Privacy is the New Celebrity

In this episode, Lucy Kind interviews Connie Yang for the 2nd installment in our "Women in Tech" mini series. Connie served as  head of payments and crypto design at Stripe, and was also  head of design at Coinbase. Lucy and Connie talk about best practices in product design and debate the difference between privacy and anonymity. Lucy asks Connie how we can bring more women into tech and Connie gives a deceptively simple answer: promote more women! Connie shares the importance of empathy in design and how that mindset could help promote inclusivity. Lucy offers some sound wisdom: "We can't help our cultural conditioning, we can only help what we do about it going forward."  And Connie leaves us with an important affirmation: "Don't undervalue yourself!"

In this episode, host Lucy Kind kicks off our "Women in Tech" mini-series with Elle Black, author and founder of Cobalt, a platform that empowers users to design, source, and manufacture their own custom products from high quality suppliers. Elle discusses  her work decentralizing manufacturing and fixing broken supply chains. Lucy asks Elle about the challenges facing women in tech.  Elle talks about how to break the archetype of the successful tech founder as male and the importance of sharing success stories about non-male founders. Lucy and Elle dig into the problem of women in tech being judged by appearances, and Elle expounds on the concept of inclusive prosperity and the importance of giving underrepresented groups the resources they need to thrive. 

In this episode, Sara Drakeley interviews Bunnie Huang, security researcher, hacker, and entrepreneur. Bunnie wrote the book, Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering. He also helped create Chumby, a consumer electronics product designed to be modified by users and provide hackable widgets. Bunnie and Sara dive into trust models and Bunnie outlines the challenges of developing evidence-based trust. Sara asks Bunnie for his take on secure enclaves and Bunnie explains why "you  shouldn't eat out of your toilet bowl." Sara and Bunnie puzzle the biggest security flaw of all - humans.

In this episode, the host becomes the guest. Sara Drakeley interviews Henry Holtzman, Chief Innovation Officer at MobileCoin. Sara probes Henry's career at the MIT Media Lab during the halcyon days of computing, and Henry shares insider tips on how to design successful tech products and bring them to market. Sara and Henry also dive into stablecoins, which Henry divulges is MobileCoin's next big venture. Get ready for MobileUSD! They discuss the challenges of building out this technology, the difference between algorithmic and asset-backed stablecoins, and what can go wrong with each. Henry gives an expert breakdown of the TerraUSD collapse and what it could mean for the future of stablecoins.

In this episode Josh interviews Cory Doctorow, science fiction author, activist and journalist. Cory has written dozens of books including the bestselling Little Brother and the critically acclaimed How To Destroy Surveillance Capitalism. Josh and Cory have a wide-ranging conversation diving into everything from anti-trust law to secure hardware in computing to Cory's years-long activism fighting for transparency and accountability in tech. Cory also shares what it was like working at the Electronic Frontier Foundation during the thick of the battle to legalize encryption, a technology that many of us now take for granted.

In this episode, Lucy Kind interviews Zander Rose, an industrial designer and the Executive Director of the Long Now Foundation, a non profit organization that fosters long term thinking and planning on the timescale of civilization. Zander tells Lucy about  the Long Now's efforts to build an immense mechanical clock that will keep time for 10,000 years. Lucy asks Zander about the benefits of "better, slower thinking," and Zander expands on his vision to set aside short term gains and prioritize decisions that benefit future generations, so our far distant ancestors can inherit a richer, more abundant planet. 

In this episode Brady Forrest interviews MobileCoin's latest addition to the team, Chief Product Officer Bob Lee. Bob is the mastermind behind some of the most  essential FinTech innovations in recent memory. He was on the original Google team that built the core library for Android, and was the CTO of Square, now known as Block, which expanded access to credit card transactions for untold millions of businesses around the world. He also built Cash App, and is now applying that same skill set to MobileCoin. Bob talks about the importance of creating access to mobile finance for unbanked people around the world, and dives into the core technology behind those innovations. Brady asks Bob about his vision for the future of digital payments. Bob shares a story about one of his first claims to fame: authoring a computer program to take down the Code Red Worm, one of the earliest and most prolific computer viruses on the internet.

In this episode, Lucy Kind interviews Frances Haugen, a data scientist and privacy advocate who in 2021 famously disclosed internal Facebook documents exposing the company's prioritization of profit over the well being of its users. Frances' disclosures to the SEC and Congress led to multiple investigations in major newspapers as well as congressional hearings aimed at holding the tech giant accountable for elevating divisive content, spreading disinformation, and causing other forms of harm. Lucy asks Frances how she made the difficult choice to go public as a whistleblower, and how that choice transformed her career. Frances gives an insider perspective on how Facebook ignored its own internal findings that it was causing harm, choosing instead to manipulate public opinion and swerve accountability.  Lucy asks Frances to share her perspective on privacy, and Frances tells us about exciting new projects she's working on, including grassroots organizing at colleges and universities and creating more resources for whistleblowers.

In this episode, Josh invites MobileCoin CTO Sara Drakeley to co-host an interview with Joe Grand, prominent hardware hacker, electrical engineer, and inventor. Joe recently made waves with a YouTube video showcasing a successful hack of a Trezor hardware crypto wallet in which he retrieved $2 million of cryptocurrency for a client who lost his pin. Sara asks Joe about his youth as a "technological juvenile delinquent" and getting arrested for hacking. Joe reminisces about joining the legendary hacker collective L0pht Heavy Industries as a teenager. Josh asks for the inside scoop on some of Joe's most difficult hacks, and Joe offers tips and tricks for those interested in getting into the hacking game.

In this episode, Josh interviews Chris Martin, a multidisciplinary artist based in Oakland, California, who explores the African Diaspora through subjects like religion, captivity, and freedom. Chris recently celebrated his  inaugural solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Francisco, which is on view from January 22 to May 1, 2022. Chris describes the inspiration for his art practice and Josh asks how privacy plays a role in his creative process. Chris is also a tattoo artist whose style blends traditional African American iconography with American traditional tattooing, an art practice with roots in San Francisco. Chris  describes the powerful intimacy generated by the one-on-one dynamic shared between tattoo artist and subject, and how this experience influences his views on personal privacy.