Aki Ito plunge into one of the thorniest corners of the modern Internet and ask: How do you police the unwieldy, ever-expanding mess that is the world wide web? Please note: some short examples of offensive material have been included in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

If you own an iPhone, chances are you've used Apple's App Store to buy and download apps. For years, while iPhones were flying off the shelves, Apple had the power to dictate the rules of how software developers all over the world made those apps-- and made money from them. Now, with the global market for smartphones slowing, the iPhone maker is looking to sweeten its relationship with the 13 million developers it relies on to generate revenue from the App Store. The inner workings of Apple's business are notoriously opaque, but this week Bloomberg Technology's Alex Webb and Brad Stone take you into the world of the developers themselves, to hear what it's actually been like to work with Apple-- and to find out how the world's most valuable company is trying to change that. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Amazon opened a warehouse in the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee last year, a thousand people got new jobs. In return, Amazon got millions of dollars in tax breaks. This week, Spencer Soper visits Shakopee to examine the impact the e-commerce giant has had on the area's residents and businesses. For Shakopee, was it worth the investment? And what happens when cities and states across the country compete against each other to lure big corporations like Amazon, with increasingly bigger subsidies? Spencer and Aki hear from people on both sides as a national debate intensifies over how to create more American jobs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Do you ever spend time online watching people compete with each other at playing video games? Perhaps not (yet), but this pastime known as esports is turning into a popular and potentially lucrative category of sports entertainment. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Joshua Brustein meets a team of professional gamers, as well as the team owners (including former NBA star Rick Fox) helping them battle their way to the top of a League of Legends championship. In the process, Josh and Aki explore what it takes to build an esports league from scratch. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Jase Wilson launched his startup in Kansas City, Missouri, he didn't intend on leaving. But he struggled to get the funding he needed from local investors, and he decided to try his luck in California. Before long, Jase won the backing of, among others, the movie star Ashton Kutcher. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah McBride visits Kansas City to figure out why Jase, and other founders like him across the country, find it so hard to thrive outside the big coastal tech hubs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Ever since it was a tiny startup, Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has been based in the quirky, bohemian Los Angeles beach town of Venice. Now, the social media app maker employs almost 2,000 workers and is about to become a publicly traded company. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier and Aki Ito visit Venice to hear from longtime residents and business owners, some of whom worry they're getting priced out of their neighborhood. They also speak to community members who say the company is doing its best to offset the pains that economic success can bring. As Snap prepares for its March IPO, which will turn some of its young employees into overnight millionaires, tensions are reaching a fever pitch. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the past two years, Cuba has started rolling out public access to the internet. Wifi is now available through a network of hotspots-- but access is expensive, and the connection can be patchy and slow. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Pia Gadkari visits Cuba, exploring what life looks like when a country's just starting to get online. Pia and Aki hear from local entrepreneurs how the Internet is helping them grow their businesses, and discuss the potential for U.S. tech companies on the island. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On his eighth day in office, President Trump signed an executive order banning the U.S. entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries. The move sparked outrage from several tech companies, which rely heavily on the talent of skilled foreigners. This week, Bloomberg Technology’s Aki Ito and Olivia Zaleski speak to both tech workers directly affected by this ban as well as company executives who fear the order will hurt their businesses. More restrictions could be on the horizon, and Aki and Olivia discuss what those might mean for the industry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

More than 1.5 million people drive for Uber in cities all over the world. And yet, as the company finds new ways to make rides cheaper for customers, it's become harder for the app's contractors to make a decent living. This week, Brad visits one of Uber's very first drivers, and, together, they explore the complicated history between the ride-sharing app and its workers. Brad and Bloomberg Technology's startups reporter Eric Newcomer also discuss where that relationship is headed. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

We still don't know what Trump's presidency means for the broader tech industry, but one thing is clear: He loves Twitter. On the one hand, a president speaking directly with the people seems like a good thing. But will there be unintended consequences? This week, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Josh Brustein dig deep with two former Twitter employees, and also ask why a tool that's cemented its role in our public discourse is still struggling as a business. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

As cyber-spying gets ever more sophisticated, governments worldwide are rushing to get equipped with the most cutting-edge technology. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Jordan Robertson and Aki Ito take you into the heart of a multimillion-dollar deal to help a West African nation spy on its own people. But the deal goes south -- offering a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of the global cyber weapons industry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

It's something that just about every technology company says it wants to address -- diversifying its workforce. So why is the industry so full of men, most of whom are white or Asian? Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet and Aki Ito follow Mitchell Lee, co-founder of a startup called Penny, as he tries to hire someone who doesn't look like your typical Silicon Valley programmer. The process raises some surprising challenges and poses plenty of uncomfortable questions. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

It's been a year full of surprising developments, from Brexit to the election of Donald Trump. This week we're bringing you our pessimist's guide to 2017: What might happen in the tech industry if it all goes horribly wrong? These are the most dire scenarios our team of reporters could come up with. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A lot of people in the tech industry have a fascination with defying death. But only a few of them are actually working on ways to achieve it. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Ashlee Vance goes to Russia to meet one of the pioneers of the cryonics movement. We'll take a look at the technology he's developing, and see how close really he is to cracking the code to eternal life. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Computer animated movies are everywhere these days. But in 1995 when Pixar was preparing to release Toy Story, the public had never seen a fully computer-animated movie before. Toy Story was years in the making and for Pixar everything was on the line. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Pia Gadkari take us back to those final months, when CEO Steve Jobs, CFO Lawrence Levy and Pixar's other employees were racing to finish its first feature film, while also planning an all-important IPO. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Coding boot camps are everywhere these days, promising to arm you with the most highly sought skill in the modern economy: computer programming. While many programs charge thousands of dollars for just a few months of instruction, one school, started in Paris by the French billionaire Xavier Niel, offers a three-year curriculum for free. This week Bloomberg Technology's Sarah McBride and Marie Mawad report on Ecole 42's newly-opened Silicon Valley branch, which is hoping to repeat the Paris school's success in training underprivileged youth. But things haven't quite turned out the way administrators were expecting. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

(Bloomberg) -- Now that the holidays are approaching, chances are you'll be doing at least some of your gift shopping on Amazon.com. But before you click "buy" on the first favorably-reviewed item you find, take a minute to learn about how you can avoid getting duped by the site's fake reviews and phony products. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Spencer Soper report on the extreme tactics some vendors are using to get an edge on the competition, and what Amazon is doing to crack down on those people who are gaming the system. As we do more of our shopping on the internet, the stakes are only getting higher. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

On the night of the U.S. presidential elections, one of Facebook’s former product designers turned to Facebook to vent. His claim: The social media platform may have helped inaccurate and partisan news stories reach more voters, setting the stage for Donald Trump’s victory. Two weeks later, Facebook’s fake news problem has become one of the most hotly debated issues in America. This week, Bloomberg Technology’s Aki Ito and Sarah Frier speak to not only that former Facebook employee, but also two prominent investors in Silicon Valley as well as an editor of fact-checking site Snopes.com. Together, they grapple with the responsibilities that Facebook shoulders as a source of news for a growing portion of the world. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Virtual assistants such as the iPhone's Siri are now everywhere, reading us the news, recommending restaurants and navigating a path to our jobs. But any casual user knows they're far from perfect. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Aki Ito and Alistair Barr visit Professor Terry Winograd, a pioneer in artificial intelligence who amazed the world with a precursor to these assistants half a century ago. Terry tests the assistants from Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon and explains why, despite all the hype, computer scientists are still far away from building machines that can outsmart humans. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

A handful of websites have launched in the U.K. over the last few years, allowing not only the rich but also the rest of us to invest in startups. How likely is it that you'll end up striking gold on the next Facebook? This week, Bloomberg Technology's Adam Satariano travels to Scotland to meet one man keeping track -- and at least so far, the results are not promising. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

When Antonio Garcia Martinez was trying to raise money for his fledgling tech company, he worried that an honest pitch wouldn't get him the funds he needed. So he lied. This week, Brad and Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet explore the murky world of early-stage startups -- not just with Antonio but also with one of his startup's investors, as well a business school professor. In the absence of the strict rules governing public companies, are Silicon Valley's entrepreneurs getting away with too much? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Donald Trump insists that we don't know who was behind the cyber attack on the Democratic National Committee. Is he right? Bloomberg Technology's Jordan Robertson talks to Mike Buratowski, who oversaw the investigation into malicious code that spied on emails sent by DNC officials and others. After examining the hints left behind, they tackle the big issue: If hackers backed by Russia really were the perpetrators, what more could they do to mess with Americans' votes and U.S. democracy? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Very few things have stopped Uber in its quest for world domination -- except Didi, the Chinese ride-hailing startup that in August announced it will buy Uber's China operations. This week Lulu Chen and Brad Stone tell the story of how Didi rose to prominence, and the battles its founder Cheng Wei waged to defeat dozens of Chinese rivals before taking on Uber. Now that it's conquered the world's largest ride-hailing market, can Didi finally make money? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Just a few years ago, Fab.com was valued at $1 billion. Today, it's remembered as one of the most epic flame-outs in the history of U.S. technology startups. Bloomberg's Sarah Frier, who in 2013 was the first to report on Fab's internal turmoil, talks to founder Jason Goldberg about how he felt as the company soared and then collapsed. Jason also recounts the lessons he's learned -- so he won't repeat them as he prepares to launch a new business all over again. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

The global technology industry is a powerful engine of innovation that drives the economy. It's also a collection of insular communities full of hidden projects, quiet rivalries, and uncomfortable truths. Join Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone each week as he and the team's reporters uncover what actually happens behind closed doors. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com