In 1987, a young couple was killed in Washington state. This case, and others like it, were unsolved for decades — until a new technology emerged. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg's Kristen V. Brown visits CeCe Moore, who's at the forefront of using genetic genealogy to hunt killers. Her work is made possible by consumers who upload their DNA test results to the internet to learn about their family lineages and their own health. But did these consumers intend for that information to be used to ...
Oct 23, 2018•23 min
The e-cigarette maker Juul has seen stratospheric sales since early 2017, making it one of the buzziest startups in Silicon Valley. But now a backlash over the company's popularity with teenagers could jeopardize that. This week on Decrypted, Olivia Zaleski and Pia Gadkari trace the company's story from its origins. Juul says it only ever wanted to help adults quit smoking. Instead, it's become a social media sensation. And critics fear teen vaping is nothing short of a new public health crisis ...
Oct 16, 2018•27 min
Facebook is used to dealing with rogue actors antagonizing politicians on its platform. But what happens when a country's own government is the one bending the rules? This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier and Pia Gadkari look at what happened when officials in Sri Lanka reached out to Facebook to help build the government's online presence, and Facebook's responsibility when ambitious world leaders start using the platform for their own political ends. See omnystudio.com/lis...
Oct 02, 2018•27 min
For years, Elon Musk had been testing the limits of acceptable decorum for a public company CEO. This summer, he may have finally gone too far. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Dana Hull trace how the two words "funding secured" helped trigger a more than 20 percent decline of Tesla's stock price, and led the government to open two separate investigations into the company. Musk has never seemed to care much about consequences, but now that strategy could have big imp...
Sep 25, 2018•22 min
Advances in photo and video editing technology have enabled fake news, birthed viral hoaxes and even empowered corrupt governments. But they've also had a less publicized consequence: complicating mankind's search for extraterrestrial life. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Austin Weinstein and Pia Gadkari examine the recent boom in UFO sightings -- and how they've become more convincing than ever. This is part of a special season of Decrypted, where we examine the unintended conseq...
Sep 18, 2018•21 min
When Andrew Friedman pulled out an old Flip Video camera to watch a cherished video of his newborn son, his camera wouldn't turn on. It's happened to many of us: we buy the latest new app or gadget, but within a few years it becomes obsolete as the tech industry moves on, often leaving our files behind with it. So Andrew turned to Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone for help. This week on Decrypted, Brad and Kristy Westgard go on a mission to get the videos back. It's part of a special season expl...
Sep 11, 2018•22 min
Ocean Falls in Canada had been mostly abandoned for the last 40 years—until an entrepreneur started building a facility to mine bitcoin there. Residents hoped the new business would help revive the struggling community. This season on Decrypted, we'll be exploring the unintended consequences of technology. In this episode, Bloomberg Technology's Joshua Brustein travels to Ocean Falls to see whether bitcoin's arrival has actually been good for the Canadian town. See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...
Sep 04, 2018•29 min
The third season of Decrypted launches Sept. 4, and we're dedicating the entire season to exploring the unintended consequences of technology. We'll be releasing new episodes every Tuesday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 28, 2018•2 min
We have a new host on Decrypted! Aki and Brad welcome Pia Gadkari to the mic, and Aki fills us in on some exciting news of her own. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 28, 2018•2 min
Last month, the world's most far-reaching data privacy regulation took effect in Europe. Consumers there can now not only ask companies to delete or hand over their data, but they can also sell that data to other businesses. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Nate Lanxon sets out to get his data back from several businesses and see whether anyone will pay him for his personal information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 26, 2018•28 min
When Jared was just a pre-teen his childhood hobby, playing video games, morphed into a compulsive and eventually harmful obsession. Years later, he's still working to move past it, and he's not alone. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Pia Gadkari goes to Boston to meet Jared and his pediatrician Dr Michael Rich, whose research shows there are mental health repercussions for some children who spend hours online. Pia explores what parents as well as tech companies can do to identify ...
Jun 19, 2018•26 min
When entrepreneur Mitchell Lee decided it was time to hire another engineer at his startup Penny, he set out to hire someone who broke the mold of a typical Silicon Valley programmer. This week on Decrypted, we're re-airing this episode that we first published in January 2017. At the end, you'll hear an update from Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet about what's happened at Penny since then. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 12, 2018•30 min
Texas food delivery startup Burpy was doing well, expanding from Austin to Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. But then Amazon got in to the same business. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Olivia Zaleski goes to Austin to chart one startup's struggle to survive while going up against a tech behemoth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 05, 2018•18 min
The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the unknown creator of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, is one of the tech industry's biggest unsolved mysteries. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Brad Stone and Julie Verhage ask the journalists who tried to find Satoshi why this secretive genius remains so elusive. And now that bitcoin is a global phenomenon, does unmasking Satoshi still matter anyway? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 29, 2018•27 min
Venezuela's spiraling economic crisis has forced many citizens to seek new ways of making money. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg's Camila Russo and Brad Stone hear from one businessman who made the decision to quietly start mining bitcoin -- a smart move until it attracted the attention of the police. Authorities raided his office, and he says, tried to extort him -- forcing him to flee the country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 22, 2018•23 min
There's a standoff brewing in Seattle. After years of double-digit growth in home prices, homelessness is surging and the city council is weighing a tax on big businesses to fund new affordable housing. But Amazon, Seattle's largest employer, threatened to curtail its expansion plans in the city if the tax took effect. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Karen Weise and Brad Stone explore this showdown between one of the world's largest companies and a city that has experienced both t...
May 15, 2018•22 min
In July, we brought you an investigation of the Moscow-based antivirus software maker Kaspersky Lab and its connections with the Russian government. A lot has happened since then. This week on Decrypted, you'll hear a shortened version of that original episode, as well as an update to catch you up on the latest developments. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 08, 2018•22 min
Before they can take away our jobs, robots need to learn how to do them. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Joshua Brustein meets the people training these machines, and gives "robot piloting" a try himself. He also hears from the researchers developing ways for robots to learn more quickly. He discovers that, in some ways, machines capable of completing everything humans can are further away than you might think. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 01, 2018•25 min
Fasting is taking off in Silicon Valley, with everyone from entrepreneurs to established executives touting the health and productivity benefits. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Tom Giles and Selina Wang try it themselves to see what the hype is all about. They also speak to others in the tech community to understand why fasting has become so popular in the industry, and they examine a couple businesses that are hoping to capitalize on the trend. See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...
Apr 24, 2018•24 min
Kelly Ellis was excited when Google hired her as a software engineer in 2010. But soon, she started noticing things that made her wonder whether her male colleagues were making more money than her. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Ellen Huet and Aki Ito hear from Kelly as she recounts the red flags she saw, and why, after many years, she decided to sue Google for discrimination. Kelly and three other plaintiffs are now locked in a high-profile battle against a Silicon Valley giant,...
Apr 14, 2018•15 min
Over the last few months, governments around the world have cracked down on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But one country is sticking to its crypto-friendly policies: Japan. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Yuji Nakamura and Aki Ito take you to Tokyo to meet the unlikely characters who helped turn Japan into the world's premier bitcoin hub, including investor Roger Ver, a.k.a. Bitcoin Jesus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 10, 2018•25 min
Over the last few decades, Melinda Gates' philanthropy has taken her to all corners of the globe. But recently she's come to focus on an issue much closer to home: a dearth of women in tech. This week on Decrypted, Melinda sits down with Bloomberg Technology's Emily Chang to talk about her decision to back a venture capital firm run by two women, and what she hopes to achieve from that investment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 03, 2018•20 min
As Facebook reels from a public backlash over its handling of user data, former employees are starting to air their hesitations and criticisms of the company they helped build. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Sarah Frier and Aki Ito hear from these former insiders to examine the mistakes that led to the company’s crisis today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 30, 2018•18 min
We're hard at work on a new episode about Facebook's data scandal. We'll be publishing that later this week. Stay tuned. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mar 27, 2018•30 sec
Since the advent of the internet, local newspapers like the U.K.'s Bournemouth Daily Echo have been relentlessly cutting costs to survive. Now, another wave of change is approaching: automation. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Jeremy Kahn visits the Echo's newsroom, which has been experimenting with computer-generated stories produced by a project funded by Google. The technology's helping the paper's editors serve its readers with fewer journalists. But will automation ultimately end up takin...
Mar 20, 2018•25 min
When Abigail Stone decided to start an online candle company, she had neither investors nor a product. But she found an early ally in the branding agency Red Antler, which agreed to help her get her business off the ground in exchange for a cut of her company. This week, Bloomberg Technology's Jing Cao and Brad Stone follow Abigail in the frenzied months leading up to and following the launch of her startup Otherland. Along the way, we'll see how much Red Antler can help an unknown entrepreneur ...
Mar 13, 2018•25 min
By the time he was 27, Hector Monsegur had become one of the most notorious hackers on the internet. With the vigilante group Anonymous and its offshoot LulzSec, he launched attacks against multibillion-dollar companies and governments around the world. But then he got caught. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Aki Ito and Brad Stone bring you his story in its entirety, in two episodes. Part 1 recounts Hector's childhood as he fell in love with the internet, and gradually descended i...
Mar 06, 2018•27 min
By the time he was 27, Hector Monsegur had become one of the most notorious hackers on the internet. With the vigilante group Anonymous and its offshoot LulzSec, he launched attacks against multibillion-dollar companies and governments around the world. But then he got caught. This week on Decrypted, Bloomberg Technology's Aki Ito and Brad Stone bring you his story in its entirety, in two episodes. Part 1 recounts Hector's childhood as he fell in love with the internet, and gradually descended i...
Mar 06, 2018•30 min
Decrypted returns on March 6 with a brand new season. Here's a sneak peek of what's in store. We'll be releasing new episodes every Tuesday starting next week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 27, 2018•2 min
This week, Brad and Aki have a special announcement: Decrypted will be on break for the next few weeks. The team's already hard at work on a bunch of new stories for 2018, and we promise they'll be worth the wait. In the meantime, happy holidays! We'll be back with weekly episodes in February. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 26, 2017•2 min
