378 episodes

Tech policy is at the center of the hottest debates in American law and politics. On the Tech Policy Podcast, host Corbin Barthold discusses the latest developments with some of the tech world's best journalists, lawyers, academics, and more.

Tech Policy Podcast TechFreedom

    • Technology
    • 4.8 • 42 Ratings

Tech policy is at the center of the hottest debates in American law and politics. On the Tech Policy Podcast, host Corbin Barthold discusses the latest developments with some of the tech world's best journalists, lawyers, academics, and more.

    From the Vault: Conspiracy Theories and the Internet

    From the Vault: Conspiracy Theories and the Internet

    From January 10, 2022 (Episode 309): Joseph Uscinski (University of Miami) argues that the internet is not increasing the prevalence of conspiracy theories.

    Links:

    Don’t Blame Social Media for Conspiracy Theories—They Would Still Flourish Without It (https://tinyurl.com/whz5a9uk)

    • 54 min
    375: Tech Facts and Fallacies

    375: Tech Facts and Fallacies

    Robert Atkinson is president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. He joins the show to discuss his new book, Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths About Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy, co-authored with David Moschella.

    Topics include:

    - Tech panic: speeding-uppers vs. slowing-downers
    - Tech and privacy: try living in an analogue village!
    - The wicked problem of content moderation
    - Is tech progress bad for the middle class?
    - Is tech driving market concentration?
    - “Industrial planning”: dirty words?

    Links:

    Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy (https://tinyurl.com/p93fypz5)

    • 58 min
    374: Politics and Technological Change

    374: Politics and Technological Change

    Richard Morrison (Competitive Enterprise Institute) joins the show, in a crossover episode with the Free the Economy podcast.

    Topics include:

    - The history of podcasts
    - The rise of micro media (find a thousand true fans!)
    - Performative tech doomerism
    - The idleness of romanticizing the past
    - The quest for online community
    - Conservatives in the Technium

    Links:

    Free the Economy (https://tinyurl.com/38r6jw7t)

    Why Conservatism Failed (https://tinyurl.com/yru444f5)

    The Quest for a Better Online “Community” (https://tinyurl.com/5f8twhny)

    • 1 hr 9 min
    #373: Porn and the First Amendment

    #373: Porn and the First Amendment

    It’s the episode you’ve been waiting for: TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn talk about pornography and free expression.

    Topics include:

    - The Founding Fathers: epic porn fiends (j/k)
    - Obscenity law, a brief history
    - Do conservatives still want to ban James Joyce?
    - “I know it when I see it”—Worst. Legal standard. Ever.
    - Is there a moral case against porn? (Spoiler alert: No)
    - The Fifth Circuit botches internet speech law

    Links:

    Tech Policy Podcast #360: Red States vs. Every SCOTUS Internet Precedent (https://tinyurl.com/4y4fwb9j)

    A Reagan Judge, The First Amendment, And The Eternal War Against Pornography (https://tinyurl.com/2ba82bbe)

    Texas Legislature Convinced First Amendment Simply Does Not Exist (https://tinyurl.com/4x8vyjkh)

    Is Porn Harmful? The Evidence, the Myths and the Unknowns (https://tinyurl.com/59fzrxvd)

    • 53 min
    #372: Spacesuits!

    #372: Spacesuits!

    Ryan Scirocco is the spacesuit business development lead at Collins Aerospace. Collins, an RTX business, is, along with its partners ILC Dover and Oceaneering, developing a new generation of spacesuits for NASA. Ryan discusses everything that goes into keeping people alive in a freezing zero-gravity vacuum far outside the biosphere.

    Topics include:

    - A spacesuit is a mini-spaceship
    - Space: it wants to kill you
    - Spacesuit history
    - What’s new? No more mirrors!
    - Testing spacesuits on the vomit comet
    - The ISS, the Moon, and beyond

    Links:

    Collins Aerospace Completes Key Spacesuit Testing Milestone (https://tinyurl.com/3nphfunp)

    Space Symposium (https://tinyurl.com/yh27xsfc)

    Tech Policy Podcast #349: The State of Space Exploration (https://tinyurl.com/yns72nwm)

    • 36 min
    #371: So You Want to Ban TikTok

    #371: So You Want to Ban TikTok

    Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discusses, in exquisite detail, the First Amendment problems with H.R. 7521, the House bill to ban TikTok.

    Topics include:

    - Your First Amendment right to read crazy shit
    - TikTok ban bros: throwing spaghetti at the wall
    - Foreign broadcast-ownership rules: so passé
    - “iT’S nOT sPEech, It’S CoNDuCt”
    - H.R. 7521: Least. Tailored. Law. Ever.
    - Banning media: it’s what the other guys do
    - McCarthyism: so hot right now

    Links:

    A Breakdown of the Bizarre Factions Fighting Over the TikTok Ban Bill (https://tinyurl.com/yc25nbb9)

    Tech Policy Podcast #344: TikTok and the First Amendment (https://tinyurl.com/5n7kd9f7)

    Tech Policy Podcast #368: How the Government Gets Your Data (https://tinyurl.com/bdf5e25a)

    Tech Policy Podcast #289: The History, Use, and Abuse of the Fairness Doctrine (https://tinyurl.com/dp98arda)

    The only thing Congress can agree on is to ban TikTok!? (https://tinyurl.com/3fk954ye)

    • 44 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
42 Ratings

42 Ratings

Havana Anna ,

Insightful and unique podcast

I’ve enjoyed many of these podcasts and thought provoking discussions with guests. As a tech policy person, this level of discussion between host and guests is hard to find. ….love the most recent podcast on AI. ‘[GAI] is not producing meaning.’ Brilliant distinction

mcgroomed ,

Thoughtful Topics, Guests, and Discussions

I’m not a lawyer but the Tech Policy podcast provides interesting insights into legal issues for current tech topics. It’s a well produced podcast - I look forward to each new episode.

Paul Taske ,

Solid Discussions!

Fantastic show. Great diversity of topics, and just an overall great way to stay abreast of all that’s going on in the tech space.

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