Marketplace Tech

The Federal Trade Commission is the agency that can fine or prosecute tech companies over unfair or anti-competitive consumer practices. The current FTC Chair Joseph Simons has said he will set up a task force to address tech issues. But there is one empty chair at the agency: the chief technologist, who is supposed to give advice on tech and policy. The role has existed since 2010, but it's been empty for about a year, and some critics are worried. Neil Chilson had the job last. He's now a research fellow at the Charles Koch Institute. Host Molly Wood asked him if he thought the FTC is missing some important tech expertise. Today's show is sponsored by Oregon State University and Panopto.

You can think of innovation as a ladder of sorts. It might start with imitation and then progress to adaptation, like tweaking a foreign idea to develop it for a local market. Finally, hopefully, you reach invention, perhaps even big, industry-changing ones. But the steps needed to climb that ladder, in any given country, can be elusive and murky. There's only so much governments can do, says Regina Abrami, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Marketplace’s Tracey Samuelson talked to her about China's efforts at state-sponsored innovation.

Today's show is sponsored by Kronos, the University of Florida Warrington College of Business and EquityZen.

The ride-hailing platform Lyft goes public today ahead of Uber, which is expected to list in the coming weeks. Drivers from both companies went on strike in Southern California earlier this week to protest changes in how their pay is calculated. Lyft's reliance on drivers is a risk factor it mentioned in its paperwork to go public. Others include new regulations or the possibility it will never be profitable. For every dollar of revenue the company brings in, it winds up 40 cents in the red. Still, Lyft has been able to pick up more riders in the last couple of years, thanks in part to big public stumbles by Uber, which prompted some users to look for alternatives. Marketplace's Tracey Samuelson asked Faiz Siddiqui, a tech reporter covering transit for the Washington Post, where Lyft goes from here. Today's show is sponsored by Oregon State University and Panopto.

Hot on the heels of Tesla's Model Y announcement came the news that carmaker Fisker Inc. also wants to make an electric SUV at about the same price of $40,000. But it would take a whole lot going right for the Fisker SUV announcement to mark any kind of real turnaround. Marketplace's Jed Kim talked with Chelsea Sexton, an electric vehicle industry adviser and advocate, about the company's rocky history. Today's show is sponsored by the University of Florida Warrington College of Business, Brother Printers and Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage.

If you're a tech company that wants to look good, you want to locate your energy-intensive data centers in places with lots of cheap renewable energy. That's why Norway is making a big push to get companies to build data centers there. Marketplace’s Jed Kim talks with Katie Prescott, a BBC journalist who reported on this from Norway.

Today's show is sponsored by Evident, WordPress and Panopto.

Some might consider domestic employees the original gig workers. There are a lot of similarities, like intermittent income and no real safety net. It's a problem that affects millions of workers like nannies, caregivers and house cleaners, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance is working on solutions. The group's innovation arm, NDWA Labs, is bringing financial tech to domestic workers. Its new platform, called Alia, directs digital payments toward benefits for house cleaners. Marketplace's Leila Goldstein talked with one cleaner who uses it. Today's show is sponsored by the University of Florida Warrington College of Business and Brother Printers.

Since digital storage space is so cheap, it's easy to keep amassing files. But that can take a toll on our work and our well-being. Marketplace's Jed Kim talks to Deb Lee, a digital productivity coach who helps people weed out the virtual messes they've gotten themselves into. Today's show is sponsored by Lenovo for Small Business, Ultimate Software and WellFrame.

On Monday, Apple is holding a special event tagged with the line "It's showtime!" That's led to wide speculation the company will finally reveal its streaming service. But it may not be the Apple-takes-on-Netflix battle some were hoping for. Marketplace’s Jed Kim talked with Brian Wieser, who leads business intelligence for advertising firm GroupM. He says if you were paying attention to Apple's reported budget for original content, around $1 billion, you could've guessed its latest play isn't becoming a giant entertainment studio.

Today's show is sponsored by Evident, Brother Printers and EquityZen.

What can the biggest social media platforms in the world do to radicalization online? Host Molly Wood talked with Dipayan Ghosh, who used to work on global privacy and public policy issues at Facebook. Now he's a researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School. He says, yes, it's hard for big platforms to minimize that content. But he says it's also not that hard. Today's show is sponsored by Evident, EquityZen and Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage.

Host Molly Wood talks with Fathali Moghaddam, a professor of psychology at Georgetown University, about how a troll becomes a terrorist. He says radicalization isn't new, but the internet can make it faster and easier. Today's show is sponsored by Pitney Bowes and EquityZen.