There’s a new currency in town (and no, we’re not talking about Bitcoin). We’re talking about attention. In this episode of IRL, Veronica Belmont and special guest Jane Lytvynenko explore all the ways your attention has become worth money on social media. Meet Hamlet the Piggy, an Instagram star who is helping her owner cope with epilepsy and also build a business; Lisette Calveiro, whose quest for fame online left her spending beyond her means; and media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, who discusses what’s behind the emerging attention economy.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

When does attention online turn into addiction online? Here’s a perspective from Mozilla’s Heather West.

Imagine a world where social networks weren’t necessarily designed to capture your attention, but instead were built to benefit you and your community. Here are some thoughts by Katharina Nocun on what this would look like.

And, here’s a piece by Nick Briz about how attention merchants online use your digital fingerprints to target you with content.

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One of the most successful recruitment tools the U.S. Army ever made was…a video game? Sometimes without even knowing it, gaming elements in technology — often designed for addiction — are incentivizing you to think certain ways and do certain things. Join Veronica Belmont and co-pilot Ashley Carman as they explore the rise of gamification in our everyday lives, its positives and negatives, and its future.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Ashley Carman is the co-host of the tech podcast, "Why’d You Push That Button?"

Natasha Dow Schüll has written several books including Keeping Track and Addiction by Design. She uses the Freedom App to lock herself offline.

Long before the Internet, games were a source of entertainment, comradery, and learning. The rise of technology-enabled games to take on video form, and gaming as we know it became popular. Big Tech now gamifies most elements of our online life. The more you know about the evolution of games and why we are all so connected to them, the more you can see how they’re used to sometimes make online experiences better and sometimes more addictive. Here's more on the games we play online, from Mozilla.

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We’re told from a young age to “accept the things we cannot change.” But should this be the case online as well? We click “Accept” every day, but often don’t know what we’re giving away. Is it a fair trade, and should we demand a better bargain? Veronica Belmont and special guest Dave Pell explore if what we get for what we give online is a good deal. We hear how one man’s HIV status was exposed without permission, how a massive data-mining company is using our information to predict how we'll behave, and why on earth our email inboxes are filling up with privacy policies.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Tom Hayes works for an organization called Beyond Positive. Learn more.

Nora Young discusses the GDPR in this episode. Here are 13 more things you need to know about the GDPR.

Beyond GDPR, check out what else is changing your online rights.

The rest of Jaron Lanier's talk can be heard on TED Talks Daily.

Find Dave Pell's NextDraft newsletter here.

And, click here for Mozilla's take on privacy and the trade-offs we make online.

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In Season 3 of IRL, we're exploring the bargains we make online every day, and how we might approach striking better deals with the powers that be. You'll find out what happened when the U.S. Army got into the video game business, what it's like to be a professional flirter on Tinder (for real), and how a super cute pig transformed a person's life one Instagram post at a time. Episode 1 launches July 2nd. Subscribe via Apple podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you get your ear candy.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

For behind-the-scenes video of IRL Trailer production, and a bit more about why we're making this podcast, check out our blog.

From campaign bots to conspiracy videos, it’s harder than ever to discover the truth online. In conversation with The New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel, Data For Democracy Policy Lead and Mozilla Fellow Renee DiResta, and DisInfoMedia founder Jestin Coler, we navigate the age of disinformation. It’s the season finale of IRL, recorded live in San Francisco on March 18th, 2018.

A recent Gallup survey found that most Americans feel that it’s harder today to be well-informed than ever before. But each of us can play a part in stopping the spread of misinformation. Learn more.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

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We’ve long heard that the ways the web is tailored for each user—how we search, what we’re shown, who we read and follow— reinforces walls between us. Veronica Belmont investigates how social media can create, and can break our filter bubbles. Megan Phelps-Roper discusses the Westboro Baptist Church, and the bubbles that form both on and offline. B.J. May talks about the bubbles he encountered every day, in his Twitter feed, and tells us how he broke free. Rasmus Nielsen suggests social media isn’t the filter culprit we think it is. And, within the context of a divided America, DeRay McKesson argues that sometimes bubbles are what hold us together.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Read B.J. May's How 26 Tweets Broke My Filter Bubble.

To grab a cup of coffee and Say Hi From the Other Side go here.

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From Google search to Facebook news, algorithms shape our online experience. But like us, algorithms are flawed. Programmers write cultural biases into code, whether they realize it or not. Author Luke Dormehl explores the impact of algorithms, on and offline. Staci Burns and James Bridle investigate the human cost when YouTube recommendations are abused. Anthropologist Nick Seaver talks about the danger of automating the status quo. Safiya Noble looks at preventing racial bias from seeping into code. And Allegheny County’s Department of Children and Family Services shows us how a well-built algorithm can help save lives.

Algorithms aren’t neutral. They’re really just recipes; expressions of human intent. That means it’s up to us to build the algorithms we want. Read more on how we can make algorithms more accountable.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

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On the Internet no one knows you’re a dog, as the old joke goes. But does anonymity truly exist on the web anymore? And when it’s taken from us, what else do we lose? So Sad Today talks about the value of anonymity for women and self-care. Jonathan Hirshon shares his personal battle to keep his face off the Internet. New Yorker cartoonists Peter Steiner and Kaamran Hafeez discuss the evolution of memes and digital anonymity, in dog years. And Alison Macrina and Morgan Taylor reveal what’s underneath the surface of the searchable web.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

The most famous cartoon in New Yorker history is about a dog on the Internet. Makes sense.

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From Snapchat filters to Google’s art selfies, biometric technology plays a growing role in our everyday lives. What do we actually give up when we upload our face to these apps? Steven Talley shares his experience as the victim of mistaken identity. Artist Adam Harvey investigates how racial bias seeps into big data sets. Emily Kennedy and Glynnis MacNicol talk about the power and risks of recognition for marginalized communities. Joseph Atick, a forefather of facial recognition technology, reckons with its future. And we head to China, where you’ll need your face to use the bathroom.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org.

Today, more than half of US adults are recorded in police facial recognition databases. For more on the far-reaching impact of facial recognition tech, check out our blog.

What does it mean to grow up online? Veronica Belmont investigates how the www is changing us: our personalities, our bodies, and our brains. A college student shares his experience at rehab for Internet addiction. Bestselling author Nir Eyal breaks down what apps borrow from gambling technology. Writer Heather Schwedel talks about taking a cue from Kanye and breaking up with Twitter. Blogger Joshua Cousins talks about the Internet as a lifeline, in the wake of recent natural disasters. And we challenge a group of brave volunteers with a no-smartphone challenge.

IRL is an original podcast from Mozilla. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

Looking to reset your relationship with the Internet? Check out our digital detox kit.

And if you still need something to stop your phone’s constant beep boops, we have the next best thing: an IRL ringtone.