Techdirt

At long last, we've got a fresh new original episode for you! This week, Mike is joined by David Enrich, business investigations editor for the New York Times, to discuss his new book Murder The Truth, all about the abuse of defamation laws to silence journalists and discourage critical reporting of the rich and powerful.

We're finally getting back into the rhythm of things, and in fact right at this very moment Mike is recording a brand new original episode for next week on the podcast — but this week, we've got a cross-post and a special extra treat. Mike recently once again joined Andy Levy on The New Abnormal podcast to discuss what Elon Musk is up to in the federal government, and how those of us who closely followed his Twitter takeover know exactly the playbook he's working from. But before that, we've also got the teaser trailer for the upcoming documentary podcast Otherwise Objectionable, hosted by Mike for the Competitive Enterprise Institute. You can listen to them both right here on this week's episode.

We've got another cross-post episode this week! Recently, Mike appeared on The Dynamist podcast from the Foundation for American Innovation for the second entry in a four-part series about copyright and artificial intelligence. He's joined by Alex Winter and Tim Hwang, and host Evan Swarztrauber, for a discussion about how artists, creators, and tech companies are navigating the rapidly changing AI landscape.

We've written about the many signs that Trump FCC pick Brendan Carr is eager to be America's top censor. Recently, Mike once again joined Andy Levy on The New Abnormal podcast for a discussion about how much of a threat Carr represents to free speech and the First Amendment, and you can listen to the whole segment here on this week's episode.

Last week, we launched the crowdfunding campaign for One Billion Users, our new card game where players compete to build the biggest and best social media network. As is tradition when we launch a new game, myself and our game design partner Randy Lubin joined Mike on an episode of the podcast to talk all about the game and why you should help us release it by backing the Kickstarter. One Billion Users on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mmasnick/one-billion-users-the-social-media-card-game/

We've got another cross-post for you this week, and this time it's also a live panel recording. Recently, Mike joined a panel at Boston University Questrom School of Business which was recorded for WBUR's Is Business Broken? podcast, alongside professors Marshall Van Alstyne and Nadine Strossen, and moderated by host Curt Nickisch. The discussion is all about Section 230 specifically and the regulation of speech more broadly, and you can listen to the whole thing here on this week's episode.

It's been a few weeks, but we're back! Although the podcast schedule is still going to be sporadic for a little while longer (Mike explains further in the intro) we've got a couple cross-post episodes lined up, starting with today's. Recently, Mike joined Ed Zitron on his Better Offline podcast for a far-reaching interview about (among other things) the history of Techdirt, the future of Bluesky, and the origins of the Streisand Effect. You can listen to the whole conversation here on this week's episode. Better Offline Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-streisand-effect-with-mike-masnick/id1730587238?i=1000675856146

Though the current popular narrative about social media seems to be that it is harmful and has little or no redeeming value, the truth (which a lot of people know) is that it also has a lot of value, and the potential to be even better. A recent research report from New_Public finds some ideas on how to pursue that potential by looking at a niche, local social media site that moves a lot slower than the big networks, and this week we're joined by New_Public co-director Eli Pariser to discuss what useful lessons there might be to learn from "slow social media". Read the report (pdf): https://newpublic.org/uploads/2024/07/Front-Porch-Forum-report-2.pdf

If you're a Techdirt reader (or any tech news reader) you've already heard a lot of stories about the chaos of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, but no matter how much you know, there's a lot to learn in a new book that hits the shelves today. Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, by New York Times reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, is the definitive retelling of the saga-so-far, and it's full of fascinating details that make it a gripping read. Today, Kate joins us on the podcast to talk all about the book and the stories therein. Get the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/737290/character-limit-by-kate-conger-and-ryan-mac/

There's been plenty of conversation over the past decade about how unprepared the mainstream media was for the shifts that have happened in politics and political discourse, especially when it comes to finding... well... the truth. As we move towards the 2024 election, the challenges of reporting and fact checking are once again in the spotlight, and this week we're joined by NYU Journalism Professor and Jay Rosen to talk about the state of modern journalism, and how fact checking so often fails.