Episodes

  • 145. Mic Drop: Could an analysis of sound help save the Jaguar in Costa Rica?

    145. Mic Drop: Could an analysis of sound help save the Jaguar in Costa Rica?
    Jul 5 2024
    From an encore episode of Mic Drop. Everyone is talking about the power of Al in conservation, but a professor at Arizona State University has found an even simpler, more elegant solution — and all you have to do is listen.
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    15 mins
  • 144. Generative AI: Is it creative or just copying the rest of us?

    144. Generative AI: Is it creative or just copying the rest of us?
    Jul 2 2024
    In an encore episode, we look at the tension between AI and the work of humans from which it learns. Media companies like the New York Times and a roster of authors and artists have sued some of the makers of these generative AI models to try to get an answer to a very fundamental question: What do human creators own?
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    28 mins
  • 143. Mic Drop: Bellingcat’s Eliot Higgins wants to change the relationship you have with information.

    143. Mic Drop: Bellingcat’s Eliot Higgins wants to change the relationship you have with information.
    Jun 28 2024
    Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins has been working with young people not just to show them how to sort fact from fiction, but to give them a reason to believe that truth can still empower the weak and hold the guilty accountable.
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    13 mins
  • 142. Meet Antibot4Navalny: the mysterious researchers exposing Russia’s war on truth.

    142. Meet Antibot4Navalny: the mysterious researchers exposing Russia’s war on truth.
    Jun 25 2024
    Antibot4Navalny is a small but mighty group of anonymous researchers calling out Russian disinformation — and punching way above their weight.
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    31 mins
  • 141. Legislative solutions for deepfake abuse finally begin to take shape

    141. Legislative solutions for deepfake abuse finally begin to take shape
    Jun 21 2024
    Omny Miranda Martone has been working with a handful of Washington lawmakers for more than a year on legislation that would put an end to the impunity of deepfake abuse. The bill, known as the Defiance Act, is being fast-tracked through Congress with a rare procedure known as “hotlining” and it may land on the president’s desk as early as this fall.
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    12 mins
  • 140. Are solutions to deepfake abuse finally coming into focus?

    140. Are solutions to deepfake abuse finally coming into focus?
    Jun 18 2024
    After years of shouting into the wind about deepfakes and deepfake porn, we take a look at some possible solutions that offer not just deterrence but accountability. Plus, something we rarely see these days: bipartisan agreement on a bill in Congress.
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    29 mins
  • 139. Mic Drop: GhostSec’s quest for redemption: their leader claims their life of crime is over.

    139. Mic Drop: GhostSec’s quest for redemption: their leader claims their life of crime is over.
    Jun 14 2024
    The GhostSec hacktivist group used to be known for its cyberattacks against terrorist groups like ISIS. Then, last year, the group took an unexpected turn — it created GhostLocker and began launching ransomware attacks. We talk to the group’s leader about their work with cybercriminal gangs and why we should believe him when he says all that is now in the past.
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    12 mins
  • 138. Almost every cyber attack begins with a key ingredient: an Infostealer

    138. Almost every cyber attack begins with a key ingredient: an Infostealer
    Jun 11 2024
    Infostealers commit close to the perfect crime. They sneak into your computer, grab your logins, passwords, and anything of value, and then delete themselves on the way out — victims don’t even know they’ve been robbed. We talk to the alleged co-founder of the Meduza infostealer and to some of the people intent on stopping this kind of attack.
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    32 mins