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    News & Politics

    Building Tomorrow

    Building Tomorrow explores the ways technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are creating a freer, wealthier, and more peaceful world.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    Copyright: © Copyright 2020, Libertarianism.org, All Rights Reserved

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    Latest Episodes:
    Coming Soon: The Liberty Exchange Oct 02, 2023

    Coming soon, a brand new podcast from Libertarianism.org...

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Future of Stuff Feb 17, 2022

    Your home is full of technological miracles, devices that your ancestors would have regarded as near magic because of the life of relative ease they provide us with. However, something is changing. In the past, we got richer by owning more stuff; but in the future, we will have more by owning less.


    In this final episode of Building Tomorrow, Paul talks with Cory Doctorow, Michael Munger, Ruth Cowan, and Chelsea Follett about the past, present, and future of material possession.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    One Landfill's Trash is the Future's Treasure Dec 09, 2021

    If you're the kind of person who carefully sorts out your recyclables from your trash, cleans it, and puts it out in the blue bin for pickup, you probably don't realize that as much as 90% of that material either just ends up in a landfill or, worse, is dumped into the ocean. Indeed, much of the plastic litter in the Pacific Ocean is the result of our well-intentioned but misplaced efforts at recycling since the 1990s.


    In this episode, we talk to an environmental economist, landfill scientist, and blockchain engineer about the future of our waste. We can efficiently sort and store our plastics in landfills for future mining operations, incentivizing good behavior via cryptocurrency rewards. We can incinerate our waste in hyper-efficient facilities that power cities and reduce our carbon footprint. Building Tomorrow means building more and better landfills.



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Underpopulation Crisis Nov 11, 2021

    People are afraid. Afraid that they are consuming too much, emitting too much, having too many kids, and running the planet into the ground. Eight billion people seems like too many. But a growing number of experts are sounding the alarm that a far worse problem is on the horizon, an underpopulation crisis. People are having fewer kids and countries are aging. For example, by the end of the century Japan will halve its population. Those who remain will be older and poorer. We need more people, not fewer, if we want to find innovative solutions to climate change and resource crunches.


    For music attributions see: https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/underpopulation-crisis



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Data is the New Guano Oct 14, 2021

    What happens when a raw material that is valueless suddenly becomes valuable? If it's bird guano in the 19th century, you mine it and save the agricultural economy. If its data in the late 20th century, you collect it and create a new digital economy.


    Music attributions can be found here: https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/building-tomorrow/guano.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Building Tomorrow is Back! Sep 30, 2021

    The Building Tomorrow podcast is back in a new format. This season we will be focusing on wanting more. The desire for more embraces a prosperity mindset, the belief that growth and wealth are not a zero-sum game. We will release one in depth episode per month for 6 months. We would love for you to listen along as we long for more immigrants, more data, more houses, more mammoths, and more. Happy listening!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Building Tomorrow: Under Construction Nov 12, 2020

    We have a special announcement about the future of Building Tomorrow. Stay tuned.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Can We Fix U.S. Politics? (with Lee Drutman & Dan Bowen) Oct 29, 2020

    If voting leaves you feeling tired and vaguely dissatisfied, you're not alone. Over 60% of voters aren't happy with the two party duopoly that dominates US politics; others hate the flood of negative campaign ads or feel that politics is too big or too distant to be able to effect via the voting process.


    But there is hope! This week, Paul talks to two political scientists, Lee Drutman and Daniel Bowen to talk about how ranked choice voting, multi-member legislative districts, and packing the House of Representatives could save our democracy from its dire situation.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Pandemic Can't Stop, Won't Stop the Techlash Oct 15, 2020

    There are some things that even a pandemic cannot stop. One of those things is political pressure to "do something" about Big Tech. Paul checks in with Matthew Feeney and Will Duffield to get an update on the state of the techlash. Furthermore, this year many of the major social media platforms have ramped up their fact-checking operations in an attempt to combat disinformation about the pandemic and partisan politics, but it is possible that they have opened a Pandora's Box of unintended consequences by doing so.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    How Did We Get So Rich? Oct 01, 2020

    In the 18th century, something sparked a wave of technological innovation and economic growth that has transformed the world for the better. Economists have argued about what that something was ever since. Our guest today, Professor Joel Mokyr, argues that it was a change in western European cultural attitudes that provided that spark. Enlightenment curiosity fomented a belief that practical knowledge could improve the world in tangible and permanent ways.


    Do we assume that progress will always happen? What threatens the concept of progress?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Learn Like a Machine Sep 17, 2020

    Spend any time on social media and odds are that you've interacted with at least one bot account; given how advanced they've become, you might not even have noticed. Paul interviews bot programmer Max Sklar about why bots are a big part of the future of online interaction and why that's not necessarily a bad thing. They also discuss machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the deurbanization of New York City.


    What is a geofence? Do we have an obligation to give data to apps for their user research? What is machine learning? Who or what is a marsbot??


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    New Technologies of Freedom Sep 03, 2020

    It's time to stop politely asking the State to give us our freedoms back. We can just...take them. New technologies like smart contracts, cryptocurrency, and anonymized identification systems are challenging the State's near monopoly on jurisprudence, currency, and trust provision. Two of the authors of The New Technologies of Freedom, economists Chris Berg and Darcy Allen, join the show to discuss the radical transformation that is already under way


    What is adversarial liberty? Why do even libertarian think tanks get caught in a statist mindset? How do new blockchain based technologies work together to challenge State control?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    An Internet Fairness Doctrine Aug 20, 2020

    There's growing, bi-partisan support for government regulation of the internet. The Left wants to censor hate speech while the Right wants to prevent platforms from downvoting conservative speech. Both approaches are filled with free speech landmines. And even a cursory look at the history of government regulation of mass media shows just how even the most well-intended government action can easily turn into suppression of political dissent, regulatory capture, and gross violation of civil liberties. John Samples, from Facebook's independent oversight board, joins the show again to discuss a paper he co-wrote with host Paul Matzko about several of those sordid episodes and the lessons we should have already learned.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Trump's Brain Drain Aug 06, 2020

    Guess what's bad for innovation? Telling the brightest minds in the world that you don't want them to come work with you. As obvious as that should be, that's precisely what the Trump administration's policy towards high skilled immigrants has done, most recently by attempting to deny visas to foreign-born university students. Caleb Watney joins the show to discuss exactly how self-harming these policies will be for America's lead in global innovation, an era that we may soon be speaking of in the past tense instead of in the present.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Content Moderation vs. Free Speech Jul 23, 2020

    If you’re listening to this show, you’re likely an ardent supporter of the First Amendment. Yet at the same time, you probably wouldn’t want your social media feeds filled with pornography and hate speech; removing such content requires tech companies to engage in content moderation. Are those two values in tension? Can content moderation coexist with free speech? John Samples, who is on Facebook’s independent oversight board, joins us to discuss how he tries to balance his obligation to promoting free speech while giving users the moderation that most of them want.


    How far should we protect free speech online?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Do We Still Need Cities (with Peter Van Doren) Jul 09, 2020

    New York City's population dropped by 5% in just two weeks because of COVID-19, a drop concentrated among white collar professionals and Wall Street workers. But it's not just a New York City story as companies across the country have experimented with telework on a massive scale because of the pandemic.


    The question is what comes next. Will workplace norms snap back into place with knowledge economy workers continuing to cluster in high cost of living urban areas? Or will the future of the workplace remain remote, with a growing number of white collar professionals working from home at least part of the week?


    But cities rely heavily on high income taxpayers to fund government services and to propel growth; even a small number exiting cities could have vast ripple effects. Cato economist Peter Van Doren joins the show to discuss the possible de-urbanization of America and offer some thoughts on what those effects might be.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    What's a Life Worth During a Pandemic? (with Peter Van Doren) Jun 25, 2020

    Have you wondered whether a particular public health intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic has actually been worth it? Perhaps you then felt a bit ghoulish for asking the question, given that lives are at stake.


    Well, you're in luck because this episode of Building Tomorrow asks about that price tag. After all, resources are finite and we all routinely trade risk for convenience; there are some interventions that would not be worth the opportunity cost. Answering the question of how much a human life is worth is the first step to figuring out whether the shutdown and other measures during the pandemic have been worthwhile. Cato economist Peter Van Doren joins the pod to help us think through the topic.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Secret History of Right-Wing Radio Jun 11, 2020

    A generation before the rise of talk radio and hosts like Rush Limbaugh, there was another wave of right-wing radio. But the reason why few remember them is that they were the target of a hugely successful government censorship campaign implemented by President John F. Kennedy using IRS audits and the FCC’s “Fairness Doctrine.”


    But as our host, Paul Matzko—whose book on the subject comes out next week—this isn’t just a question of history. Today, there is a growing, bi-partisan push for government regulation of the internet that resembles the way the State regulated radio in the 1960s and which could just as easily be hijacked in order to advance partisan interests.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    COVID on Campus (with Bryan Caplan) May 28, 2020

    While universities debate whether to re-open on schedule for the fall semester, it’s expected that hundreds of colleges that were in financial distress will shutter their doors. While that might seem like obvious evidence of decline in higher education, economist Bryan Caplan suggests otherwise. In his controversial book, The Case Against Education, he argues that higher ed does relatively little, well, ‘ed.’ COVID-19 might just help expose the systemic failures of higher education in America.


    Could COVID-19 help us rethink how we do higher-ed? What was wrong with higher education before the pandemic that we could fix now? how is higher education just a signaling mechanism to employers?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Homeschooling Goes Viral (with Kerry McDonald) May 14, 2020

    Because of the COVID-19 shutdown, tens of millions of American households have suddenly been forced to do school at home. Education policy expert and homeschooling aficionado Kerry McDonald joins the show to discuss why she believes this experience will lead many more families to consider educational alternatives even after the shutdowns ease. Additionally, Kerry and Paul discuss the incendiary Harvard Magazine broadside against homeschooling, Tara Westover’s best-selling novel Educated, and why the history of public schooling should make us leery of critics who accuse homeschoolers of failing to be good citizens.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Decentralizing Social Media (with Bill Ottman of Minds.com) Apr 30, 2020

    Complaints about the control that social media companies exercise over their platforms has risen over the past couple of years. Some users complain that platforms like Facebook and Twitter should remove more offensive content; others complain that they remove too much, resulting in censorship of politically unpopular views.


    There is an alternative to this kludgy, top-down model of content moderation. Minds.com is a more decentralized social network with a First Amendment standard for moderation that allows users to appeal bans to a jury of their digital peers. Minds also has a different revenue model from the big platforms, allowing users to boost posts with proprietary cryptocurrency payments. Our interview with Bill Ottman, founder and CEO of Minds, is a reminder that the future of the internet could look very different from the present.


    What is the most successful social network? Who is innovating in the social media space? Why should you switch social media platforms? How does social media giants come between you and your audience?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Innovation Isn't Guaranteed (with Matt Ridley) Apr 16, 2020

    Matt Ridley joins the show today to talk about his new book, How Innovation Works. He argues that innovation is the defining feature of the modern age, but it is still very hard for us as a society to wrap our heads around that fact. Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens to society as a direct result of the human habit of exchange.


    How has innovation transformed public health? What is the difference between an invention and an innovation? Is innovation slowing down?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Tech Goes Viral (with Alec Stapp) Apr 02, 2020

    Technologist Alec Stapp joins the show to discuss why the US lagged weeks behind South Korea in testing for COVID-19. While the failures of the FDA and CDC have been grim, the show does find a silver lining in the crisis, that technology has greatly eased the transition into social distancing for many Americans.


    How is our internet surviving during this global pandemic? How has the private industry stepped up to the plate to tackle COVID-19? Why was the United States late to the game to test patients for COVID-19? Is the FDA to blame for the lack of U.S. testing?



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Did the Military Build Silicon Valley? Mar 19, 2020

    Stop me if you’ve ever heard some version of the following argument: government mandates and funding gave us the __________ [insert: space shuttle, internet, Silicon Valley], so the government should spend $ __ billions/trillions on stimulating innovation and shaping industrial policy today.


    But that argument is built upon a simplistic and sometimes flawed understanding of what actually happened in the past. The true story is much more complex. In this episode, Paul talks with historian Christophe Lecuyer about the military’s role in the creation of Silicon Valley. And he then sits down with Cato’s Peter Van Doren to discuss the track record for government industrial policy in the decades since.


    What is silicon logic, user logic and competitive logic? Does the military use new technologies first? What are the advantages of Pentagon contracts compared to private contracts? What is the difference between research and development contracts and manufacturing contracts?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Afro-Futurism Mar 05, 2020

    If you watched the 2018 blockbuster Black Panther, then you’ve encountered a genre known as Afro-Futurism, in which predominately African-American authors use science fiction to explore black liberation in a technological advanced future. These are the kinds of stories that spark the creative energy of the next generation of engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs.


    For this episode, we interview Dr. Moradewun Adejunmobi about Afro-Futurism and what it signals about future expectations. Then we talk to Justin Hamilton from Zipline, a drone startup in Africa that is making science fiction into science fact.


    What is the power of science fiction? What is Afrofuturism? Why can't a drone delivery company who delivers life-saving treatments test their product in the United States?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Ethics of Progress (with Jason Crawford) Feb 20, 2020

    It’s easy to assume that things naturally improve. After all, in our lifetimes technology has advanced, life expectancies have risen, and standards of living have improved. Yet in historical terms, progress is a relatively new phenomenon, only invented a few centuries ago. And the danger is that if we take the idea of progress for granted, we might slow or even reverse the rate of progress. That would be a disaster given that we have an obligation to leave a society to future generations that is in better shape than we received it. Technologist Jason Crawford joins the show to talk about the ethical obligation to pursue progress.


    What are the different types of progress? What is the history of progress? Is progress uniform? What progress have we made that is universally good? Is there an ethical imperative to pursue progress? What is sustainable progress?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Venture Capital Built Silicon Valley Feb 06, 2020

    While fans of the show Silicon Valley might not have much regard for the role of venture capital in technological innovation, the reality is that venture capitalists do more than act as ATMs for startups. They provide crucial business, marketing, and legal expertise, all of which are necessary to actually get a product to market.


    But while venture capital might seem obvious to us today, it was a radical idea in the mid-20th century. Paul interviews Spencer Ante about his biography of the founding father of venture capital, Georges Doriot, a French immigrant who revolutionized the way startups are funded.

    What is the relationship between venture capital and start-up owners? Who was Georges Doriot and how did he change the world of venture capital? How is venture capital regulated by the SEC? What barriers do venture capitalists face?


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Universities Built Silicon Valley (with Margaret O'Mara) Jan 23, 2020

    Most Americans have some idea that our university system, as expensive as it is, is still the envy of the world and a source of science and engineering innovation. But that wasn’t always so. Margaret O’Mara joins the show to discuss how these tech hubs developed in the mid-20th century through a combination of military funding and private research centers. The incentive for university-based research received another major boost in 1980, when Congress deregulated its patent holding policy.

    This is the second in a three part series on the origins of Silicon Valley.

    Why did California play such a surprising role in America’s innovation economy? How did World War II shape the growth of Silicon Valley? What is a non-compete agreement in an employer contract?

    Further Reading:

    The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America, written by Margaret O’Mara

    Animated timeline shows how Silicon Valley became a $2.8 trillion neighborhood, written by Corey Protin, Matthew Stuart, and Matt Weinberger

    The Origins of Silicon Valley: Why and How It Happened Here, Stanford Engineering

    Related Content:

    Immigrants Built Silicon Valley, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    On Innovation: Don’t Ask for Permission, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Out of Poverty: Sweatshops in the Global Economy, Free Thoughts Podcast


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Immigrants Built Silicon Valley Jan 09, 2020


    This is the first of a three part series looking at the origins of Silicon Valley and how it became synonymous with technological innovation. The first pillar of Silicon Valley’s success is immigration. We bring on Alex Nowrasteh to discuss how immigration reform in the 1960s opened the door to a wave of skilled engineers and entrepreneurs from around the globe. Even today, a significant portion of tech startups are founded and staffed by foreign-born talent.

    However, the recent turn towards immigration restrictionism is worsening the already problematic bottleneck on attracting global expertise to the US. Caleb Watney joins us to talk about how the flawed H-1B visa system is responsible both for worsening that shortage and for widening a competitive moat around the Big Tech companies that have the resources to navigate the visa morass.

    What is the H-1B visa? Does our immigration system favor entrepreneurship? How many American college students are immigrants? What does our student visa system look like?

    Further Reading:

    Why Silicon Valley Wouldn’t Work Without Immigrants, written by Farhad Manjoo

    Tech as We Know It Would Not Exist Without Immigrants, written by Tom Humberstone

    Why We Need State‐​Based Immigration Visas, written by Alex Nowrasteh

    Related Content:

    You Are Now Free to Move About the Planet, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Trump’s Immigration Crackdown, Free Thoughts Podcast

    The Libertarian Argument for Open Borders, written by Grant Babcock


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like a Netflix Christmas Special Dec 26, 2019

    As the cultural economy (music, movies, television, and books) digitized around the turn of the 21st century, many critics worried about severe negative consequences, including declining creative output because of piracy and decreased aesthetic quality. Joel Waldfogel joins Paul and Aaron to discuss why those fears were wrong. Digitization has actually stimulated a renaissance in the cultural economy as both the number and perceived aesthetic quality of film, television, and books have soared. It has been a triumph of technological innovation enabling an expansion of the marketplace for the ultimate benefit of producers and consumers.

    Are we overproducing movies because of digitization? Are we consuming culture too fast? Is piracy a customer service problem? Does the business model of Spotify prevent piracy of music? Why did music take such a huge hit from piracy when TV and movies took a much smaller hit in comparison? Do we want ownership of products or the ability to have access to stream of service? Why are people unbundling their cable services? Should we get rid of all copyright?

    Further Reading:

    Digital Renaissance: What Data and Economics Tell Us about the Future of Popular Culture, written by Joel Waldfogel

    How Does Spotify Make Money?, written by Rameez M. Sydeek

    Music Piracy Remains a Problem in the Spotify Era, written by Anne Steele

    Related Content:

    In the Economy of the Future, You Won’t Own Your Kitchen, written by Pamela J. Hobart

    Intellectual Privilege, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Is Netflix Ruining Culture?, written by Pamela J. Hobart reviewing Joel Waldfogel’s book Digital Renaissance


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Who Wants to Retire a Millionaire? Dec 12, 2019

    Most Americans, including working class Americans, could retire millionaires…if we fixed Social Security. Instead, we are facing a financial crisis when Social Security runs out of money in the mid-2030s and are forced to decided between massive tax increases or major benefit cuts. There is a country that’s a peak into our possible future if we start making smarter choices. Australia enacted major reforms to their retirement system in the 1990s that are just starting to bear fruit. Their superannuation system, though flawed in some ways, shows just how much better a market-based system of individual accounts would be for retirees.

    What is the Social Security Trust Fund? When is Social Security suppose to run out? When did we attempt to fix our Social Security problem? What is superannuation?

    Further Reading:

    Millennials and Super: The Case for Voluntary Superannuation, written by Simon Cowan

    Social Security Is Running Dry, And There’s Only One Politically Viable Option To Save It, written by Patrick W. Watson

    Fixing Social Security, Commentary from Michael Tanner

    Related Content:

    Social Security vs. Private Retirement, Antony Davies

    Bringing Wealth to the Poor (with Michael Tanner), Free Thoughts Podcast

    America’s Middle Class Gets More Welfare Than the Poor, written by Michael Tanner


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Mission Impossible Burger Nov 28, 2019

    If a bear eats a burger in the woods and doesn’t realize it’s not from a cow, does it care? Until bears evolve the ability to communicate, I suppose we’ll never know. It’s an impossible question, but not as impossible as the Impossible Burger it just ate.

    The future of meatless meat is here! So we asked the closest thing we have to a bear in the woods at Building Tomorrow, our producer Landry Ayres, to taste test two burgers, one an Impossible Burger and the other a traditional burger. Check out the episode to find out whether Landry guessed between them correctly, then stay for our interview with an Impossible Foods representative about the environmental benefits of this burger that is made from soy protein yet still ‘bleeds’ when you bite into it.

    How do you define meat? Does Impossible Burgers taste like regular burgers? What is the environmental impact of the Impossible Burger? What is the key ingredient to the Impossible Burger? Is it possible to make the Impossible Burger at the same price as a regular burger? What is the difference between lab grown meat and the Impossible Burger?

    Further Reading:

    Impossible Foods

    Impossible Burger: Here’s what’s really in it, written by Laura Reiley

    Can a Burger Help Solve Climate Change?, written by Tad Friend

    Related Content:

    The FDA Ruins Everything You Eat, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Popping Techno-Utopian Bubbles, Building Tomorrow

    When Is a Market Failure Not a Market Failure?, written by Jon Murphy


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Self Driving Miss Daisy Nov 14, 2019

    The world is rapidly aging and, since people have fewer kids, that means we are facing an eldercare crisis. People will live longer, but have fewer family checking in on them, driving them to doctor’s appointments, and catching the early warning signs of serious illnesses. There is no perfect solution for that crisis, but new technology promises to take better care of us as we age. We have two interviews in today’s episode with startups that can passively track the health of elderly users to watch for Alzheimer’s, dementia, blood pressure, and heart attacks. These technologies can both save lives and improve the quality of life for many elderly people and, potentially, for the not so elderly as well, but that innovation will be delayed if the Food and Drug Administration fails to remove the regulatory barriers that inhibit medical device experimentation.

    Are there innovative ways to spot the early stages of Alzheimer’s? As the global population ages, how are we able to create technologies that will help us take care of the elderly?

    Further Reading:

    Hanamura Mirror Concierge

    Researchers use AI to detect early signs of Alzheimer’s

    Related Content:

    Health Care without Health Insurance, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Wearable Tech: Health Care of the Future, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    On Innovation: Don’t Ask for Permission, Building Tomorrow Podcast


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Cellphones in the Fight Against Cholera (with Katherine Clayton) Oct 31, 2019

    If you had to choose one technology that has done the most to transform peoples’ lives for the better in the past forty years, you could make a strong argument for cellphones. While people in the US have the first world privilege to complain about wasting time on their phones, millions of people in the developing world are using their cellphones to pull themselves out of poverty, move from subsistence farming to global markets, access credit and bank the unbanked, and learn about the broader world.

    In this episode, Paul is joined by Katherine Clayton, founder and CEO of Omnivis, a startup that has created a smartphone-based device to cheaply and quickly test for cholera in water. Then he is joined by Marian Tupy and Chelsea Follett from Human Progress to talk about the transformative effects of cellphone technology.

    What is the social and economic impact of cellphones in the developing world? How can cellphones be used as medical devices for people who do not have access to medical facilities? Do we rely too much on cellphones?

    Further Reading:

    OmniVis, Rapid Cholera Detection Platform

    Human Progress

    The Miracle that Is the Smartphone, written by Marian L. Tupy

    Mobile Connectivity in Emerging Economies, by Laura Silver, Aaron Smith, Courtney Johnson, Jingjing Jiang, Monica Anderson, and Lee Rainie

    Related Content:

    Has Your Phone Hacked Your Brain?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    The World is Getting Better (with Marian Tupy), Free Thoughts Podcast

    Making the World Better, written by Aaron Ross Powell


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    We Googled It (with Hal Varian) Oct 17, 2019

    Matthew Feeney and Peter Van Doren interview Hal Varian about his professional experience starting with his economics column at the New York Times. They also cover other topics like the Google search engine, autonomous vehicles, and working in the age of automation. Varian even suggests that problem with autonomous vehicles is not the vehicle, but the humans that interfere with them.

    Is there a market for search engines? How do people use search engines? Is Google a monopoly? Which country has the shortest workweek in the developed world? Is our labor market tightening?

    Further Reading:

    Sometimes the Stock Does Better Than the Investor That Buys the Stock, written by Hal R. Varian

    Googlenomics: A long-read Q&A with chief economist Hal Varian, written by James Pethokoukis

    Google chief economist Hal Varian says a robot isn’t after your job, written by Olivera Perkins

    Hal Varian on Taking the Academic Approach to Business (Ep. 69), Conversations with Tyler

    Related Content:

    Will Artificial Intelligence Take Your Job?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Does More Technology Create Unemployment?, written by A.D. Sharplin and R. H. Mabry

    The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence is Best Left to Researchers, written by Ryan Khurana


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Talking Talk Radio (with Brian Rosenwald) Oct 03, 2019

    How did Limbaugh change the radio business? How did the conservative opinion media come to be? Who were the left-wing talk radio hosts while Rush Limbaugh was gaining more and more listeners? Is NPR political advocacy media? What is media bias? Who is Howard Stern and what is “guy talk”? Why are liberal podcasts succeeding in the Trump era?

    Conservative talk radio has become an assumed presence in American media and politics, but in this manifestation it is only about three decades old. Historian Brian Rosenwald joins the show to discuss his latest book, Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party that Took Over the United States, which explores the rise of entertainers like Rush Limbaugh from the margins to having incredible influence in national politics. That surprising story has implications for other media, including the future of podcasting, which is allowing previously marginalized voices, from socialists to libertarians, to have greater voice, for good or for ill.

    Further Reading:

    Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States, written by Brian Rosenwald

    Rush Limbaugh’s Problem: How The Internet Changed Talk Radio, written by Brian Rosenwald

    Why All The Talk-Radio Stars Are Conservative, written by Abram Brown

    Related Content:

    Talking Across Political Divides (with Arnold Kling), Free Thoughts Podcast

    Is Netflix Ruining Culture?, written by Pamela J. Hobart

    The Fairness Doctrine Was Terrible for Broadcasting and It Would Be Terrible for the Internet, written by Paul Matzko


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    Artificial You (with Susan Schneider) Sep 19, 2019

    People may not really know what artificial intelligence is but they are convinced that it will either utterly destroy humankind or lead us into a utopian Singularity between man and machine. But, as philosopher Susan Schneider reminds us, there’s much we don’t know about artificial intelligence, including the nature of consciousness itself. And consciousness, while it may be hard to identify, entails significant ethical obligations, a point that any fan of the HBO show Westworld will quickly grasp. These kinds of questions have been the object of philosophical debate for millennia and it’s a line of inquiry that we should understand before, and not after, we program the first conscious artificial intelligence.

    What does it mean to design a mind? What is the ‘problem of other minds’? Why does the consciousness of AI matter? Can machines be conscious? Do you think Androids are conscious? Would we ever have anything like a Westworld with true violence? How much do you replace and you are still you?

    Further Reading:

    Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind, written by Susan Schneider

    ‘Westworld’ Science Advisor Talks Brains and AI, written by Jeremy Hsu

    Transcending the Brain? AI, Radical Brain Enhancement and the Nature of Consciousness, Susan Schneider at the Harvard Carr Center for Human Rights Policy

    Spacetime Emergence, Panpsychism and the Nature of Consciousness, written by Susan Schneider

    Related Content:

    The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence is Best Left to Researchers, written by Ryan Khurana

    Will Artificial Intelligence Take Your Job?, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Crypto History Sep 05, 2019

    Cryptocurrency is, ultimately, science fiction. That isn’t an insult. It is science fiction in the sense that decades before you could set up a cold wallet, trade crypto, or hodler Bitcoin, the idea that one day there would exist a vast, distributed digital currency as an alternative to fiat money was a fiction, a thing that existed only in the imaginations of a handful of geeks, programmers, and weirdos. And it is science inasmuch as those same people, through generations of trial and error, actually made that fiction reality.

    Professor Finn Brunton joins our show to discuss his latest book, Digital Cash, which is about those innovators—anarchists, socialists, libertarians, and everything in between—and the stories that they told, stories powerful enough to fabricate something worth billions of dollars out of nothing and, possibly, permanently transform the future of money for good or for ill.

    How is digital data valuable? How do you find ways that can limit the ways that data can circulate? What does ‘passing current’ mean? What role does trust play in the exchange of currency?

    Further Reading:

    Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency, published by Princeton University Press & written by Finn Burton.

    Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency, written by Finn Brunton

    Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution, written by Rebecca L. Spang

    Related Content:

    The Future of Banking, written by Pascal Hügli

    What’s in Your (Crypto) Wallet?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Facebook Friends Libra, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    8chan and Reacting to Online Radicalization Aug 22, 2019

    The recent shootings in El Paso and Gilroy are a reminder of the power of the internet to build communities for niche interests, from vampire fan fiction aficionados to neo-Nazis. The El Paso shooter posted his manifesto to 8chan, a hub for dank memes and hateful content alike. Timothy McLaughlin joins the show to explain where 8chan came from and the personalities people behind its founding.

    Then Paul, Matthew, and Will discuss the ways that online radicalization of the alt-Right is both similar to past waves of terrorist radicalization and dissimilar in that it is stochastic and requires less organizational structure. Finally, they caution against government overreaction to the legitimate problem of online radicalization, given that most of the proposed measures wouldn’t work, might even backfire, and would create significant, ill, and unintended consequences for positive online social movements.

    What is 8chan? How is 8chan organized? Who created 8chan and what was its’ original purpose? How should forms of exchange be regulated in the wake of horrific events? Does the use of mass communication inspire people to commit terrible acts of terror? Why are criminal manifestos posted on 8chan? What is stochastic terrorism? How should government respond to the problem of online radicalization?

    Further Reading:

    The Weird Dark History of 8Chan, written by Timothy McLaughlin

    Trump wants social media to detect mass shooters before they commit crimes, written by Rani Molla

    ‘Shut the Site Down,’ Says the Creator of 8chan, a Megaphone for Gunmen, written by Kevin Roose

    Related Content:

    Haters Gonna Hate Speech, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    How the FOSTA Rules Create a “Bootleggers and Baptists” Scenario for the 21st Century, written by Paul Matzko

    What Made the Internet Possible?, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    A Smarter Kickstarter (with Alex Tabarrok) Aug 15, 2019

    If you, as a private citizen, want to build a bridge across the river to shorten your commute, you run into a few problems. The incredible cost of the proposed bridge puts it beyond your limited resources, so you try and convince thousands of your neighbors to chip in donations. But you don’t want to contribute money unless you reach the total amount necessary to build the bridge; a half-built bridge is worse than no bridge at all.

    One answer to this problem is to use the State to coerce contributions (taxes) from the community, but that comes with ethical problems and inefficiencies from bureaucracy and regulatory capture. Recently, new internet-based alternatives like Kickstarter have fueled the rise of private sector crowdfunding (properly known as assurance contracts), solving the fundraising problem by guaranteeing that contributors will only be debited if total contributions reach the required amount.

    However, there is still a free rider problem given that people who want the bridge will be unwilling to contribute since there’s a chance that the bridge will be built regardless of whether they, personally, contribute. They can have a bridge without paying, thus the temptation to free ride. To mitigate that problem, Alex coined the idea of the dominant assurance contract, which gives potential free riders an additional incentive to contribute. And dominant assurance contracts could be combined with smart contracts on the blockchain to remove the need for as much trust in the good intentions of strangers.

    What is a dominant assurance contract? What is a public good? How much of each public good do we want? How are assurance contracts just like crowdfunding? What is Kickstarter?

    Further Reading:

    Making Markets Work Better: Dominant Assurance Contracts and Some Other Helpful Ideas, written by Alex Tabarrok

    Kickstarter and the NEA, written by Tyler Cowen

    The private provision of public goods via dominant assurance contracts, written by Alex Tabarrok

    Related Content:

    What Theory Won’t Tell You About Public Goods, written by Jon Murphy

    Prices Are Too Damn High, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Modern Liberalism and the Paternalism of Things, written by Jason Kuznicki


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    Prices Are Too Damn High (with Alexander Tabarrok) Aug 08, 2019

    One of the most remarkable aspects of the last few generations is that for the first time in human history, at least to this degree, stuff has been getting cheaper while human labor gets more valuable. It’s a technology-enabled humanist revolution! At the same time, labor-intensive sectors like healthcare and education have become more expensive relative to the declining price of goods. Economists call this the “Baumol effect,” though it’s sometimes referred to as the “cost disease.” But economist Alex Tabarrok joins the show to discuss how that curse might actually be a blessing in disguise and how the Baumol effect radically disrupts our preconceived notions about effective government policies.

    Why are some prices getting higher while innovation causes the lowering of other prices? Why has the price of education gone up? What is the Baumol Effect? How can we substitute for skilled labor?

    Further Reading:

    Why Are the Prices So Damn High?, written by Eric Helland and Alexander Tabarrok

    Marginal Revolution

    Stubborn Attachments, written by Tyler Cowen

    Related Content:

    The Automation Revolution is Upon Us, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Will Artificial Intelligence Take Your Job?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    On Innovation: Don’t Ask for Permission, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    What Made the Internet Possible? Aug 01, 2019

    As the threat of government regulation of the internet mounts from both the political Left and Right, Paul and Matthew sit down to talk about the foundational law that made the internet as we know it possible. Ironically, Section 230 was one of the few bits of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that wasn’t struck down by the courts as a violation of the First Amendment, giving the internet more legal protection than it would have if the moral scolds of the 1990s hadn’t passed the law in the first place. Then, Paul talks with Jennifer Huddleston from the Mercatus Center about her research into the common law origins of Section 230, which rebuts claims that the amendment was some kind of unprecedented “gift” to tech companies.

    What was the primary purpose of the Communications Decency Act? What are the ramifications of Section 230? Without Section 230, what would the internet look like? Why is censorship important to the conservative movement?

    Further Reading:

    What Senator Hawley Gets Wrong about American Identity, written by Aaron Ross Powell

    Section 230 Is the Internet’s First Amendment. Now Both Republicans and Democrats Want To Take It Away, written by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

    What Republicans are getting wrong about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, written by Zachary Mack

    Related Content:

    Free Speech Online: Unfriended, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    How the FOSTA Rules Create a “Bootleggers and Baptists” Scenario for the 21st Century, written by Paul Matzko

    New Conspiracism and Modern Politics (with Russell Muirhead), Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Data Day Care (with Emily Oster) Jul 25, 2019

    Parenting is a wonderful, terrifying, joyful, horrible, lovely thing. And one of the more annoying aspects is the firehose-worth deluge of information about what you should and should not do with your children, the thousands of books, websites, and expert all clamoring with advice. Emily Oster, best-selling author of Cribsheet, offers a way to wade through the often contradictory advice without losing your mind. In short, she’ll teach you how to approach parenting like an economist and data scientist.

    How do parents making parenting decisions based off of data? How important is data in parenting decisions? Is anyone an actual parenting expert? Why are infant mortality rates so much higher in the U.S. compared to other developed countries?

    Further Reading:

    Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool, written by Emily Oster

    Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong—and What You Really Need to Know, written by Emily Oster

    Economist Emily Oster explains the science of parenting, written by Angela Chen

    Related Content:

    Overparenting & Bad Public Policy, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Why Schools Haven’t Changed in Hundreds of Years, Free Thoughts Podcast

    The Best Work/Family Arrangements Come from Families, Not Governments, written by Steven Horwitz


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    Facebook Friends Libra Jul 18, 2019

    Facebook and a coalition of major tech and financial companies are planning on creating a new crypto-currency called Libra that promises to make online payment processing swifter, safer, and less expensive. Diego Zuluaga joins Paul to discuss how Libra differs from other crypto-currencies and to provide some calm, rational analysis about a topic that has provoked intense knee-jerk reactions.

    What is Libra? What are the constitutional behaviors of Libra? What is Libra’s structure of governance? How do you switch from U.S. dollars and your Libra account? How can Libra help you send money to your families in other countries? How will Libra be regulated?

    Further Reading:

    Of Libras and Zebras: What Are the True Financial Risks of the Facebook-led Digital Currency (Part I: Systemic Risk), written by Diego Zuluaga

    Facebook’s Libra Is Part of a Welcome Trend, written by Diego Zuluaga

    Facebook has a second chance to sell Libra on Capitol Hill today, written by Clare Duffy

    Related Content:

    What’s in Your (Crypto) Wallet?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    How a Honey Bear Is Reinvigorating Cryptocurrency Mining, written by Spencer Neale

    Decentralization and Privacy Are Inevitable — in Tech and in Government, written by Aaron Ross Powell


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    Haters Gonna Hate Speech Jul 11, 2019

    As recent scandals on social media platforms have shown, content moderation is hard, thankless work. The lines between political satire, hate speech, historical documentation, and obscenity get blurry very quickly even in a single country, let alone when trying to create a one-size-fits-all global moderation standard. Companies like Facebook and Twitter are attempting to routinize their content moderation processes, but Matthew and Paul discuss whether those efforts—however well-intentioned—are too little, too late.

    What happened between Crowder and Maza? What debates are happening in the tech space about content moderation? How do we determine hate? How does Facebook respond to questionable content? What is too radical to be posted online? What are the limits to hate speech?

    Further Reading:

    YouTube’s week from hell: How the debate over free speech online exploded after a conservative star with millions of subscribers was accused of homophobic harassment, written by Benjamin Goggin.

    Where’s the Real Harm from Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple?, written by Ryan Bourne

    Related Content:

    Free Speech Online: Unfriended, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Speech Police, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Practical Problems with Regulating Tech in the Public Interest, written by Will Rinehart


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    Speech Police Jul 04, 2019

    It is an accident of history that so many tech and social media companies are based in the United States. For example, Facebook has several times more users than there are citizens of any nation in the world. Thus, when a company like Facebook sets rules for content moderation of things like hate speech and pornography, it has truly global implications. David Kaye, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, joins the show to argue that supranational tech companies should adopt supranational standards for content moderation, namely the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with hopes that doing so will constrain governments from limiting basic speech rights.

    What is the interaction between surveillance and free speech? What is the digital access industry & what role do they play? Is there a tolerable censorship? What is the Google Spain, “right to be forgotten” case? How do we think of democratization of social media platforms? What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

    Further Reading:

    Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet, written by David Kaye

    Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Press Release from the United Nations

    UN Expert: Content moderation should not trample free speech, written by David Kaye

    Related Content:

    Free Speech Online: Unfriended, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Toward an Uncensored Internet, written by Sonya Mann

    The Brazilian People Reject Censorship, written by Mauricio F. Bento


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    Could Chernobyl Happen Again? Jun 27, 2019

    HBO’s show about the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster is the highest rated show on IMDB of all time in part because of its ability to make otherwise dull topics—meetings, shoveling, courtroom exposition—riveting. To suss out fact from fiction, Paul and Matthew invited Matt Crozat from the Nuclear Energy Institute to discuss the show’s portrayal, the history of nuclear plant disasters—including Three Mile Island and Fukushima—and the future of the nuclear energy in America and around the world.

    How accurate was the HBO show Chernobyl? Why was Chernobyl so catastrophic? What is considered a high radiation level? Should we be optimistic about nuclear power? Have we come a long way since Chernobyl? How is Chernobyl a story about toxic leadership?

    Further Reading:

    Why HBO’s “Chernobyl” Gets Nuclear So Wrong, written by Michael Shellenberger

    Chernobyl and the dangerous ground of ‘dark tourism’, written by Francesca Street

    Photographs capture an abandoned world inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, written by Oscar Holland

    Related Content:

    The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, Free Thoughts Podcast

    A Libertarian Approach to the Green New Deal, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Capitalism Can Save the Environment, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Canning Spam: Getting Rid of Robocalls Jun 20, 2019

    More than 48 billion robocalls bombard American phones each year, taking the ‘phone’ out of ‘smartphone’ for many consumers. Yet while the problem has drastically worsened over the past several years, there may be hope on the horizon. Private, third party companies are giving consumers ways to divert or even combat robocalls. And the FCC has finally cleared up the regulatory confusion that contributed to phone carrier reluctance to directly address the problem themselves. We can hope that in ten years, the robocall scourge will seem as quaint as worries about spam email do today, despite being just as seemingly intractable an issue in the 1990s.

    What is spoofing? What is audio fingerprinting? Why don’t cell phone carriers prevent robocalls? How serious is the problem of spam calls? How has email spam become more manageable? How did email change the world?

    Further Reading:

    Why Robocalls Are Even Worse Than You Thought, written by Tim Harper

    Robocalls are overwhelming hospitals and patients, threatening a new kind of health crisis, written by Tony Romm

    RoboKiller App

    How to Stop Robocalls— Or At Least Slow Them Down, written by Lily Hay Newman

    Related Content:

    Practical Problems with Regulating Tech in the Public Interest, written by Will Rinehart

    The Social Consequences of Multilevel Marketing, written by Pamela J. Hobart

    Has Your Phone Hacked Your Brain, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    The Automation Revolution is Upon Us Jun 13, 2019

    How will people respond to artificial intelligence taking their jobs? The rise of political radicalism on both Left and Right in the early twenty-first century is in part a reaction to rising income inequality and slower wage growth despite the increasing automation of jobs and gains in productive efficiency. We are in an ‘Engels pause,’ the lag between new technology that benefits whole economies and the moment those gains filter down to the families of displaced workers. Something similar happened during the industrial revolution during the 19th century, the moment that birthed Marxism. Paul interviews economic historian Carl Frey to discuss what we can learn about our present moment of technological innovation and the social reaction to it from the history of industrialization.

    What is the technology trap? Why didn’t the industrial revolution happen earlier? Who are the beneficiaries of technological progress? Can algorithms be creative? What is the difference between originality and creativity?

    Further Reading:

    The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and the Power in the Age of Automation, written by Carl Benefikt Frey

    Engel’s Pause: A Pessimist’s Guide to the British Industrial Revolution, written by Robert Allen and Robert C. Allen

    Capital in the Twenty-First Century, written by Thomas Piketty

    Related Content:

    Industrial Revolution, written by Deirdre McCloskey

    Will Artificial Intelligence Take Your Job?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Will Algorithms Replace the Price System?, written by Adam Gurri


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    Every Day I'm Side Hustling Jun 06, 2019

    The gig economy is transforming cities. Companies like Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit are hiring thousands of workers on a contract basis rather than as formal employees, a legal distinction with broad implications for both workers and the future of the American economy. Matthew and Paul discuss the reasoning behind the contractor classification and whether it will be a net benefit to gig economy workers. They also talk about smart policy fixes—including expanded access to portable health insurance and various benefits-focused startups—that can address the downsides of contingent labor.

    What is the gig economy and how is it different than the regular economy? What is rent-seeking behavior and how is it threatening the gig economy? What is the best interests of consumers? What is the precautionary principle?

    Further Reading:

    New Employment Regulations Could Destroy California’s Gig Economy, written by Christian Britschgi

    Gig workers are fighting to be classified as employees. Trump’s Labor Department just came out against this., written by Chavie Lieber

    The Truth About the Gig Economy, written by Annie Lowrey

    Related Content:

    On Innovation: Don’t Ask for Permission, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Welcome to the Sharing Economy, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Ride-Sharing Services Aren’t a Problem, They’re a Solution, written by Aeon Skoble


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    Free Speech Online: Unfriended May 30, 2019

    Over the past several years, conservative complaints about social media bias have grown. Some conservatives allege that platforms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have tweaked their algorithms in ways that effectively downgrade conservative content or that they have “shadow-banned” conservative voices. In this episode, Paul and Will are joined by Zach Graves and Ryan Radia, both from the Lincoln Network, to discuss to what extent these allegations are legitimate and to weigh subsequent calls for government regulation.

    Is news structurally biased? How do conservatives and liberals respond differently to their content being censored online? Is Facebook a legitimate moderator of its’ own platform? What are the bounds of debate in our country? What is a “quality” experience on a social media platform? What is Section 230? What is the Fairness Doctrine?

    Further Reading:

    Why I’m Suing Twitter, written by Meghan Murphy

    The Impossible Job: Inside Facebook’s Struggle to Moderate Two Billion People, written by Jason Koebler and Joseph Kox

    Google News results favor left-leaning media, report finds, written by Cat Hofacker

    Related Content:

    Free Speech Online, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Toward an Uncensored Internet, written by Sonya Mann

    For Bad Speech, Is Sunlight Really the Best Disinfectant?, written by Christian Barnard


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    What Lawmakers Don't Understand About Tech Policy May 23, 2019

    Building Tomorrow isn’t in the business of encouraging government bloat, but in this episode we consider whether, sometimes, eliminating a government agency might be a penny wise, pound foolish decision. In particular, Paul and Will are joined by Zach Graves and Daniel Schuman as they discuss proposals to resurrect the Office for Technology Assessment, which had advised Congress on tech policy until getting the axe in the mid-1990s. Just as the Congressional Budget Office provides ostensibly non-partisan estimates of the cost of proposed legislation, the OTA would provide non-partisan reports weighing the costs and benefits of tech related legislation.

    Do we lobby more than we use to? Why do employees leave their work at Capitol Hill? What is the purpose of executive orders? Which Congressional agencies focus on technology policy? What is the economic cost of not having privacy legislation now? How much power does the Congressional Budget Office have?

    Further Reading:

    How Congress Got Dumb on Tech—and How It Can Get Smart, written by Grace Gedye

    Inside GAO’s Plan to Make Congress More Tech-Savvy, written by Jack Corrigan

    Momentum builds for Congress restoring Office of Technology Assessment, written by Jory Heckman

    House members call for Office of Technology Assessment revival, written by Katherine Tully-McManus

    Related Content:

    Decentralization and Privacy Are Inevitable — in Tech and in Government, written by Aaron Ross Powell

    Emerging Tech (with Matthew Feeney), Free Thoughts Podcast

    On Innovation: Don’t Ask for Permission, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    SimCity 5: Exploring Charter Cities (and More!) May 16, 2019

    The theme that connects both of the interviews in today’s episode is the value of planning for the future. That can be as simple as thinking about the ways that driverless cars will affect the car insurance industry, as Ian Adams from TechFreedom discusses. Or it can be as big as Dr. Mark Lutter, Founder of the Center for Innovative Governance Research, advocating for charter cities, a place where the best urban ideas can be implemented from the outset rather than waiting for something to go wrong and having to struggle against regulatory inertia.

    What is the latest regulatory news for driverless cars? What challenges do autonomous vehicles present to the insurance industry? Why is California such an innovative space? Will there be a migration pattern away from California? What is a charter city? What leads to economic growth?

    Further Reading:

    Creating the Charter Cities Ecosystem, written by Mark Lutter

    Techquake: The Biggest Threat to California’s Tech-Sector May Lie Directly Beneath its Feet, written by Ian Adams

    California Needs to Hit the Brakes on Minimum Staffing Requirements for Automated Vehicles, written by Ian Adams

    Related Content:

    When Will We Get Fully Autonomous Cars?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Flying Taxis: Cleared for Takeoff?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Is China Beating the U.S. at Innovation?, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Destination Mars May 09, 2019

    This week’s interview is with Robert Zubrin, astronautics engineer and President of the Mars Society, who also introduced Elon Musk to Jim Cantrell at the founding of SpaceX. Dr. Zubrin was in Washington, DC at the Lincoln Network’s “Reboot American Innovation” conference to contrast the successes of the private sector space industry over the past few years with the excess and stagnation of NASA’s human flight program over the past few decades. At the current rate of innovation, he believes that the first manned mission to Mars will happen in our lifetimes.

    Should we settle Mars before we settle the moon? Are there regulatory restraints on the private space industry? Has our generation lost the drive to pursue the knowledge that made it possible for us to go to space? How do we inspire people to try something that has never been done before?

    Further Reading:

    The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility, written by Robert Zubrin

    Reboot American Innovation May 2, 2019, Lincoln Network

    Related Content:

    From SpaceX to Vector: Jim Cantrell and the Private Space Industry, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Jim Cantrell on Vector, Elon Musk, and Space Force, written by Spencer Neale

    A Libertarian Response to Global Depopulation, written by Pamela J. Hobart

    Debunking Overpopulation, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Facial Recognition or Faceless Man? May 02, 2019

    Facial recognition software will transform our lives for good or for ill. On the one hand, it will be used to make retail transactions more seamless, to replace keyed entry into houses and cars, and to provide other benefits that we can’t yet even imagine. However, it could also be used for corporate and governmental surveillance in ways that undermine civil liberties and reduce privacy. Caleb Watney joins Matthew and Paul to discuss the potential promise and peril of facial recognition technology.

    What does facial recognition technology do? What algorithms or parameters are being used with facial recognition? What are the positive applications of facial recognition software? How can facial recognition improve our lives? Will facial recognition be used for ‘targeted search’? Where does our data go? How much anonymity should we enjoy?

    Further Reading:

    A Framework for Increasing Competition and Diffusion in Artificial Intelligence, written by Caleb Watney

    Facial Recognition Software: The Future Is Here, written by Daniel Newman

    Matthew Feeney discusses facial recognition software at airports on FOX News

    Giving TSA Facial-Recognition Software Isn’t Worth a Faster Security Line, written by Matthew Feeney

    Related Content:

    The Chinese Surveillance State, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    The Brave New World of DNA Databases, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Devin Nunes Sues a Fictional Cow, His Mom, and Liz Mair Apr 25, 2019

    Devin Nunes is a US Congressman and former dairy farmer from California. Imagine his surprise when a member of his cow herd started a twitter account that focused on Nunes’s failings as a politician. That account was quickly joined by several other parody accounts, including one purporting to be his mother. Nunes responded by filing multiple lawsuits against the offending accounts, against Twitter, and against lobbyist Liz Mair, claiming hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

    Yet the courts have typically protected parody and satire under the First Amendment to the US Constitution, giving the lawsuits little chance of winning in court. But Nunes filed the claims in Virginia, a state with few penalties for frivolous lawsuits, meaning that even in failure Nunes’s lawsuits may still intimidate his critics and tie them up in a long, expensive legal battle. Liz Mair joins Paul and Will to discuss Nunes, his cow, and how the lawsuit has created an internet backlash drawing even more attention to the parody accounts than before.

    Who is Devin Nunes and why is he upset? Why is he suing Twitter, Liz Mair, other parties? What did Liz Mair do? What is the Streisand effect? What is an anti-SLAP law? What are the biggest changes to communication in the political world due to technological advances and social media?

    Further Reading:

    Free Speech Means I Don’t Have to be Nice to Devin Nunes on Twitter. So why’s he suing me?, written by Liz Mair

    Read the Pointed Tweets That Led to a Congressman to Sue Twitter, written by Rachel E. Greenspan

    Related Content:

    The Federalist No. 76, written by Alexander Hamilton

    Will EU Copyright Break the Internet?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Free Speech Online, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Why is Rent so Damn High? Apr 18, 2019

    If you’ve ever lived in a city like NYC or San Francisco you’re all too familiar with the incredible cost of housing. A studio apartment might cost as much to rent as a single family home out in the suburbs or a smaller town. While some of that additional cost is just the price we pay for living in desirable locations with abundant job opportunities, a surprising amount of that cost is entirely unnecessary. Bad regulatory policies are the cornerstone of the crisis of affordable housing in America today. Zoning boards keep housing density low, meaning shortages of housing supply in the face of rising demand, a classic recipe for skyrocketing prices. Salim Furth from the Mercatus Center joins Paul Matzko to discuss the causes, consequences, and possible fixes for the housing affordability crisis.

    What can we fix so that housing prices become lower? What does it take to build a home in the U.S.? What power does the local government have in the housing market? How are zoning regulations affecting cities? What is the YIMBY movement? What is a thick labor market and how does it support housing? How should you engage with local politics?

    Further Reading:

    The Two-Board Knot: Zoning, Schools, and Inequality, written by Salim Furth

    The Link Between Local Zoning Policy and Housing Affordability in America’s Cities, written by Kevin Erdmann, Salim Furth, and Emily Hamilton

    Order without Design: How Markets Shape Cities, written by Alain Bertaud

    Related Content:

    How Government Housing Policy Distorts the American Dream, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Is Amazon HQ2 Worth It?, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Debunking Overpopulation Apr 11, 2019

    One of the things that folks in the 22nd century will find bizarre about their ancestors in the early 21st century will be that we were arguing about immigration when a global depopulation crisis loomed on the horizon. Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson argue that by the middle of this century the world population will start to decline as the final major developing nations have their birth-rates fall below the replacement rate of 2.1 per woman. Although various governments have tried to arrest the trend, those efforts have proven largely ineffective and unsustainably expensive. The only method of slowing the decline is to embrace immigration as Canada and, to a lesser extent, the United States have done. The countries which admit the most immigrants today will have a major advantage half a century from now over those countries which chose to close their borders.

    What are global population trends? Is our population actually growing rapidly? Why do wealthier urbanized countries have fewer children? How does immigration affect population decline? How did the smart phone affect global birth rates? Why do fertility rates decline as women become more educated?

    Further Reading:

    Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline, written by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson

    The Population Bomb, 50 Years Later: A Conversation with Paul Ehrlich

    The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion, written by Clyde Haberman

    Global Population Decline And Economic Growth, written by Bill Conerly

    Related Content:

    Making the World Better, written by Aaron Ross Powell

    The World is Getting Better, Free Thoughts Podcast

    The Saddest Thing About China’s One-Child Policy, written by Marian L. Tupy


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    On Innovation: Don't Ask for Permission Apr 04, 2019

    Tech companies are often accused of acting without first thinking through all the ramifications of what they’re doing on the principle that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Adam Thierer joins the show to talk about a good habit, something he calls evasive entrepreneurialism. If innovators always waited for regulatory approval first, it would delay consumer access to transformative and even life-saving tech. Permissionless innovation in the relatively regulatory-free internet sandbox of the 1990s-2000s is what drove a great deal of tech innovation and wealth creation in Silicon Valley; the same could be true for other tech sectors in the future. Paul and Will also play a lightening round of “Overrated / Underrated” with Adam revealing a surprising love for malted beverages and the barter system.

    Who are evasive entrepreneurs? Are there too many barriers to entry in the technology field? How does tech enable civil disobedience? What tech is ‘born free’? What is a regulatory risk? What is the pacing problem with technology? What is the precautionary principle? Should you intentionally diversify your twitter feed?

    Further Reading:

    Permissionless Innovation, written by Adam Thierer

    Regulatory Hacking, written by Evan Burfield and J.D. Harrison

    Evasive Entrepreneurs and Permissionless Innovation, Adam Thierer and Chad Reese

    The Twenty-Six Words that Created the Internet event at the Cato Institute on April 17, 2019

    Related Content:

    Wearable Tech: Health Care of the Future, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    The Right to Print Arms, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Crypto-Switzerland: Matching a Decentralized Government with a Decentralized Currency, written by Pascal Hügli


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    The First Livestreamed Mass Shooting Mar 28, 2019

    The fact of the Christchurch shooting is, unfortunately, unsurprising given the global rise of political extremism and ethno-nationalism. But it anticipates the future in that it was the first ever livestreamed mass shooting; given that mass shooters are hungry for attention, it’s almost certain to become a trend. But that raises questions about the complicity of social media in livestreamed atrocities. Matthew, Paul, and guest Caleb Watney discuss first of all whether there are technological solutions to livestreamed terrorism and, second, whether the rush to regulate technology in the aftermath of these horrific moments could do more harm than good.

    How did Facebook respond to the shooting as it was being livestreamed? How many people saw the horrific footage before it was taken down? What are digital hashes? Should machine learning be responsible for content moderation? What is the distinction between public and private content censorship? Does the media give too much fame to mass shooters?

    Further Reading:

    Facebook Claims Just 200 Viewers Livestreamed the New Zealand Mosque Shooting, written by Ben Feuerherd

    A Framework for Increasing Competition and Diffusion in Artificial Intelligence, written by Caleb Watney

    Approaches to Regulating Technology—From Privacy to A.I., featuring R Street’s Caleb Watney as a panelist at the American Action Forum

    Related Content:

    How the FOSTA Rules Create a “Bootleggers and Baptists” Scenario for the 21st Century, written by Paul Matzko

    Guns and Mass Shootings, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Toward an Uncensored Internet, written by Sonya Mann

    Hedging Against Skynet, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    From SpaceX to Vector: Jim Cantrell and the Private Space Industry Mar 21, 2019

    Jim Cantrell’s career in the space industry spans thirty years and multiple countries, from NASA to the French and Russian space agencies. Now, after co-founding SpaceX with Elon Musk, Cantrell is the CEO of Vector, a micro-satellite launching company. The private sector space industry is booming; cheap, small satellites will transform the global economy and lead to fascinating knock-on innovation. At the same time, making it easier to put stuff up in space raises the specter of militarization, both by State actors including Donald Trump’s new Space Force and by non-State actors like terrorist groups. The question is not ‘if’ there will be a star war, but ‘when’ it will happen and what we can do to prepare for it.

    How big are space satellites? How does Vector hope to create a new economy in space? What has SpaceX done to change the space market? How can we convince more innovators to apply their thinking to space rather than joining yet another start-up software outfit? Does NASA hurt innovation? Who is responsible for space debris? What will the first war in space look like?

    Further Reading:

    He Worked in Russia and Palled Around With Elon Musk. Now This Entrepreneur Has Big Plans for His Own Rocket Company, written by Kevin J. Ryan

    Morgan Stanley joins venture firms betting space start-up Vector can launch a lot of small rockets, written by Michael Sheetz

    How Elon Musk’s cold calls to rocket scientists helped kickstart SpaceX, written by Zameena Mejia

    Related Content:

    Jim Cantrell on Vector, Elon Musk, and Space Force, written by Spencer Neal

    Is China Beating the U.S. at Innovation?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    A-Ray Vision Could Be More Than A Pipe Dream, written by Tyler Bettilyon


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    Must Love Dogs...and Dog Tech Mar 14, 2019

    Dog ownership is on the rise around the world, correlating to the decline in age of marriage and delays in childbearing. Given the slowing (and eventual reversal) of the global population birth rate, that means pets will demand an growing share of personal income, emotional investment, and technological innovation. Will and Paul are joined by Natalie Dowzicky (flatmate of the fabulous Corgi pup Pippa, who is on the list of Capitol Hill pooches to watch) to discuss these trends, various gadgets and apps designed for pet owners, and the prospect of cloned or robotic pets in future society.

    Legal Disclaimer: No dogs—named Marley or otherwise—were harmed in the recording of this episode.

    Are pets just accessories? Why has pet ownership increased? Is pet ownership a new way to find community? What is the difference between pets and livestock? Will people have pet robots in the future?

    Further Reading:

    Why Are So Many Millennials Opting for Pets, Not Parenthood?, written by Erin Lowry

    This is What the Senate Looks Like Through the Eyes of a Puppy, written by Katherine Tully-McManus

    How Social Change Helps Explain Our Pet Choices, written by Hal Herzog

    Pets Are Not Children, So Stop Calling Them That, written by M.A. Wallace

    Related Content:

    Printing Pills for Pets, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Swiping Right for Love, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    The Collapse of Local Community, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    A Libertarian Approach to the Green New Deal Mar 07, 2019

    Join Paul, Joe Verruni, and Peter Van Doren as they discuss why the Green New Deal is neither particularly “green,” all that “new,” nor all that great of a “deal.” However, there is a libertarian response to the Green New Deal that doesn’t just consist of “bah humbug.” There are market-based solutions that can more effectively and sustainably address carbon emissions and other environmental pollution. To illustrate that point, the hosts discuss fascinating new applications of energy storage tech that attempt to solve the “duck curve” problem limiting the adoption of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

    Should we be concerned when both political parties agree? How should libertarians think about the Green New Deal? What is the goal of the Green New Deal? How can we change emitting behavior through mechanisms other than those proposed in the Green New Deal? Will the Green New Deal take away your car (or your cows) entirely?

    Further Reading:

    The Impossible Green Dream of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, written by Michael Grunwald

    The New York Times is trying hard to clean up after AOC’s Green New Deal Mess, written by Becket Adams

    The ‘Duck Curve’ Is Solar Energy’s Greatest Challenge

    Related Content:

    Did Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Really Save America?, Free Thoughts Podcast

    The End of Doom, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Scooters: Sidewalk Scourge or Transportation Transformation? Feb 28, 2019

    If you live in a city, your relationship with the new scooter startups like Lime and Bird probably ranges somewhere between frustration at the sidewalk clutter or enthusiastic adoption for when you need to reach the Metro stop nearest your apartment. In this episode, Paul and Will talk with Jennifer Skees about whether scooters are a true transformational transportation technology or if they are overhyped.

    Are scooters a good disruptive technology? What is the ‘last mile’ problem in cities? Do scooters have a speed limit? Should they? How have norms developed about where you should or shouldn’t ride your scooters? How do conceptions of public space evolve over time?

    Further Reading:

    What Scooter Regulations Mean for Riders and Companies, written by Jennifer Huddleston Skees

    New Scooter Lawsuits Threaten Innovation, written by Jennifer Huddleston Skees

    8 Electric Scooters Charging at Once Cause Fire in St. Paul Garage, written by Mara H. Gottfried

    Related Content:

    Welcome to the Sharing Economy, Free Thoughts Podcast

    In the Economy of the Future, You Won’t Own Your Own Kitchen, written by Pamela J. Hobart

    Ride-Sharing Services Aren’t a Problem, They’re a Solution, written by Aeon Skoble


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    How Netflix & Spotify Changed Consumer Culture Feb 21, 2019

    As the cultural economy (music, movies, television, and books) digitized around the turn of the 21st century, many critics worried about severe negative consequences, including declining creative output because of piracy and decreased aesthetic quality. Joel Waldfogel joins Paul and Aaron to discuss why those fears were wrong. Digitization has actually stimulated a renaissance in the cultural economy as both the number and perceived aesthetic quality of film, television, and books have soared. It has been a triumph of technological innovation enabling an expansion of the marketplace for the ultimate benefit of producers and consumers.

    Are we overproducing movies because of digitization? Are we consuming culture too fast? Is piracy a customer service problem? Does the business model of Spotify prevent piracy of music? Why did music take such a huge hit from piracy when TV and movies took a much smaller hit in comparison? Do we want ownership of products or the ability to have access to stream of service? Why are people unbundling their cable services? Should we get rid of all copyright?

    Further Reading:

    Digital Renaissance: What Data and Economics Tell Us about the Future of Popular Culture, written by Joel Waldfogel

    How Does Spotify Make Money?, written by Rameez M. Sydeek

    Music Piracy Remains a Problem in the Spotify Era, written by Anne Steele

    Related Content:

    In the Economy of the Future, You Won’t Own Your Kitchen, written by Pamela J. Hobart

    Intellectual Privilege, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Is Netflix Ruining Culture?, written by Pamela J. Hobart reviewing Joel Waldfogel’s book Digital Renaissance


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    Swiping Right For Love Feb 14, 2019

    Today, more than a third of long-term relationships are started through online dating apps like Tinder and eHarmony. (And the percentage is even higher for LGBQT communities.) During the early years of online dating, critics suggested that the apps would lead to either sexual hedonism or the formation of shallow, unstable long-term relationships. Well, some of the first major longitudinal studies are finally out and we can see how those concerns panned out. Join us as we discuss the vast cultural ramifications of online dating and why it’s been a net positive for modern society. Oh, and we also talk about Bristlr, a dating app for the facially hirsute and those who love them. Let’s be honest; that’s the real draw for the episode!

    How do dating apps work? Do dating apps have a stigma attached to them? How do dating apps reenforce the silos in which we live our lives? Can we actually have an algorithm that creates the basis of love?

    Further Reading:

    Dating App for Trump Supporters Says it Will Sue Liberals Who Try to Join, written by Moran Gstalter

    Pheramor: New Dating App Matches Users Based on Their DNA, written by Olivia Petter

    How the Internet Has Changed Dating, the Economist

    Related Content:

    “Rape Culture:” Yea or Nay?, written by Sharon Presley

    Free Love: Victoria Woodhull, written by David S. D’Amato

    Wearable Tech: Health Care of the Future, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    How Online Games Shape Our Real Lives Feb 07, 2019

    Every new entertainment medium—from the 17th century novel to 21st century video games—has had its share of scolds who panic about the social implications. Those moral panics are always misguided, but entertainment can indeed shape its consumers. This week, Aaron, Paul, and Will debate the ways that video games, by engaging players with compelling narratives and giving them a feeling of player agency, can change peoples’ beliefs and values. Along the way, they discuss what features would make a game ‘libertarian’ and what makes games fun.

    What is player agency in video games? Are video games a vehicle for narrative stories? What makes video games valuable? Do video games inspire youth to act a certain way in real life? Is Minecraft a libertarian video game? What kind of video game player are you?

    Further Reading:

    Video Games Should Always Let You Win, written by Aaron Ross Powell

    As Gamers Age, The Appeal of Competition Drops The Most. Strategy is The Most Age-Stable Motivation, written by Nick Yee

    6 Video Games Every Libertarian Should Play, written by Peter Suderman

    Related Content:

    Communicating Liberty Through Film and the Making Of “Freedom on Trial”, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Introducing Libertarianism: A Reading List, written by Aaron Ross Powell


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    Wearable Tech: Health Care of the Future Jan 31, 2019

    Wearable tech includes everything from wearable thermometers to robotic exoskeletons. It’s a hot investment area for Silicon Valley venture capital funds. But most startups in the wearable industry are very careful to avoid claiming that they are producing “medical devices.” Yet the divide between these wearables and medical devices seems incredibly arbitrary. After all, how is a traditional thermometer that you place under your tongue a medical device, yet a patch that you place on your skin to monitor your PH levels not one?

    As this episode explores, that arbitrary distinction is made to avoid regulatory scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for medical devices. That regulation has perversely encouraged stagnation in the medical device industry, especially when compared to the bewildering array of new products and innovations coming out of the unregulated wearable industry.

    Where is wearable tech heading? What counts as essential and non-essential medical care? Why are health tracking wearables claiming to not be medical devices? How does the FDA regulate medical devices? How can you circumvent having to do a full review of a new medical device? How do FDA processes stifle innovation?

    Further Reading:

    L’oréal’s New Clip-On Sensor Tracks Your Exposure to UV Rays, by Wired

    UVM Study: Wearable Sensor Could Detect Hidden Anxiety, Depression In Young Children, written by Brian Owens

    Behind the Boom in Breast Pump Innovation, written by Heather R. Johnson

    The Top 10 Mental Health Apps, written by Hannah Nichols

    Related Content:

    We Got Your Black Friday Shopping List, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Emerging Tech, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Health Care without Health Insurance, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Cryptocurrency vs. Censorship Jan 24, 2019

    Cryptocurrency advocates often praise its decentralized nature, which promises to strip out intermediaries that both slow and function as a tax on private exchanges of goods and services. But even the most decentralized cryptocurrency still needs go-betweens in order to function for a mass consumer audience. Simply put, most consumers are willing to give a little on transparency and privacy in order to get more convenience and ease of access.

    Even so, cryptocurrency should provide significant improvements in multiple venues, including international payments. Also, as Matthew Feeney notes, crypto-fueled alternatives to popular payment processing platforms could be a needed response to the rise of de-platforming and corporate censorship by tech giants like Apple and Google. However, to succeed, cryptocurrencies need to effectively respond to a wave of “double spend” attacks that exploit the dive in crypto prices over the past year for fraudulent ends.

    What is a decentralized currency? How do consensus and virtuous behavior relate to cryptocurrency? What is the problem with intermediaries? Does crypto-technology have potential applications for anti-corruption schemes and programs? What is a double-spend attack? Does Alex Tabbarok possess mystical, prophetic gifts?

    Further Reading:

    Should Cryptocurrencies Be Regulated like Securities?, written by Diego Zuluaga

    The Future of Financial Services: Disintermediation, Decentralization: A Familiar Tune for Credit Unions?, speech delivered by Diego Zuluaga to Michigan Credit Union Economic Summit

    Ripple

    Jordan Peterson is leaving Patreon, Should You?, written by Nicole Russell

    Related Content:

    The Future of Money, Free Thoughts Podcast

    What’s in Your (Crypto) Wallet?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Is Bitcoin the Future of Money?, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Instagram is the New Fireside Chat Jan 17, 2019

    Politicians want their constituents to feel a sense of personal connection to them. Mass media makes those perceptions of intimacy and authenticity possible on a large scale, like FDR’s radio fireside chats, Ronald Reagan’s TV appearances, and Donald Trump’s tweets. But we are on the cusp of the political adoption of a new media form; it’s the age of livestreaming as an exercise in political branding, whether it’s Elizabeth Warren awkwardly taking a swig of beer, Beto O’Rourke carving a steak, or Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez wandering wide-eyed the corridors of Capitol Hill.

    Yet the adoption of livestreaming, as well as the rise of crowdfunded political campaigns, is drawing the attention of campaign finance regulators. Radio and television broadcasting by political candidates has long been regulated, but the internet has traditionally not. John Samples joins Will Duffield and Paul Matzko to discuss the legal and political implications of these new trends in fundraising and advertising.

    Are the social media accounts of politicians a more intimate way for voters to view them? Are politicians authentic on social media or do they try to hard to be seen as relatable? Do Americans have a right to view or hear Russian ads?

    Further Reading:

    Who Should Moderate Content on Facebook, written by John Samples

    Google Is a Tricky Case but Conservatives Please Stay Strong — Reject the Temptation to Regulate the Internet, written by John Samples

    Related Content:

    New Year, New Congress, New Tech, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    Place Your Political Bets, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    New Year, New Congress, New Tech Jan 10, 2019


    After the “blue wave” that propelled Democrats to a majority in the US House of Representatives, Paul and Matthew invited tech policy expert Will Rinehart to join them as they suss out the implications for new legislation of emerging tech. While a split Congress often struggles to find bi-partisan agreement on major policy initiatives, there is a growing sense of unease in Congress in regards to internet privacy and social media monopolization.

    Unfortunately, sometimes the cure can be as bad or even worse than the original problem. Some of the proposed regulations could handicap American tech companies in similar fashion to how new digital copyright and privacy rules have hampered the European digital economy. One of the most worrying trends is a prediction from last year come true, that the hollowing out of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which has long protected online platforms from frivolous lawsuits and charges, was so weakened by anti-sex trafficking legislation (SESTA/FOSTA) that Congress will continue to carve out exceptions in other areas.

    Will Congress need more tech expertise moving forward? What does the new Congress mean for innovation? What Section 230 of the CDA? Are big tech companies traditional monopolies? Do we need more transparency when it comes to big tech companies and what information they gather about us?

    Further Reading:

    Comments on Developing the Administration’s Approach to Consumer Privacy, written by Will Rinehart

    Tech Expertise in Congress, written by Will Rinehart

    Related Content:

    Will EU Copyright Break the Internet, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    How the FOSTA Rules Create a “Bootleggers and Baptists” Scenario for the 21st Century, written by Paul Matzko

    Practical Problems with Regulating Tech in the Public, written by Will Rinehart


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    Ranked Choice Voting, A Better Way to Vote? Jan 03, 2019

    Tired of voting for a political candidate you don’t particularly like who represents a major political party you don’t particularly like so that another candidate who you dislike a little bit more won’t win office? If so, then ranked choice voting might be the electoral reform for you.

    Ranked choice voting is a system in which voters don’t just vote for a single candidate for each listed office on their ballot. Instead, they rank all of the candidates running for that seat, 1-2-3 and so on. Then, if no candidate wins a majority of the first place votes, the least successful candidate on the ballot is eliminated and those who preferred them as their 1st choice are then distributed based on their 2nd choice. And so on and so forth until one candidate passes 50%.

    Paul and Matthew are joined by Peter Van Doren as they discuss the ramifications of Maine changing to ranked choice voting (RCV) for federal elections in 2018, compare it to other alternative voting methods in other countries, and try to predict the ways it could transform American politics by validating third parties.

    What is the “first-past-the-post” voting style? Does the U.S. voting system have an alienation problem? What is the Hastert Rule? Are third parties largely shoved to the side during U.S. elections?

    Further Reading:

    Resources for Ranked-choice Voting, Provided by the State of Maine

    Ranked-choice voting worked in Maine. Now we should use it in presidential races, written by Lawrence Lessig

    Ranked-choice voting passes the test in Maine, Boston Globe

    Related Content:

    Micro-Targeting Voters with Big Data, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    “Pay No Attention to the Man Who Won’t Stand Behind the Voting Curtain”, written by Jonathan Banks

    Some Very Good Reasons Not to Vote, written by Aaron Ross Powell and Trevor Burrus


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    Has Your Phone Hacked Your Brain? Dec 27, 2018

    If you have kids, you know how alluring smartphones and social media can be for a generation raised with (and, at times, seemingly by) the technology. But researchers are starting to worry that engagement with this technology is rewiring peoples’ brains by design. Tech companies have invented mechanisms like the “infinite scroll” and notification systems which trigger chemical releases in the brain, habituating users.

    But as concerns about these effects grows, companies have responded with new ways of consumer self-regulation. Paul, Aaron, and Will talk about whether government ought to play a role in regulating these technologies or whether private action and education are sufficient. They also discuss “mindfulness” apps meant to ease meditation and promote healthier living.

    How old were you when you got your first smart phone? How much screen time should toddlers and adolescents be allowed to have? What are feedback loops and how do they influence technology product designers? What is the role of engagement for apps that are ad-driven? Can an app lead to spiritual enlightenment?

    Further Reading:

    Does Your Child Have a Digital Addiction, written by Romeo Vitelli

    What Screen Addictions and Drug Addictions Have in Common, written by Erik Vance

    Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?, written by Jean Twenge

    Related Content:

    The Completely Insane Consumer Surplus of the Internet, written by Jason Kuznicki

    Killer Drones or Delivery Drones?, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Flying Taxis: Cleared for Takeoff? Dec 20, 2018

    Flying car prototypes are being tested right now, but they exist in a strange legal limbo in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration has strict rules for the altitudes at which aircraft of various sizes as well as drones are allowed to fly at, but a new category of Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft needs a defined airspace before the technology can be rolled out for a mass consumer audience.

    Brent Skorup, a specialist in tech and communication policy at the Mercatus Center, joins us to describe his proposed plan for how the FAA ought to regulate VTOL airspace. It combines a market-based auction approach with federal oversight.

    What is the immediate market for flying cars? How do flying cars differ from helicopters? What is a VTOL? How do we stop a monopoly from forming in a market for flying cars? Will congestion be an issue? How should libertarians feel about the role taken by a federal agency in this process? The ultimate question is: Who owns the airspace above us now?

    Further Reading:

    Auctioning Airspace, written by Brent Skorup

    Resolved: Cities Should Build for Autonomous Vehicles, written by Brent Skorup

    Your Flying Car Will Be Here Sooner Than You Think, written by Brent Skorup

    Related Content:

    Transportation, Land Use, and Freedom, Free Thoughts Podcast

    When Will We Get Fully Autonomous Cars?, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Is Amazon HQ2 Worth it? Dec 13, 2018

    If you live in NYC, Washington DC, or Nashville, TN, Amazon is coming to town. But unlike Santa Claus, Amazon’s new headquarters locations are arriving on a raft of subsidies instead of a sleigh. State and local governments offered billions of dollars in tax rebates and cash grants in order to woo the company.

    If everything goes according to plan, Amazon HQ2 might generate a budget surplus for DC and NYC, but, as many cities that have courted companies through special tax breaks have found over the years, that is a big “if.” And there are serious questions to be asked about the wisdom of allowing individual companies to have so much power over setting regulatory policy.

    Are the greater-Arlington residents excited about Amazon? Should they be worrying about this type of gentrification? What does zoning policy affect when a company like Amazon enters your city? Do libertarians think that the way that Amazon handled their HQ2 search is appropriate? Is the Amazon location debate a question of fairness?

    Further Reading:

    Incentives to Pander: How Politicians Use Corporate Welfare for Political Gain (Business and Public Policy), written by Nathan M. Jensen and Edmund J. Malesky

    Attract Businesses like Amazon with Lean Government, Not Pork, written by Vanessa Brown Calder & Chris Edwards

    How Can New York City and Northern Virginia Prepare for Amazon HQ2?, written by Vanessa Brown Calder

    What Could States and Municipalities Have Done with That Amazon HQ2 Money?, written by Michael Farren and Anne Philpot

    Related Content:

    The Pursuit, A Podcast Hosted by Tess Terrible

    How the Powerful Captured the Economy, Free Thoughts Podcast

    How Government Housing Policy Distorts the American Dream, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Place Your Political Bets Dec 06, 2018

    We return to part two of our interview with John Aristotle Phillips, who is the founder of the political prediction market PredictIt. Instead of trading corporate stocks or pork bellies, PredictIt allows you to trade in political futures. Put your own money on the line when it comes to who will win an election or the next time a politician will say something stupid on social media. While it’s partly entertainment, prediction markets also serve an important social function since they have a more reliable track record for predicting events than even the best pundits and pollsters.

    Finally, we talk with Phillips about his surprising personal biography. Long before his time in political consulting and prediction markets, he was known as the “A-Bomb Kid” for designing a nuclear weapon in his dorm room at Princeton University. How many people do you know who have been 1) the subject of a cover story in Rolling Stone (and not a rock star), 2) the focus of a Congressional hearing, and 3) a candidate for Congress themself all before their mid-20s?

    What is the best way to predict the outcome of a Democratic or Republican primary campaign? What is PredictIt? How accurate is PredictIt? Why are markets accurate predictors of future events? How is their product better than what polling systems can predict? Should we betting on political events in the first place?

    Further Reading:

    PredictIt Website

    Mushroom: The story of the A-bomb kid, written by John Aristotle Phillips

    Related Content:

    Micro-Targeting Voters with Big Data, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    On Belonging to Governments or Markets, written by Trevor Burrus

    What Influences Elections, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Micro-Targeting Voters with Big Data Nov 29, 2018

    We’ve all heard the talking heads on cable news declare that this or that election was the year of the “suburban soccer mom voter” or the year for voters who prefer Heineken beer and so on and so forth. Have you ever wondered who decides that these small voter niches have outsized importance in any given election?

    If so, then you’re in luck! This week, Building Tomorrow interviews John Aristotle Phillips, the founder of the eponymous political campaign consultancy Aristotle. He leverages big data to micro-target voters for politicians from both sides of the aisle. Phillips has also run campaigns overseas, including in Kenya where he was deported for his efforts to unseat the party in power.

    Why do you need access to all data when you are running for office? What is public record when it comes to campaigning and voting? How much does a campaign rely on data collection? What does Aristotle do? How does Aristotle help candidates who are not members of the mainstream political parties? Should Americans export political campaign consultants to intervene in the politics of other countries?

    Further Reading:

    The A-bomb Kid Runs For Congress, written by Maryanne Vollers

    American Consultant Seeking to Detect Polling Fraud for Kenya Opposition Was Deported Ahead of Elections, written by Matina Stevis and Joe Parkinson

    Aristotle Website

    Related Content:

    Libertarian Perspectives on Voting, written by David S. D’Amato

    Should Libertarians Vote?, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Nothing is Secure, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    We Got Your Black Friday Shopping List Nov 22, 2018

    Are you tired of the usual Black Friday listicles telling you which gifts to buy for your tech-obsessed friends and family? Do you suspect that the authors are really just recycling the same basic gadgets over and over again that seem like something out of an old Sharper Image catalogue?

    Then we have the show for you! This week, the guys conduct a single-elimination competition for the Ultimate Techmas Gift Championship™ Extravaganza 2018®. It’s a showdown between fancy Fitbits, end-to-end encryption, a new internet, and smart diapers.

    Further Reading:

    Bill Clinton Helps Al Gore Create the Internet

    Alphabet’s Verily has a “smart diaper” design that distinguishes pee from poo, written by Beth Mole

    Is Your Fitbit Data Safe?, written by James Swann

    Encrypted Messaging isn’t Magic, written by Lily Hay Newman

    Related Content:

    I Don’t Think Internet Anonymity Means What You Think It Means, written by Annie Edmundson

    Protecting Data Privacy Without Destroying the Internet, written by Roslyn Layton

    Nothing Is Secure, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Popping Techno-Utopian Bubbles Nov 15, 2018

    Peter Van Doren and Will Duffield join us today to discuss a variety of topics including; designer babies, driverless cars, and “non-slaughter meat”. It may seem as though that these topics are not obviously related, but with any new or emerging technology there is a blowback response from potential users or consumers. In these three very different fields, reactions have been mixed. More importantly, it may be impossible to predict the consequences of fully adopting any of these emerging technologies that seemingly make our lives better off.

    Could we get to a point where everyone will be designing their children? What will the future of car-sharing be? How is technology and innovation hindered (or helped) by the culture of adoption? Should we be hesitant to adopt new technologies that we perceive as making our lives better?

    Further Reading:

    Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned, written by Michael Moss

    ABC TV settles with beef product maker in ‘pink slime’ defamation case, written by Timothy Mclaughlin

    Regulation Magazine Fall 2018

    Gene Editing Needs to Be Available to Everyone, written by Noah Smith

    Iceland Close to Becoming the First Country Where No Down’s Syndrome Children are Born, written by Dave MacLean

    Related Content:

    Welcome to the Sharing Economy, Free Thoughts Podcast

    In the Economy of the Future, You Won’t Own Your Kitchen, written by Pamela J. Hobart

    Ride-Sharing Services Aren’t a Problem, They’re a Solution, written by Aeon Skoble


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    Why Aren't There More Women In Tech? Nov 08, 2018

    The presence of a gender gap in the tech industry is indisputable, but the causes and solutions for the gap are still up for debate. Ashkhen Kazaryan from TechFreedom joins Paul and Matthew to discuss several theories for the origins of the gap, ranging from overt discrimination to the insidious unintended consequences of the invention of the nerd archetype in the 1980s. Ashkhen compares her experience of discrimination in the tech policy world, which has relative gender parity, with the problems in the tech sector, which does not. Finally, the three talk about steps that can be taken to close the gender gap.

    Is the gender gap the cause of sexual discrimination, or is sexual discrimination the cause of the gender gap? When did gender disparity become apparent in the tech world? How can women finally be heard in the tech world? Why are women clustered in non-executive and non-engineering staff positions at big tech giants like Google & Facebook? How should we encourage more young girls to enter the tech industry?

    Further Reading:

    Tech Policy Podcast, produced by Tech Freedom

    Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber, written by Susan Fowler

    Tech Doesn’t Have A Gender Problem, written by Amelia Irvine

    Girls Who Code

    Do Boys Have a Comparative Advantage in Math and Science?, written by Alex Tabarrok

    Related Content:

    Emerging Tech, Free Thoughts Podcast

    The Psychology of Freedom: How Sexist Language Harms Women, written by Sharon Presley

    Two Faces of Sexism: Exclusion and Exploitation, written by Sarah Skwire


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    Crypto for College Oct 31, 2018

    It’s something of a cliche to note that higher education is in need of disruption. A decade ago, Massive Open Online Courses promised to make college more affordable and accessible, yet MOOC-based degree programs don’t carry the social signal that a traditional program does. We talk about a new startup called BitDegree that isn’t trying to compete with traditional higher education, instead promising a potentially free education for aspiring programmers by partnering with companies looking to hire new talent and willing to design courses that will produce the skillsets they are looking for in that talent.

    But whatever needs disrupting in the classroom, everyone can agree that our student loan system is broken. Graduates enter the workforce with piles of non-dischargeable loan debt, locking them into career tracks, discouraging entrepreneurship, and undermining long term financial security for Millennials and Generation Z. We explore alternative funding models, including income share agreements like that at Purdue University.

    What is a MOOC? Are online classes as effective as in-person classes? Do online classes serve as a viable alternative to the 4-year college track? Are there problems associated with online education? Is there a value to the non-educational experiences on college campuses? What is a human capital contract? Could online education allow students to avoid overwhelming loans in the future?

    Further Reading:

    Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and Compromises American Education, written by Neal McCluskey

    Public Schooling Battle Map, Cato Institute

    Common Core Doesn’t Seem to Be Working; That May Be Just Fine, written by Neal McCluskey

    Related Content:

    The Case Against Education, Free Thoughts Podcast

    The Education Apocalypse: How It Happened and How to Survive It, Free Thoughts Podcast

    The State of State Education in America, Free Thoughts Podcast


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    Will 5G Live Up to Its Hype? Oct 25, 2018

    5G not only offers exponentially faster wireless downloads, but it is the key to unlocking a number of other emerging technologies like the internet of things, smart cities, and fleets of self-driving cars. Yet 5G is fantastically expensive and so has incentivized a controversial corporate merger between Sprint and T-Mobile in an attempt to keep pace with AT&T and Verizon.

    This week, Paul is joined by tech policy expert Roslyn Layton as they discuss the implications of 5G, the Sprint / T-Mobile merger, and how we should understand property rights and spectrum auctions in an accelerating digital age.

    What is 5G and how is it different than what we currently have? Will machines use the 5G internet? How is 5G intelligent? Where will 5G go first? What do ‘robot bees’ have to do with 5G connection? Is 5G the 4th Industrial Revolution?

    Further Reading:

    5G wireless: When it makes sense to regulate, written by Roslyn Layton

    The future of 5G mobile data could hinge on a battle over utility pole fees, written by Brian Fung

    FCC sides with telecom giants in vote to cap 5G fees, written by Harper Neidig

    Related Content:

    The Sad History of the FCC, Free Thoughts Podcast

    Will EU Copyright Break the Internet?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    When Will We Get Fully Autonomous Cars?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    The Real Reason Facebook and Netflix Support Net Neutrality, written by Paul Matzko


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    The Chinese Surveillance State Oct 18, 2018

    In a previous episode, we covered the transformation of China, which is adopting new tech like delivery drones and digital payment years in advance of the US. But being in the forefront of tech adoption has a darker side when it comes to modern surveillance techniques.

    In this episode we parse what is hyperbole and what is reality when it comes to the Chinese surveillance state. That includes social credit systems which combine credit scores with social media behavior and personal payment history. Additionally, local governments are developing facial recognition software that can be used with the hundreds of millions of surveillance cameras littering the country to automatically identify wanted criminals or even to embarrass jaywalkers.

    Finally, we discuss some of the groups being targeted for surveillance, including journalists and dissidents. But the worst excesses of the surveillance State have been focused on the Uighur people of western China, many of whom have been subjected to religious persecution or even rounded up and sent to concentration camps for re-education.

    How much does the Chinese Government restrict the movement of their citizens? What is Sesame Credit? What is Alibaba? What facial recognition technology does China use? Do law-abiding people change their behavior in response to surveillance revelations?

    Further Reading:

    Meng Hongwei’s Arrest Shows China Values Economic Progress over Human Rights, written by Jimmy Lewis

    Google really is trying to build a censored Chinese search engine, its CEO confirms, written by Brian Fung

    Inside China’s Dystopian Dreams: A.I., Shame and Lots of Cameras, written by Paul Mozur

    Related Content:

    Is China Beating the U.S. at Innovation, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    China: The Annihilation of Human Rights, written by David Hart

    When Will We Get Fully Autonomous Cars?, Building Tomorrow Podcast


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    Killer Drones or Delivery Drones? Oct 11, 2018

    President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was giving a speech during a military parade when a drone exploded not far away. This marks the first recorded attempted- assassination of a head of state carried out via drone. The rapid development of drone technology can seem concerning to many individuals who are worried about security and privacy. Even though drones can present a danger to society or a violation of privacy, they can also serve as an instrumental tool to relieve those who are in need of humanitarian aid or disaster relief.

    What is the significance of the Maduro drone, was it really an assassination attempt? Are our fears of killer drones misplaced? Has the U.S. Supreme Court addressed any cases about drone surveillance? Should we object surveillance technology that is just meant to catch violent criminals? How can drone technology make people’s lives better off? Do drones have life-saving capabilities? How is the FAA preventing American drone companies from innovating?

    Further Reading:

    A Closer Look at the Drone Attack on Maduro in Venezuela, written by Christoph Koettl & Barbara Marcolini

    Florida v. Riley

    Slaughter Bots Video

    Of Rockets & Robotics: Eyes in the Sky: Police Use of Drone Technology, Cato Institute Event

    Of Rockets & Robotics: Commercial Drones: Challenges and Opportunities, Cato Institute Event

    Related Content:

    Is China Beating the U.S. at Innovation?, Building Tomorrow Podcast

    In the Economy of the Future, You Won’t Own Your Kitchen, written by Pamela J. Hobart


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    When Will We Get Fully Autonomous Cars? Oct 04, 2018

    There is a built-in wariness in Silicon Valley when the subject of regulation comes up. It is never in a startup’s best interests to complain about the regulator that has the power to change the rules in ways that can substantially help or hurt the industry. At the same time, it pays to pay attention to the latest pronouncements out of Washington, DC or Sacramento.

    This week, we discuss several companies that have had very different experiences with regulators, from flight-sharing platform Wingly’s success in Europe to self-driving car company Byton’s experience of a lighter regulatory touch in China versus the United States.

    Is there a concern with driver view obstruction when there is a large screen on a driver’s dashboard? Are Byton cars designed for autonomous driving? Does a car have the ability to learn your tendencies and preferences? Should autonomous vehicle companies be working together to discover the best technology possible?

    Further Reading:

    Byton Website

    China’s Byton is sending its electric SUV prototypes to the U.S., written by Kristen Korosec

    Byton’s Automotive Design is Driven by Autonomous Tech, written by Antuan Goodwin

    Related Content:

    Is China Beating the U.S. at Innovation, Building Tomorrow Episode

    Will Artificial Intelligence Take Your Job?, Building Tomorrow Episode

    In the Economy of the Future, You Won’t Own Your Kitchen, written by Pamela J. Hobart


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    Printing Pills for Pets Sep 27, 2018

    The distinction between hearing aids as a medical device and wireless earbuds as mass consumer product is vanishing. Starkey Hearing Technologies is bridging that divide with a new hearing aid that doubles as a fitness tracker, high quality headphones, and a language translator. That’s right: we’ve got Babble fish now!

    Then, Paul talks with the founder of Pinpoint Pharma about their efforts to print prescription drugs for animals. Because of their precision equipment, they can make drug dosages more accurate than pharmacists can by hand, reducing the number of adverse side effects and doing so at a superior price point. What’s bizarre, though, is that the regulatory maze of health insurance means that this superior method will benefit pets before people.

    Why are hearing aids avoided? Does hearing loss lead to cognitive decline? Can hearing aids have multiple functions? What are the latest medical devices and technologies hitting the market right now from start-ups? What can specialized pet medicine teach us about human medicine?

    Further Reading:

    Livio AI Hearing Aid, Starkey Hearing Technologies

    Pinpoint Pharma website

    Purdue affiliated startup commercializes drug dosage printer to improve personalized medicine production, cut side effects, Purdue Research Foundation

    Related Content:

    Hedging Against Skynet, Building Tomorrow Episode

    Health Care without Health Insurance, Building Tomorrow Episode

    A Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions for America, Free Thoughts Episode


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    Will Artificial Intelligence Take Your Job? Sep 20, 2018

    The last wave of automation in the 1970s-80s was industrial as robots replaced manufacturing line workers. The economic dislocation fell hardest on those least able to afford it, blue collar workers without formal education and comparable alternate career paths.

    But today, automation is coming for white collar workers as well. There are jobs, that despite requiring education and advanced training, involve what is essentially pattern recognition and processing speed, things that artificial intelligence can do more quickly and efficiently than human beings. Jobs in law, analytics, and finance are on the cusp of mass automation, leaving those newly entering those fields with massive student debt and limited job prospects.

    Today we talk to two startups, one which is bringing that automation to law firms, the other which is trying to mitigate worker dislocation by helping students find alternative career paths requiring irreplaceable-by-AI social skills.

    When was the first wave of automization? Is the automation apocalypse upon us? Can AI streamline the legal process, specifically in documentation review? How can AI compliment the legal process? What value do you want to get out of hiring a lawyer?

    Further Reading:

    McCarthyFinch Website

    6Figr Website

    From Post-it Notes To Algorithms: How Automation Is Changing Legal Work, NPR

    Related Content:

    In the Economy of the Future, You Won’t Own Your Kitchen, written by Pamela Hobart

    Does More Technology Create Unemployment?, written by A. D. Sharplin and R. H. Mabry


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    Hedging Against Skynet Sep 13, 2018

    WARNING: Listening to this episode may result in a future hyper-intelligent artificial intelligence deciding to kill you. Or so says a theory / logical exercise popular among artificial intelligence researchers called Roko’s Basilisk.

    But if you are willing to assume that risk, listen to our show as we discuss the present and the future of artificial intelligence with special guest host Caleb Watney. AIs are right now being used for criminal justice reform, targeted genetic medicine, and other aspects of daily life, but researchers anticipate a point not that far in the future when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. That moment, sometimes referred to as the Singularity, promises both deep potential and potential peril.

    What is Artificial Intelligence? What is “machine-learning”? How does pattern recognition help our everyday lives? How do you get an AI to be good at something that, by definition, we can’t train it on? Are there concerns we should have about the government utilizing Artificial Intelligence?

    Further Reading:

    It’s time for our justice system to embrace artificial intelligence, written by Caleb Watney

    A few misconceptions surrounding Roko’s basilisk, written by Rob Bensinger

    To win the AI race, we need more humans, written by Caleb Watney

    Related Content:

    Smart Contracts Aren’t Trustless, Nor Should They Be, written by Kate Sills

    The Brave New World of DNA Databases, Building Tomorrow Episode


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    Augur(ing) Assassinations Sep 06, 2018

    Augur represents a new type of prediction market. It’s decentralized nature allows users to stay anonymous, which may be troubling for law enforcement or other state agents if the bets placed are threatening in nature. Right now, it only has a small number of users, but it has the potential to gain traction.

    In these prediction markets you have the ability to place a bet, using a type of cryptocurrency, on a future action such as; whether a Supreme Court nominee will be appointed by a certain date in time. However, Augur may also host betting schemes that may seem “unsavory” to some Americans, like predicting when someone could die, otherwise known as an assassination market.

    What is Augur? What is a prediction market? What can you bet on? Is Augur regulated? Are people placing bets on if certain public figures would be assassinated? What kind of effects will technology like Augur have?

    Further Reading

    Meet The ‘Assassination Market’ Creator Who’s Crowdfunding Murder With Bitcoins, written by Andy Greenberg

    Crypto-Convict Won’t Recant, written by Wired Staff

    Gambling Can Save Science, written by Alex Tabarrok

    Are We All ‘Harmless Torturers’ Now?, written by Paul Bloom and Matthew Jordan

    Related Content

    What Influences Elections?, Free Thoughts Episode

    How Egalitarianism Comes from Conflict (And Why It Matters), written by Pamela J. Hobart


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    Health Care without Health Insurance Aug 30, 2018

    What if there was a way your family doctor could provide you with better care for less money and do it without using health insurance at all? Dr. Ryan Neuhofel joins us to discuss what direct primary care is and how it might benefit you.

    Doctors offices spend an inordinate amount of time and expense filing paperwork with health insurance companies. By not taking health insurance, direct primary care physicians, like our guest Dr. Ryan Neuhofel, can simultaneously increase the amount of time patients get with their doctors, create price transparency for medical services, improve the work-life balance for physicians themselves, and save money doing it. It’s a radical idea when the conversation about fixing healthcare involves getting more people on health insurance and spending more money in so doing, but it could transform how 80% of Americans access healthcare for 80% of their lives.

    What is direct primary care? Is it a more efficient way to deliver care? What is “telemedicine”? Has primary care become a gate-keeper rather than an actual provider? In the future, could we have a system that is like “uber for doctors”?

    Further Reading:

    Direct Primary Care website

    Dr. Ryan Neuhofel website

    Wanna Unbreak Medicine? Dr. Ryan Neuhofel Shows Us How, Against Medical Advice Episode 025

    Building an Alliance for the Future - Keynote: Dr. Ryan Neuhofel

    Related Content:

    Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions for America, Free Thoughts Episode

    How to Fix Health Care, Free Thoughts Episode

    Why Can’t You Email Your Doctor?, Free Thoughts Episode


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    Is China Beating the U.S. at Innovation? Aug 23, 2018

    China’s old reputation when it came to tech was that of being the premier global manufacturer of knockoffs, not a site for innovative development. But China today is adopting new tech at truly incredible rates that surpasses most other countries. Rather than just talking about drone delivery, companies like JD are actually doing it. More people in China use mobile payments and participate in one-stop-shop digital ecosystems than almost the entire population of the US and Europe combined.

    On the other hand, while the technology economy in China is thriving, the political economy remains restrictive. Google had its secret plans to cooperate in the “Great Firewall of China” internet censorship scheme leaked. However, Chinese activists have used the blockchain to get around official media blackouts on vaccine scares and sexual assault scandals

    What is WeChat? Do we view ourselves as the leader of technological advances? What is leap-frogging? Is our established infrastructure getting in the way of our own ability to innovate? Does China represent the new “right way to do things”? What is Google’s Dragonfly Project?

    Further Reading:

    How E-Commerce Is Transforming Rural China, written by Jiayang Fan

    Letter from Shenzhen, written by Xiaowei R. Wang

    Chinese Citizens Are Using Blockchain to Warn Each Other of Unsafe Vaccines, written by Kristin Houser

    North Korea’s Hidden Revolution: How the Information Underground Is Transforming a Closed Society, written by Jieun Baek

    The Art of Escaping Censorship, written by Jessica Loudis

    The employee backlash over Google’s censored search engine for China, explained by Alexia Fernández Campbell

    Related Content:

    Fifty Years after the Cultural Revolution, written by David Boaz

    Innovative Maintenance, Maintaining Innovation, written by Pamela J. Hobart


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    The Brave New World of DNA Databases Aug 16, 2018

    DNA databases, which have long been used by amateur genealogists, have burst into the headlines as law enforcement uses them to solve cold case murders. For instance, detectives used an open source database called GEDmatch to catch the Golden State Killer, who murdered and raped dozens of women during the 1970s-80s.

    Yet while solving crimes is obviously good, there are concerns about violations of genetic privacy. It is now possible to identify the overwhelming majority of Americans, without their consent, based on merely two DNA samples from second or even third cousins. That said, future applications of these databases could propel remarkable medical innovations such as personalized gene therapies and bioelectronics.

    What are DNA databases designed to do? What are the privacy concerns associated with these databases? Are these databases more or less creepy than those of facial recognition? Which of these services are accessible to law enforcement? What is the panopticon, how does it apply to a DNA database? How is this any different than a fingerprint database?

    Further Reading

    “ ‘Genetic Informants’ and the Hunt for the Golden State Killer”, written by Matthew Feeney

    The hunt for the Golden State Killer on GEDmatch.

    Parabon Nanolabs is creating a DNA database specifically marketed for police.

    How does the 4th Amendment work in the age of warrantless searching of DNA databases?

    Carpenter v. United States

    Oral Argument of Maryland v. King

    Related Content

    Decentralization and Privacy Are Inevitable — in Tech and in Government, written by Aaron Ross Powell

    How New Technology is Changing Law Enforcement, Free Thoughts Episode


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    Idaho's Blockchain Won't Be Small Potatoes Aug 09, 2018

    Phil Haunschild joins us this week to discuss how blockchain technology could potentially eliminate the governments’ presence in welfare and charity.

    Among the uninitiated, ‘blockchain’ is often treated as a synonym for ‘cryptocurrency.’ But blockchain technology has many other potential applications, including ways of improving the efficiency and transparency of good governance. For example, Phil Haunschild from the Idaho Freedom Foundation explains how a state-level blockchain could replace the expensive requirement to post public notices in newspapers, potentially saving millions of dollars in just one state. Phil then outlines his even grander plan to replace food stamps and other welfare programs with privately-run, blockchain-enabled charities.

    How is blockchain a better tool than a state-run database? How do smart contracts work in tandem with blockchain technology? Could blockchain be used in order to eliminate the presence of government in welfare and charity?

    Further Reading

    A path to eliminate government subsidies for the media, writted by Phil Haunschild

    Idaho Freedom Foundation project proposal about how blockchain could allow people to be in control of the welfare system rather than the government.

    Blockchain Could Upend Welfare Programs, written by Phil Haunschild & Janae Wilkerson for the National Review

    Related Content

    Smart Contracts Aren’t Trustless, Nor Should They Be, written by Kate Sills

    What’s in Your (Crypto) Wallet?, Building Tomorrow Episode

    Your World on the Blockchain, Free Thoughts Episode


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    The Right to Print Arms? Aug 02, 2018

    Mark McDaniel from Reason Magazine joins us to discuss homemade gun technology in response to a recent court case involving gun ownership activist, Cody Wilson, and his group, Defense Distributed, who were the minds behind the “Wiki Weapon Project”.

    Cody Wilson and his group went unnoticed until they actually tried to build a weapon, specifically named the “Liberator”. However, when the printer company, Stratasys, heard of this plan they took his printer and reported Wilson’s intentions to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). The press got wind of this dispute when Wilson posted a viral video of Stratasys taking the printer away. Later on, the State Department got involved when Wilson posted the blueprints of how to print the “Liberator”.

    What kind of guns can be printed? What are the rules for making a traditional weapon at home? Why should we care if people can have 3D-printed guns so easily? How far away are we, technologically speaking, from creating legit firearms in our homes?

    Further Readings

    Trevor Burrus’ and Meggan Dewitt’s article about the amicus position the Cato Institute took on 3D printed guns.

    Mark McDaniel on how to legally make your own 3D printed gun.

    Andy Greenberg from Wired on how 3D guns are now deemed untraceable.

    Andrea O’Sullivan from Reason explains how the computer code to make 3D printed guns is protected by the 1st Amendment.


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    Will EU Copyright Break the Internet? Jul 26, 2018

    The parliament of the European Union narrowly voted down legislation intended to control copyright violations on the internet. The sponsors of the legislation argued that multinational internet companies like Google were essentially stealing content from newspapers and publishers. Their proposed fix would have levied what critics called a “link tax” on hyperlinked content, making it prohibitively expensive for a program like Google News to aggregate news content. In addition, the rules would have essentially forced platforms like Youtube that rely on user-uploaded content, like Youtube, to put in place content filters to screen out copyrighted content. However, the expense of these filters and regulatory compliance would have, ironically, given the major companies an advantage over smaller startups, leading to a less competitive internet. In addition, the content filters would have accidentally excluded legitimate non-copyrighted material, including memes, parodies, and covers. Although this was European legislation, the legislation has implications for American regulatory policy, including the new SESTA/FOSTA rules.

    Further Readings/References:

    • In this article, Mike argues that this legislation would turn the internet into tv, “a limited broadcast medium only for those who are pre-checked by gatekeepers.”

    • Any content filter will accidentally exclude legitimate conflict. Here Mike crunches the potential false positive rate.

    • Paul has argued before that the SESTA/FOSTA legislation will have ill unintended consequences.

    • One of the most important opponents of this legislation has been European Parliament member Julia Reda, representative of the Pirate Party.


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    Can You Monetize Everything You Do? Jul 19, 2018

    New technologies have made it possible for us to monetize more and more of our daily lives. First, we discuss the third party marketers who are using devices (eg cellphones, smart speakers) connected to smart tvs to compile data on consumers. While these companies are guilty of deceptive practices, there is the future potential for consumers to profit from that data themselves. Likewise, we cover a new internet browser called Brave, which allows users to sell their own browsing habits to advertisers and which could radically transform digital advertising. Finally, we talk about Ice Poseidon, who is not a lesser known of the Greek deities but a Twitch streamer who allows his followers to watch him go about his day and prank strangers. While a new wave of “always on” streamers often engage in juvenile behavior, they represent the way in which streaming has enabled ordinary people to make a living in ways previously impossible.

    Further Readings/References:

    Sapna Maheshwari’s NYT article on smart TV surveillance.

    Stephen Shankland’s write-up of the Brave browser.

    Ice Poseidon shows that it’s possible to simultaneously be repulsed by someone’s behavior and feel bad for them.

    Prototype’s latest article, by Julia Slupska, “Election Hacking and the Global Politics of Attention.”

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    How Smart are 'Smart Contracts'? Jul 12, 2018

    This week Kate Sills joins us to respond to several recent articles criticizing smart contracts. One of the issues we cover is the “Oracle problem,” which is how a self-enforcing digital contract can know whether terms have been met in the physical world. Also, we discusses how smart contracts cannot be mere transactional documents but also need to facilitate relationships, something that has led traditional contract law to purposefully include ambiguous or unenforceable clauses. Finally, we talk about Alex Tabbarok’s call for a dedicated arbitration system for smart contract disputes. Disclaimer: While squirrel mortality is referenced briefly during the episode, no members of the Sciuridae family were harmed in the making of this show.

    Kate Sill’s case for smart contracts.

    Jimmy Song on the Oracle problem.

    Alex Tabbarok calls for a smart contract arbitration system.

    (Deep Cut) Karen Levy reminds us that contracts are relational documents.

    Listen to Kate Sills discuss smart contracts and the blockchain on Free Thoughts.


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    What's in Your (Crypto) Wallet? Jul 05, 2018

    This week, we discuss cryptocurrency and security. There was a hack recently of a digital currency storage site. We’ll talk a little bit about what that means, what cryptocurrency ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ wallets are, what happens if you lose your password, and the sometimes surprising lengths to which major cryptocurrency owners have gone to secure their holdings. (Warning: Severed fingers make an appearance.)

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    Welcome to Building Tomorrow! Jul 03, 2018

    Building Tomorrow explores the ways technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are creating a freer, wealthier, and more peaceful world. In our first episode, we survey how major recent advances in tech have made it harder for the State to “read” citizens, deepened networks of trust between activists, expanded ownership of our bodies, and created new sharing economies.

    Further Readings/References:

    Yes, an augmented reality cocktail bar is absolutely the best use of this exciting new technology.

    Philosopher gnomes for the gardens of those with discerning taste.

    A Building Tomorrow review of Michael Munger’s book, Tomorrow 3.0.

    The first article of Will Duffield’s “Prototype” project on creating an uncensorable internet.

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