SV411 - Silicon Valley Info News Arts Culture

As the predicted crashes in bitcoin’s value are manifesting, all may seem lost. But like any good drama, there’s a twist. It appears that bitcoin was not the star after all. It is its underlying technology—something known as the blockchain—that deserves attention. We talk with Tomek Mackowiack about his cover story, 'Bitsplained: How blockchain is positioned to reshape our economic system.' We are also joined by Jeremiah "The Professional Podcast Guest" Harada. Together, Harada and Mackowiack comprise the Barfly Boys. We discuss the best bars in town for celebrating good old Saint Pat. Raise a pint and join us.

In January, Facebook announced it would once again alter its News Feed algorithm to show users even more posts from their friends and family, and a lot fewer from media outlets. The move isn’t all that surprising. But for the many news outlets that have come to rely on Facebook funneling readers to their sites, the impact of a separation sounds catastrophic. On this week's podcast, Nick and Jennifer discuss the latest hurdle that Facebook has placed in front of the news industry and Nick talks with Metro food writer John Dyke about sandwiches. Mmmm... Sandwiches.

The SV411 Podcast makes its triumphant return after losing our former fearless leader, Josh Koehn. Now at the helm of the ship is our decidedly fearful leader, Nick Veronin—joined by News Editor Jennifer Wadsworth. On this week's podcast, we talk about another return. Cinequest is back, yet again. And this time around, Nicolas Cage will be joining the festivities. Listen up to learn about a few of the films at this year's festival and check on this week's Hit List. We'll also hear from a woman who was severely impacted by last year's San Jose floods in a segment produced by Metro intern Kristin Lam.

It's the end of 2017 and the end of an era. As of January 1, pot is no longer verboten for recreational use in California and longtime Metro staffer Josh Koehn is leaving the paper for the San Francisco Chronicle. We'll miss him dearly, but at least we can buy some sweet sticky icky to help us smoke out our sorrows. On this podcast we talk about this week's cover story on the legalization of recreational marijuana and bid farewell to Josh. We also cover the Hit List, of course. Join us in bidding adieux to Mr. Koehn and wishing him well on his future endeavors.