Note to Self

Giant whale turds. A permanent shade over the sun. One is flashier, but that's the danger of it. This is poopier oceans vs. the climate quick fix. The last episode in our five-part series, with TED science curator David Biello.

We’ve made our plants bigger, juicier, and sturdier. Now can we make them better at sucking CO2? And should we? The last episode in our five-part series, with TED science curator David Biello.

First, stick a giant vacuum cleaner onto a smokestack. Inhale the exhaust. Then what? The last episode in our five-part series, with TED science curator David Biello.

We were going to have to talk about it eventually. No, not Elon Musk (although yes, he does come up). Mars. Planet B. The last episode in our five-part series, with TED science curator David Biello.

It’s 2017, and Manoush still has a Yahoo account. Is her exit strategy an encrypted file in Switzerland? This week, the tech loyalties we keep past their expiration date, and how to move on - technically and emotionally.

We visit the Dark Web, where you can get heroin, fentanyl and oxycontin shipped right to your door. This week, we stress out our IT department with our searches and talk to author Nick Bilton about the Silk Road, online drug markets, and the opioid crisis in America. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

A third of kids are online before they’re even born, thanks to sonogram images posted to Facebook. Is there a downside to all the kid photos we share? This week, we revisit a conversation with Hillary Frank, host of the Longest Shortest Time. And we want to hear what you think - did your parents post photos of you? Do you post photos of your kids? Visit notetoselfradio.org/kidphotos to take our survey. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Yeah, it’s been a while for us too. So let’s reset. It’s the Bored and Brilliant bootcamp: three quick challenges to make space for brilliance in our accelerating world. Maybe you’ve heard this episode before, but even if you have, a boredom refresher can’t hurt. Take some time to daydream, and see what ideas bubble up as your mind wanders. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Address books, maps, keys. Your Walkman, your datebook. All wiped out by your phone. Along with eye contact and boredom. This week, as the iPhone turns 10, we assess our most enduring love affair: the relationship between us and our devices. With tech journalist David Pogue and Adam Greenfield, author of Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Netflix’s Black Mirror is a tweaked reflection of technology’s worst consequences - what show creator Charlie Brooker calls a “sarcastic version of the present.’ This week, Brooker and executive producer Annabel Jones join us for a cheerfully dystopian chat about where their ideas come from, why they haven’t quit TV to launch a startup, and Twitter as the world’s top video game. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

This Father's Day, one dad on his role as lead parent, and what it means for his career, psyche, and marriage. With Andrew Moravcsik, an accomplished author, academic, and husband to Anne-Marie Slaughter (yeah, the one who literally wrote the book on women in the workplace). This bonus episode is one of our favorites from the Note to Self archive, and was first released as part of our now award-winning series Taking the Lead. We thought it fitting to return to today.

Besides investigating Russian election interference, Sen. Wyden is tackling government hacking, email surveillance, border device searches, and fighting for your rights online. How did a basketball-playing former gerontologist become your digital champion in Congress? Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Today, Sen. Wyden hears testimony from former FBI Director James Comey. Next week, he’ll be here on Note to Self. Here’s a sneak peek at our chat about cybersecurity and your digital rights.

Rochelle LaPlante keeps horrifying images off the internet, screening photos for four cents a click. Content moderators do an important job. So why don’t employers like Facebook hold them up as heroes? Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Our producer discovered an FBI file on her grandfather. Back then, the big threat was communists. Today, it's terrorists, Occupy and BLM. Maybe even you. And the surveillance methods are a lot less analog. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

With all the news of leaks, national security, and hacking, who better to talk to than Ed Snowden? So yes, Manoush and Ed tackle the NSA, privacy, and ransomware. But also identity, the self, and the “quantified spiderweb of all our worst decisions.” It’s a very Note to Self chat with a very smart man. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Who among us hasn’t wondered, maybe in a stoned haze, if the colors you see aren’t even the same colors that I see? How do we know we’re even in the same reality, man? That’s what the world has been feeling like, except not so chill. This week, we dissect reality itself, with our friend Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYC’s On the Media. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

This Mother's Day, a surprise. To celebrate working moms, we're re-releasing all four episodes of our award-winning series, Taking the Lead. The story of two Brooklyn women and their tech idea to help harried working mothers - like themselves. Start here, with Episode 1: The Pain Point. And happy Mother's Day, ladies. You rock.

Episode two of Mother's Day series is The Paradox. Rachael and Leslie test a prototype of their app on one very eager participant: Manoush. And they run into an ironic challenge. Turns out, it's tough to build a work/life balance app without one.

Faced with financial barriers, Rachael and Leslie join a startup accelerator. But while honing their pitch, different goals emerge. Rachael is focused on social change, while Leslie wants to create a giant woman-led company.

The last episode in our Mother's Day special. Rachael Ellison and Leslie Ali Walker face difficult choices: Should they drop the feminist mission behind the company when they make their pitch to investors? Does Rachael need to give up entrepreneurship so she can remain the kind of mom she wants to be?

Bot armies are taking aim at our democracies, spreading garbage on Twitter from last November to Brexit to this weekend’s French election. But what do they want with Manoush? Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Uh, mom, the eggplant emoji is not about food. The crying-laughing emoji is not appropriate for funerals. And dad, just texting 'K' is super passive-aggressive. This week, a real live therapist tackles your intergenerational tech dilemmas. And we try to stop copping out of tough conversations with a text. Admit it, you do it too. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

We count on robots to do more and more stuff. Drive cars, water crops, diagnose disease. What happens when the robots are racist? This week, a look back at one terrible AI mistake. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Your selfies are sharing way more than your smiling face. They’re full of data. Which is being used by stores. And banks. And police. And, well, everyone. This week, you sent us your photos. We gave them to data scientist Andreas Weigend, to see what he could deduce. A lot, it turns out. Date and time. Location, down to where in a building you were. Your name, education, employment history. Your hopes and dreams. Well, not quite. But close. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Information overload has reached an all time high. Is there a way to stay-up-to-date without losing your mind? Yes. We call it “single-tasking.” Here’s a reminder of what multi-tasking does to your brain plus a proven way to find focus. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

How one revolting, racist, sexist word emerged from the dark corners of 4chan and Reddit. And why we should care. With slang lexicographer Jonathon Green, writer Dana Schwartz of the Observer, and Derek Thompson of the Atlantic. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

The story goes: the Trump campaign hired consultants called Cambridge Analytica. Cambridge uses data to target voters' personalities and emotions. Trump wins. But it's not so simple. Did the Trump campaign have a secret sauce? Or just more ketchup? This week, some answers. With Matt Oczkowski of Cambridge Analytica, psychometrics pioneer Michal Kosinski, and Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

After building the social network’s ad system, Antonio García Martínez tried to set his career on fire with a tell-all. An inside view on Face-versaries, terrifying emails from Zuck, and the cult of changing the world. Turns out, it takes a lot to get shunned in the Valley. Especially when you write a bestseller. The author of Chaos Monkeys, on the fallout from his attempt to commit career suicide. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

So, the C.I.A. has a back door to your phone. At least, according to the Vault 7 data dump from WikiLeaks. This week, when are these tactics really making our lives safer? Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

A little yellow ghost has joined Manoush’s home screen. This week, Note to Self takes the plunge into Snapchat. Where we find lots of opportunities for passive aggression, obligation, and shade. And that’s not a bug. It’s a feature. With designer Tristan Harris, of Time Well Spent, and Snapchat artist CyreneQ. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Can brain stimulation tech replace your glass of wine? Or your joint? We strap a digital potato chip to our heads, and zap our brains with electricity, in the name of science. And we accidentally over-chill. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

No, not by watching porn. By sharing with your partner what turns you on, and weirds you out. Through an app. Kaitlin Prest of The Heart podcast recruits two couples to test drive the Pls Pls Me app. And talk about awkward conversations, making out, and more… unusual desires. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Technologist Anil Dash on mistakes he’s made, and the new ethics of tech. Journalist Julia Angwin on why we’re all losing, and her strategies as a privacy prepper. Much laughter ensues. Note to Self nerds out, live from WNYC’s Greene Space. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Tens of thousands of people did the Privacy Paradox challenge. And the results are in. Seven percent of you said you want to give up. (Sorry. Don’t!) Seventy percent of you want to push for big change. (Hooray! Do.) And we have ideas. We’ll hear from Michal Kosinski, creator of Apply Magic Sauce, and Solon Barocas, who studies the ethics of machine learning at Microsoft Research. Plus, reports from our listeners on the wonder and terror of digging through their digital identities. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

The last day of the Privacy Paradox challenge. We'll draw some conclusions from this week—and some boundaries for the future. With Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who invented a little something called the World Wide Web. He has a big idea for a more secure, more private experience online. And he thinks we can build it together. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

It's day four of the Privacy Paradox challenge. We talk to Elan Gale, executive producer of The Bachelor, about how we perform for social media, and how we change when we know we’re being watched. Also, the dangers of drunk tweeting. And Stanford psychology professor Elias Aboujaoude on how to find your true self when your personal details are public knowledge. Plus, it's time to get away from wifi, unplug the smart devices, and turn off your phone. We're going off the grid. Briefly. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

It's day three of Note to Self's Privacy Paradox challenge. There are the things you know you share online: selfies, emails, Facebook posts. But there is so. much. more. Marketers are mining the words you use, your tone and sentence length, to profile you. To assess your personality. Today, find out who the Internet thinks you are. With the man who helped Google implement the right to be forgotten. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

It's the second day of the Privacy Paradox challenge. You know - as you move across the web, clicking and searching and liking, you’re being tracked. You might use an ad blocker. Or a do-not-track plug-in. But you're still leaving tiny traces everywhere. Today, we go from creepy to crappy. Creepy is that vague feeling that the machines know… something. Crappy, at least, is knowing what they know. And taking a step to slow the information flow. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Your Privacy Paradox challenges start today. What does your phone know about you? Too much, probably. And it’s even more than you think. Many apps track your location, even when you’re not using them. Others listen in via your microphone, even when you’re not talking to them. Maybe you want your apps to know what you’re up to. Or maybe want to open up your Settings app and check out what data you’re giving away. That’s your task for day one of “The Privacy Paradox,” our five-part project to help you take back your digital identity. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

We want control of our personal information. But even when risks to our data are high, we sign up for services and apps. We download, click, and post without being sure where that data ends up. The Privacy Paradox, Note to Self's latest interactive project is your answer to this digital dilemma. Next week, we'll bring you five days of challenges and mini-podcasts, to help you make digital decisions that feel right for you. To join the project, sign up at privacyparadox.org. And listen here. Let's do this, folks. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

There’s so much potential. With big data, researchers can smooth social interactions and create better cities. Maybe cure cancer, and slow climate change. But the data has to come from somewhere. And that somewhere is us. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

The Fourth Amendment doesn’t mention privacy once. But those 54 little words are a crucial battleground in today’s fight over our digital rights. This week, Note to Self gets in our time machine, back to the court cases that brought privacy from parchment to Gmail. Tales of Miami bookies, tapped payphones, and a 1975 Monte Carlo. And where the Fourth Amendment needs to go, now that we’re living in the future. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Are you an upholder, a questioner, an obliger or a rebel? Gretchen Rubin of the Happier podcast has identified four ways that people respond to expectations - the Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw of habit change, if you will. Figuring out your cognitive house might be the key to changing your bad habits for good. Including one habit we hear about a lot: clinging to the phone right up until our eyes drop closed. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Can we really start fresh when our every step, nap, and calorie are measured? If even a hard-core coder fails at a tech-enabled diet, maybe we need a new way to optimize our quantified selves. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

FOMO is real. And it's amplified during the holiday season when party glam shots and scrumptious food pics are everywhere. So let's embrace a little JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) instead. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Ginger Johnson is battling cancer. She has three children and wants to stay in their lives after she's gone. So she's using a service called Safe Beyond that helps her make messages and then schedule them for delivery in the future. But her kids aren't sure they want them. We're planning episodes both intense and light next year. And we count on listener contributions to make it happen. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

If police smell booze on your breath behind the wheel, you'll be asked to blow into a breathalyzer. But if they notice distracted driving, how do they measure clicks, taps and swipes? Plus, a sneak peek at Note to Self's next big listener project. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

Back in the ‘90s, health researchers planted stories against drunk driving on primetime shows. Growing Pains even killed off Matthew Perry in a crash. Now, the challenge is getting people to stop texting on the road. But we don't watch TV like we used to. So who’s the new influencer? Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.

We've seen the good, bad and ugly of tech this election cycle. And we all have big feelings about it. So Manoush hosted a good old-fashioned call-in, for listeners to share their thoughts and fears about our digital lives under a Trump administration. With Farhad Manjoo of The New York Times, and Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Support Note to Self by becoming a member today at NotetoSelfRadio.org/donate.