Some podcasts are killing us
Some podcasts are killing us
Social media gets a lot of criticism, but podcast platforms are doing little to stop hate, disinformation or misinformation.
Sree’s newsletter is produced w/ Zach Peterson (@zachprague). • A nauseating photo and story from Reuters about a Kentucky Congressman and family posing with guns in a Christmas greeting, four days after teenagers were gunned down in Michigan. U.S. school shootings and other massacres will never stop as long as folks like this are in government.
🗞 TUNE IN: NYT Readalong guest today was the legendary Clyde Haberman of the NYT - watch his appearance and our archives at http://readalong.link/youtubeplaylist. The Readalong is sponsored by Muck Rack. Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Email sree@digimentors.group and neil@digimentors.group.
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The social media giants have been in the crosshairs for years — Covid19 lies still run rampant, bad actors maintain huge followings and we are still light years away from any sort of sophisticated content moderation. There have been congressional hearings, high-profile whistleblowers, and countless investigative reports that get to the myriad issues with trustworthy information on social media and its effects on society.
The same is true for right-wing and otherwise dubious media outlets. The facts about the rampant grift, dark money, and the generally-corrosive effects of the Fox News Extended Universe are well-documented.
But what about podcasts and the companies that host them?
I am a huge fan of podcasts; host and produce them myself and my wife Roopa Unnikrishnan is a podcast aficionado. But we’ve let podcast companies skate by.
Joe Rogan and his $100-million Spotify deal get a lot of attention of course, but podcasting is only growing and it has a remarkably low barrier to entry. Unsurprisingly, there is a flourishing underbelly of conspiracy-minded podcasts. Even more unsurprising is that the companies that host these podcasts don’t really have the mechanisms to deal with the spread of misinformation. This piece from early November by Tiffany Hsu and Marc Tracy really paints a bleak picture:
Several of the anti-mask/vaxx radio personalities who died from Covid19 were banned from major social platforms but faced no repercussions for their podcasts. Same is true for high-profile anti-mask/vaxx radio hosts who are still with us.
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Right-wing media has owned the talk radio airwaves for decades, and podcasts are the natural extension of that. Which brings us to the same debate that we keep having about the social media giants — are they really just platforms? Podcasts seem much much closer to “traditional media” as we think about and a lot of podcasts would suffer mightily if they were dropped from Apple, iHeart, Spotify, and other platforms.
That bar appears to be very very high, much like the market:
28% of the total U.S. population (80 million people) are now considered to be habitual weekly podcast listeners, and listenership is up across every demographic. And, since podcasts are online, the F.C.C. has no authority to regulate much of anything.
In most cases, that’s just fine. In a few very dangerous cases, it isn’t. Of course, the platforms all have their “standards” document that contains various vagaries about “harm” and the inevitable “we don’t tolerate hate speech.” The first is subjective (to some), and the latter just doesn’t cut it anymore.
There is still a troubling amount of overt hate online, but there is a sophistication to modern disinformation campaigns that calls for much more from the companies hosting podcasts. Over to you, Apple, iHeart, Spotify.
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This week, our Digimentors team was proud to produce Bread for the City's Virtual Holiday Helpings Halftime show, presented by Amazon and PepsiCo, and hosted by Poet Taylor. It's another example of our commitment to supporting worthy nonprofits. Click here to learn more about the great work they're doing (they're more than just a food bank) and watch the show.
Coming up this week, on Dec. 8, we'll be producing a discussion on climate change for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, among other projects. Please take a look and register.
And don’t forget our friends at Hip Hop Public Health are hiring a Digital Communications Manager. The listing: https://hhph.org/careers-2/ • the application form: http://bit.ly/hhphsocial
It’s why we invest.
At this year's Armory Square Ventures (ASV) Annual Meeting Reception in September, the ASV community gathered in person after over a year.
To mark the occasion, we invited Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane to discuss how he has cultivated and recruited an exemplary, beloved professional football team and staff rooted in the Upstate New York region.
We love the ones who play hard through it all, magnificently, year after year, at the north end of New York State in spite of the weather (Go Bills!)
ASV Managing Partner Somak Chattopadhyay (@somakc) interviewed Brandon. Watch the interview here.
Read Something
Donald Trump was a national security liability as president (and he remains one), it’s as simple as that. How more than a third of the US electorate remains wedded to him is just astounding.
Tech Tip w/ @newyorkbob: Do-It-Yourself Gadget Repairs? Sure, If You’re Brave Enough
By Robert S. Anthony
Each week, veteran tech journalist Bob Anthony shares a tech tip you don’t want to miss. Follow him @newyorkbob.
Hold onto your gadgets. I mean really—hold on and take good care of them.
As the global chip shortage and supply chain woes continue, some hot electronics products may be in short supply this holiday season, thus leaving customers to soldier on longer than expected with their old gadgets. A trip to an electronics repair shop can keep old smartphones, tablets and laptops working for months or years longer, but for the strong-of-heart there is another option: Do-it-yourself upgrades and repairs.
Apple, which previously limited product repairs to authorized providers, recently announced the Apple Self Service Repair program, which will allow customers to obtain Apple parts and tools from the Apple Self Service Repair Online Store and do their own work starting early next year. The company said parts and repair manuals would be available for iPhone 12 and 13 series smartphones first, with Macs coming later.
“The initial phase of the program will focus on the most commonly serviced modules, such as the iPhone display, battery, and camera,” said Apple in a press release.
Obviously, do-it-yourself gadget repairs aren’t for everyone; a single mistake can render an expensive mobile device useless. But for those with steady, confident hands, the new OWC 72-Piece Advanced Toolkit is an affordable option.
Aside from an ample supply of 58 screw bits of various shapes and sizes, the $35 OWC kit offers a selection of spudgers, the low-tech, but essential tools needed to safely and gently pry open phone and laptop cases and gently lift and push components around without resorting to fingernails or toothpicks. A wrist grounding strap keeps users from zapping sensitive components with static electricity.
I once successfully repaired the cracked screen and digitizer of an old LG Android phone using a much smaller tool kit. I prepared myself by watching a repair video for the same model someone had posted on YouTube.
Word to the wise: Be patient and work slowly. All connections, disconnections, openings, removals and screw adjustments must be done gently. Label and carefully save all removed parts and give yourself plenty of room to work. Of course, a laptop provides much more interior room to work than a smartphone, but here again speed is not of the essence.
But once the supply chain eases and you succeed in obtaining your new gadget, remember one thing: It’s under warranty. Don’t touch that repair kit.
Watch Something
Here’s how the Covid19 vaccine works in an absolutely fascinating visualization. Hospitalizations are on the rise across the country, new variants are popping up every few weeks, and vaccination rates are plateauing. The vaccines all work — here’s how:
Odds & Ends
🗞 TUNE IN: NYT Readalong guest today was the legendary Clyde Haberman of the NYT - watch his appearance and our archives at http://readalong.link/youtubeplaylist. The Readalong is sponsored by Muck Rack. Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Email sree@digimentors.group and neil@digimentors.group.
Be sure to check out “She’s On Call” podcast with surgeons Sujana Chandrasekhar, MD (@DrSujanaENT), and Marina Kurian, MD (@MarinaKurian).
👀 Did we miss anything? Make a mistake? Do you have an idea for anything we’re up to? Let us know! Let’s collaborate! sree@sree.net and please connect w/ me: Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube
I have a few "liberal" relatives in the Boston area who used to listen to talk radio on their morning commutes to help themselves get fired up for a day at the office. Recently one of them told me he was listening to podcasts now for the same effect.