Marketplace Tech

Some educational tools Microsoft is betting on: OneNote. Word. And, yes, Minecraft. The tech giant is releasing a suite of products for the classroom, which include "Minecraft: Education Edition," to get kids interested in the STEM fields. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella joined Marketplace's Molly Wood to chat about these offerings, the company's competition, and why ed tech can't be a substitute for everything. Afterwards, we'll look at New Orleans' burgeoning tech scene by hearing from the CEO of a market research startup called Lucid.

The new season of "Orange is the New Black" has been released a little earlier than expected this year. A hacker (or group of hackers) named thedarkoverlord leaked the episodes online, and has threatened to post shows from other networks. Michael Smith of Carnegie Mellon and the author of "Streaming, Sharing, Stealing" stopped by to explain the cost of piracy and whether anti-piracy legislation has an effect on consumer behavior. Afterwards, we'll discuss what the vast amount of venture capital money flowing in China right now could mean for its economy.

A lot of people think bitcoin will play a part in the future of financial services, but what some have a bigger eye on is the currency's underlying technology: blockchain. That includes financial behemoths like JP Morgan Chase. We spoke with one of the company's directors, Amber Baldet, to find out what makes it so appealing. Afterwards, we'll chat with journalist Sarah Jeong about her experience getting hacked — on purpose.

It's been a busy past few days in the tech world, so we're going to kick off the show by playing "Silicon Tally" — the game where were try to stump people with numbers from the week's tech news. Our guest this Friday: Melissa Kirsch, editor in chief of Lifehacker. Afterwards, we'll look at virtual reality's strong presence at the annual Tribeca Film Festival, and then chat with researcher Molly Sauter about the laws governing cyber crime.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai wants to put an end to net neutrality rules, a move that shouldn't be surprising given the position he took on the issue during the Obama era. But why? Recode's Tony Romm is here to explain why Pai is so against these regulations. Afterwards, we'll look at Amazon's new Echo Look, a device that can snap photos of you and provide some fashion advice. Zeynep Tufekci, an associate sociology professor at the University of North Carolina, argues this is the latest evidence that suggests "surveillance capitalism" may take over our lives. Plus: Ryan McKnight, an ex-Mormon, talks about his website MormonLeaks — a venue for members of the Mormon Church to post information anonymously.

Alphabet's self-driving car unit, Waymo, will now expand its operations in Phoenix, Arizona — a city where Uber has also tested its autonomous vehicles. Why Phoenix? Well, it's in a state that appears friendlier than others to self-driving technology, and there's a growing tech scene going on there. Brian Sherman, a senior vice president at Arizona Commerce, shares what exactly his organization is doing to support innovation in the region. Afterwards, we'll chat with Hector Monsegeur, co-founder of the hacking group LulzSec, about the value of hacktivism and whether he considers LulzSec to have been a hacktivist organization.

On the website Twitch, video game fans get to watch popular video game players stream footage of their game play. Now Twitch is going to allow users to make money from their own streaming. We'll dive into reasons for the company's move — which may include a fear of YouTube — and the pitfalls of this business model for gamers. Afterwards, as part of our "hacktivism" series, Science magazine's John Bohannon shares the story behind the site Sci-Hub, which was created by grad student Alexandra Elbakyan after she became frustrated with the paywalls placed in front of research papers. Plus: we ask futurist Garry Golden whether flying cars are in our future.

Science fiction novels are getting the Hollywood treatment. Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" is coming to Netflix, while Dave Eggers' "The Circle" will hit the big screen later this week. Amy Webb, futurist and head of the Future Today Institute, explains why we seem to be so into dystopian fiction right now. Afterwards, we'll look at the meaning behind the word "hacktivism," and get a brief history of the term from Chester Wisniewski, a cybersecurity researcher for Sophos.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 hits stores today, with its makers hoping it'll make you forget about the iPhone and that other Samsung phone with exploding batteries. Geoffrey Fowler, personal tech columnist for the Wall Street Journal, stopped by tell us all about the new device's features, and how it compares with Apple's products. Afterwards, we'll check out the rise of tech in Phoenix, Arizona, and then play this week's Silicon Tally with NASA's Daniel Lockney, whose job includes helping NASA technology find uses in places here on earth.

This week, we've been looking at communities all over the country that are trying to become the next big tech hub. What's one region waiting for talent to come to town? Philadelphia. Archna Sahay, the director of entrepreneurial investment for the city, joined us to talk about whether there's enough venture capital to go around. Afterwards, we'll look at how the animated FXX sitcom "Archer" came of age along with the internet. Amber Nash, the actress who voices Pam Poovey, and Brian Fordney, the show's technical director, stopped by talk about the show's evolution and a new "Archer" app viewers can use while watching the series.