Crazy/Genius

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Big questions about technology, science, and culture, hosted by The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson. On Season 3 (launching May 9): Unbreak the internet.

The Atlantic

  • Publisher Podcast Awards
    2020 Best Technology Podcast

  • Publisher Podcast Awards
    2020 Podcast of the Year


  • May 19, 2023 LATEST EPISODE
  • infrequent NEW EPISODES
  • 20m AVG DURATION
  • 29 EPISODES

Ivy Insights

The Crazy/Genius podcast is an incredibly engaging and thought-provoking show that delves into the world of technology and its impact on society. Hosted by Derek Thompson, each episode explores a different technological topic and examines the pros and cons of the latest innovations. What sets this podcast apart is Thompson's ability to present a balanced view, never making it one-sided, but always arriving at a conclusion by the end. The episodes cover a wide range of subjects that are relevant in today's fast-paced world, offering listeners a new perspective on the technology that surrounds us daily.

One of the best aspects of The Crazy/Genius podcast is how thoroughly and effectively each episode's topic is explained. Thompson takes the time to explore complex ideas and concepts, breaking them down into understandable terms for listeners. This makes it accessible to both tech-savvy individuals and those who may be less familiar with certain technologies. Additionally, the variety of guests featured on the show brings diverse expertise and viewpoints to each discussion, further enriching the content.

Another commendable aspect of this podcast is its ability to make even familiar topics feel fresh and interesting. Even if you have prior knowledge about a particular subject, The Crazy/Genius podcast manages to provide new insights and nuanced ideas that you may not have heard before. The host's interviewing skills are top-notch, asking questions that spark curiosity in both seasoned professionals and everyday listeners alike. It truly leaves you thinking deeply about the technological advancements shaping our world.

While there aren't many negatives to highlight about The Crazy/Genius podcast, some may argue that it could benefit from more frequent episodes or regular release schedules. However, this could also be seen as part of what makes it special – quality over quantity. Each episode is meticulously researched, resulting in high-quality content that instigates meaningful discussions.

In conclusion, if you're looking for an informative and captivating podcast that explores important technological topics, The Crazy/Genius podcast is a must-listen. Its well-rounded approach, engaging host, and wide variety of guests make it an excellent resource for anyone interested in understanding the impact of technology on our lives. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or simply want to stay informed about the world we live in, this podcast delivers thought-provoking content that will leave you craving more.



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Latest episodes from Crazy/Genius

Introducing Holy Week

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2023 3:35


Holy Week: The story of a revolution undone. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how did this hero's murder come to be the stitching used to tie together a narrative of victory? The week that followed his killing was one of the most fiery, disruptive, and revolutionary, and is nearly forgotten. Over the course of eight episodes, Holy Week brings forward the stories of the activists who turned heartbreak into action, families scorched by chaos, and politicians who worked to contain the grief. Seven days diverted the course of a social revolution and set the stage for modern clashes over voting rights, redlining, critical race theory, and the role of racial unrest in today's post–George Floyd reckoning. Subscribe and listen to all 8 episodes now: theatlantic.com/holyweek Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presenting: The Review, a new podcast from The Atlantic

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2021 2:08


On The Review, The Atlantic's writers and guests discuss how we entertain ourselves and how that shapes the way we understand the world. Subscribe and enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How To Build A Happy Life: A new podcast from The Atlantic

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2021 2:26


Hello Crazy/Genius listeners. We'd like to introduce you to a new show! In this series, host Arthur Brooks digs into research and offers tools to help you live more joyfully. Join us for deep conversations with psychologists, experts, and friends of The Atlantic's Chief Happiness Correspondent. For more info, visit www.theatlantic.com/happy, or search for How to Build a Happy Life on your podcast app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing: The Experiment

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2021 34:18


On the first episode, host Julia Longoria tells the story of the “zone of death,” where a legal glitch could short-circuit the Constitution—a place where, technically, you could get away with murder. At a time when we’re surrounded by preventable deaths, we document one journey to avert disaster. Listen and subscribe to The Experiment: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing New Atlantic Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2020 3:00


The Atlantic has launched three new podcasts this year: Social Distance, Floodlines, and The Ticket. Subscribe to keep up with Atlantic journalism. Subscribe to Social Distance: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts Subscribe to Floodlines: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts Subscribe to The Ticket: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Has Netflix Changed Entertainment?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2019 28:05


The numbers are staggering: thousands of titles for 160 million subscribers in 190 countries. Netflix has changed where we watch -- that's obvious. But has it also changed what we watch, and how? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should We Be Afraid of AI in the Criminal Justice System?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2019 29:44


Algorithms pervade our lives. They determine the news we see and the products we buy. But most Americans don’t understand how they are transforming every part of the criminal justice system—from policing and bail to sentencing and parole. Could computers make the legal system more fair? Or is it inherently unjust to put a person’s life in the hands of an algorithm? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Influencers: Frauds or the Future of Online Commerce?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2019 24:08


Instagram influencers are beloved by fans and mocked by critics, but is there more to influencing than meets the eye? A look at what a growing industry can teach us about the future of life online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

influencers fraud online commerce
The U.S. and China: A Tale of Two Surveillance States

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2019 28:01


From Beijing to Brooklyn, facial recognition is on the cutting edge of surveillance technology. But does the threat of this tech outweigh its benefits? A look at two communities living under the microscope. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Did the Far Right Take Over the Web?

Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2019 27:55


From Charlottesville, Virginia, to Christchurch, New Zealand, the last few years have been filled with examples of online hatred spilling over into offline violence. How did the Web become one big media channel for the far right, and how can we make the Internet safe from extremism? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What Is Pornography Doing to Our Sex Lives?

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2019 26:30


Young people are having less sex, and access to digital pornography has never been greater. Coincidence? In this episode, we wade into the debate over pornography and determine what, if anything, can be said about its effect on our relationships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Should We Care About Privacy?

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2019 32:13


Admit it: You have no idea what privacy means anymore. These days, virtually all online activity—searching, shopping, browsing—requires giving away our personal information to tech companies. In this episode, we review the 200 year history of privacy in America and explain what the new age of “surveillance capitalism” means for all of us who have to live in it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 3 Trailer: Unbreak the Internet

Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2019 1:40


Ten years ago, “Move fast and break things” was the clarion call of the world’s tech giants. Well, they moved fast and broke stuff, alright. Lots of stuff. Whether it’s Facebook privacy scandals, YouTube’s radicalization of the far right, or China’s brutal use of surveillance gadgetry, digital technology seems to be a relentless force for greed, bad faith, and tyranny these days. Let’s talk about it. “Unbreak the Internet” is the theme for the third season of Crazy/Genius, The Atlantic’s podcast on tech and culture. Over the course of eight weeks, we’ll expose the surveillance states in both western China and East New York, ask if digital platforms are an accelerant for right-wing nationalism, tell you why privacy is the climate-change crisis of the internet, and more. The third season of Crazy/Genius returns on May 9. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tech Was Supposed to Be Society’s Great Equalizer. What Happened?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2018 25:58


In a special bonus episode, computer scientist and data journalist Meredith Broussard explains how “technochauvinism” derailed the dream of the digital revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

society tech equalizer meredith broussard
Can Artificial Intelligence Be Smarter Than a Human Being?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2018 30:56


AI can beat human geniuses at Jeopardy, chess, and complex mathematics. But surely, these machines don’t have anything that even closely resembles human imagination. Or do they? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will We Ever Stop Eating Animal Meat?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2018 28:35


Americans eat more meat now than ever. That’s a problem for the planet’s future. Animal farming takes up 30 percent of the earth’s landmass (the equivalent of Asia), and livestock causes one-sixth of global greenhouse gas emissions. We need more than moral arguments against meat. We need a technological revolution in better, cleaner food.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can We Extend Human Lifespans to 150?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2018 28:56


Some scientists see aging as a disease that can be cured—but what would immortality mean for humanity? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Will Self-Driving Cars Change the World?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2018 28:16


Over the last 130 years, the automobile shaped the modern world—it redefined the city, filled the suburbs, and revved up pop culture. With autonomous technology, everything about our relationship to cars is about to change. Then what? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should We Dim the Skies to Save the World?

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2018 24:46


Climate change could be the most important problem facing humanity. To address it, scientists are thinking seriously about an idea that might sound like something from a sci-fi dystopia: Spraying the skies with sulfuric acid to partially block out the sun. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 2 Trailer

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2018 1:24


Crazy/Genius is back with a new season featuring five ideas to save the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

crazy genius
Should We Go to Mars?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2018 23:44


It’s our best hope for life after earth—and a freezing, irradiated desert more than 30 million miles away. In our season finale, scientists and writers debate whether colonizing Mars is the most important mission in the history of the human race, or an absurd daydream. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Haven’t We Found Aliens?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2018 24:28


“Where is everybody?” That’s the question physicist Enrico Fermi asked in 1950. Nearly 70 years later, we’re getting tantalizingly close to solving the riddle known as Fermi’s Paradox: If the universe is so large and so old, why haven't we found life on other planets? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who Killed Local News?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2018 24:21


Since the Internet exploded journalism’s business revenue, local newsrooms around the country have been in free fall. We speak to The Denver Post's former managing editor and other experts to debate how to save the news—and, just possibly, democracy itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Online Dating Destroying Romance?

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2018 23:30


Finding love on the Internet can be awkward, annoying, or downright scary. In this episode, two sociologists debate the merits of online dating and discuss their research on the history of romance in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are Smartphones Ruining Our Lives?

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2018 25:49


Digital devices rob us of our attention, creativity, and, some studies show, our mental health. We ask psychologists and authors if smartphone and social media usage has triggered a national health crisis — and what we can do to free ourselves from the allure of modern technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blockchain: The Next Internet, or the Next Beanie Baby?

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2018 23:50


Silicon Valley and Wall Street are obsessed with Bitcoin and its underlying technology called blockchain. Boosters say it'll fix everything from elections to shipping to identity theft. But what exactly is blockchain, how is it being used, and is the hype really worth it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should We Break Up Amazon?

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2018 23:00


Amazon might become the first trillion-dollar company in the history of the world. Has the Everything Store become a dangerous monopoly threatening the U.S. economy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Can’t Facebook Tell the Truth?

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2018 23:12


In the last 18 months, Facebook has gone through one of the worst public relations crises of any major tech company. In this episode, two guests debate whether Facebook is fixable, or whether its business model is designed to sell us lies. Read more here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing Crazy/Genius

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2018 2:09


On Crazy/Genius, host Derek Thompson asks big questions about everything from online dating to blockchain to space exploration. Is technology moving us forward or backward? How did we get here — and where are we headed? Starting May 10. Music by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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