Listen to If Then by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:
On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus lament the anticlimactic end to Waymo and Uber’s court drama, explain why teens are pissed at Snapchat, and examine John Perry Barlow’s contributions to the internet we know today. The hosts are joined by Justin Rosenstein, co-founder of Asana and the former Facebooker behind the like button, to talk about the distraction crisis and whether Silicon Valley can solve a problem it created.
Stories discussed on the show:
- New York Times: Early Facebook and Google Employees Form Coalition to Fight What They Built
- Slate: John Perry Barlow Gave Internet Activists Only Half of the Mission They Need
- Slate: Google and Uber Went to War Over Almost Nothing Because They Think the Race for Self-Driving Cars Is About Everything
- Slate: The Kids Are Right: The Snapchat Redesign Is A Mess
- Slate: Silicon Valley Needs to Face Its Demons. This Bougie Retreat Center Run by an Ex-Googler Isn’t the Place to Do It.
Don’t Close My Tabs:
- Slate: The Robot Dog That Can Open a Door Is Even More Impressive Than It Looks
- A.I. Weirdness: Candy Heart Messages Written by a Neural Network
Podcast production by Max Jacobs.
If Then plugs:
You can get updates about what’s coming up next by following us on Twitter @ifthenpod. You can follow Will @WillOremus and April @Aprilaser. If you have a question or comment, you can email us at ifthen@slate.com.
If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
