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Raw Data

Stanford and PRX

We’ve entered a new era. The creation and collection of information play an ever-increasing — yet often hidden — role in our lives. Algorithms filter all sorts of experiences, from the mundane to the monumental. The fuel that powers and curates these experiences is…data. Data are the new oil; whoever controls data has power. Is this making things better? Worse? Raw Data is a show about how information becomes power. What are the implications for all of us, now that mountains of data are more accessible and malleable than ever?

Episodes post on Thursdays. From Stanford and PRX.

Hosted by Andrea Mustain and Mike Osborne.

We love hearing from you! Please email us at hello@rawdatapodcast.com

All rights reserved

We’ve entered a new era. The creation and collection of information play an ever-increasing — yet often hidden — role in our lives. Algorithms filter all sorts of experiences, from the mundane to the monumental. The fuel that powers and curates these experiences is…data. Data are the new oil; whoever controls data has power. Is this making things better? Worse? Raw Data is a show about how information becomes power. What are the implications for all of us, now that mountains of data are more accessible and malleable than ever?

Episodes post on Thursdays. From Stanford and PRX.

Hosted by Andrea Mustain and Mike Osborne.

We love hearing from you! Please email us at hello@rawdatapodcast.com

All rights reserved
26hr 7min
Thumbnail for "The Worst Cyber Attack (For now)".
In June 2017, a mysterious computer worm infected thousands of computers across the world. Who was behind the attack?
November 7, 201919min 50sec
Thumbnail for "Technically Sweet".
Why does child labor persist in the chocolate industry? Does technology offer the solution?
November 21, 201927min 20sec
Thumbnail for "Training Computers to See".
How do you teach a computer to distinguish between a cow and a couch? Lots of data.
November 14, 201917min 56sec
Thumbnail for "How We Found Ourselves".
It took decades of work, billions of dollars, and a fleet of spacecraft.
October 31, 201924min 47sec
Thumbnail for "About Us, But Not For Us (Repost)".
Tech companies are making billions of dollars off of our data. How did we get here?
October 29, 201929min 22sec
Thumbnail for "Prediction (BYTE)".
Machines are being used to predict the future. What could go wrong?
October 24, 201910min 35sec
Thumbnail for "The Digital Divide".
Getting online is a huge problem for more people than you might think.
October 17, 201927min 46sec
Thumbnail for "Hacking (BYTE)".
From data breaches to ransomware, we hear about hacking everywhere these days. But where does the term “hacking” come from, and what does it even mean?
October 10, 201912min 59sec
Thumbnail for "Machine Learning (BYTE)".
If the robot apocalypse isn’t around the corner, what is?
October 3, 201918min 24sec
Thumbnail for "Memory (BYTE)".
What is RAM, and why is memory central for the computing of tomorrow?
September 26, 201912min 23sec
Thumbnail for "The Answer Machine ".
Who knows you best? It’s probably not a person.
September 19, 201927min 8sec
Thumbnail for "Algorithms (BYTE)".
What is an algorithm? And why do we need them?
September 12, 201913min 9sec
Thumbnail for "Your Data Are Showing".
Is the loss of privacy in the digital age even greater than we realize?
August 29, 201925min 43sec
Thumbnail for "Power from the People (Post Trump, Pre-2020) ".
The fight over the 2020 census may feel like it came out of left field — but it turns out that battles over the census are as old as the republic itself.
July 18, 201931min 30sec
Thumbnail for "Power Lines, Post SCOTUS".
Is the United States still a representative democracy?
July 11, 201930min 48sec
Thumbnail for "Conspiracy Tyranny".
Why are authoritarians around the world gaining power? A new, 21st-century brand of propaganda is at least partly to blame.
July 4, 201919min 57sec
Thumbnail for "Kinetic Effects".
Turns out, Russia tried to sow chaos in the United States through digital disinformation and disruption long before the 2016 election.
June 27, 201919min 23sec
Thumbnail for "Dezinformatsiya".
The story behind Russian disinformation efforts we saw in 2016? It’s complicated.
June 20, 201936min 46sec
Thumbnail for "Climate and Behavior: Warmer Means Worse".
Climate change is already reshaping the natural world, but how does it affect human behavior?
June 6, 201927min 25sec
Thumbnail for "Power Lines".
Is the United States still a representative democracy? Thanks to an oft-overlooked partisan weapon — one that’s gotten immensely more powerful, thanks to software and data — the answer is complicated.
May 13, 201927min 28sec
Thumbnail for "Titan vs. Titan: A.I. & the Race for Global Supremacy ".
The future is all about AI, but right now the USA has...no clear plan. Meanwhile China is literally paving the way for world dominance.
May 2, 201925min 31sec
Thumbnail for "Weaponized".
The whole idea of killer robots used to be pure science fiction, but it turns out that AI and autonomous weapons are increasingly showing up on the battlefield. How close are we to actually having machines and algorithms that will select targets and make the decision to kill, without any human intervention? The alarming truth is that we are probably much closer than you might think.
April 25, 201926min 49sec
Thumbnail for "About Us, But Not for Us".
Tech companies are making billions of dollars off of our data. How did we get here? According to Shoshana Zuboff, author of a new book about surveillance capitalism, it all started at Google. And she says the costs of this new economic model are far greater than most of us ever imagined.
April 11, 201928min 50sec
Thumbnail for "Power from the People, Part II: A New Kind of Machine ".
Facing down yet another crisis, the U.S. census adopted a brand new kind of technology — and in doing so, brought forth a machine that would change the world.
April 4, 201919min 51sec
Thumbnail for "Power from the People".
How the U.S. constitution created a series of data crises, and catalyzed the American computer industry in the process.
March 21, 201927min 58sec
Thumbnail for "Meet Raw Data".
Announcing Raw Data. Coming March 21st
March 7, 20192min 28sec
Thumbnail for "Reckoning".
Silicon Valley and Washington DC have a showdown when Zuckerberg goes before Congress. Silicon Valley has grown powerful because it advances a vision for how technology will set us free. So what’s missing from the Silicon Valley story?
July 26, 201835min 47sec
Thumbnail for "Inevitability".
Technology is an almost god-like force that acts upon all of humanity. What does it actually want?
July 19, 201828min 53sec
Thumbnail for "Democracy".
Can democracy survive the internet? What country will take the lead in shaping our online environment – and how?
July 12, 201821min 49sec
Thumbnail for "Gatekeepers".
The tech giants that control the internet have destroyed 20th century institutions and challenged the role of an independent press. Whither the 4th estate? Susan Athey, Frank Foer.
July 5, 201826min 29sec
Thumbnail for "All the World's a Stage".
Within 15 years, social media has become the dominant force shaping the Valley. What does it mean for individuals around the world and for society at large to be publicly performing in so many aspects of our lives? Andrew Smith, Alice Marwick.
June 28, 201838min 40sec
Thumbnail for "The Garage".
Silicon Valley reveres garage start-ups and the myth of the entrepreneur. But, in the wake of the dotcom crash, power dynamics shift. Have the entrepreneurs, these quintessential American characters,captured too much power? Steve Blank, Sarah Lacy.
June 21, 201824min 42sec
Thumbnail for "Land of the Free Dotcom".
Netscape’s IPO electrifies the dotcom era, and “New Economy” proponents insist that cyberspace will redefine the rules of prosperity. The data economy is born. Guests: Fred Turner, Kevin Kelly, Lou Montulli, Rosanne Siino, Tim Wu.
June 7, 201836min 9sec
Thumbnail for "The Triple Fence".
In the post-Watergate era, two academics battle the NSA and establish the technology that protects our online information. Cryptography remains a fundamental tool, but can it save us from entering a post-privacy world? Guests: Michal Kosinski, Whit Diffie, Marty Hellman, and Henry Corrigan-Gibbs
May 31, 201833min 53sec
Thumbnail for "The Looking Glass".
The Valley comes of age as the center of innovation and personal computing. Doug Englebart delivers the Mother of All Demos. Steve Jobs makes a fateful visit to Xerox PARC. On The WELL, people learn what it means to socialize online. Guests: Leslie Berlin, John Markoff, and Howard Rheingold.
May 24, 201839min 39sec
Thumbnail for "Drop City".
Inspired by cybernetics and LSD, Stewart Brand creates the Whole Earth Catalog as a how-to manual for the commune movement. The catalog articulates a philosophy of tech idealism and individual empowerment. Guests: Fred Turner, John Markoff, and Kevin Kelly.
May 17, 201836min 53sec
Thumbnail for "Valley of Heart's Delight".
Valley of Heart's Delight
May 10, 201830min 58sec
Thumbnail for "Monument to a Dead Child".
The seeds of Silicon Valley were sown long ago. The Gold Rush, the railroad barons, the founding of Stanford University, and myths of the American West still echo today.
May 3, 201837min 16sec
Thumbnail for "Prelude".
Introducing the series. Silicon Valley’s power: how did we get here?
April 26, 20186min 10sec
Thumbnail for "Season Finale: The Legal Codes".
How are algorithms and data science making their …
June 27, 201732min 19sec
Thumbnail for "Meddling".
There are A LOT of unanswered questions right now…
May 19, 201730min 31sec
Thumbnail for "Newer Money".
It's been a minute since we've checked in on the …
April 2, 201732min 14sec
Thumbnail for "Propaganda Armies".
Let’s face it – there’s a lot of bulls**t flying …
February 24, 201734min 58sec
Thumbnail for "A New Day in Hollywood".
There are massive changes underway in Hollywood –…
January 30, 201727min 9sec
Thumbnail for "Attention is Money".
On the Internet there’s a never-ending, epic batt…
December 20, 201630min 33sec
Thumbnail for "Data Confidential".
It’s nearly impossible to know if you're having a…
December 13, 201624min 29sec
Thumbnail for "Gold or Pyrite?".
Welcome to Season 2 of Raw Data! There's been a l…
November 29, 201624min 9sec
Thumbnail for "Upon Reflection: Season 1".
We’ve reached the end of Season 1 of Raw Data! (D…
May 24, 201628min 55sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 11: So... What's On Your Mind?".
Language is a window into our minds. So with all …
April 5, 201628min 32sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 10: Love".
LOVE!! Why is it so hard to find?! The seemingly …
March 21, 201632min 11sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 9: The Digital Afterlife".
What happens to our data when we die? Digital est…
March 3, 201627min 21sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 8: All the News That's Fit to Feed".
How do you get your news – and how do you think y…
February 11, 201635min 47sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 7: The Big Data of Nature".
As we hear over and over again, environmental iss…
January 27, 201634min 59sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 6: Under the Influence".
Are we addicted to the Internet? Is it even appro…
December 21, 201524min 30sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 5: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Data".
Elections and political messaging are changing in…
November 24, 201532min 12sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 4: New Money".
Cryptocurrencies could revolutionize money and fi…
November 3, 201525min 24sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 3: The Hippocratic Algorithm".
Big data is revolutionizing health and medicine, …
October 20, 201526min 51sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 2: Work in the Crowd".
What is the future of work? Today, all of our car…
October 6, 201522min 15sec
Thumbnail for "Episode 1: Uploaded".
Welcome to Raw Data! In this first episode, hosts…
September 16, 201522min 3sec

The Worst Cyber Attack (For now)

Thumbnail for "The Worst Cyber Attack (For now)".
November 7, 201919min 50sec

In June 2017, something weird — and very alarming — started happening at a company in Copenhagen. It seemed that hackers had shut down the company’s network, and were demanding a ransom. But it turned out this was no ordinary cyberattack. What unfolded was the most devastating cyberattack in history — one that brought operations to a screeching halt in companies across the world, and cost billions of dollars. Andy Greenberg, writer at Wired Magazine and author of the book Sandworm, tells the behind-the-scenes story of the attack, dubbed NotPetya — which, in its aftermath, was revealed to be not a sophisticated tool to steal money, but instead, a weapon designed to destroy a nation.  

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