Google Search was the gold standard — a product born in a dorm room during the internet’s early, idealistic era. But when internal emails surfaced they revealed a deeper conflict inside the company: was Google making Search worse, on purpose, to boost ad revenue? Google says its changes are all about benefiting users. Critics say it’s all part of a bigger pattern — one that host Cory Doctorow calls enshittification: the slow, deliberate decay of platforms in the name of profit.
May 05, 2025•37 min•Season 5Ep. 1
It's not you — the internet really does suck. Novelist, blogger and noted internet commentator Cory Doctorow explains what happened to the internet and why you're tormented by ads, bots, algorithms, AI slop and so many pop-ups. Spoiler alert: it wasn't an accident. In a four-part series, Doctorow gets into the decisions made by powerful people that got us here, and most importantly, how we fix it. New episodes released weekly starting on Monday, May 5, 2025....
Apr 28, 2025•4 min
In the aftermath of René Angélil’s death, a Céline-aissance. But then, illness strikes. In the final episode of Céline: Understood, a look at her recent years, and why her fame endures.
Nov 05, 2024•33 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Céline Dion becomes inescapable in the mid-nineties with her hit song from the Titanic soundtrack, My Heart Will Go On. She achieves a unique level of global fame, earning fans from Jamaica to Iraq. But her ubiquity will also inspire a backlash in North America.
Oct 29, 2024•31 min•Season 4Ep. 3
With her manager René Angélil by her side, Céline Dion is starting to crossover into the US. But there’s a secret René and Céline have been keeping: one René feared could stop Céline’s blooming career in its tracks.
Oct 22, 2024•30 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Céline Dion slept in a drawer as a baby born into a poor francophone Catholic family in Québec. At 12, she gets discovered in an office in Montreal, and she becomes a rising star in the insular constellation of Québec celebrity. But just as Céline is trying to break into English Canada, political tensions are running high in Québec. And some accuse her of selling out.
Oct 15, 2024•38 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Céline Dion is having a moment. It’s not her first. And millions of fans are hoping it won’t be her last. While Céline’s international stardom seems obvious now, it was all so unlikely. This four-part series hosted by Céline expert Thomas Leblanc explores the surprising cultural, political and business alchemy that created one of the most enduring superstars the planet has ever seen. Four episodes releasing weekly starting on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
Oct 08, 2024•3 min
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have narrowly won a third term, but without a majority government, his grip on power appears weaker than ever. On this bonus episode of Modi’s India: Understood, host Salimah Shivji and producer Joyita Sengupta talk about the surprising results of the Indian election. Access the transcript for this episode here ....
Jun 05, 2024•18 min
India’s democracy has been called a miracle. Now, some fear it’s at risk. From Gandhi’s legacy to Bollywood films, how is Modi rewriting the story of India? Access the transcript for this episode here .
May 27, 2024•43 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Entering his second term stronger than ever, Modi can wield his power in ways that shock many inside India and out. There are crackdowns on dissent at home and accusations his government is tied to assassination plots abroad. His government denies these allegations, but the question remains: how far will Modi go to stop those who challenge him? Access the transcript for this episode here ....
May 20, 2024•38 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Narendra Modi is the most popular political leader on the planet. His supporters boast that he’s transformed India’s economy – it’s now the world’s fifth largest, surpassing its former colonial ruler, Great Britain. How did Modi shake off the memory of deadly religious riots to win the devotion of hundreds of millions of Indians across the country and the world? Access the transcript for this episode here ....
May 13, 2024•32 min•Season 3Ep. 2
How did Narendra Modi, the son of a humble tea seller rise up the political ranks to become one of the most powerful leaders India has ever seen? And did bloody religious riots damage his political future, or turbocharge it? Access the transcript for this episode here .
May 13, 2024•33 min•Season 3Ep. 1
How did one man rise from poverty to the peak of political power and secure the adoration of nearly one billion people? And how did he overcome accusations — that he denies — of complicity in religious violence and alleged international assassination plots? In the latest season of Understood, Mumbai-based journalist Salimah Shivji examines the remarkable rise, and incredible power that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has acquired. And as his country embarks on a massive electi...
Apr 24, 2024•2 min
New name, new owners, new rules. Can Pornhub rebuild its reputation and remain one of the world’s biggest porn sites? Or will the company be disrupted out of business by a new crop of online porn entrepreneurs? This is episode 4 of The Pornhub Empire: Understood. Hosted by Samantha Cole. Full transcript here .
Apr 01, 2024•39 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Jane was coerced into making a pornographic film, and told it would never be shared online. Then, it was posted on Pornhub, over and over again. How did a scandal involving the hosting of sexual abuse material seriously damage the lives of many and nearly destroy the company? This is episode 3 of The Pornhub Empire: Understood. Hosted by Samantha Cole. Full transcript here ....
Mar 25, 2024•32 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Not only did Pornhub become a massive moneymaker, it also helped push porn into the spotlight by using data, clever PR, and the power of celebrity. How did Pornhub make itself a household name? This is episode 2 of The Pornhub Empire: Understood. Hosted by Samantha Cole. Full transcript here .
Mar 18, 2024•24 min•Season 2Ep. 2
How did a handful of competitive foosball players in Montreal create the world’s largest online porn site? And what do a picturesque Dutch cabin, thousands of pornographic VHS tapes, and the subprime mortgage crisis have to do with it? This is episode 1 of The Pornhub Empire: Understood. Hosted by Samantha Cole. Full transcript here ....
Mar 11, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Pornhub — that site you only access on your browser’s incognito mode? It gets way more views than Netflix. But because of the sheepishness and stigma around porn, it’s treated as if it’s fringe, instead of what it really is: one of Canada’s largest cultural exports. In The Pornhub Empire: Understood, hear the story of how a Montreal-founded company came to dominate the adult industry — only to have its reputation obliterated in a massive scandal — and where it stands today. The Pornhub Empire is...
Feb 22, 2024•2 min
A former American IRS investigator responsible for some of the earliest dark market takedowns has been in Nigerian custody since February. Neither Nigerian nor the US authorities seem to be distinguishing Tigran Gambaryan from Binance, the company where he works. The Click Here podcast from Recorded Future News is a bi-weekly tech news podcast and this episode features Jacob Silverman, the host of The Naked Emperor: Understood to help dive into this story. More episodes of Click Here are availab...
Feb 21, 2024•28 min
A jury has found FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried guilty on seven counts, from conspiracy to fraud, following the collapse of his crypto exchange last year. Speaking with Front Burner host Daemon Fairless, Jacob Silverman walks us through Bankman-Fried’s trial and explains what the verdict means for FTX customers and the cryptocurrency industry.
Nov 06, 2023•27 min
Today we bring you a bonus episode of The Naked Emperor. As Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial kicks off in New York, host Jacob Silverman is back to bring you up to speed on the latest. What’s happened at the courthouse in the lead-up to the trial? And what’s expected in the weeks to come? Joining Jacob is Zeke Faux, an investigative reporter at Bloomberg, and the author of “Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall.”
Oct 02, 2023•26 min
Jacob Silverman sits down on CBC's Front Burner podcast to discuss how the biggest crypto exchange in the world is being sued by an American regulator accusing Binance and its billionaire founder of breaking a string of laws and misusing investor funds. Changpeng Zhao and his company say they will fight back "vigorously."
Jun 08, 2023•24 min
Sam Bankman-Fried couldn’t have marketed FTX to the masses on his own. He had help – from the institutional investors who brought in the big bucks, to the celebrity endorsers who told the public that FTX was “a safe and easy way to get into crypto.” One FTX brand ambassador was Kevin O’Leary, from the reality show Shark Tank. Host Jacob Silverman questions O’Leary about his due diligence before accepting the multimillion dollar endorsement deal. We also hear from everyday investors and hopeful b...
Apr 03, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In the weeks after FTX filed for bankruptcy Sam stuck to his story: he did not commit fraud. FTX’s post-collapse CEO claimed the company had been a managerial and financial disaster, writing that he had never seen “such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information.” In response to his cratering public image, Sam Bankman-Fried talked. A lot. He exhibited an almost reckless desire to tell his side of things, insisting he could explain – ...
Mar 27, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 3
We return to the beginning of Sam Bankman-Fried’s lucrative foray into crypto and ask: how did it all fall apart? Sam Bankman-Fried rose to the top of the crypto world with help from his friends. Gary Wang was a former fellow math-camper and brilliant programmer; Caroline Ellison was a former colleague at an elite Wall Street firm and an avid LARPer on the side. While still in their twenties, they were entrusted with billions of dollars of customer and investor funds. But in retrospect there wer...
Mar 20, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Sam Bankman-Fried wasn't like other crypto moguls: he drove a Toyota Corolla, he was an advocate for government regulation, he said he would give billions away to charity. That is, until he lost it all in what has been called “one of history’s greatest-ever destructions of wealth.” Sam Bankman-Fried, aka SBF, had an empire. His cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, and hedge fund, Alameda Research, together were worth billions. Celebrities sang his praises, and politicians took his donations. Then, it a...
Mar 13, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1
In The Naked Emperor journalist Jacob Silverman explains how Sam Bankman-Fried built and destroyed FTX, a multi-billion dollar crypto currency empire. Who helped? Who was hurt? And will anything change following one of the most stunning financial collapses in modern history? The Naked Emperor is season 1 of Understood from the CBC. All episodes are available now.
Feb 22, 2023•4 min
