EFF’s New Series of How to Fix the Internet Podcast Tackles Toughest Issues in Tech

San Francisco—Troubled when Twitter takes down posts of people or organizations you follow? Concerned about protecting yourself and your community from surveillance? Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has got you, with the launch today of the first season of the How to Fix the Internet podcast, featuring conversations that can plot a pathway out of today’s tech dystopias.

Hosted by EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn and Special Advisor Danny O’Brien, How to Fix the Internet wades into topics that are top of mind among internet users and builders—ways out of the big tech lock-in, protecting our connected devices, and keeping texts and emails safe from prying eyes, just to name a few.

This season’s episodes will feature guests like comedian Marc Maron, who’ll talk about how, with EFF’s help, he marshaled the podcast community to fend off a troll claiming to own the patent for podcasting. Cohn will also host cybersecurity expert Tarah Wheeler, who’ll discuss how companies can better protect our data from attacks by giving the researchers who report vulnerabilities in their security networks a hearty thank you instead of slapping them with a lawsuit for exposing holes in their information systems.

“We piloted How to Fix the Internet last year, and it took off, because our conversations go beyond just complaining about the problems in our digital lives to explore how people are envisioning and building a better online world,” said Cohn. “We can’t create a better world unless we can envision it, and these conversations are needed to help us see how the world will look when technology better supports, protects, and empowers users.”

In today’s episode, Harlan Yu, executive director of Upturn, a nonprofit advocating justice in technology, will talk about the increasingly sophisticated tools used by police departments across the country to access the sensitive data on phones, even when they are locked. Yu will explain how straightforward changes in the law and technology can create a world where we can walk around with greater security in the tremendous amount of sensitive data we keep on our phones.

The new season of How to Fix the Internet is made possible with the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.

“We are thrilled to partner with EFF to support the launch of this major new podcast about the challenges posed by Big Tech and what consumers can do to protect their online privacy and security,” said Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “How to Fix the Internet joins the nationwide Sloan radio effort, which supports shows such as Science Friday, Planet Money, and Radiolab, as well as Sloan programs to protect consumer privacy and promote the dissemination of credible information online with Wikipedia, Consumer Reports, and the Digital Public Library of America.”

To listen to today’s podcast: https://www.howtofixtheinternet.org

ABOUT THE ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a New York based, philanthropic, not-for-profit institution that makes grants in three areas: research in science, technology, and economics; quality and diversity of scientific institutions; and public engagement with science. Sloan’s program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology supports books, radio, film, television, theater and new media to reach a wide, non-specialized audience. Sloan’s program in Universal Access to Knowledge aims to harness advances in digital information technology to facilitate the openness and accessibility of all knowledge in the digital age for the widest public benefit under fair and secure conditions. For more information, visit Sloan.org or follow the Foundation on Twitter and Facebook at @SloanPublic.