163. Mic Drop: From banned to beloved, the Taliban’s unexpected embrace of the Internet

Drones promised progress — as lifesavers in floods, storytellers in newsrooms, even assistants to archaeologists. But somewhere along the way, they took a darker turn. Now they hover over protests, shadow 911 calls and surveil our neighborhoods from above. Researcher Faine Greenwood discusses how we normalized the hum of surveillance — and why all this is starting to resemble something much more authoritarian. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Today: A story about a technology that began in the fields — tracking cattle — and is now on the ankles of immigrants. It’s part of a program called “alternatives to detention.” And these ankle monitors, smartphone apps, GPS check-ins have changed. They’re not just tools to monitor. Increasingly, they’re being used to entrap. And for some immigrants, complying with the system means walking straight into ICE detention. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A Chinese hacking group walked right into a trap. Not a firewall. Not a filter. A honeypot. This week, Amazon CSO Steve Schmidt explains how a digital decoy called MadPot helped expose Volt Typhoon—and why, in the age of AI, the real vulnerability isn’t software. It’s people. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

TRON was supposed to be just another Ethereum knockoff — faster, cheaper, maybe a little flashier. But over time, it's become something else entirely: the go-to blockchain for illicit finance. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Zoom was built for speed. But in its rush to connect us, it may have left a few doors open. This week, a cybersecurity expert walks us through how one of Zoom's most mundane features became a hacker's best friend — and why the weakest link in crypto isn't the blockchain … it's the person who thinks they're too smart to get scammed. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jake Gallen was a rising star in crypto. Then, after what seemed like a routine YouTube interview, his digital world unraveled. His NFTs? Liquidated. His social accounts? Hijacked. It turns out, the hackers didn’t need phishing links or fake job offers. They needed something much simpler: a Zoom invite. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Trump memecoin dinner looked like a political stunt. Maybe even a scam. But inside the crypto community, some saw something else: legitimacy. Today, we hear from one of crypto’s most thoughtful defenders. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Memecoins were born as Internet pranks — worthless by design, traded for laughs. But now they are buying real power, and a digital joke just slipped past the velvet rope straight into the Oval Office. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For years, North Korea has quietly dispatched an army of IT workers overseas—not to innovate, but to infiltrate. Disguised as freelancers, they apply for jobs, breach systems, and wire stolen funds back to Pyongyang. This week, a rare conversation with one of them—a defector—about the regime’s digital underworld, and the personal toll of escaping it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

North Korea has built an artificial intelligence research center to supercharge its cyber operations, Unit 227. It’s a move that some experts say has been years in the making — and others say should scare us senseless. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices