375 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 • 41 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.

    #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
    #370: The SCOTUS Internet-Speech Law Apocalypse — With Daphne Keller

    #370: The SCOTUS Internet-Speech Law Apocalypse — With Daphne Keller

    Daphne Keller (Stanford Cyber Policy Center) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the Supreme Court oral argument in Murthy v. Missouri (government jawboning of social media platforms) and the NetChoice cases (state content moderation laws).

    Links:

    Six Things About Jawboning (https://tinyurl.com/4jhbkhy7)

    The Lies the 5th Circuit Told You About the Government ‘Pressuring Social Media to Censor’ (https://tinyurl.com/cbr4thke)

    Tech Policy Podcast #350: When the Government Yells at Social Media (https://tinyurl.com/3c4p3scr)

    FAQs About the NetChoice Cases at the Supreme Court, Part 1 (https://tinyurl.com/384a97wt)

    FAQs About the NetChoice Cases at the Supreme Court, Part 2 (https://tinyurl.com/4phs2h6c)

    The Long Reach of Taamneh: Carriage and Removal Requirements for Internet Platforms (https://tinyurl.com/4x9cnj87)

    God Help Us, but Brett Kavanaugh Could Save the First Amendment (https://tinyurl.com/bddbrk4h)

    ‘Orwellian’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means (https://tinyurl.com/4bfurjj3)

    • 1 hr 1 min
    #369: AI and State Capacity

    #369: AI and State Capacity

    Samuel Hammond (Foundation for American Innovation) discusses his essays on “AI and Leviathan.” Can government institutions cope with the coming technological disruption of AI?

    Topics include:

    - AI’s trajectory
    - New Deal agencies in an AI world
    - Public Choice Theory vs. the AI juggernaut
    - Uber and micro-regime changes
    - Government as a network of smart contracts
    - Techno-totalitarianism vs. techno-feudalism
    - AI Renaissance city states?
    - Collapse as a feature, not a bug
    - A techno-optimist’s revealed preferences

    Links:

    AI and Leviathan: Part I (https://tinyurl.com/cttzfpcx)

    AI and Leviathan: Part II (https://tinyurl.com/cn6kc57x)

    AI and Leviathan: Part III (https://tinyurl.com/4frwprt9)

    Where is This All Heading? (https://tinyurl.com/nm3np3xj)

    AI: Dumb human to Einstein in a heartbeat (https://tinyurl.com/yuxcc8pf)

    Tech Policy Podcast #337: China and Domestic Surveillance (https://tinyurl.com/3eyeyn72)

    Tech Policy Podcast #327: The Collapse of Complex Societies (https://tinyurl.com/5esaaksf)

    • 50 min
    #368: How the Government Gets Your Data

    #368: How the Government Gets Your Data

    Byron Tau (NOTUS) discusses his new book Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State.

    Topics include:

    - Some history: four generations of data brokers
    - The continuing evolution of data collection and technological surveillance
    - The great danger: data fusion / comprehensive data profiles
    - Why won’t Congress regulate government data use?
    - National security vs. privacy
    - Should we fear a social credit system?

    Links:

    Means of Control (http://tinyurl.com/4cjfd4su)

    NOTUS (http://tinyurl.com/2nkspacp)

    X: @ByronTau (http://tinyurl.com/yk2jbbwz)

    Tech Policy Podcast #337: China and Domestic Surveillance (http://tinyurl.com/3eyeyn72)

    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
41 Ratings

41 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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