Techtopia with Chitra Ragavan

On March 7, 2022, The front page of the New York Times ran a graphic photograph that summed up the tragic cost of Russia's war on innocent Ukrainian civilians. It was a photograph of a mother, her two children, and a church volunteer crumpled to the ground. They were the victims of a Russian mortar attack on civilians as they attempted to flee over the Irpin River to Kyiv. The photo, which was was taken by the Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario, sent shock-waves throughout the world. Capturing that image also put Lynsey Addario in grave danger, something that she has confronted many times over during her more than two-decade career as one of the most accomplished war-photographers in the world. Addario has had boots on the ground in Ukraine since the begining of the Russian invasion. And, as we near the one year anniversary of the war, she describes the toll of the conflict on Ukrainian civilians and reflects on the personal cost of covering conflict. Ukraine is just one of the war zones that Addario has traveled in and out of, on assignment for The New York Times, National Geographic, and other publications for more than two decades. In 2015, American Photo Magazine named Addario as one of the five most influential photographers of the past 25 years, saying she changed the way we saw the world's conflicts. I spoke with Addario when she made a brief stop in Washington DC on November 3rd to receive the prestigious Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation. This is my third conversation with the fearless Addario. To hear her personal story of how she became a photojournalist, how she covers major conflicts, how she survived a violent kidnapping in Libya, and why she does the work she does, do check out my previous interview with Addario on my leadership podcast, When It Mattered, Episode 35. It's an incredible story. And do listen to Addario's previous appearance on Techtopia, Episode 18, as she reflects on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath of the chaotic pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Check out this

Russia's war on Ukraine has turned a lot of assumptions about the fundamental nature and trajectory of how wars are fought, on its head. For one thing, Ukraine's strong defense has upended conventional wisdom about big powers being able to violate at will the sovereignty of little powers. Technology, in particular, drones, has also leveled the playing field in unique ways. The emergence of cryptocurrency, both as a means to fund the war and the relief efforts, raises all kinds of interesting questions about the ability to enforce sanctions and bypass the traditional financing of wars with alternate means. I had a great discussion about these and other topics with Thomas Frey, and Trent Fowler, who have been giving a lot of thought to the future of war. Frey is the founder and Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute and co-host of the Futurati Podcast. Over the past decade, he has built an enormous following around the world based on his ability to develop accurate visions of the future and describe the opportunities ahead. Trent Fowler is a machine learning engineer, keynote speaker, and co-host of the Futurati Podcast. Please like, rate, review, and subscribe to my new YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/c/ChitraRagavan If you liked this episode, please check out these other episodes!

Do you want to be a writer but suffer from writer's block? I know I often do! Well, my guest today may have the perfect solution for us — the world's first AI-powered writing and publishing platform — that she says will help you put words 3x faster on the page, and transform the future of writing, publishing, and connecting. The AI platform is the brainchild of tech entrepreneur, startup founder, and former beauty queen, Iman Oubou. Oubou is the author of a new book just released called, “The Glass Ledge: How To Break Through Self-Sabotage, Embrace Your Power, And Create Your Success.” A Moroccan-American, Oubou is the Founder and CEO of SWAAY, a digital women's content and empowerment platform. But as her candid book indicates, this journey from pageant winner to startup founder and now author has not been an easy one.  If you liked this episode, check out these other episodes from my podcast, When It Mattered (

This past April, the FBI disclosed an astonishing fact about the breach of the blockchain behind the popular “play to earn” game Axie Infinity a few weeks earlier. The FBI said the hackers who stole $615 million dollars in cryptocurrency were, in fact, from the group “Lazarus” which has direct ties to the government of North Korea. To add insult to injury, the brazen attack took place just weeks after President Joe Biden had released an Executive Order, authorizing a whole-of federal government approach to derisking digital assets. It was the equivalent of North Korea thumbing its nose at the U.S. Government. The incident revealed the incredible challenges confronting President Joe Biden and his national security and economic teams as they attempt to craft sweeping policies to protect consumers without hindering financial innovation, at the same time earning the trust of and cooperation from the crypto communities to help police the space, without violating the libertarian ethos undergirding blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital assets. With all these challenges swirling about, I am delighted to share my recent wide-ranging conversation on crypto regulation and compliance with a key White House official who has been thinking about this and working on these complex issues for years. Carole House is the former Director for Cybersecurity and Secure Digital Innovation for the National Security Council, The White House. She joined the NSC on detail from the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), where she led cybersecurity, virtual currency, and emerging technology policy efforts as a Senior Cyber and Emerging Technology Policy Officer. House has just returned back to FinCEN after her White House tour of duty. Please like, rate, review, and subscribe to my new YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/c/ChitraRagavan If you liked this episode, please check out these other episodes! What does IRS Criminal Investigation Do? Are NFTs overhyped? What's driving the bitcoin mania? Father's gift and brother's illness led him to crypto

With Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine — resulting in what's become the first war to be largely televised and video-recorded — Ukraine has become Ground Zero for how technology is reshaping history's narratives and the story of politics, war and conflict. I have two great guests to talk about how technology is shaping human history and how it will be told. Bryan Cunningham and Alex Deane are co-hosts of a wonderful new podcast called, “Hidden History, Happy Hour”, available on YouTube and all the major podcast platforms. As my regular listeners know,  my friend Bryan is a frequent guest on both this podcast and my leadership podcast, When It Mattered (I've added his previous appearances below) I'm also delighted to welcome Bryan's co-host, Alex Deane, author of the bestselling non-fiction book, “Lessons from History: Hidden Heroes & Villains from the past & what we can learn from them.” The book inspired “Hidden History, Happy Hour”. Bryan Cunningham previous appearances: Techtopia, Ep. 12 — Flying Saucer Pilgrimage When It Mattered, Ep. 9 — A Deadly Fire Leaves Lasting A Legacy  Other episodes referenced in this podcast in the section on UFOs. WIM: Episode 55. Great-granddaughter of a SciFi pioneer spots a UFO / Alex Dietrich, US Navy Techtopia: Episode 13. Astrophysicist searches for aliens/Adam Frank, University of Rochester  Please like, rate, review, subscribe!

It's no secret that Russia has become the world's playground for ransomware groups —-  and that America is target #1. The threat of ransomware attacks on U.S. businesses and critical infrastructure recently took an ominous turn when a prominent Russian ransomware group named Conti — threatened to attack any nation or organization retaliating against Moscow for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Now, a groundbreaking new report titled Ransomware: A Technology Pandemic on the Brink, from New York-based crypto forensics and analytics firm Elementus (where I serve as Chief Strategy Officer), documents the full extent of the threat of Russian ransomware attacks. That's the topic of my conversation with  Max Galka, CEO and founder of Elementus. Join Max and me on this journey into the dark world of ransomware attacks as we explore the extraordinary sums of money that have changed hands with ransomware groups — more than a billion dollars just in 2021 alone — and discuss the evolution in modus operandi and business models of ransomware-as-a-service franchises.  We also talk about the rise in double jeopardy attacks — where paying vast sums in ransomware does not prevent the attackers from leaking your breached data. And given that these ransomware groups are predominantly Russian, we consider the national critical infrastructure implications in light of the U.S. and allied push-back against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his brutal and unremitting attack on Ukraine. A data scientist by training and passion, and a former derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, Galka is a noted authority on ransomware attacks and has been widely cited in major news outlets including Security Boulevard, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NBC News, and NYSE Floor Talk. Please Listen, subscribe and give a thumbs up at: https://bit.ly/GoodstoryPodcasts If you enjoyed this episode, do check out these other episodes: Techtopia, Ep. 22 — The Role of Technology in Human Trafficking / Anjana Rajan, Chief Technology Officer, Polaris. Techtopia, Ep. 17 — The Global Race to Secure 5G Networks Against Cyber Threats from China and other Geopolitical Adversaries / Rob Strayer, EVP, Information Technology Industry Council & Former Ambassador for Cyber Policy at U.S. State Department. Techtopia, Ep. 3 — Bitcoin and the boom in cryptocurrency investing / Perianne Boring, Founder and President, Chamber of Digital Commerce.

“Accountants with guns” — These are the special agents of the Criminal Investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service. There's 2,000 of them. And they have not only plenty of firepower, but they're also armed with the sole mandate across the US Government to investigate violations of federal tax laws and related crimes.   For more than a century,  CI special agents have worked quietly across 21 field offices and 11 foreign countries, on investigations of massive scale and complexity, seizing billions of dollars in assets.  Criminal Investigation has played an outsize role in some of the biggest, most fascinating criminal tax cases of our time. From taking down legendary bootlegger, Al Capone, and investigating the Lindbergh baby kidnapping — to cryptocurrency crimes and most recently — bringing the hammer down on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs for sanctions violations via the Justice Department's Kleptocracy Task Force,  I'm delighted to have as my guest today, James Robnett, Deputy Chief of IRS Criminal Investigation to tell us more about the amazing work that he and his team are doing.

Welcome to the final episode of Season 1 of Techtopia! I thought it would be appropriate to end the year as we began it, talking about Covid-19 and its pernicious impact on our lives, psyche, and the healthcare system at large. Hard as it may seem to imagine, we're now entering year three of COVID-19 with a new variant, Omicron, upending lives globally. Two great guests join me in this episode to discuss our year in health or lack thereof and looking ahead to 2022. They are Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr, co-hosts of two great podcasts: Fixing Healthcare, and Coronavirus: The Truth. Jeremy Corr is also the CEO of Executive Podcast Solutions and as many of you know, produces both my podcasts, Techtopia and When It Mattered. And Dr. Pearl is the former CEO of Kaiser Permanente Medical Group. He is currently both practicing and teaching at the Stanford University School of Medicine. His new book is, “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients” and all proceeds from his books go to Doctors Without Borders. 

Jeffrey Epstein never faced the consequences for allegedly trafficking dozens of girls, some as young as age 14, and engaging in sex acts with them. He committed suicide in jail 35 days after he was arrested, avoiding a trial and potentially, half a century in prison for his evil actions. Now, however, more than two years later, at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, Epstein's former lover, and alleged enabler, Ghislaine Maxwell is on trial for aiding and abetting Epstein in satisfying his unmitigated sexual appetite for and exploitation of vulnerable girls. Prosecutors allege that Ghislaine Maxwell was at the heart of the trafficking conspiracy that Epstein was accused of carrying out both in his tony Manhattan townhouse and luxurious Palm Beach estate. Maxwell's lawyers say that she is simply the proverbial fall guy for Epstein's actions. The trial is casting a lens on the tragic world of human trafficking and how wealthy powerful people can engage, often over decades, in these crimes and escape seemingly with impunity. My guest this week to talk about the Ghislaine Maxwell trial and what it teaches us about the state of human trafficking and the role of technology is Anjana Rajan, the Chief Technology Officer of Polaris, an NGO leading a data-driven social justice movement to fight human trafficking. My former colleague at Palantir Technologies, Rajan's expertise is applying cryptography to human rights and national security issues. She's the former Chief Technology Officer of Callisto, a nonprofit that builds advanced cryptographic technology to combat sexual assault. Rajan has testified before Congress as an expert witness to speak about ways technology can protect survivors and victims of human trafficking. Related Episodes: Techtopia, Ep. 8: How Polaris is Fighting Q-Anon in its Use of Human Trafficking Disinformation Campaigns/Anjana Rajan, CTO, Polaris. Techtopia, Ep. 5: Technology has given women a powerful voice in the alt-right movement / Seyward Darby, Author, Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism.

The world is engaged in a new form of war — this one centered around the technology called artificial intelligence — which, put simply — is the science and art of making machines more human. But at what cost? The race to dominate in Artificial Intelligence, also known as the global AI arms race has deep implications for how our society evolves in the decades to come and raises many troubling questions about privacy, civil liberties, and inherent biases transferred from human to machine and back to humans again.  I really enjoyed this deep conversation about the current state and future of AI with one of my favorite guests and former Palantir colleague, Courtney Bowman. He is the Director of Privacy and Civil Liberties Engineering at Palantir. Bowman's work addresses complex issues at the intersection of policy, law, technology, ethics, and social norms. Bowman has worked closely with the U.S. government and governments around the world to address the issues around the collection and analysis of COVID-19 pandemic data. And he has been thinking and writing about the challenges around the global AI Arms race.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been on the forefront of some of the biggest technological innovations in history. At the same time, the so-called, defense industrial complex — that is, DoD, in cahoots with the big legacy defense contractors or the so-called “Beltway Bandits” —  have also built  some of the most expensive, bloated, and bungled technologies known to man. But now, increasingly, the Department of Defense is turning to lean, agile, and innovative software companies to build out its pipeline with dual-use technologies,  acting very much like venture capitalists to find and nurture the best of the best in startup technology. Here to talk about how the military is on the cusp of a new wave of technological innovation are three great guests: Daniel Borkhus is the Co-Founder and CEO of Holos, A virtual reality content management system. Borkhus is a former college football player, Facebook Hackathon Winner, and participant in Techstars Space 2020. Jeremy Neilson is a U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant. He serves as the Acting Base, and F-35, Training Manager, at  Edwards Air Force Base, California. Sgt. Neilson is the primary advisor to Edwards Air Force Base, on bringing advanced technologies into the military pipeline through AFWERX, the innovation efforts related to Air Force Instructional Systems Design. And James Boyd, is a former special forces soldier, Palantir engineer, and now CEO and co-founder of Adyton. That's a veteran-owned, venture-backed software company bringing mobile technology to the Department of Defense. Last year, Adyton launched Mustr, a mobile personnel accountability system which has been used to keep more than 8000 DoD personnel safe throughout the pandemic.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, the frenetic U..S. pullout of Afghanistan under dangerous conditions has reopened the wounds of those strikes and once again raises the specter of al Qaeda and ISIS taking root in Afghan soil —  posing new global threats to American security and those of our allies for decades to come. Joining me now to talk about the deepening crisis of the Afghanistan crisis and its ramifications is my dear friend, Michael Hurley who served for 25 years as a CIA operations officer, serving 15 of those in foreign countries. Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, Hurley deployed for 18 months to Afghanistan where he led Agency personnel and U.S. Special Forces in Operation Anaconda, the biggest campaign of the Afghan conflict to find and destroy the last refuge of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In that role, Mike was a leader in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. He also served as a Senior Counsel and Team Leader on the 9/11 Commission, directing its counterterrorism policy investigation and co-authoring its best-selling final report. Hurley remains deeply immersed in the national security and policy implications in the aftermath of the attacks and speaks and advises widely on those critical issues.  He currently is a strategic advisor to some of the most innovative technology companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. In this riveting episode, the suburban Minnesota native looks back on those early days of being dropped into Afghanistan's cold, unforgiving mountainous terrain and having to land on his feet without knowledge of language, culture, food, or people and ability to distinguish friend from foe. Without any kind of blueprint, he immediately had to begin gaining the trust of friendly Afghan militia and citizens and working with the most elite teams in the U.S. and allied military to capture or kill members of al Qaeda and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden. Hurley also shares his views on the messy U.S. pull out of Afghanistan in recent weeks and the implications for resurgence of al Qaeda and other terror cells and the possibility of future terrorist attacks against the U.S. And he looks at how the U.S. mishandled the evacuation plans for potentially half a million Afghans and their families who helped the War in Afghanistan over two decades, the majority of whom have been left behind and remain in peril at the hands of the Taliban.

As the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates with shocking speed, tens of thousands of Americans and Afghan citizens — who've worked closely with Americans over the past two decades, are confronting perilous conditions as they try to reach the Kabul airport and leave the country. Major news organizations are trying to extract both U.S. and fellow Afghan journalists even as these reporters put their lives on the line and continue to report from the field for as long as they can under dangerous conditions.  Meanwhile, human rights activists are increasingly concerned about the plight of women under the new Taliban regime. Joining me now to talk about the situation in Afghanistan is the Pulitzer-Prize-winning photojournalist and war photographer Lynsey Addario. She has traveled in and out of Afghanistan, shooting groundbreaking photographs including of women under the Taliban before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And she has continued her reporting in the two decades since the US invasion of Afghanistan — a period in which millions of women were able to get educated, join the workforce, and come into their own. Addario wrote an August 16th article in the Atlantic titled, The Taliban's Return is Catastrophic for Women. She is the author of a book of war photographs, titled,  Of Love and War and the New York Times best-selling memoir It's What I Do, in which she writes about the incredible risks she has taken photographing every major conflict and humanitarian crisis of her generation, played out against the backdrop of the post-9/11 War on Terror. This is my second conversation with the fearless Addario. To hear her personal story of how she became a photojournalist, how she covers major conflicts, how she survived a violent kidnapping in Libya, and why she does the work she does, do check out my previous interview with Addario on my leadership podcast, When It Mattered, Episode 35. It's an incredible story.

The world's wireless systems are going through a major technology transformation through fifth-generation cellular networks — known as 5G for short. In addition to lightning-speed downloads for your smartphones, and faster speeds for your favorite streaming videos, 5G is expected to help the growth and adoption of other cutting-edge technologies such as connected cars, drones, industrial robots, AR/VR, medicine, and next-gen supply chains.   Indeed, the power and potential of 5G and its role in giving the United States a competitive edge is such that it is a national security asset… one that the U.S. government is aggressively moving to protect from security vulnerabilities and cyber attacks especially from 5G rival and geopolitical nemesis, China — while pushing our allies to do the same. I have a wonderful guest here today to talk about what the U.S. government is doing to protect global 5G technology.  Rob Strayer is former Ambassador for cyber policy at the U.S. State Department and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.  Strayer is now a technology executive at the Information Technology Industry Council, representing 80 of the most innovative tech companies in markets around the globe.   While at the State Department, he led the development of U.S. foreign policy on a wide range of technology policy issues, including privacy, data protection, artificial intelligence, technical standards, cybersecurity, and 5G supply chain security. He also led the negotiations with foreign governments on these pressing issues and had a birds eye view of how U.S. and its allies are on a race to protect global 5G infrastructure from cyber attacks from China and other potential bad actors. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: The world's wireless systems are going through a major technology transformation through 5th-generation cellular networks, known as 5G for short. In addition to lightening-speed downloads for your smartphones and faster speeds for your favorite streaming videos, 5G is expected to help the growth and adoption of other cutting-edge technologies like connected cars, drones, industrial robots, AR, VR, medicine, and next-gen supply chains. Indeed, the power and potential of 5G and its role in giving the United States a competitive edge is such that it is a national security asset, one that the US government is aggressively moving to protect from security vulnerabilities and cyber attacks, especially from 5G rival and geopolitical nemesis, China, while pushing our allies to do the same. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is Techtopia. Here to talk about what the US government is doing to protect global 5G technology is Rob Strayer. He's a former US State Department Ambassador and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. Strayer is now a technology executive at the Information Technology Industry Council representing 80 of the most innovative tech companies and markets around the globe. While at the State Department, he led the development of US foreign policy on a wide range of technology policy issues, including privacy, data protection, artificial intelligence, technical standards, cybersecurity, and 5G supply chain security. He also led the negotiations with foreign governments about these issues. Rob, welcome to Techtopia. Rob Strayer: Pleasure to be with you. Chitra Ragavan: For those of us who are not entirely familiar with the power and potential of 5G, what are these 5G networks and why are they so transformative? Rob Strayer: 5G is the natural evolution from what had been earlier generations of 2G, 3G, and 4G, each of which had expanded capabilities for wireless telecommunications. With 5G, we're seeing, as you said in the opening, increased amount of throughput of data in the network but also something called ultra liability and low latency, that is, the time it takes for a device to connect to the network and then receive inform...

Ever since the disease was recognized more than 100 years ago, patients with Alzheimer's, and their families and caregivers, have longed for an effective drug for this brutal and tragic disease. But last month, when the Food and Drug Administration finally approved a drug named Aduhelm for use as the first Alzheimer's drug in 18 years, there was little rejoicing. Instead — a big uproar from critics both outside and inside the FDA who say that there's no clear evidence that Aduhelm has any benefits. And, that it could actually have serious side effects including brain bleeding. And at $56,000 a year per patient and counting, they say it not only will break patients and their families but also stress Medicare — federal health care for the elderly and disabled — to the utmost. Today, I have invited two wonderful guests to help us understand what just happened at the FDA, the implications, the fallout, and what happens next. Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of the nation's largest medical group, Kaiser Permanente. A Forbes Health Contributor, Dr. Pearl's latest book is titled, “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients,” the proceeds of which go to Doctors without Borders. Dr. Pearl also co-hosts the popular podcasts Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus: The Truth. Also joining me is my very dear friend and former NPR colleague, the award-winning health and science writer, Joanne Silberner.  She's currently a freelance journalist living in Seattle. Silberner has covered the FDA for decades while at US News & World Report and at NPR — where she worked for 18 years. Joanne has written a piece on how Aduhelm came to be approved — published last week in the online media outlet STAT+ — and it's a fascinating look at how the FDA responds to pressure from drug companies and patient groups, very relevant for this story. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Ever since the disease was recognized more than 100 years ago, patients with Alzheimer's, and their families and caregivers have longed for an effective drug for this brutal, and tragic disease. But last month when the FDA finally approved a drug named Aduhelm, for use as the first Alzheimer's drug in 18 years, there was little rejoicing. Chitra Ragavan: Instead, a big uproar from critics both outside and inside the FDA, who say that there's no clear evidence that the drug has any benefits, and that it could actually have serious side effects, including brain bleeding. And at $56,000 a year per patient and counting, they say, "It not only will break patients and their families, but stress Medicare to the brink." That's the federal health care for the elderly and disabled. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Today I've invited two wonderful guests to help us understand what just happened at the FDA, the implications, the fallout, and what happens next. Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of the nation's largest Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente. Chitra Ragavan: His latest book is called, Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patient, the proceeds of the book go to Doctors Without Borders. Dr. Pearl also co-hosts with Jeremy Corr, who happens to be my wonderful executive producer, the popular podcasts, Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus, The truth. Chitra Ragavan: Also joining me is my very dear friend and former colleague, the award winning health and science writer, Joanne Silberner, she is currently a freelance journalist living in Seattle. Silberner has covered the FDA for decades while at the US News and World Report, and an NPR where she worked for 18 years. Chitra Ragavan: Joanne has written a piece on how Aduhelm came to be approved, published today in the online media outlet, STAT+, and it's a fascinating look at how the FDA responds to pressure from drug companies and patient groups, very relevant for this story. Dr.

For decades, like in many other sports, track and field athletes and coaches have been stymied by their inability to easily use analytics to help athletes reach their highest potential, with their performance data trapped largely in paper silos. In the lead-up to the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Seattle-based startup Zelos has integrated roughly 20 million track and field records dating back 50 years, into its data analytics platform to generate powerful, predictive insights into the world's oldest and most popular sport. COVID-19 has changed all aspects of life, work, and careers, especially for athletes who haven't been able to travel, train, and perform at their peak. The impact of the crisis will be acutely felt at the Olympics this week (rescheduled from last Summer because of COVID) as these athletes learn whether their can-do attitudes and flexible, often improvised training over the past year due to the pandemic, will affect their performance as they take their places among their peers to compete for those hard-fought medals. The pandemic also has forced sports startups to adapt along with these athletes and to become nimble in challenging times as the pandemic shut down sporting events around the globe. I'm joined by Chris Williams, founder, and CEO of Zelos to talk about his journey building Zelos through the pandemic and how it's made him and his startup more resilient and adaptive. Williams is a former pole vaulter and hurdler at the University of Washington. And he frequently writes and speaks about his experience as a former NCAA athlete and a data engineer. I should add by of disclosure that I'm on Zelos's advisory board. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: COVID-19 has changed all aspects of life, work, and careers, especially for athletes who haven't been able to travel, train and perform at their peak. The impact of the crisis will be acutely felt at the Tokyo Summer Olympics this week, rescheduled from last summer because of COVID. As these athletes learn what their can-do attitudes and flexible, often improvised training over the past year due to the pandemic will affect their performance as they take their places among their peers to compete for those hard-fought medals. Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is Techtopia. The pandemic also has forced sports startups to adapt along with these athletes to become nimble in challenging times as the pandemic shut down sporting events around the globe. I'm joined now by Chris Williams, founder and CEO of the Seattle-based sports data analytics startup, Zelos, which is taking track and field analytics to a whole new level for athletes, coaches, and fans. Chitra Ragavan: Williams is a formal pole vaulter and hurdler at the University of Washington. And he frequently writes and speaks about his experience as a former NCAA athlete and a data engineer. And I should add by way of disclosure that I'm on Zelos' advisory board. Chris, welcome to Techtopia. Chris Williams: Thank you Chitra. It's great to be here. Chitra Ragavan: So tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a pole vaulter and hurdler, and what drew you to the sport. Chris Williams: Yeah, so to know me is, you're relative to know my family and I come from a track and field family. So my sister ran track and field. My father was a hurdler as well. Both of my cousins, plenty of aunts and uncles competed in the sport. I would go to their meets, they would come to my own, and growing up, my biggest sports idol was my sister. And so I would go to all of her track meets and I'd follow not just her, but all of her competitors too. And from the hours I spent at these track meets, I grew an affinity to it. And one day my dad said, okay son, know you played a few sports, but now's the time to really think of something to stick with and you want to do throughout your high school career. Chris Williams: So for me,

Over the past seven months, non-fungible tokens or NFTs have captured the world's imagination and hype cycle, especially after the digital artist known as Beeple sold an NFT, which is a blockchain-verified proof of transfer of ownership, for one of his prints, for a record $69 million. Since then, demand for these types of collectible digital art has exploded. Artists, writers, and entire industries are trying to tap into this lucrative new art form and create all kinds of NFTs for movies, albums, photographs, even a single tweet. At the forefront of the NFT effort in the digital newsroom is the business publication, Quartz, which sold the first news article converted into a non-fungible token or NFT. Since then, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and other news outlets have followed suit with their own NFT offerings. Joining me to talk about NFTs and the media landscape is Zach Seward. He's co-founder and CEO of Quartz. Seward is widely recognized as a leader in digital journalism, cited in publications, such as Forbes, Crain's New York Business, Digiday, and FOLIO. Prior to joining Quartz, Seward was a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, covering education and health, and then served as the newspaper's first social media editor. Before the Wall Street Journal, Seward was an assistant editor at Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab, covering the media industry. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Over the past seven months, non-fungible tokens or NFTs have captured the world's imagination and hype cycle, especially after the digital artists known as Beeple sold an NFT, which is a blockchain-verified proof of transfer of ownership for one of his prints for a record $69 million. Since then, demand for these types of collectible digital art has exploded. Artists, writers, and entire industries are trying to tap into this lucrative new art form and create all kinds of NFTs for movies, albums, photographs, even a single tweet. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. At the forefront of the NFT effort in the digital newsroom is the business publication, Quartz, which sold the first news article converted into a non-fungible token or NFT. Since then, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and other news outlets have followed suit with their own NFT offerings. Joining me now to talk about NFTs and the media landscape is Zach Seward. He's co-founder and CEO of Quartz. Seward is widely recognized as a leader in digital journalism, cited in publications, such as Forbes, Crain's New York Business, Digiday and FOLIO. Prior to joining Quartz, Seward was a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, covering education and health, and then served as the newspaper's first social media editor. Before the Wall Street Journal, he was an assistant editor at Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab covering the media industry. Zach, welcome to Techtopia. Zach Seward: Thank you so much for having me. Chitra Ragavan: Well, tell me how you made the journey from journalism to digital journalism and over to Quartz and why you got it started. Zach Seward: Yeah. I helped start Quartz back in 2012. Before that, as you were just saying, I was at the Wall Street Journal. My boss there was this guy Kevin Delaney, who was the managing editor of WSJ.com. He gets hired away by Atlantic Media in the very beginning of 2012 to launch a new business news site for Atlantic Media. That company then published the Atlantic Magazine, a few other titles. They had this theory, which proved correct, that there was some white space for a digital-only global business news publication that would go after advertising that was largely locked up with the Financial Times and the Economist, which by dint of that, not being a very competitive market. It gotten complacent and certainly had the burden of having to focus on print. Zach Seward: And so, we came in, digital-only, totally free,

  After decades of secrecy, the US Government last week shared a new report about unidentified flying objects or UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence. The bottom line: more studies are needed, the report said, raising more questions than it answered. Renowned astrophysicist Adam Frank says there's little evidence to show a correlation between UFO sightings and extraterrestrial intelligence. In May, Frank wrote a guest essay in the New York Times titled, “I'm a Physicist Who Searches for Aliens. UFOs Don't Impress Me.” But he argues that the groundbreaking work done over the past thirty years in identifying exoplanets, combined with clues from astrobiology and technosignatures, could help us find signs of life if they exist outside our solar system. A professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester and a leading expert on the final stages of evolution for stars like the sun, Frank won a NASA Grant a year ago to fund his study of so-called “technosignatures.” Technosignatures are clues of past or present technology used on other planets. This is the first NASA non-radio technosignature grant ever awarded and represents an exciting new phase in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. A self-described “evangelist of science,” Frank is a frequent commentator on NPR. He also is the co-founder of NPR's blog 13.8 Cosmos and Culture.  His most recent book is called, Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and The Fate of the Earth. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: After decades of secrecy, the US government has shared a new report revealing what it knows and doesn't know about unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. But renowned astrophysicist, Adam Frank, says, "There's little evidence to show a relation between UFO sightings and extraterrestrial life and intelligence." In May, Frank wrote a guest essay in the New York Times titled, I'm A Physicist Who Searches For Aliens. UFOs Don't Impress Me. Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Joining me now to talk about his search for life on other planets is Adam Frank. He's a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester and a leading expert on the final stages of evolution for stars like the sun. Chitra Ragavan: Last June, Frank won a NASA grant to fund his study of so-called technosignatures. Technosignatures are clues of past or present technology used on other planets. This is the first NASA non-radio technosignatures grant ever awarded and represents an exciting new phase in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. A self-described evangelist of science, Frank is a frequent commentator on NPR. He also is the co-founder of NPR's blog, 13.8: Cosmos and Culture, and his most recent book is called Light Of The Stars: Alien Worlds And The Fate Of The Earth. Adam, welcome to Techtopia. Adam Frank: Thank you so much for having me. Chitra Ragavan: In your recent New York Times guest essay you write, "There are excellent reasons to search for extraterrestrial life, but there are equally excellent reasons not to conclude that we have found evidence of it with UFO sightings." What's wrong with our current thinking in linking UFOs with extraterrestrial life? Adam Frank: Well, the biggest problem is that with a UFO by definition is something that's unidentified. Then the question is how do you go from something you don't know, you don't know what it is, you don't understand what it is, to then making conclusions about what it is. The point I was making in that article was as interesting as these things are, and they are interesting, there's just nothing close to the kind of data a scientist would need to be able to reliably and verifiably conclude that these were ... this extraordinary conclusion these were actually alien spacecraft that had ventured across the vast distances between the stars and were showing up here to investigate us,

UFOs are back in the news. After decades of secrecy, the American public and especially UFO-believers are waiting for a report from the Defense Department to Congress this month. The report is expected to reveal what our military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies know, and don't know, about unidentified aerial phenomena or UAPs. That's the government's fancy new terminology for UFOs. The upcoming report would have been a wish-come-true for Bryant and Helen Reeve. Between 1953 and 1955 — one of the most prolific periods in U.S. history for UFO sightings — the Detroit couple traveled 23,000 miles over that two-year period conducting a  detailed “oral history” of so-called “saucerers” — those who had witnessed flying saucers. The Reeves documented their oral history in a fascinating book called “Flying Saucer Pilgrimage,” published in 1957, describing in great detail their interaction with these UFO “contactees.” I had the pleasure of talking to their grandson, my friend Bryan Cunningham about the prescience of some of their assertions in light of the upcoming report, and how their extraordinary UFO journey influenced his life and career in national security and intelligence. Cunningham is executive director of the UC Irvine Cybersecurity Policy & Research Institute. He's an international expert on cybersecurity law and policy, a former White House lawyer and adviser, and a media commentator on cybersecurity, technology, and surveillance issues. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: UFOs are back in the news. After decades of secrecy, the American public and especially UFO believers are waiting eagerly for a report from the defense department to Congress this month. The report is expected to reveal what our military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies know, and most importantly, don't know about unidentified aerial phenomena or UAPs. That's the government's fancy new terminology for UFOs. Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Chitra Ragavan: The upcoming report would have been a wish come true for Bryant and Helen Reeve. Between 1953 and 1955, one of the most prolific periods in US history for UFO sightings, that Detroit Michigan couple traveled 23,000 miles over a two-year period, conducting a detailed oral history of so-called sorcerers. Those who had witnessed flying saucers. The Reeves documented their oral history in a fascinating book called Flying Saucer Pilgrimage, published in 1957. Here now to tell us more about Bryant and Helen Reeve and their extraordinary UFO journey is the grandson, my friend, Brian Cunningham. Cunningham is executive director of the Cybersecurity Policy and Research Institute at UC Irvine. He's an international expert on cybersecurity law and policy, a former White House lawyer and advisor, and a media commentator on cybersecurity, technology and surveillance issues. Brian, welcome to Techtopia. Bryan Cunningham: Thank you, Chitra. It's wonderful to be here. I don't know if I'm the only person who's appeared on both of your excellent podcasts, but I'm happy to be one of them. I really like the Techtopia approach. It's been great so far. Hopefully I won't ruin it today. Chitra Ragavan: Oh, it's an honor and privilege, Brian. 67 years ago, on December 16th, 1954, your grandparents, Bryant and Helen Reeves, wrote a letter to president Dwight Eisenhower and they were not happy with him. What was their beef with the president and what was their advice to him? Bryan Cunningham: It's fascinating for me to read this telex in the book as an intelligence officer. Just think about the fact for a second, that this was literally using the Telegraph. And as they say in the book, I think they were sending it from Mexico and they paid 52 pesos to send it, but what they were really doing and if they were alive today, what I'm sure they would have done is they were filing a freedom of information act request.

COVID-19 virtually overnight changed the tone, tenor, and texture of cities, bringing the global economy to a slow grind and forcing people to retreat into bubbles, silos, and pods, and remote work — connected mainly through social media and Zoom. Now, as we slowly start to get a grip on the virus and think about reopening society, what will the long-term impact of the pandemic be on cities and on the evolution of Smart Cities? My guest today has some of those answers. He's Michael Proman, Managing Director at Scrum Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that has invested in more than 80 startups across a range of industries in the U.S. and Japan. Proman worked in global marketing and development at Coca-Cola and the National Basketball Association prior to starting (and ultimately exiting) his initial startup, OptionIt. He has helped lead multiple startups to acquisitions and continues to play an active role in mentoring and advising founders across multiple industries. Proman is a contributor to TechCrunch and his most recent piece is titled: Will COVID-19 spur a smart rebirth for cities? Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: COVID-19 virtually overnight changed the tone, tenor and texture of cities, bringing the global economy to a slow grind and forcing people to retreat into bubbles, silos, pods, and remote work connected mainly through social media and Zoom. Now, as we slowly start to get a grip on the virus and think about reopening society, what will the long-term impact of the pandemic be on cities and on the evolution of smart cities? Hello everyone, I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. My guest today has some of those answers. He's Michael Proman, Managing Director at Scrum Ventures, an early-stage venture fund that has invested in more than 80 startups across a range of industries in the U.S. and Japan. Chitra Ragavan: Proman worked in global marketing and development at Coca-Cola and the National Basketball Association, prior to starting and ultimately exiting his initial startup, OptionIt. He has helped lead multiple startups to acquisitions and continues to play an active role in mentoring and advising founders across multiple industries. Proman also is a contributor to TechCrunch. His most recent piece is titled, Will COVID-19 spur a smart rebirth for cities? Mike, welcome to Techtopia. Michael Proman: Chitra, thanks for having me. Chitra Ragavan: When COVID-19 hit, we saw this incredible change across major metropolitan cities, such as New York, reeling from the impact. Real estate values going down, and commerce grinding to a halt, people scrambling indoors. As someone who specializes in the future of cities and so-called Smart Cities, I'm sure you were watching with both interest and some concern about what the future would bring. What were your thoughts as you saw all of this unfold? Michael Proman: Well, I think like everybody, I think the immediate thought is, oh my goodness, right? The world is coming to a grinding halt. I've been working in a remote environment for 12 plus years, so the idea of transitioning my work into this virtual bubble of Zoom and Microsoft teams and all these other virtual channels, that didn't really faze me personally. But of course, a lot of my colleagues who are based in the Bay Area, they're in the epicenter of some of the transformation taking place in some of these urban communities. Having lived in places like New York previously and having friends still there, I can understand and certainly empathize with both local businesses that were facing arguably some of the darkest days that they've ever had. I think there was this collective sense of, yeah, this is going to be rough, but let's figure this out. I think people just dug in, and it's pretty amazing the progress that has been made here in the last 12 or 14 months. Chitra Ragavan: Over the past year and a half,

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the entertainment industry was being upended by the rapid pace of streaming and other technology. Then COVID-19 hit, shuttering movie theaters, shutting down the world, and driving people into their homes and in front of our television screens, where we've largely remained over this past year. The pandemic has been a giant wakeup call to an already disrupted industry, which increasingly, is turning to data-driven insights, to figure out how to survive, and how to evolve in the post-pandemic streaming era. This week, I have two amazing guests to talk about the data-driven transformation of Hollywood and the entertainment industry: Anjali Midha is CEO & co-founder at Diesel Labs. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup delivers cutting-edge content analytics to help media decision-makers address some of the toughest questions confronting the industry today, such as what to produce, where to distribute it and where to market it. My second guest is John Mass. He's the executive vice president at Content Partners, a Los Angeles-based investment company and leading independent owner in the world of major-studio distributed films, television shows, and related media. Since its inception, Content Partners has invested more than one billion dollars in this marketplace, with more than 500 studio-release films and more than 3,000 hours of television. In this fascinating conversation, Anjali and John share their insights into where Hollywood and the television industry are heading in the post-pandemic era and their predictions as to what's in, what's out, who's in, who's out, and outline the shape of things to come including the future of movie theaters and movie watching. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the entertainment industry was being upended by the rapid pace of streaming and other technology. Then COVID-19 hit, shuttering movie theaters, shutting down the world and driving people into their homes and in front of their television screens where they've largely remained over this past year. Hello, everyone, I'm Chitra Ragavan. And this is Techtopia. The pandemic has been a giant wake up call to an already disrupted industry, which increasingly is turning to data-driven insights to figure out how to survive and how to evolve in the post-pandemic streaming era. Chitra Ragavan: Joining me now to talk about the data-driven transformation of Hollywood and the entertainment industry are two amazing guests. Anjali Midha is CEO and co-founder at Diesel Labs. The Cambridge, Massachusetts based startup delivers cutting edge content analytics to help media decision makers address some of the toughest questions confronting the industry today, such as what to produce, where to distribute it and where to market it. Chitra Ragavan: I'm also joined by John Mass. He's executive vice president at Content Partners, a Los Angeles based investment company and the leading independent owner in the world of major studio distributed films, television shows, and related media. Since its inception, Content Partners has invested more than $1 billion in this marketplace with more than 500 studio release films and more than 3000 hours of television. Anjali and John, welcome to Techtopia. Anjali Midha: Thanks so much for having us. John Mass: Thank you. Chitra Ragavan: Talk about disruption, did either of you ever imagine that something as destructive as a global pandemic would descend on the world, and what's it been like to see the effects on the entertainment industry? Anjali Midha: Well, I definitely did not see the pandemic coming. I think being in our shoes, starting a company that's studying the interactivity and the development in the media industry was tough enough as it was, thinking ahead about what were we going to see in the next three to five years. Pandemic was definitely not on the dart board,

Technology is shaking up the news media — as content creators of every ilk and genre have taken advantage of the digital revolution, commoditizing content and forever blurring the lines between e-commerce and content, news and entertainment, information and disinformation. One media executive who saw the digital revolution coming long before others did, is journalist, media investor and advisor, Marcus Brauchli. He is co-founder of North Base Media, an investment firm specializing in media and technology in global growth markets. Before co-founding North Base Media, Brauchli was executive editor of The Washington Post, shepherding the newspaper's digital revolution, and helping the Post win seven Pulitzer prizes. Before joining the Post, Brauchli was managing editor of the Wall Street Journal. Brauchli believes that the gravest threat to journalism, society and democracy, is the rise of misinformation and disinformation, which he describes as the “accidental by-product” of the technology revolution. Brauchli believes the “moral advocation” on the part of big companies in Silicon Valley to fight online disinformation is partly fueled by their “misguided, naive and ill thought out philosophies of libertarianism that don't actually reflect what's good for the society.” But Brauchli says there are growing pressures from all fronts now to start holding these companies accountable and that this likely will happen country by country. Brauchli adds that in the U.S, there are tools to regulate Facebook and Google as economic monopolies. However, the First Amendment precludes the path to disciplining these companies as “information monopolies," raising questions about how our society can pressure these companies to do the right thing. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Technology has transformed the global media landscape, especially, the news media, as content creators of every ilk and genre have taken advantage of the digital revolution, commoditizing content, and forever blurring the lines between e-commerce and content, news and entertainment, information and disinformation. Chitra Ragavan: Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. One media executive who saw the digital revolution coming long before others did, is journalist, media investor, and advisor Marcus Brauchli. He's here to talk with us today about the future of digital media and news. Brauchli is co-founder of North Base Media, an investment firm specializing in media and technology in global growth markets. He has served as an advisor to media groups, including Graham Holdings, Univision, and HT Media. Chitra Ragavan: Before co-founding North Base Media, Brauchli was executive editor of the Washington Post, overseeing the Post's print and digital news operations, shepherding the newspapers digital revolution, and helping the Post win seven Pulitzer prizes. Before joining the Post, Brauchli was managing editor of the Wall Street Journal. His more than two decade tenure at the journal included 15 years as a foreign correspondent, mainly in Asia, and eight years as a senior editor in New York. Marcus, welcome to Techtopia. Marcus Brauchli: Thank you so much, Chitra. Great to be here. Chitra Ragavan: We were both reporters at major news outlets when the digital revolution began and the end of what you aptly described the other day, when we were chatting, as the end of the Voice of God period, when journalists were highly trained, experienced, reputable, for the most part, respected quite a bit, and the main content creators in media and news media. And then you saw the digital tsunami hit and it changed all of our lives. And you were on the forefront of bringing the Washington Post into the digital age. It must've been a huge challenge to pull it off. What was it like? Marcus Brauchli: Well, the truth is, the transformation that began with digital technologies,

When tech entrepreneur Anjana Rajan joined Polaris as its Chief Technology Officer last year, she thought she was setting aside her prior focus on domestic terrorism to help Polaris with its core mission of fighting human trafficking. But then Rajan learned the far-right conspiracy group QAnon had been making outlandish human trafficking allegations against Polaris resulting in massive Denial of Service or DDoS attacks by QAnon followers who were even making death threats against the non-profit. Suddenly, Rajan found that her world had come full circle. Over the past year, she's had to bring all of her national security and technology skills to bear to expand Polaris's mission to investigate this nexus of human trafficking and domestic terrorism. Anjana Rajan's work and that of her Polaris team resulted in a recent report called  — Countering QAnon: Understanding the Role of Human Trafficking in the Disinformation-Extremist Nexus. Rajan shares the key findings from that report and what it means for U.S. domestic security. This is another fascinating episode in our yearlong exploration of conspiracy theories, radicalization, and domestic terrorism in the wake of the January 6th attacks on the U.S. Capitol by armed, violent supporters of former President Donald Trump. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: When tech entrepreneur Anjana Rajan, whose expertise is applying cryptography to human rights and national security issues, joined Polaris as a chief technology officer, she thought she was setting aside her focus on domestic terrorism to help Polaris with its core mission of fighting human trafficking. But then Rajan learned that the far-right conspiracy group, QAnon, had been making outlandish human trafficking allegations against Polaris, resulting in massive internet denial of service or DDoS attacks by QAnon followers, who are even making death threats against the nonprofit. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Many of you, of course, are familiar with QAnon from the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol and on democracy by supporters of former President Donald Trump, triggering a massive domestic terrorism investigation by U.S. authorities. Suddenly, Rajan found that her world had come full circle. Over the past year, she's had to bring all of her national security and technology skills to bear to expand Polaris' mission to investigate this nexus of human trafficking and domestic terrorism. Chitra Ragavan: Rajan's work and that of her Polaris team resulted in a recent report called Countering QAnon: Understanding the Role of Human Trafficking in the Disinformation-Extremist Nexus. Joining me now to talk about the report and what her investigation uncovered is Anjana Rajan, who I'm happy to report is also my former colleague at Palantir. Anjana, welcome to Techtopia. Anjana Rajan: Thanks so much for having me, Chitra. Chitra Ragavan: We spoke almost exactly a year ago when you were moving cross country from California to join Polaris as the CTO, just as the COVID shutdown was starting. You were coming to Polaris with a mission to combat human trafficking. Just to give a brief definition for people of what human trafficking is, how do you define human trafficking and Polaris' mission as you knew it when you first came onboard? Anjana Rajan: Sure. Yeah, it's hard to believe it's been a full year. But Polaris' mission is to end sex and labor trafficking and to restore freedom to survivors. Our approach is to be survivor-centered, racial justice-focused, and technology-enabled. The way we simply describe human trafficking is it's the illicit business of exploiting vulnerable people for profit. It's $150 billion industry with 25 million victims worldwide, and that number is only going to grow unless something changes. Chitra Ragavan: You've had quite a whirlwind year in which clearly everything has changed,

For nine years, Vanessa Slavich took a traditional, reactive, “whack-a-mole” approach to manage her battle against a rare and aggressive tumor, working with highly specialized doctors operating in various treatment silos. Frustrated with the outcomes, this year, Slavich is taking a new more proactive and strategic approach. She's using her career in technology startups as a model for turbo-charging her research and treatment options in a unique way — which she describes in a recent post in Substack, called “The Startup Body: managing my health #Likea Boss.” And Slavich is “designing her health” in collaboration with Peter Kane, Founder and Executive Director at Research to the People, a non-profit biomedical research initiative based in San Francisco. Research to the People helps patients co-lead and direct new research and treatment options for their conditions. The group is creating a bold new model for patient-centric treatment and giving voice to patients who are grappling with rare and complex diseases. Slavich and Kane talk about their collaboration and how it represents a model for the future of precision, personalized medicine. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: For nine years, Vanessa Slavich took a traditional reactive, whack-a-mole approach to manage her battle against a rare and aggressive tumor, working with highly specialized doctors in various treatment silos. Frustrated with the outcomes, this year, Slavich is taking a new, more proactive, and strategic approach. She's using her career in technology startups as a model for turbocharging her research and treatment options in a unique way, which she describes in a recent post in Substack called The Startup Body: Managing My Healthcare Like a Boss. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Chitra Ragavan: Vanessa Slavich is taking a strategic approach to combat her rare tumor in collaboration with Pete Kane. He's Founder and Executive Director at Research to the People, a nonprofit biomedical research initiative based in San Francisco. Research to the People helps patients co-lead and direct new research and treatment options for their conditions. The group is creating a bold new model for patient-centric treatment and giving voice to patients who are grappling with rare and complex diseases. Chitra Ragavan: Slavich and Kane are both here today to talk about their collaboration and how it represents a milestone for the future of personalized medicine. Vanessa and Pete, welcome to Techtopia. Vanessa Slavich: Thank you for having us. Pete Kane: Thank you. Chitra Ragavan: Vanessa, tell us when and how you first found out about your tumor and what kind of tumor it is. Vanessa Slavich: I found out about it in 2011. I had just started working at Square. It was a early startup back then, and I was actually at my friend's graduation, and the chair was hitting my back in a very particular way. And I remember shifting back and forth and being like, "Man, this chair sucks." And then my friend looked at my back, and she's like, "Oh, you have a little bump." Vanessa Slavich: And I ended up getting a biopsy, and they found out it was what's called a desmoid tumor. It's also called aggressive fibromatosis, and it's a rare tumor. You're more likely to get struck by lightning than have this tumor. There's about 900 cases per year in the United States. And it basically is part of my connective tissue so it's everywhere in my body, but it's considered locally aggressive in that it likely won't show up in my foot or my brain. It'll probably always be somewhere near my back. But in the last 10 years, we haven't found a really effective treatment option. Chitra Ragavan: What was that like to know that you had a tumor that was rarer than being struck by lightning. That must've been quite a shock. Vanessa Slavich: I think the optimist in me is like, "Wow,

The extraordinary scientific and technological innovations around the COVID-19 vaccines have enabled the U.S. government and governments around the world to deploy multiple vaccines against the lethal virus — allowing a gradual reopening of society and return to a new normal. What do we need to do to defeat COVID-19 once and for all and how can technology be used to prevent such devastating pandemics in the future? It's always a wake-up call to speak with Dr. Robert Pearl, author of a new book out this spring called “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients.” Dr. Pearl also hosts two popular podcasts, Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus: The Truth. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: The extraordinary scientific and technological innovations around the COVID-19 vaccines, have enabled the U.S. Government and governments around the world to deploy multiple vaccines against the lethal virus, allowing a gradual reopening of society and return to a new normal. Hello, everyone I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is Techtopia. What do we need to do to defeat COVID-19 once and for all? And how can technology be used to prevent such devastating pandemics in the future? Here to answer those questions and more is Dr. Robert Pearl. He's the author of a new book out this Spring called Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients. Dr. Pearl hosts, the popular podcasts, Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus, The Truth. Dr. Pearl, welcome to Techtopia. Robert Pearl: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here. Chitra Ragavan: It seems as if we're finally seeing the light at the end of a very dark tunnel with these multiple vaccines being given emergency authorization, more and more shots given in arms, schools starting to reopen, businesses reopening. What's your assessment of where we are today compared to even a month ago, here in the U.S. and what are we likely to see in coming days, weeks, and months? Robert Pearl: Great question. Let me go back to one thing that you said earlier. I want listeners to know that all the profits from the book Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients, goes to a charity, Doctors without Borders, so if they purchase the book, they actually are going to be contributing to some global healthcare delivery. Thank you. In terms of the vaccine, this is a massive breakthrough. In "The Coronavirus: The Truth" podcast that Jeremy Corr and I do, I talk about chess games, an opening set of moves that the United States totally failed at. We did insufficient amount to limit the spread, to provide education, to have a national strategy, we could spend hours talking about the failures. But the middle game that we're in right now, is one of the vaccine and it's absolutely brilliant, particularly the messenger RNA vaccines. Robert Pearl: I know that a lot of your listeners are in the tech world, CEOs of companies, so to help to provide context, the human body or the viral organism has genetic material, and that material directs the body to create proteins. And between the genetic material in humans inside the nucleus and the actual proteins that are created, there is a code sent out. It's called messenger. Think about that, the message is trotting out there with the code and RNA for the ribonucleic acid. And although it's been thought of for a long time, that we could take this RNA, this messenger RNA, and inject it into people, get their bodies to produce the proteins that are responsible for the infection, the proteins that are specific to the virus or the bacteria for that matter, and then get our bodies to create an immune response, it had never been done. Despite two decades of trying to make it work. Robert Pearl: It's why it was a long shot. And I wrote a piece in August questioning whether we'd be successful. And that was only seven months ago, and today 95% efficacy, tremendous safety,

A large number of women participated in the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 by violent supporters of former President, Donald Trump. Some allegedly played a key role in plotting the protests and two of the five people killed in the riots were women. How have women exploited technology to expand their reach and influence in the alt-right movement? And have technology companies done enough to counter and combat their disinformation campaigns and hate messaging by white nationalists? Seyward Darby, author of Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism has some interesting insights. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: I was struck by the number of women taking part in the rioting at the US Capitol on January 6, by violent supporters of former President Donald Trump. Who are these women, I wondered? How have they exploited technology to expand their reach and influence in the alt-right movement? And have technology companies done enough to counter and combat their disinformation campaigns and hate messaging. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Here to answer those questions and more is Seyward Darby. She is the author of Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism. Darby is the editor in chief of The Atavist Magazine, a forum for great long-form journalism. Darby previously served as the deputy editor of Foreign Policy, and the online editor and assistant managing editor of The New Republic. As a writer, she has contributed to The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Elle, and Vanity Fair, among other publications. Chitra Ragavan: Seyward, welcome to Techtopia. Seyward Darby: Thank you so much for having me. Chitra Ragavan: What led you to start researching the role of women in white nationalism and to write Sisters in Hate? Seyward Darby: I began this project immediately after the election that preceded this one. So I guess four years prior, so in 2016. Just like January 6th of this year and the aftermath of the election in 2020 has led a lot of people to ask questions about the state of the country and to ask questions certainly about women's complicity in the far right in this country. I had a similar question after 2016. But in that case, rather than number of women who were suddenly in the news, it was the opposite. There were no women who were ever quoted or mentioned as being part of the so called alt-right movement, which had gotten a good amount of press attention over the course of the election, because of the movement's affinity for Trump and the way that he projected dog whistles to them. Seyward Darby: So I would read articles about the alt right and find that there were always mentions of how they were angry white men, and it was so misogynistic, and a woman was never quoted, there were no photos of women. There was just a complete absence of women. And that struck me as wrong from the standpoint of how social movements actually function and what is required for social movements to function, particularly social movements that are all about making sure you're preserving an identity, a way of life, a race in this case. You literally need women for that. And history has shown us that women have been very deeply involved in many oppressive, racist regimes and organizations. Seyward Darby: So, I went looking for the women. They were quite easy to find. They were exactly where you'd expect them to be on YouTube, and Twitter, and Facebook, and all of these different platforms. I then dove into these questions of who are they? Why do they believe what they believe? How did they come to believe what they believe? But also, why are we not talking about them? Why have they been erased from the wider narrative about the far right? And so that was exactly four years ago, basically, that I kicked this into gear. Chitra Ragavan:

There's a global semiconductor chip shortage brought on by the massive supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And it's hurting U.S. industries in a big way. President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order to try to help industries ranging from medical supplies to electric vehicles, that have been affected by this shortage. But will it solve the problem? If not, what does the U.S. government need to do to resolve the chip crisis? That's the focus of our conversation today. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: The semiconductor chip shortage, what's causing it, why it matters, and what we need to do about it. That's the focus of our conversation today. Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Joining me is John Neuffer. He's President and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Semiconductor Industry Association. Neuffer is responsible for setting and leading the public policy agenda and serves as the primary advocate for maintaining U.S. leadership in semiconductor design, manufacturing, and research. John, welcome to Techtopia. John Neuffer: Hi, Chitra. Great to be here. Chitra Ragavan: I think we all have this vague understanding that all electronics are getting smaller and more portable, but I don't think we have a grasp of just how small and portable the underlying semiconductor chips are. For the lay audience, can you explain in simple terms what semiconductor chips are and how they've evolved over the decades in their size, and scope and scale of applications and importance? John Neuffer: Well, most semiconductors are made from silicon, and silicon comes from sand, and people don't realize it. Silicon is actually the second most abundant element in the earth's crust, only after oxygen. Why are they called semiconductors and not just conductors, and that's because they conduct electricity sometimes, and sometimes they don't. In that regard, there's kind of three types of materials. There's materials that conduct electricity like metal, there's materials that are insulators, they don't conduct electricity that's like glass, and there's semiconductors, and they can do both. John Neuffer: Whether they can conduct or insulate is controlled by the use of electric fields, and that's how you create your transistors, your on and off switches. That's essentially what a semiconductor is. There's actually very little kind of general knowledge of what these things are and really kind of how powerful they are. Chitra Ragavan: You've been in this industry for a long time. What's the thing that surprised you the most when you first started learning about chips and what's the thing that surprises you most now? John Neuffer: It's an awesome technology. In the last 60 years, there's just been an amazing pace of innovation. It's probably the most innovative industry in the world. The chips, the transistors on the chips have gotten amazingly small. Chip manufacturers are now manipulating materials at atomic levels to make these transistors so small. John Neuffer: The most packed chips now, the highest-end chip has 54 billion transistors on one chip. That's 54 billion on/off switches on one chip, and that's basically the size of a quarter. The other thing that's really happened is that chips have gotten amazingly cheap. If space travel had come down in price, as much as transistors have, the Apollo 11 mission, which cost $350 million in 1969 dollars, and put Neil Armstrong on the moon, well, that would have cost as much as a latte, and so that has driven computing power to just soaring heights, Chitra. Some of the world's best computers in 1985 would take four and a half hours to process what the best chips now can process in one second, so it's just been amazing pace of innovation. I think that's a defining feature of the semiconductor industry. Chitra Ragavan: That's absolutely incredible.

What's causing Bitcoin mania and massive investments in cryptocurrency by institutional investors? Perianne Boring, Founder and President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, explains the economic and geo-political forces at play. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Well, Bitcoin mania is sweeping the world. Investors, big and small, have propelled the cryptocurrency to record highs, rallying more than 400% over the past year, with one Bitcoin worth more than $50,000. That's per coin as of this taping. Although with the volatility of Bitcoin, that price could dramatically plummet in an instant, but that hasn't deterred either mom-and-pop or institutional investors with some of the titans of finance getting in the game. Here in Washington, the Chamber of Digital Commerce is helping to promote the acceptance and use of digital assets and blockchain-based technologies and serving as a bridge between the industry, investors, policymakers, and regulatory agencies. Chitra Ragavan: Joining me now to get us up to speed on all the news and developments in DC and beyond is the Chamber's founder and president, Perianne Boring. She's been named America's Top 50 Women in Tech by Forbes. In 2016, Boring was named 10 Most Influential People in Blockchain by the premier crypto trade publication, CoinDesk. Prior to forming the chamber, Perianne was a television host and anchor of an international finance program that aired in more than 100 countries to more than 650 million viewers. She began her career as a legislative assistant in the US House of Representatives, advising on finance, economics, tax and healthcare policy. Perianne, welcome to Techtopia. Perianne Boring: Hey, Chitra. It's so good to be here. Thanks for having me. Chitra Ragavan: $50,000 a coin, did you ever think you would see the day? Perianne Boring: It's quite interesting. I've been following Bitcoin since 2010 or 11, really early days. So when I first started becoming interested in this technology and asset class, it was trading at $13, and to now look at $50,000, that is a pretty dramatic change. However, I still think we are just at the very beginning of that S-curve, adoption curve. So I still think it's undervalued and it's in the long run going to continue to increase in price. Chitra Ragavan: How high do you think it's going to go? Perianne Boring: Well, there's a lot of different investment advisors who are trying to value Bitcoin and value what its price will be over time. If you look at a stock-to-flow model, PlanB, who's an anonymous investment analyst on Twitter. In the stock-to-flow model, he has it up to $1 million in Bitcoin. Now that's in the long run. So we're looking at eight to 10 years. We represent at the chamber 25 to 30 investment firms who are investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. And so we've seen a range of valuations. At the lower end, 150,000 this year, all the way at the higher end to 400. So Guggenheim has the highest at about $400,000 a coin. So if you want, I can dig into how they're getting to those numbers, but there's a lot of groups and investors who are expecting significant growth over the next several months. Chitra Ragavan: Yeah. And tell us a little bit about how they are coming to these numbers. Are they looking at the number of investors getting in the game, the volume of funds that are pouring into it? What's the secret sauce? Perianne Boring: Okay. So there's a couple major factors that go into Bitcoin's supply and demand and price. So, Bitcoin is a network. So how do investors value a network? You look at its growth. So what makes a network valuable is the more people that use it. You can apply this to other technologies like the iPhone, to personal computers, to the adoption of the internet. And one way that you can measure the growth of a network is looking at how long it takes to go from 0% adoption to 10% adoption.

How did technology fuel the explosive birth and growth of the nationalistic extremist movements fueled by former President Donald Trump? How does it compare to the proliferation of foreign terrorist threats? And how can the U.S. government wield technology to combat domestic radicalization? Anne Speckhard, Director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism has interviewed hundreds of terrorists all over the world and offers her expert perspectives. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: The January 6th attacks on the US Capitol by violent supporters of former president, Donald Trump, were a shocking coming out party of sorts for technology enabled and deeply radicalized domestic terrorist groups in the United States. And they sent an unmistakable message to American democracy. Chitra Ragavan: Hello everyone, I'm Chitra Ragavan. And this is Techtopia. On this podcast, we take a look at the addictive and inexorable forces of technology that are transforming people, society and humanity. I'm joined now by Anne Speckhard. She's director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism. Speckhard has interviewed hundreds of terrorists around the world and has provided expert consultation to the US, European and other governments, as well as the US Department of Defense regarding programs for prevention and rehabilitation of individuals that are committed to political violence and militant jihad. Speckhard has worked extensively with social media platforms, such as Facebook, to create and disseminate counter radicalization messaging against ISIS and other foreign terrorist groups. Anne, welcome to Techtopia. Anne Speckhard: Oh, thank you, Chitra. I'm so glad to be here with you. Chitra Ragavan: As an expert on radicalization, when you saw what was happening on January 6th, both outside and inside the US Capitol, what were your first thoughts? Anne Speckhard: My thoughts were what had been predicted was happening because I'm part of a number of groups that were monitoring and trying to diffuse violence from groups, such as this, before it happened. And, to me, it had been predicted and I was watching it play out. Chitra Ragavan: And over the past months and years, what were some of the things that you are seeing? I know your focus has been predominantly of radicalization of foreign terrorist groups, such as ISIS. But I'm assuming you probably were seeing similar things unfold here in the United States. Anne Speckhard: Definitely. We were seeing groups forming on the internet or forming in real life as well. And what I would say we were really seeing is that online behavior and online threats were moving into real life, which is exactly what we saw with ISIS. That there was a huge amount of propaganda, and incitement. And that we watched people get wrapped up in it. And some of them, oftentimes, they went dark because they would transfer over to telegram. And then, you would see them do something. So, what was happening and being observed on their Facebook or Twitter profile would later translate into real life behavior. Anne Speckhard: But we should say that there were huge groups of people who were responding to this ISIS' online propaganda that never did anything. Chitra Ragavan: Interesting. So, what do you think was the trigger? What happened? Anne Speckhard: Well, I would definitely say that President Trump incited this mob and he had been inciting them all along with what pundits are now referring to as the "big lie" of telling them that the election was stolen, and that they must stand up for democracy. And these are people, I mean, there are a whole array of people, they're not a monolith. But these are people that already believe that white rights are being stolen, they're disenfranchised, they're upset. And if they're a conspiracy theorist and QAnon, they believe that Trump is going to stand up to evil power...

How did technology fuel the conspiracy theories that resulted in the unprecedented sacking of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th by violent Donald Trump supporters? Joseph Coohill, professor of modern world history and host of the popular Professor Buzzkill History Podcast offers perspectives on how this event compares to others in history and its implications for American democracy.  Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: How did technology help fuel the spread and reach of conspiracies that resulted in the unprecedented sacking of the US Capitol on January 6th, by violent supporters of President Donald Trump? And how does this event compare to others in history? Chitra Ragavan: Hello everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is Techtopia. On this podcast, we take a look at the addictive and inexorable forces of technology that are transforming people, society and humanity. Joining me now is the historian, Joseph Coohill. He's the producer and host of the popular Professor Buzzkill History Podcast, which addresses misconceptions and misunderstandings in history. Professor Coohill earned his doctorate in history from the University of Oxford in 1998 and has taught at universities in Britain and the United States. Joe, welcome to Techtopia. Joseph Coohill: Well thank you for having me on the show and I love the idea of Techtopia. It's a great podcast. Chitra Ragavan: Thank you. When you watched that riotous mob sacking the US Capitol last week, with your knowledge of modern world history, what were the first thoughts that came to your mind? Joseph Coohill: Well, it followed very similar patterns to other sorts of mobs that flock together and act together based on essentially very, very shallow and already discredited information. It was mob mentality. Most of the people who were there didn't know much beyond the idea that, "Oh, I believe Trump and Trump believes this." They weren't necessarily deep QAnon encyclopedic people, but, and that's very, very common. It's much easier to stir up emotions and have people rush to physically attack some place than it is to say, "Oh, okay, let's sit down and have a discussion about this." So it looked to me an awful lot, like as the media has portrayed it, as the Reichstag and various other things. And a lot of people stormed the Berlin Wall in 1989, for instance, who weren't necessarily anti-East Germany. They were just, it was a big mob and they wanted to get their sledgehammers out and did so. So it's a very, very common thing in history, unfortunately, but it's one of these things we constantly have to contend with. Chitra Ragavan: Were you surprised that it actually happened here in America? Joseph Coohill: Well, yes and no. Yes, because I would have thought, given that there had been so many protests in 2020 and that the police presence and the military presence around the BLM protests in 2020 had been so strong and there had been some rings around Lincoln Monument and rings of national guards being around the Capitol, that that would have been taken care of beforehand. So I'm not surprised that it happened here. I am surprised that it was that there was a kind of incompetent response by the security forces, if you will, not to be ready for it. Chitra Ragavan: There were people there from many different groups, many different beliefs, many different, who believed in a lot of different conspiracies. And before we kind of delve into that, I know you like to make this clarification between conspiracies, conspiracy theories, conspiracy mongering. What's that clarification? Joseph Coohill: Well, yeah, I think this is a real problem because after all, a conspiracy is just a group of two or more people who get together and decide to do something and not tell anyone else about it. They do it in secret. In fact, the word conspiracy comes from two Latin words, con and spire, which means to breathe together.