Lately

5.0 (3)
BUSINESS
UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to the latest podcast from The Globe and Mail. It's about navigating life in the new economy. Every Friday, we’ll dive into the big, defining trends in business and tech — whether you’ve noticed them yet or not.

FEB 28

Why are we so nostalgic for Y2K?

Lately, we’re feeling nostalgic for the Y2K era. The glitter-slathered techno-optimism of the millennial moment continues to shape our darker present. Our guest, author Colette Shade, has written a 2000s nostalgia fest. Y2K: How the 2000’s Became Everything (Essays on the Future That Never Was) is a memoir and a cultural critique of an optimistic era that ended with a financial crash. She joins the show to talk about the end of history, inflatable furniture and chatroom usernames. Also, Vass and Katrina wear butterfly clips and Ugg boots in the snow. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

33 min
FEB 21

The video game company that broke an industry

Lately, the video games industry is in turmoil. The rise and fall of Blizzard, the trailblazing and toxic studio behind World of Warcraft, shows us why. Our guest, Jason Schreier, is an investigative reporter who covers the video game industry for Bloomberg News. His most recent book is the best-selling Play Nice: The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. Jason shares his years-long reporting on the frat-like culture at Blizzard, the scandal-plagued games developer that Microsoft bought for $75.4 billion (U.S.). He talks about how commercial success can lead to creative decline, why Candy Crush is evil, and the future of gaming. Also, Vass and Katrina go on an epic quest. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

32 min
FEB 14

The singlehood advantage

Lately, millions of Canadians are unpartnered. Business and tech companies are rushing to meet the needs of the new me-market. For Valentine’s Day, we’re asking: “Is this actually a great time to be single?” Our guest, Yuthika Girme, is the director of SECURE, the Singlehood Experiences and Complexities Underlying Relationships Lab, at Simon Fraser University. She joins Lately to unpack anti-single prejudice, the four archetypes of singletons, and explains how this growing demographic is shaping a new ‘solo economy.’ Also, Vass and Katrina refuse to share their cake. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

34 min
FEB 7

Yes, your boss is tracking you

Lately, our bosses are going further than reading our emails. New technologies that can track our motions and our moods are ushering in a new age of workplace surveillance. Is this productivity hacking, or counterproductive micromanagement? Our guest, David Murakami Wood, is the Canada Research Chair in Critical Surveillance and Security Studies and a professor at the University of Ottawa. He joins the show to walk us through recent mind-blowing advances in employee tracking technology and whether all this surveillance actually makes workplaces more efficient. He also explains why he didn’t get a cell phone until two years ago. Also, Vass and Katrina undergo theoretical brain surgery. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

33 min
JAN 31

Influencers in the White House

Lately, the internet has broken the White House. Influencers and tech CEOs now have unprecedented access to the Trump administration. How will the “broligarchy” change our world? Our guest, Taylor Lorenz, covers the influence of influencers on User Mag, her tech and online culture Substack. The former Washington Post reporter literally wrote the book on how the internet took over politics: Extremely Online, The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet. Lorenz weighs in on the big tech transformation of the U.S. government, why banning TikTok is a bad idea, and what it’s like to party with the content creators who shaped the U.S. election. Also, Vass and Katrina discuss hostile haberdashery. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

33 min
JAN 24

Meet your AI therapist

Lately, we’re sharing our darkest secrets with robots. The market for AI mental health aides is booming but how does it actually feel to bond with a therapy bot? Our guest, Graham Isador, just started his job as The Globe’s new Healthy Living reporter. Traditional therapy can be expensive and scarce, so Graham turned to AI and found a therapist who’s cheap, always available and not at all human. To his surprise, he kind of liked it. Graham describes his strange experience turning over his mental health to a chatbot. His article on the topic appears this week in The Globe. Also, Vass and Katrina discuss what voice they would choose for their own AI therapists. You can also hear about the mother who says an AI chatbot led to her son’s death over on The Globe and Mail podcast Machines Like Us. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

28 min
JAN 17

Selling sexy in the age of wellness

Lately, lingerie behemoth Victoria’s Secret is trying to claw its way back to relevance after a spectacular crash. How did a brand that once defined the culture fail to keep up? Our guests, Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez, tell the story of a retail giant’s rise and fall in their new book Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon. They chart the company’s evolution from a fledgling sex toy business to a global fast-fashion pioneer. But when social media transformed the meaning of sexy, and the CEO’s association with Jeffrey Epstein made headlines, the fashion shows got canceled and the shares crashed. We’re asking where that leaves Victoria’s Secret today... and who is Victoria anyway? Plus, Vass reveals her new advertising partnership with an underwear brand from her youth. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

35 min
JAN 10

The end of the fixed price

Lately, we aren’t all getting the same price for the same product. Is the rise of data-driven “personalized pricing” corporate innovation or just next-gen gouging? Our guest, Lindsay Owens, is an economic sociologist and former policy advisor to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. She’s the co-author of “The Age of Recoupment” in The American Prospect’s issue on How Pricing Really Works, and the executive director of Groundwork Collaborative. Owens discusses how major retailers are using digital surveillance to set individual prices for individual customers. She talks about the evolution of pricing, from the bazaar to the department store to the Taco Bell app, and why AI software may be enabling price-fixing schemes in real estate that are driving up rents across North America. Also Vass and Katrina compete for hotel deals. Subscribe to the Lately newsletter, where the Globe’s online culture reporter Samantha Edwards unpacks more of the latest in business and technology. Find the transcript of today’s episode here. We’d love to hear from you. Send your comments, questions or ideas to lately@globeandmail.com.

29 min

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TRAILER

Welcome to Lately

Introducing Lately, a new weekly podcast from The Globe and Mail that's about navigating the big, defining trends in business and tech. Listen every Friday starting on April 12.

03/29/2024

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1 min

5

out of 5

3 Ratings

Welcome to the latest podcast from The Globe and Mail. It's about navigating life in the new economy. Every Friday, we’ll dive into the big, defining trends in business and tech — whether you’ve noticed them yet or not.