Technology

Once “alternative” media figures like Joe Rogan, Steve Bannon, and Charlie Kirk are winning bigger audiences than legacy media and becoming the new mainstream.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Despite ongoing concern about teen internet use, young people are online as much as ever.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Parents are suing Character.AI after its chatbots allegedly encouraged teens to hurt themselves or others. What’s making the tech push out this kind of language?

Some teens’ relationships with chatbots can spiral toward danger

Parents are suing Character.AI after its chatbots allegedly encouraged teens to hurt themselves or others. What’s making the tech push out this kind of language?

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Writer and psychologist Andrew Solomon shares his research about the impact of social media on the escalating youth suicide crisis.

Is digital addiction fuelling a teen suicide crisis?

Writer and psychologist Andrew Solomon shares his research about the impact of social media on the escalating youth suicide crisis.

from Life Examined

Sony’s PlayStation launched in Japan in 1994, and revolutionized gaming by pursuing an older audience and using film-like graphics.

PlayStation at 30: Sony’s console became a victim of its own success

Sony’s PlayStation launched in Japan in 1994, and revolutionized gaming by pursuing an older audience and using film-like graphics.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

More people are making friends through apps. Some work like dating apps, while others bring people together over dinner parties.

Friend-finding apps: Cure to adult loneliness?

More people are making friends through apps. Some work like dating apps, while others bring people together over dinner parties.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

“Wicked” and “Gladiator II’s” winning streaks look to stretch into the holiday box office weekend, even as “Moana 2” shows up to the party.

Who will win the Thanksgiving weekend box office?

“Wicked” and “Gladiator II’s” winning streaks look to stretch into the holiday box office weekend, even as “Moana 2” shows up to the party.

from The Business

“I pledge allegiance to the joke,” says comedian Roy Wood Jr., explaining his approach to hosting CNN’s take on the British quiz show “Have I Got News For You.”

Comedian Roy Wood Jr.: online virality > old-school ratings

“I pledge allegiance to the joke,” says comedian Roy Wood Jr., explaining his approach to hosting CNN’s take on the British quiz show “Have I Got News For You.”

from The Business

Pro-cryptocurrency donors have made almost half of all the corporate contributions to political action committees this election, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on both sides…

Pro-crypto donors are pouring big money into 2024 elections

Pro-cryptocurrency donors have made almost half of all the corporate contributions to political action committees this election, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on both sides…

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield assesses how constant internet access affects the coming-of-age experience of pandemic teens in a new series called “Social Studies.”

LA teens would rather live without social media, says new docuseries

Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield assesses how constant internet access affects the coming-of-age experience of pandemic teens in a new series called “Social Studies.”

from KCRW Features

Elon Musk is offering swing state voters $1 million to sign his petition. But some election law experts worry that Musk is trying to buy votes for Donald Trump.

Elon Musk offers $1M to sign his petition. Is it legal?

Elon Musk is offering swing state voters $1 million to sign his petition. But some election law experts worry that Musk is trying to buy votes for Donald Trump.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, says it’s waived fees for customers in hurricane-affected areas. The company is growing, but rivals may be coming.

Starlink proves useful in aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, says it’s waived fees for customers in hurricane-affected areas. The company is growing, but rivals may be coming.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

The Intuit Dome in Inglewood offers facial recognition for just about everything, from ticketing to concessions at concerts and Clippers games.

At Intuit Dome, your face is your ticket and credit card

The Intuit Dome in Inglewood offers facial recognition for just about everything, from ticketing to concessions at concerts and Clippers games.

from KCRW Features

CalTech professor John Hopfield and Google scientist Geoffrey Hinton’s discoveries taught computers to learn the same way humans do, paving the way for A.I.

‘Godfather of AI’ wins physics Nobel, he fears his creation

CalTech professor John Hopfield and Google scientist Geoffrey Hinton’s discoveries taught computers to learn the same way humans do, paving the way for A.I.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Julie Guthman critiques tech entrepreneurs whose proposed food system "fixes" ignore the underlying problems they claim to address.

Maybe we should be more skeptical about Silicon Valley's "solutions" for food issues

Julie Guthman critiques tech entrepreneurs whose proposed food system "fixes" ignore the underlying problems they claim to address.

from Good Food

Wall Street Journal technology columnist Joanna Stern and her colleagues built a chatbot for iPhone recommendations. Then came the movie reviews, recipes, and Nazis.

A tech columnist built a chatbot for iPhone reviews. It got weird

Wall Street Journal technology columnist Joanna Stern and her colleagues built a chatbot for iPhone recommendations. Then came the movie reviews, recipes, and Nazis.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill to protect tech consumers.

New CA law protects ‘brain data’ collected by neurotech companies

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill to protect tech consumers.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Two major developments tighten big tech’s grip on Hollywood: Lionsgate’s deal with AI company Runway + Meta’s SAG-AFTRA-endorsed celeb chatbots.

Lionsgate, SAG, and Meta are tightening Hollywood and big tech’s bonds

Two major developments tighten big tech’s grip on Hollywood: Lionsgate’s deal with AI company Runway + Meta’s SAG-AFTRA-endorsed celeb chatbots.

from The Business

The U.S. continues to take a firm stance on China. When does censorship go too far? Plus, California’s gas inventory may hurt its neighboring state, Nevada.

US legislators harden stance on China, Brazil bans Musk’s X

The U.S. continues to take a firm stance on China. When does censorship go too far? Plus, California’s gas inventory may hurt its neighboring state, Nevada.

from Left, Right & Center

The attack on Hezbollah, using explosive pagers and walkie-talkies, reveals vulnerabilities in our globalized electronics supply chain.

What do exploding pagers mean for supply chain security?

The attack on Hezbollah, using explosive pagers and walkie-talkies, reveals vulnerabilities in our globalized electronics supply chain.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand