IRL: Online Life is Real Life

Mozilla’s IRL podcast is a Shorty Awards finalist - we need your help to win! Apr 19, 2024

We’re excited to share that Mozilla's IRL podcast is a Shorty Awards finalist in the Science and Technology Podcast category! If you enjoy IRL you can show your support by voting for us.

The Shorty Awards recognizes great content by brands, agencies and nonprofits. It’s really an honor to be able to feature the voices and stories of the folks who are putting people over profit in AI. A Shorty Award will help bring these stories to even more listeners.

How to vote

1. Go to mzl.la/shorty

2. Click 'Vote in Science and Technology Podcast'

3. create a username and password (it's easy, we promise!)

4. Come back and vote every day until April 30th

We believe putting people over profit is award-worthy. Don’t you? Thanks for your support!

The Art of AI Dec 05, 2023

From Hollywood to Hip Hop, artists are negotiating new boundaries of consent for use of AI in the creative industries. Bridget Todd speaks to artists who are pushing the boundaries.

It’s not the first time artists have been squeezed, but generative AI presents new dilemmas. In this episode: a member of the AI working group of the Hollywood writers union; a singer who licenses the use of her voice to others; an emcee and professor of Black music; and an AI music company charting a different path.

Van Robichaux is a comedy writer in Los Angeles who helped craft the Writers Guild of America’s proposals on managing AI in the entertainment industry.

Holly Herndon is a Berlin-based artist and a computer scientist who has developed “Holly +”, a series of deep fake music tools for making music with Holly’s voice.

Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo creates video games and studies the intersection between AI and Hip Hop at Brown University. Her alias as a rapper is Sammus.

Rory Kenny is co-founder and CEO of Loudly, an AI music generator platform that employs musicians to train their AI instead of scraping music from the internet.

*Thank you to Sammus for sharing her track ‘1080p.’ Visit Sammus’ Bandcamp page to hear the full track and check out more of her songs.*

Lend Me Your Voice Nov 21, 2023

Big tech’s power over language, means power over people. Bridget Todd talks to AI community leaders paving the way for open voice tech in their own languages and dialects.

In this episode: AI builders and researchers in the US, Kenya and New Zealand who say the languages computers learn to recognize today will be the ones that survive tomorrow — as long as communities and local startups can defend their data rights from big AI companies.

Halcyon Lawrence was an Associate Professor of Technical Communication and Information Design at Towson University in Maryland (via Trinidad and Tobago) who did everything Alexa told her to for a year.*

Keoni Mahelona is a leader of Indigenous data rights and chief technology officer of Te Hiku Media, a Māori community media network with 21 local radio stations in New Zealand.

Kathleen Siminyu is an AI grassroots community leader in Kenya and a machine learning fellow with Mozilla’s Common Voice working on Kiswahili voice projects.

IRL: Online Life is Real Life is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 7, host Bridget Todd talks to AI builders that put people ahead of profit.

*Sadly, following the recording of this episode, Dr. Halcyon Lawrence passed away. We are glad to have met her and pay tribute to her legacy as a researcher and educator. Thank you, Halcyon.

Crash Test Dummies Nov 07, 2023

Why does it so often feel like we’re part of a mass AI experiment? What is the responsible way to test new technologies? Bridget Todd explores what it means to live with unproven AI systems that impact millions of people as they roll out across public life.

In this episode: a visit to San Francisco, a major hub for automated vehicle testing; an exposé of a flawed welfare fraud prediction algorithm in a Dutch city; a look at how companies comply with regulations in practice; and how to inspire alternative values for tomorrow’s AI.

Julia Friedlander is senior manager for automated driving policy at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency who wants to see AVs regulated based on safety performance data.

Justin-Casimir Braun is a data journalist at Lighthouse Reports who is investigating suspect algorithms for predicting welfare fraud across Europe.

Navrina Singh is the founder and CEO of Credo AI, a platform that guides enterprises on how to ‘govern’ their AI responsibly in practice.

Suresh Venkatasubramanian is the director of the Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination, and Redesign at Brown University and he brings joy to computer science.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 7, host Bridget Todd shares stories about prioritizing people over profit in the context of AI.

The Humans in the Machine Oct 24, 2023

They’re the essential workers of AI — yet mostly invisible and exploited. Does it have to be this way? Bridget Todd talks to data workers and entrepreneurs pushing for change.

Millions of people work on data used to train AI behind the scenes. Often, they are underpaid and even traumatized by what they see. In this episode: a company charting a different path; a litigator holding big tech accountable; and data workers organizing for better conditions.

Thank you to Foxglove and Superrr for sharing recordings from the the Content Moderators Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in May, 2023.

Richard Mathenge helped establish a union for content moderators after surviving a traumatic experience as a contractor in Kenya training Open AI’s ChatGPT.

Mercy Mutemi is a litigator for digital rights in Kenya who has issued challenges to some of the biggest global tech companies on behalf of hundreds of data workers.

Krista Pawloski is a full time data worker on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform and is an organizer with the worker-led advocacy group, Turkopticon.

Safiya Husain is the co-founder of Karya, a company in India with an alternative business model to compensate data workers at rates that reflect the high value of the data.

IRL: Online Life is Real Life is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 7, host Bridget Todd talks to AI builders that put people ahead of profit.

With AIs Wide Open Oct 10, 2023

Are today’s large language models too hot to handle? Bridget Todd digs into the risks and rewards of open sourcing the tech that makes ChatGPT talk.

In their competitive rush to release powerful LLMs to the world, tech companies are fueling a controversy about what should and shouldn’t be open in generative AI.

In this episode, we meet open source research communities who have stepped up to develop more responsible machine learning alternatives.

David Evan Harris worked at Meta to make AI more responsible and now shares his concerns about the risks of open large language models for disinformation and more.

Abeba Birhane is a Mozilla advisor and cognitive scientist who calls for openness to facilitate independent audits of large datasets sourced from the internet.

Sasha Luccioni is a researcher and climate lead at Hugging Face who says open source communities are key to developing ethical and sustainable machine learning.

Andriy Mulyar is co-founder and CTO of Nomic, the startup behind the open source chatbot GPT4All, an offline and private alternative to ChatGPT.

IRL: Online Life is Real Life is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 7, host Bridget Todd talks to AI builders that put people ahead of profit.

We’re Back! IRL Season 7: People Over Profit Sep 26, 2023

This season, IRL host Bridget Todd meets people who are balancing the upsides of artificial intelligence with the downsides that are coming into view worldwide.

Stay tuned for the first of five biweekly episodes on October 10! IRL is an original podcast from the non-profit Mozilla.

The AI Medicine Cabinet Sep 12, 2022

Life, death and data. AI’s capacity to support research on human health is well documented. But so are the harms of biased datasets and misdiagnoses. How can AI developers build healthier systems? We take a look at a new dataset for Black skin health, a Covid chatbot in Rwanda, AI diagnostics in rural India, and elusive privacy in mental health apps.

Avery Smith is a software engineer in Maryland who lost his wife to skin cancer. This inspired him to create the Black Skin Health AI Dataset and the web app, Melalogic.

Remy Muhire works on open source speech recognition software in Rwanda, including a Covid-19 chatbot, Mbaza, which 2 million people have used so far.

Radhika Radhakrishnan is a feminist scholar who studies how AI diagnostic systems are deployed in rural India by tech companies and hospitals, as well as the limits of consent.

Jen Caltrider is the lead investigator on a special edition of Mozilla’s “Privacy Not Included” buyer’s guide that investigated the privacy and security of mental health apps.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 6, host Bridget Todd shares stories of people who make AI more trustworthy in real life. This season doubles as Mozilla’s 2022 Internet Health Report. Go to the report for show notes, transcripts, and more.

The Truth is Out There Aug 29, 2022

Murky political groups are exploiting social media systems to spread disinformation. With important elections taking place around the world this year, who is pushing back? We meet grassroots groups in Africa and beyond who are using AI to tackle disinformation in languages and countries underserved by big tech companies.

Justin Arenstein is the founder of Code for Africa, an organization that works with newsrooms across 21 countries to fact check, track and combat the global disinformation industry.

Tarunima Prabhakar builds tools and datasets to respond to online misinformation in India, as co-founder of the open-source technology community, Tattle.

Sahar Massachi was a data engineer at Facebook and now leads the Integrity Institute, a new network for people who work on integrity teams at social media companies.

Raashi Saxena in India was the global project coordinator of Hatebase, a crowdsourced repository of online hate speech in 98 languages, run by the Sentinel Project.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 6, host Bridget Todd shares stories of people who make AI more trustworthy in real life. This season doubles as Mozilla’s 2022 Internet Health Report. Go to the report for show notes, transcripts, and more.

AI from Above Aug 15, 2022

An aerial picture can tell a thousand stories. But who gets to tell them? From above the clouds, our world is surveilled and datafied. Those who control the data, control the narratives. We explore the legacy of spatial apartheid in South Africa’s townships, and hear from people around the world who are reclaiming power over their own maps.

Raesetje Sefala is mapping the legacy of spatial apartheid in South Africa as a computer vision researcher with Timnit Gebru’s Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).

Astha Kapoor researches how communities and organizations can be ‘stewards’ of data about people and places as co-founder of the Aapti Institute in India.

Michael Running Wolf is the founder of Indigenous in AI. He is working on speech recognition and immersive spatial experiences with augmented and virtual reality in Canada.

Denise McKenzie is a location data expert who works with the global mapping organization PLACE to empower governments and communities to use advanced spatial data.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 6, host Bridget Todd shares stories of people who make AI more trustworthy in real life. This season doubles as Mozilla’s 2022 Internet Health Report. Go to the report for show notes, transcripts, and more.

When an Algorithm is Your Boss Aug 01, 2022

Gig workers around the world report directly to algorithms in precarious jobs created by secretive corporations. We take you to the streets of Quito, Ecuador where delivery workers are protesting against artificial intelligence, and we hear solutions from people in several countries on how to audit the algorithms and reclaim rights.

Eduardo Meneses is gearing up with allies to ‘audit the algorithms’ of delivery platforms in Ecuador as the Global Head of Social Change at Thoughtworks.

Dan Calacci at the MIT Media Lab is developing open source tools and systems that empower workers to take control of their data.

Aída Ponce Del Castillo is working on AI regulation to protect the rights of platform workers as a lawyer with the European Trade Union Institute in Brussels.

Yuly Ramirez is the general secretary of a coalition of digital platform workers in Ecuador and José Gonzalez is a delivery driver in Quito, Ecuador.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 6, host Bridget Todd shares stories of people who make AI more trustworthy in real life. This season doubles as Mozilla’s 2022 Internet Health Report. Go to the report for show notes, transcripts, and more.

The Tech We Won’t Build Jul 18, 2022

Where should tech builders draw the line on AI for military or surveillance? Just because it can be built, doesn’t mean it should be. At what point do we blow the whistle, call out the boss, and tell the world? Find out what it’s like to sound the alarm from inside a big tech company.

Laura Nolan shares the story behind her decision to leave Google in 2018 over their involvement in Project Maven, a Pentagon project which used AI by Google.

Yves Moreau explains why he is calling on academic journals and international publishers to retract papers that use facial recognition and DNA profiling of minority groups.

Yeshimabeit Milner describes how the non-profit Data for Black Lives is pushing back against use of AI powered tools used to surveil and criminalize Black and Brown communities.

Shmyla Khan, describes being on the receiving end of technologies developed by foreign superpowers as a researcher with the Digital Rights Foundation in Pakistan.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox. In Season 6, host Bridget Todd shares stories of people who make AI more trustworthy in real life. This season doubles as Mozilla’s 2022 Internet Health Report. Go to the report for show notes, transcripts, and more.

Introducing IRL Season 6: AI in Real Life Jul 05, 2022

AI is everywhere now. It’s part of healthcare, social media, maps, and even killer robots. But who has power over AI? And who is shifting that power? Join IRL’s new host, Bridget Todd, as she talks to technology builders and policy folks from around the world who are developing more trustworthy AI that puts people over profits.

IRL is an original podcast from the non-profit Mozilla. For more on our series, visit us here.

Privacy or Profit - Why Not Both? Sep 09, 2019

Every day, our data hits the market when we sign online. It’s for sale, and we’re left to wonder if tech companies will ever choose to protect our privacy rather than reap large profits with our information. But, is the choice — profit or privacy — a false dilemma? Meet the people who have built profitable tech businesses while also respecting your privacy. Fact check if Facebook and Google have really found religion in privacy. And, imagine a world where you could actually get paid to share your data.

In this episode, Oli Frost recalls what happened when he auctioned his personal data on eBay. Jeremy Tillman from Ghostery reveals the scope of how much ad-tracking is really taking place online. Patrick Jackson at Disconnect.me breaks down Big Tech’s privacy pivot. DuckDuckGo’s Gabriel Weinberg explains why his private search engine has been profitable. And Dana Budzyn walks us through how her company, UBDI, hopes to give consumers the ability to sell their data for cash.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series, go to irlpodcast.org.

Read about Patrick Jackson and Geoffrey Fowler's privacy experiment.

Learn more about DuckDuckGo, an alternative to Google search, at duckduckgo.com.

And, we're pleased to add a little more about Firefox's business here as well — one that puts user privacy first and is also profitable. Mozilla was founded as a community open source project in 1998, and currently consists of two organizations: the 501(c)3 Mozilla Foundation, which backs emerging leaders and mobilizes citizens to create a global movement for the health of the internet; and its wholly owned subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation, which creates Firefox products, advances public policy in support of internet user rights and explores new technologies that give people more control and privacy in their lives online. Firefox products have never — and never will never — buy or sell user data. Because of its unique structure, Mozilla stands apart from its peers in the technology field as one of the most impactful and successful social enterprises in the world. Learn more about Mozilla and Firefox at mozilla.org.

Making Privacy Law Aug 26, 2019

The word “regulation" gets tossed around a lot. And it’s often aimed at the internet’s Big Tech companies. Some worry that the size of these companies and the influence they wield is too much. On the other side, there’s the argument that any regulation is overreach — leave it to the market, and everything will sort itself out. But over the last year, in the midst of this regulation debate, a funny thing happened. Tech companies got regulated. And our right to privacy got a little easier to exercise.

Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna gives us the highlights of Europe’s sweeping GDPR privacy law, and explains how the law netted a huge fine against Spain’s National Football League. Twitter’s Data Protection Officer, Damien Kieran explains how regulation has shaped his new job and is changing how Twitter works with our personal data. Julie Brill at Microsoft says the company wants legislators to go further, and bring a federal privacy law to the U.S. And Manoush chats with Alastair MacTaggart, the California resident whose work led to the passing of the California Consumer Privacy Act.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Learn more about consumer rights under the GDPR, and for a top-level look at what the GDPR does for you, check out our GDPR summary.

Here’s more about the California Consumer Privacy Act and Alastair MacTaggart.

And, get commentary and analysis on data privacy from Julie Brill, Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna, and Damien Kieran.

Firefox has a department dedicated to open policy and advocacy. We believe that privacy is a right, not a privilege. Follow our blog for more.

The 5G Privilege Aug 12, 2019

‘5G’ is a new buzzword floating around every corner of the internet. But what exactly is this hyped-up cellular network, often referred to as the next technological evolution in mobile internet communications? Will it really be 100 times faster than what we have now? What will it make possible that has never been possible before? Who will reap the benefits? And, who will get left behind?

Mike Thelander at Signals Research Group imagines the wild ways 5G might change our lives in the near future. Rhiannon Williams hits the street and takes a new 5G network out for a test drive. Amy France lives in a very rural part of Kansas — she dreams of the day that true, fast internet could come to her farm (but isn’t holding her breath). Larry Irving explains why technology has never been provided equally to everyone, and why he fears 5G will leave too many people out. Shireen Santosham, though, is doing what she can to leverage 5G deployment in order to bridge the digital divide in her city of San Jose.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Read more about Rhiannon Williams' 5G tests throughout London.

And, find out more about San Jose's smart city vision that hopes to bridge the digital divide.

The Tech Worker Resistance Jul 29, 2019

There's a movement building within tech. Workers are demanding higher standards from their companies — and because of their unique skills and talent, they have the leverage to get attention. Walkouts and sit-ins. Picket protests and petitions. Shareholder resolutions, and open letters. These are the new tools of tech workers, increasingly emboldened to speak out. And, as they do that, they expose the underbellies of their companies' ethics and values or perceived lack of them.

In this episode of IRL, host Manoush Zomorodi meets with Rebecca Stack-Martinez, an Uber driver fed up with being treated like an extension of the app; Jack Poulson, who left Google over ethical concerns with a secret search engine being built for China; and Rebecca Sheppard, who works at Amazon and pushes for innovation on climate change from within. EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn explains why this movement is happening now, and why it matters for all of us.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Rebecca Stack-Martinez is a committee member for Gig Workers Rising.

Here is Jack Poulson's resignation letter to Google. For more, read Google employees' open letter against Project Dragonfly.

Check out Amazon employees' open letter to Jeff Bezos and Board of Directors asking for a better plan to address climate change.

Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF is a nonprofit that defends civil liberties in the digital world. They champion user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development.

The Internet's Carbon Footprint Jul 15, 2019

Manoush Zomorodi explores the surprising environmental impact of the internet in this episode of IRL. Because while it’s easy to think of the internet as living only on your screen, energy demand for the internet is indeed powered by massive server farms, running around the clock, all over the world. What exactly is the internet’s carbon footprint? And, what can we do about it?

Music professor Kyle Devine considers the environmental costs of streaming music. Geophysicist and pop scientist Miles Traer takes his best shot at calculating the carbon footprint of the IRL podcast. Climate journalist Tatiana Schlossberg explores the environmental influence we don’t know we have and what the web’s got to do with it. Greenpeace’s Gary Cook explains which tech companies are committed to renewable energy — and which are not. Kris De Decker tries powering his website with a homebrew solar power system. And, Ecosia's Chief Tree Planting Officer Pieter Van Midwoud discusses how his company uses online search to plant trees.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Love the internet, but also love the environment? Here are some ways you can reduce your energy consumption — or offset it — while online.

Learn more about Kyle Devine’s research on the environmental costs of music streaming.

For more from Tatiana Schlossberg, check out her book, Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have.

Have a read through Greenpeace’s Click Clean Report that Gary Cook discusses in this IRL episode.

You can find solar-powered Low Tech Magazine here and, if the weather is bad, you can view the archive here.

As Pieter Van Midwoud notes, Ecosia uses the money it makes from your online searches to plant trees where they are needed most. Learn more about Ecosia, an alternative to Google Search.

Here’s more about Miles Traer, the geophysicist who calculated the carbon footprint of the IRL podcast.

And, if you’re interested in offsetting your personal carbon emissions overall, Carbonfund.org can help with that.

The sound of a data center in this episode is courtesy of artist Matt Parker. Download his music here.

Democracy and the Internet Jul 01, 2019

Part of celebrating democracy is questioning what influences it. In this episode of IRL, we look at how the internet influences us, our votes, and our systems of government. Is democracy in trouble? Are democratic elections and the internet incompatible?

Politico's Mark Scott takes us into Facebook's European Union election war room. Karina Gould, Canada's Minister for Democratic Institutions, explains why they passed a law governing online political ads. The ACLU's Ben Wizner says our online electoral integrity problem goes well beyond a few bad ads. The team at Stop Fake describes a massive problem that Ukraine faces in telling political news fact from fiction, as well as how they're tackling it. And NYU professor Eric Klinenberg explains how a little bit of offline conversation goes a long way to inoculate an electorate against election interference.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Early on in this episode, we comment about how more privacy online means more democracy offline. Here's more on that concept from Michaela Smiley at Firefox.

Have a read through Mark Scott's Politico reporting on Facebook's European election war room.

For more from Eric Klinenberg, check out his book, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life.

And, find out more about Stop Fake, its history, and its mission here.

The "Privacy Policy" Policy Jun 17, 2019

Privacy policies: most apps and websites have them, buried away somewhere. These legal documents explain how the company collects, uses, and shares your personal data. But let's be honest, few of us actually read these things, right? And that passive acceptance says a lot about our complicated relationship with online privacy.

In the Season 5 premiere of IRL, host Manoush Zomorodi speaks with Charlie Warzel, writer-at-large with the New York Times, about our complicated relationship with data and privacy — and the role privacy policies play in keeping things, well, confusing. You'll also hear from Parker and Lila, two young girls who realize how gaming and personal data intersect. Rowenna Fielding, a data protection expert, walks us through the most efficient ways to understand a privacy policy. Professor Lorrie Cranor explains how these policies have warped our understanding of consent. And privacy lawyer Jenny Afia explains why "privacy" is a base element of being human.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Charlie Warzel is an Opinion writer at large for the New York Times. You can get more insights from him about privacy online when you sign up for the Times’ Privacy Project Newsletter.

If you’d like to learn more about privacy policies and their impact on our youth, check out Jenny Afia’s article on tech’s exploitative relationship with our children.

This IRL podcast episode referenced several privacy policies, and we encourage you to read them. To start, here’s Firefox’s privacy policy. You’ll see that Firefox’s business model is not dependent on packaging your personal info. And, we hope you’ll find that our policy is easy-to-read, fully transparent, and specific.

The other privacy policies referenced in this episode include:

“The Weird Kids at the Big Tech Party” from ZigZag Jun 03, 2019

Season 4 of ZigZag is about examining the current culture of business and work, figuring out what needs to change, and experimenting with new ways to do it. Sign up for their newsletter and subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you get your podcasts.

What if Women Built the Internet? Mar 04, 2019

All the things we love on the internet — from websites that give us information to services that connect us — are made stronger when their creators come with different points of view. With this in mind, we asked ourselves and our guests: "What would the internet look like if it was built by mostly women?"

Witchsy founders Kate Dwyer and Penelope Gazin start us off with a story about the stunt they had to pull to get their site launched — and counter the sexist attitudes they fought against along the way. Brenda Darden Wilkerson recalls her life in tech in the 80s and 90s and shares her experience leading AnitaB.org, an organization striving to get more women hired in tech. Coraline Ada Ehmke created the Contributor Covenant, a voluntary code of conduct being increasingly adopted by the open source community. She explains why she felt it necessary, and how it's been received; and Mighty Networks CEO Gina Bianchini rolls her eyes at being called a "lady CEO," and tells us why diversifying the boardroom is great for business and innovation.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, maker of Firefox and always fighting for you. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Help us dream up the next season of IRL. What topics should we cover? Who should we talk to? Let us know by filling out this survey.

Coraline Ada Ehmke has been an open source programmer for over 20 years and created the Contributor Covenant. You can also learn about Mozilla's own community participation guidelines.

Meritocracy as an open source practice is briefly mentioned in this episode. Mozilla has taken steps to discontinue using the word “Meritocracy” as a way to describe our governance and leadership structures. Here's why.

Mozilla is dedicated to fostering both an inclusive web and also inclusive working places. Learn more.

Firefox is open source and driven by a community of volunteers and contributors. However, in the past decade, representation of women in open source has inched up merely 1.5 percentage points to a shockingly low 3%. Read about the importance of — and efforts to realize — open source gender inclusion.

Like society, the Internet grows stronger with every new voice. What's healthy and unhealthy on the web when it comes to inclusion? Mozilla Foundation's Internet Health Report has some of the answers.

And, check out this article from Common Sense Media, on kids and technology use.

Decentralize It Feb 18, 2019

Some people believe that decentralization is the inevitable future of the web. They believe that internet users will start to demand more privacy and authenticity of information online and that they’ll look to decentralized platforms to get those things. But would decentralization be as utopian as advocates say it could be?

Host Manoush Zomorodi speaks to Eugen Rochko of Mastodon, an ad-free alternative to Twitter; Justin Hunter of Graphite docs, a decentralized alternative to GoogleDocs; Maria Bustillos who hopes to help eliminate fake news online through the Blockchain; David Irvine, the co-founder of MaidSafe who plans to make the centralized internet as we know it redundant; and Tom Simonite of WIRED, who comments on both the promise and also the pitfalls of decentralization.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, maker of Firefox and always fighting for you. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Help us dream up the next season of IRL. What topics should we cover? Who should we talk to? Let us know by filling out this survey.

Try out the decentralized endeavors covered in this episode of IRL:

Decentralization efforts are proof that the age of internet innovation is far from over. In fact, Mozilla staff work tirelessly on decentralized web standards, which have been — and continue to be — widely adopted.

Mozilla co-chaired the W3C Social Web Working Group 2014 through 2018, which produced several key decentralized social web standards. Some have dozens of implementations like Webmention (a standard for federating conversations across the
decentralized web); and MicroPub (a standard API for client applications to post to decentralized web services).

Check out IndieWeb.org for more on key decentralized web
standards, and ‘become a citizen’ of the Indie Web.

As a part of Mozilla’s dedication to decentralized innovation, Mozilla participated in the 2018 Decentralized Web Summit. See our Founder and Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker’s talk on revitalizing the web. Hear Tantek Çelik, Web Standards Lead, speak on taking back your content with practical decentralization steps; and watch Chris Riley, Head of Policy, lead a web panel on decentralization.

So, are you inspired? Want to work on the decentralized web? Join Mozilla at one of these events: Feb 23-24, 2019: IndieWebCamp Austin; Mar 30-31, 2019: IndieWebCamp New Haven; May 4-5, 2019: IndieWebCamp Berlin; June 29-30, 2019: IndieWeb Summit in Portland. Questions about participating? Ask here.

For more, we've teamed up with 826 Valencia to bring you articles written by students on IRL topics this season. Accompanying this IRL episode, Huy An N. from De Marillac Academy wrote about centralized social media platforms and privacy. And, see this article from Common Sense Media, on why we need more research on kids and tech (centralized and not).

The Surveillance Economy Feb 04, 2019

In her new book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Harvard Business School’s Shoshana Zuboff argues that tech companies — like Google and Facebook — collect so much personal data for profit, that they’re changing the fundamentals of our economy and way of life. And now these companies are learning to shape our behavior to better serve their business goals. Shoshana joins Manoush Zomorodi to explain what this all means for us.

We then explore whether or not it’s time to end our relationship with corporate spies. OG advice columnist Dear Abby gives us some tips to start with. We chat with philosopher S. Matthew Liao. He asks if we have a moral duty to quit Facebook. Alice Marwick explains why most people won’t leave the social network. And journalist Nithin Coca tells us what it was like for him to quit both Facebook and Google. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t easy, but he has no regrets.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, maker of Firefox and always fighting for you. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Shoshana Zuboff is the author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

Read Professor S. Matthew Liao's Op-Ed Do You Have a Moral Duty to Leave Facebook? in the New York Times.

Here is Nithin Coca’s story on fully quitting Google.

Mozilla is on your side. Firefox has never — and will never — sell your data. And, we make things that give you more control over your life online. If you love Facebook but hate their data collection practices, reduce what they can track about you. Try Firefox’s Facebook Container extension, which makes it harder for Facebook to track you on the web outside of Facebook.

Want more? Mozilla has teamed up with 826 Valencia to bring you perspectives written by students on IRL topics this season. Gisele C. from De Marillac Academy wrote this piece on the importance of diversity in tech.

And, check out this article from Common Sense Media, on the science behind kids’ tech obsessions.

Leave a rating or review in Apple Podcasts so we know what you think.

The Human Costs of Content Moderation Jan 21, 2019

What, if anything, should be banned from online media? And who should review violent and explicit content, in order to decide if it’s okay for the public? Thousands of people around the world are working long, difficult hours as content moderators in support of sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. They are guided by complex and shifting guidelines, and their work can sometimes lead to psychological trauma. But the practice of content moderation also raises questions about censorship and free expression online.

In this IRL episode, host Manoush Zomorodi talks with a forensic investigator who compares the work she does solving disturbing crimes with the work done by content moderators. We hear the stories of content moderators working in the Philippines, as told by the directors of a new documentary called The Cleaners. Ellen Silver from Facebook joins us to outline Facebook's content moderation policies. Kalev Leetaru flags the risks that come from relying on artificial intelligence to clean the web. And Kat Lo explains why this work is impossible to get exactly right.

Some of the content in this episode is sensitive and may be difficult to hear for some listeners.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla, maker of Firefox and always fighting for you. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Read the New York Times article on Facebook's content moderation policies and also Facebook’s response.

Want more? Mozilla has teamed up with 826 Valencia to bring you perspectives written by students on IRL topics this season. Nicole M. from De Marillac Academy wrote this piece on inappropriate content online.

And, check out this article from Common Sense Media, on disturbing YouTube videos that are supposed to be for kids.

And finally, this IRL episode’s content underscores the importance of supporting companies committed to ethical tech and humane practices. Thank you for supporting Mozilla by choosing Firefox.

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TL;DR Jan 07, 2019

TL;DR: We have access to more things to read than ever before. Too much, in fact. Our reading habits have shifted. We skim a lot. We look for full stories baked into headlines. Our eyes bounce around from one article to the next, and we try and fail to manage how many things we read at once. Some of us can no longer concentrate on a book—no matter how good it might be. Reading has changed. And we’re changing alongside it.

With host Manoush Zomorodi, Derek Thompson at the Atlantic talks headlines; Ernie Smith from Tedium rails against our bad browser tab habits; librarian rock star Nancy Pearl makes the case for analog books; Beth Rogowsky discusses if audiobooks can replace reading; and Nate Weiner from Mozilla’s Pocket shows us one way we can manage our reading overload. Happy New Year — let’s get working on that “I will read more this year” resolution.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

With so many possible articles to read every day online, it can be hard to sort through what to read and what to skip. Help yourself — give Pocket a try, the app and web service featured in today’s episode. Pocket brings you human curated articles that are selected to inspire, inform, and motivate you. Learn more.

Ernie Smith's manifesto to those of us make reading promises we cannot possibly keep is here. Like his style? Sign up for his Tedium newsletter.

We mention a bunch of books in this IRL episode — here they are: Solitude by Michael Harris, The End of Absence by Michael Harris, Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi,
Hit Makers by Derek Thompson, Book Lust books by Nancy Pearl.

Want more? Mozilla has teamed up with 826 Valencia to bring you perspectives written by students on IRL topics this season. Cymreiy P. from De Marillac Academy wrote this piece on clickbait and homework.

And, check out this article from Common Sense Media, on how to teach your children about clickbait.

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Your Password is the Worst Dec 10, 2018

Look, we agree with you: passwords are the worst. But you know what else is the worst? Someone hacking your account, or big security breaches that expose your email, your credit card information, your government-issued identification number, and more. We should hold companies accountable for better security, but we also need to hold ourselves accountable for having good password hygiene. So let's tackle this once and for all. Hear from Buzzfeed's Mat Honan, who endured a brutal hack a few years ago when hackers exploited password-recovery tools; Mark Wilson from Fast Company, who wants to ban passwords altogether (though admits it's not the best idea); Masha Sedova of Elevate Security who says that, yes, security companies have failed us – but we have to use passwords anyway; and Matt Davey of 1Password, who offers a solution that Mozilla can get behind: use a password manager. A simple, game-changing tool that will help you take back control of your accounts, and secure yourself as best as you can.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Your passwords protect more than your accounts. They protect every bit of personal information that resides in them. And hackers rely on bad habits, like using the same password everywhere or using common phrases (p@ssw0rd, anyone?), so that if they hack one account, they can hack many.

Password managers like 1Password, LastPass, Dashlane, and Bitwarden generate strong, unique passwords. They also store passwords securely and fill them into websites for you.

IRL listeners can sign up to 1Password and get their first three months for free. Just visit 1password.com/promo/IRL and give it a try.

And, if you use Firefox on your iPhone, try out Firefox Lockbox. It securely gives you access to all the logins you've saved to Firefox, in a secure app on your phone.

As we mention in this episode of IRL, Gabriela Ivens cataloged hundreds of secret recipes that were leaked during data breaches. Firefox teamed up with her to show the personal impact a security breach can have on someone. As a bonus, we let you in on those precious recipes to drive the point home. Go have a look — and be sure to try the “Exposed BBQ Spice Rub” — at dataleeks.com.

Want more? Mozilla has teamed up with 826 Valencia to bring you perspectives written by students on IRL topics this season. Zues C. from De Marillac Academy wrote this piece on managing your passwords, and managing your life.

And, check out this article from Common Sense Media, on real-world reasons parents should care about kids and online privacy.

Three cheers for good passwords (and password managers).

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Checking Out Online Shopping Nov 26, 2018

When you shop, your data may be the most valuable thing for sale. This isn’t just true online — your data follows you into brick and mortar stores now as well. Manoush Zomorodi explores the hidden costs of shopping, online and off. Meet Meta Brown, a data scientist who unveils the information Amazon captures about you when you make an online purchase; Joseph Turow, who discusses how retailers are stripping us of our privacy; and Alana Semuels, who talks about becoming a hoarder with the advent of online shopping. Plus, learn about a college coffee shop where you can actually buy a drink with your data. (Is it worth it?)

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Throughout this season, IRL will feature essays from students who are sharing their thoughts on how the web impacts them — for good or bad. This week's post explores what a Facebook hack taught a teen about privacy.

IRL is also partnering with Common Sense Media for tips on how families can stay safe and strong online. This week's post explains what families can do to safeguard their data.

Meta Brown is the author of Data Mining for Dummies.

Joseph Turow is the author of The Aisles Have Eyes.

Read Alana Semuels essay, We Are All Accumulating Mountains of Things.

And, if you decide to shop online this holiday season, Firefox has you covered with Pricewise, which tracks prices for you across five top US retailers: Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Home Depot and Best Buy.

Leave a rating or review in Apple Podcasts so we know what you think.

Introducing Season 4 of IRL - Online Life is Real Life Nov 12, 2018

Can ‘ethical tech’ be a thing? We think so. Season 4 of Mozilla’s IRL podcast will explore all the ways tech can have a more positive influence on people, communities, and societies at large. And, we’re delighted to welcome our new host Manoush Zomorodi, who will keep the season nerdy, human, and — importantly — fun, for all of us as we listen in.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Here's more about IRL Season 4, Manoush, and the Mozillians who make the IRL podcast.

What to Expect When You're Electing Oct 04, 2018

The 2016 U.S. presidential election blew up our ideas about influence campaigns in the age of screens. Two years later, Veronica Belmont and Baratunde Thurston examine how the internet is changing our minds, our votes, and our democracies – all over the world.

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Scott Shane details the United States' long history with election meddling. Paris correspondent for the Washington Post, James McAuley, shines a light on how other countries are managing the changing dynamics of online political campaigns. And speculative fiction authors Malka Older and Genevieve Valentine describe what elections may look like in the future, with advances in technology.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Baratunde Thurston has worked for The Onion and produced for The Daily Show. He’s the host of the iHeartMedia podcast Spit, and wrote the New York Times bestseller How To Be Black.

Scott Shane is a reporter in the Washington bureau of The New York Times. Have a look at his recent reporting, The Plot to Subvert an Election.

Malka Older is a writer and humanitarian aid worker. Her latest fiction book State Tectonics is about how the future of democracy can be purchased. Go here to check out Candidate Y, her speculative fiction that premiered on this episode of IRL.

Genevieve Valentine is a novelist. Her most recent book is a near-future political thriller called ICON. Go here to read her short story “Hello, I’m Your Election” featured in this IRL podcast episode.

For more on telling fact from falsehood leading up to election cycles, watch Mozilla’s original short film, Misinfo Nation: Misinformation, Democracy, and the Internet.

This article discusses how fair elections require responsible tech. Mozilla Foundation Advocacy Lead Ashley Boyd suggests that for democracy to thrive in the internet era, we need technology that respects privacy.

And, really: it shouldn't be hard to participate in politics. Mozilla is out to make it a little easier. Go to mozilla.org/vote to get Firefox features to help you counter misinformation as you browse the Web and lessen the ability for those behind political ads to microtarget you on Facebook.

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Kids These Days Sep 10, 2018

Today’s teens are the first humans who have spent their entire lives online. Join Veronica Belmont and Manoush Zomorodi as they explore what kids are facing on the interwebs, how they’re using social media for good, how they’re handling cyberbullying, and how parents can keep up.

Parkland, Florida’s Cameron Kasky discusses how he uses social media as a platform for activism; tech journalist Alexandra Samuel talks about Lil Tay and and the the role parents can play as they help their children navigate the internet; and Common Sense Media's Sierra Filucci gives us an exclusive look at data from a new study about technology's impact on our youth.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Manoush Zomorodi is the co-host of ZigZag, a podcast about changing the course of capitalism, journalism, and women’s lives. She's also the author of Bored an Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self.

Cameron Kasky is a co-founder of March For Our Lives. Use your vote. If you live in the U.S., here are are some resources to help you register.

Jeff Kasky is the President of Families vs. Assault Rifles, a political action committee founded by parents of Parkland, Florida Douglas High students working to restrict access to assault rifles.

For a detailed summary of Common Sense Media’s findings on technology and teens, check out this summary of their Social Media, Social Life study. Also, check out this commentary from Common Sense about supporting research on tech's impact on the health and well-being of kids.

There are a number of Firefox extensions that can help parents guide their children's internet experiences, such as Parental Control: Family Friendly Filter, which blocks certain websites deemed inappropriate for kids. You can find this extension and more in our Parental Controls collection.

Finally, here’s a short film by Darren Pasemko and Mozilla’s Brett Gaylor demonstrating just how much technology has come into family life.

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Bullying and Bonding Online Aug 27, 2018

It’s a problem when tribalism divides us, online or in real life. Join Veronica Belmont and Franchesca Ramsey as they meet the people working to make the web — and world — friendlier places. Jhamel Robinson discusses how he used social media to organize a massive BBQ in Oakland after a racial altercation went viral; Dr. Meredith Clark sheds light on the need for social media platforms to hire members of vulnerable communities; Jon Ronson talks about snap judgements; Professor Kip Williams speaks to the effects of ostracism online and off; and recent high school graduate Natalie Hampton shares her story of surviving extreme bullying and what she's doing now to help others.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Here is material on digital inclusion from Mozilla. We also recommend reading this article from Mozilla's head of Diversity & Inclusion, Larissa Shapiro, on inclusive and exclusive culture.

Find Franchesca Ramsey's new book Well That Escalated Quickly on her personal site, and check her out on MTV's Decoded.

Jon Ronson's book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed, is available here. Follow Jon as he tries his hardest to be an expressive (but respectful) online citizen on Twitter.

And, learn more about Natalie Hampton's Sit With Us app here.

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Virtual Connections Aug 13, 2018

:'-) Ever wonder why emoticons exist? They popped up in the 1980s to make online connections feel a little less digital and a little more personal :D. In this episode of IRL, host Veronica Belmont and special guest Peter Rojas explore how the Internet is both building and also confusing our relationships every day. Chloe Stuart-Ulin gives a first-hand account of her life as a “closer” for an online-dating service; we hear a dramatic, real-life story about a woman who finds her biological parent online; and Emma Brockes talks about how we can all maintain humanity while interacting with others on the internet.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Read more about Chloe Rose's experience as a "closer" for hire on online dating apps here.

Emma Brockes writes a column for the Guardian called How to be Human Online. She's just written a book too called, An Excellent Choice: Panic and Joy on My Solo Path to Motherhood.

To read Ingrid Burrington's essay mentioned in the podcast about CorrLinks, the email service providing connection for inmates at U.S. prisons, go here.

Check out this article about how the internet has changed dating forever. Online dating coach Laurie Davis Edward shares her thoughts on the good, bad and ugly that comes with finding love on the web.

And, for more about human connection, and what our innate desire for it means for us as we — more and more — love, do business, and find our tribes online, read this piece by cultural anthropologist Genevieve Bell.

Finally, for some bonus audio on how technology interfered with a marriage proposal — and commentary on new relationship norms — head over to Mozilla's blog.

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Paid Attention Jul 30, 2018

There’s a new currency in town (and no, we’re not talking about Bitcoin). We’re talking about attention. In this episode of IRL, Veronica Belmont and special guest Jane Lytvynenko explore all the ways your attention has become worth money on social media. Meet Hamlet the Piggy, an Instagram star who is helping her owner cope with epilepsy and also build a business; Lisette Calveiro, whose quest for fame online left her spending beyond her means; and media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, who discusses what’s behind the emerging attention economy.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

When does attention online turn into addiction online? Here’s a perspective from Mozilla’s Heather West.

Imagine a world where social networks weren’t necessarily designed to capture your attention, but instead were built to benefit you and your community. Here are some thoughts by Katharina Nocun on what this would look like.

And, here’s a piece by Nick Briz about how attention merchants online use your digital fingerprints to target you with content.

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Press Play Jul 16, 2018

One of the most successful recruitment tools the U.S. Army ever made was…a video game? Sometimes without even knowing it, gaming elements in technology — often designed for addiction — are incentivizing you to think certain ways and do certain things. Join Veronica Belmont and co-pilot Ashley Carman as they explore the rise of gamification in our everyday lives, its positives and negatives, and its future.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Ashley Carman is the co-host of the tech podcast, "Why’d You Push That Button?"

Natasha Dow Schüll has written several books including Keeping Track and Addiction by Design. She uses the Freedom App to lock herself offline.

Long before the Internet, games were a source of entertainment, comradery, and learning. The rise of technology-enabled games to take on video form, and gaming as we know it became popular. Big Tech now gamifies most elements of our online life. The more you know about the evolution of games and why we are all so connected to them, the more you can see how they’re used to sometimes make online experiences better and sometimes more addictive. Here's more on the games we play online, from Mozilla.

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The Grand Bargain Jul 02, 2018

We’re told from a young age to “accept the things we cannot change.” But should this be the case online as well? We click “Accept” every day, but often don’t know what we’re giving away. Is it a fair trade, and should we demand a better bargain? Veronica Belmont and special guest Dave Pell explore if what we get for what we give online is a good deal. We hear how one man’s HIV status was exposed without permission, how a massive data-mining company is using our information to predict how we'll behave, and why on earth our email inboxes are filling up with privacy policies.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Tom Hayes works for an organization called Beyond Positive. Learn more.

Nora Young discusses the GDPR in this episode. Here are 13 more things you need to know about the GDPR.

Beyond GDPR, check out what else is changing your online rights.

The rest of Jaron Lanier's talk can be heard on TED Talks Daily.

Find Dave Pell's NextDraft newsletter here.

And, click here for Mozilla's take on privacy and the trade-offs we make online.

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Introducing Season 3 of IRL: Because Online Life is Real Life Jun 18, 2018

In Season 3 of IRL, we're exploring the bargains we make online every day, and how we might approach striking better deals with the powers that be. You'll find out what happened when the U.S. Army got into the video game business, what it's like to be a professional flirter on Tinder (for real), and how a super cute pig transformed a person's life one Instagram post at a time. Episode 1 launches July 2nd. Subscribe via Apple podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you get your ear candy.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

For behind-the-scenes video of IRL Trailer production, and a bit more about why we're making this podcast, check out our blog.

Ctrl+Alt+Facts Apr 02, 2018

From campaign bots to conspiracy videos, it’s harder than ever to discover the truth online. In conversation with The New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel, Data For Democracy Policy Lead and Mozilla Fellow Renee DiResta, and DisInfoMedia founder Jestin Coler, we navigate the age of disinformation. It’s the season finale of IRL, recorded live in San Francisco on March 18th, 2018.

A recent Gallup survey found that most Americans feel that it’s harder today to be well-informed than ever before. But each of us can play a part in stopping the spread of misinformation. Learn more.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Leave a rating or review in Apple Podcasts so we know what you think.

Social Bubble Bath Mar 19, 2018

We’ve long heard that the ways the web is tailored for each user—how we search, what we’re shown, who we read and follow— reinforces walls between us. Veronica Belmont investigates how social media can create, and can break our filter bubbles. Megan Phelps-Roper discusses the Westboro Baptist Church, and the bubbles that form both on and offline. B.J. May talks about the bubbles he encountered every day, in his Twitter feed, and tells us how he broke free. Rasmus Nielsen suggests social media isn’t the filter culprit we think it is. And, within the context of a divided America, DeRay McKesson argues that sometimes bubbles are what hold us together.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Read B.J. May's How 26 Tweets Broke My Filter Bubble.

To grab a cup of coffee and Say Hi From the Other Side go here.

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Algorisky Mar 05, 2018

From Google search to Facebook news, algorithms shape our online experience. But like us, algorithms are flawed. Programmers write cultural biases into code, whether they realize it or not. Author Luke Dormehl explores the impact of algorithms, on and offline. Staci Burns and James Bridle investigate the human cost when YouTube recommendations are abused. Anthropologist Nick Seaver talks about the danger of automating the status quo. Safiya Noble looks at preventing racial bias from seeping into code. And Allegheny County’s Department of Children and Family Services shows us how a well-built algorithm can help save lives.

Algorithms aren’t neutral. They’re really just recipes; expressions of human intent. That means it’s up to us to build the algorithms we want. Read more on how we can make algorithms more accountable.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Leave a rating or review in Apple Podcasts so we know what you think.

Cloak of Invisibility Feb 16, 2018

On the Internet no one knows you’re a dog, as the old joke goes. But does anonymity truly exist on the web anymore? And when it’s taken from us, what else do we lose? So Sad Today talks about the value of anonymity for women and self-care. Jonathan Hirshon shares his personal battle to keep his face off the Internet. New Yorker cartoonists Peter Steiner and Kaamran Hafeez discuss the evolution of memes and digital anonymity, in dog years. And Alison Macrina and Morgan Taylor reveal what’s underneath the surface of the searchable web.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

The most famous cartoon in New Yorker history is about a dog on the Internet. Makes sense.
Cartoonist Kaamran Hafeez revisits the OG doggo meme, with an update for the post-privacy era. Check out his latest work here.

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Face Value Feb 05, 2018

From Snapchat filters to Google’s art selfies, biometric technology plays a growing role in our everyday lives. What do we actually give up when we upload our face to these apps? Steven Talley shares his experience as the victim of mistaken identity. Artist Adam Harvey investigates how racial bias seeps into big data sets. Emily Kennedy and Glynnis MacNicol talk about the power and risks of recognition for marginalized communities. Joseph Atick, a forefather of facial recognition technology, reckons with its future. And we head to China, where you’ll need your face to use the bathroom.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Today, more than half of US adults are recorded in police facial recognition databases. For more on the far-reaching impact of facial recognition tech, check out our blog.

Digital Overload Jan 22, 2018

What does it mean to grow up online? Veronica Belmont investigates how the www is changing us: our personalities, our bodies, and our brains. A college student shares his experience at rehab for Internet addiction. Bestselling author Nir Eyal breaks down what apps borrow from gambling technology. Writer Heather Schwedel talks about taking a cue from Kanye and breaking up with Twitter. Blogger Joshua Cousins talks about the Internet as a lifeline, in the wake of recent natural disasters. And we challenge a group of brave volunteers with a no-smartphone challenge.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Looking to reset your relationship with the Internet? Check out our digital detox kit.

And if you still need something to stop your phone’s constant beep boops, we have the next best thing: an IRL ringtone.

Bot or Not Jan 08, 2018

Most website visitors aren’t human. They’re bots. And these automated accounts are having serious, real-world impact; from the 2016 election to the FCC’s recent, controversial net neutrality vote. Veronica Belmont investigates the rise of social media bots with Lauren Kunze and Jenn Schiffer. Lisa-Maria Neudert measures how bots influence politics. Butter.ai’s Jack Hirsch talks about what happens when your profile is stolen by a political bot. Ben Nimmo teaches us how to spot and take down bot armies. And Tim Hwang explores how bots can connect us in surprising, and meaningful, new ways.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Bots, they’re just like you and me. Except easier to find, especially on Twitter. :) Here’s a handy guide to spotting bots in social media, plus the answers to the bot-or-not quiz you heard on the episode.

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Net Neutrality Emergency Dec 11, 2017

The battle for the open Internet isn’t over. In the days leading up to the FCC’s net neutrality vote, we investigate what’s next in the fight. We Rate Dogs’ Matt Nelson talks about trolling Ajit Pai with a pay-per-pupper plan. Verizon protesters share their experience on the ground. The FCC’s Mignon Clyburn weighs in on net neutrality’s road ahead, while Gizmodo’s Dell Cameron outlines how taking the fight to court could play out.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

What does it take to get net neutrality? People like you. Find out more about how you can help here.

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Status Update Nov 15, 2017

In this bonus episode, we check in on some of Season One’s stories and see how they’ve evolved. Activist Amanda Werner talks about their turn as the Monopoly Man at the Equifax hearings, and how to create visibility for victims of identity theft. Investigative journalist Marcy Wheeler follows the case of hacker Marcus Hutchins, and tries to make sense of why he was arrested. Troy Hunt argues that IoT devices need warning labels. And, drumroll, we hear back from a troll we sent a cake to last season.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Life on the Internet moves fast. Director of Firefox Runtime Selena Deckelmann explains why every millisecond matters. Learn more.

And, keep it clean out there. Check out our data detox kit for more ways to keep your personal info safe.

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Free Speech, Limited? Sep 18, 2017

In our final episode of season 1, we break from our usual format to host a big conversation. Recent events like the Charlottesville, VA rally have revealed the Internet’s role in helping spread IRL threats and violence. Leaders in the tech world have represented varying positions on both protecting free speech and also reducing hate speech online. Should tech companies regulate who says what on the Internet? Brandi Collins of Color of Change, Anil Dash of Fog Creek Software and Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation address this question and more with Veronica Belmont.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Freedom of speech is important, online and off. And, it’s also important that free speech not infringe on the freedom of others. Tell us: what can regular internet citizens do to address this issue? How can we all accelerate the pace of change for a more free, civil and healthy Internet?

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All Access Pass Sep 04, 2017

What is life like without fast Internet, and how does life change once a person has it? Should Internet access be a right, rather than a luxury? Veronica Belmont explores these questions as she talks to people about joining the digital economy. Inspiring stories of access are surfaced by members of a small Minnesota community and by a Syrian refugee who found hope in Amsterdam.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

The more voices, perspectives, languages, and people contributing to the Web, the richer the experience for everyone. But the Internet is not yet accessible to all. Find out how you can make a difference.

And, find out how libraries, in particular, are evolving to meet digital demand and address patrons' connectivity issues.

I Spy With My Digital Eye Aug 21, 2017

We react against the idea of surveillance, but it turns out that we’ve invited it into our homes through devices like digital assistants, connected toys, and baby monitors. Are you comfortable with the idea that someone might be watching you or listening to you right now?

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Struck by the idea that toys made for kids may have prying eyes (and ears)? For more on connected devices and surveillance, head over to our blog.

And, check out the Surveillance Self-Defense Kit mentioned in this episode, developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Leave a rating or review in Apple Podcasts so we know what you think.

The Care and Feeding of Your Troll Aug 07, 2017

Trolls. You'll find them in every corner of the Internet. During this episode, explore the landscape of trolling online, its impact on individuals, and its impact on the Web. Some people are fighting back in new and tasty ways. Baked goods included.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Help form a more inclusive world and Web.

Hack Jobs Jul 24, 2017

Have you been hacked, or been the victim of malware or ransomware? Humans make the internet vibrant, but we're also the weakest link — we're predictable and often easily fooled. This episode of IRL focuses on our internet insecurity. Meet the unsung heroes fighting to keep us safe.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Stay safe online! Here's more on how to not be a ransomware victim.

And, if you'd like to learn a bit more about the PATCH Act mentioned in our episode, go here.

The Neutral Zone: The Future of Net Neutrality Jul 10, 2017

The Internet (at least in the US) is at a crossroads as the FCC is considering rolling back the net neutrality regulations it adopted in 2015. If net neutrality is abolished, the Internet could shift from an essential service that all consumers can access to a product that can be packaged and sold to the highest bidders. Get to know the potential winners and losers on both sides of the issue.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Undecided as to whether or not you support net neutrality? Check out our blog for more.

Find out how to participate in the Net Neutrality Day of Action here.

You can file comments on Pai's plan to roll back net neutrality rules at this link. Just click "Express" to write a comment directly into the FCC form.

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All Your Data Are Belong To Us Jun 26, 2017

You’ve heard the expression, “When something is free, you’re the product.” And, while you may think it’s no big deal to give away your personal data in exchange for free online services, how can you know that what you get for what you give is a fair trade? Meet some of the people determined to shape the reality (or lack thereof) of privacy online.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Go here for the World Privacy Forum's list of the Top 10 Most Important Opt-outs.

Mozilla also has a few suggestions on how to manage the data privacy challenge discussed in this episode.

For more on this episode, including editorial commentary, visit Mozilla's Internet Citizen blog.

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Introducing IRL: Because Online Life is Real Life Jun 12, 2017

Our online life is real life. We walk, talk, work, LOL and even love on the Internet – but we don’t always treat it like real life. Host Veronica Belmont explores this disconnect with stories from the wilds of the Web – and gets to the bottom of online issues that affect us all. Whether it’s privacy breaches, closed platforms, hacking, fake news, or cyber bullying, we the people have the power to change the course of the Internet, keeping it healthy, weird, and wonderful for everyone. IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla.

For behind-the-scenes video of IRL Trailer production, and a bit more about why we're making this podcast, check out our blog.

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IRL: Online Life is Real Life

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