TechCrunch Mixtape

By TechCrunch, Henry Pickavet, Megan Rose Dickey

What's TechCrunch Mixtape about?

Welcome to TechCrunch Mixtape the TechCrunch podcast that looks at how technology impacts culture. Listen to TechCrunch Senior Reporter Megan Rose Dickey and Editorial Director Henry Pickavet as they discuss diversity and inclusion, and the human power that fuels the tech industry.

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TechCrunch Mixtape episodes:

01.02.2021
Behind the curtain of diversity theater
It’s fair to say that most people have heard about diversity reports. And it’s probably also fair to say that most of us have watched, sometimes with a metaphorical bucket of buttered popcorn, as companies crisis-comms their ways out of...
12.19.2020
Artificial intelligence and disability
This week, we chatted about artificial intelligence, disability and bias with Meredith Whittaker, co-founder of AI Now Institute, Mara Mills, associate professor of media, culture and communication at NYU and Sara Hendren, professor at Olin College of Engineering.
12.05.2020
Making technology accessible for everyone
This week, Megan moderated a panel at the first Sight Tech Global, a conference dedicated to fostering discussion among technology pioneers on how advances in AI and related technologies will alter the landscape of assistive technology. The panel featured three heavy...
11.19.2020
DEI work needs a structural response to a systemic issue
This week we spoke to Y-Vonne Hutchinson, the CEO of ReadySet, a consulting firm that works with companies to create more inclusive and equitable work environments. We discussed what a Biden administration means for DEI practitioners, how companies are now...
11.05.2020
Wellness in the time of the struggle
This week Marah Lidey, co-founder and co-CEO of Shine, joins us to discuss mental health, portfolio diversity and connecting with other founders trying to make it work.
10.22.2020
Proposition 22 and the gig worker labor divide
On the first episode of Season 3 of Mixtape, we talked to two drivers, one on each side of the proposition. Vanessa Bain is an Instacart shopper who is opposed to Proposition 22. Earlier this year, she co-founded Gig Workers...
08.01.2019
Unpacking the Capital One breach
This week we are joined by TechCrunch’s resident bearer-of-bad-news -- security reporter Zack Whittaker.
06.19.2019
Phenomenally tech with Meena Harris
Season 3 kicks off with Meena Harris, founder of the Phenomenal Woman campaign, and head of strategy and leadership at Uber.
03.07.2019
Angelica Ross, co-star of FX’s ’Pose,' talks activism, transgender rights and spirituality
Angelica Ross, co-star the FX show ‘Pose,’ joined us in the studio this week.
02.22.2019
Can tech help those experiencing homelessness?
This week we sit down with Neil Shah, CEO of Concrn, a compassionate care app that allows people to request help for homeless people experiencing a mental health crisis.
02.08.2019
Instacart's apologetic week
It’s that time of the week again when Megan Rose Dickey and Henry Pickavet talk about the good and could-be-better tech companies. This week, we talked about Instacart getting caught shorting its shoppers out of dough they rightfully deserved. Of course the...
02.01.2019
Oracle's alleged $400M issue with underrepresented groups
Screen time for kids, corporations not paying people from underrepresented groups and IBM offers some hope for the future of facial recognition technology: These are the topics that [Megan Rose Dickey][1] and [Henry Pickavet][2] dive into on this week’s episode...
01.24.2019
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and that meme life
This week Megan Rose Dickey and I welcome Tiana Kara, the head of partnerships and growth at #builtbygirls (which, like TechCrunch, is owned by Verizon Media). We also take a look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her near-perfect ability to troll...
01.17.2019
CES and its sex tech fail
This week, Megan Rose Dickey and Henry Pickavet get into a discussion about women’s sexuality, because the world’s biggest "consumer electronics show” revoked an innovation award from Lora DiCarlo, a company that created a sex toy for women. We also...
10.24.2018
That Super Mario Party life and enough with digital home assistants already
This time Megan and Henry talk about all of those hubs in your abodes — you know, your Google Homes, your Amazon Echo Shows, your Facebook Portals …. There really are a lot. Stripe is doing a little something different...
09.15.2018
Wait, what's a 'culture fund'?
08.25.2018
The housing struggle, ancestry and not 'hurting men's feelings'
This week, Megan and Henry talk about a startup called Bungalow that is trying to make the housing search a little easier. Also on tap this week was a conversation about 23andMe and its efforts to provide more specific regional...
08.18.2018
Yes, dogs, mac and cheese, and working out are tech-related
It's dogs, mac and cheese and working out this week!
08.02.2018
Nintendo is making sure it’s still a thing
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mixtape. This week, Megan Rose Dickey and Henry Pickavet talk about mental health apps, Nintendo (did Megan buy a Switch or not?!) and a suit-making company that uses your musical tastes to find you looks to...
07.24.2018
What it's like riding in a self-driving car
Welcome to another episode of TC Mixtape, where Senior Reporter [Megan Rose Dickey][1] and Editorial Director [Henry Pickavet][2] talk about some tech news of the week and sometimes go on field trips. This week they took a ride in a...
07.17.2018
Finding purpose at San Quentin State Prison
Welcome to the first episode of TechCrunch Mixtape (formerly CTRL+T). In this episode, join Senior Reporter Megan Rose Dickey and Editorial Director Henry Pickavet at San Quentin State Prison for The Last Mile’s the demo day and graduation.
06.27.2018
The issue with Apple's Memoji
Apple released the public beta of iOS 12 this week, and Megan and Henry downloaded it so they could play with the new Memoji feature. Their feelings are mixed. Also this week Microsoft improved its facial recognition technology to better...
06.20.2018
'Gaming disorder' is barely a real thing
Welcome back to CTRL+T. This week, [Megan Rose Dickey][1] and [Henry Pickavet][2] talk about the World Health Organization identifying 'gaming disorder' as a mental health issue. We disagree. Gamers gonna game. Also this week we were joined by [Adina Tecklu][3],...
06.13.2018
Uber's unrelenting desire to be everything
Between electric scooter permit applications and drunk passenger patents, Uber was doing too much this week.
06.06.2018
That time we talked about Apple, Kanye West and slavery
This week is Apple's big developer conference, creatively called Worldwide Developers Conference (or WWDC), and TechCrunch was there. Each year the company showcases the things developers will be able to do in upcoming versions of their various operating systems (iOS,...
05.26.2018
About that new Tinder feature
Tinder released a new feature that helps people connect based on places both have visited, but is it as sketchy as people say it is? Amazon's Alexa recorded a couple's conversation and then sent it to someone else, which is...
05.15.2018
Flying taxis are coming
Yes uberAIR is a thing and one day the company wants to make taxis fly you around your congested cities. And regular readers of TechCrunch might already know about the root canal Megan was told to get by a startup....
05.07.2018
Facebook's dating play
Megan and Henry are coming to you on a Monday this week because why not? On the show: Facebook's dating play, Hulu passes 20 million subscribers, Handmaid's Tale decompression and MoviePass competitor Sinemia launches $4.99 per month subscriptions.
05.01.2018
When scooters attack
Henry's back on the pod this week and tells a harrowing tale about his appendix. Then he and Megan get into the fight to deliver your groceries, Amazon's desire to put packages in all kinds of places, and about the...
04.17.2018
Our homeless neighbors
On this week's episode, Megan Rose Dickey chats with Kevin Adler of Miracle Messages, a non-profit organization that aims to connect homeless people with their loved ones.
04.10.2018
Here come the zebras
On this week’s episode, I chat with Aniyia Williams, the person behind Tinsel Wear, Black and Brown Founders and the Zebra Movement. We talk all-things tech, making it rain cash money in black and brown communities and white savior complex...
04.03.2018
Bail reform is coming
Cash bail systems are unjust and disproportionately affect low-income people. On this week's episode of CTRL+ T, Megan Rose Dickey chats with Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Promise, a startup that looks to provide an alternative to cash bail systems.
03.27.2018
My house, my car, my rules
On this week's episode of CTRL+T, Henry Pickavet and Megan Rose Dickey chat about Facebook's privacy drama involving Cambridge Analytica, an Airbnb experience gone wrong and a new camera for your car.
03.20.2018
Your brain on ice and the alleged inaccessibility of Lyft
There is a company out of startup accelerator Y Combinator that says it's "committed to the goal of archiving your mind." Okay. We also talk software developer ethics and the alleged inaccessibility of Lyft.
03.17.2018
Moving to Tuesday
We are moving our release date to Tuesday. See you then!
03.10.2018
Data on a street corner
This week we talk MoviePass's tracking drama and the way the local world works - media-style.
03.03.2018
Incubating tech in the shadow of the civil rights movement
When Birmingham led the charge in the civil rights movement in the sixties, the city inadvertently created big shoes for itself to later fill. Just how Birmingham was the birthplace of many civil rights actions in the sixties, the city wants...
02.24.2018
A Black Panther Moment
You might have heard that a film called “Black Panther” came out last week and saw near-record crowds descend on theaters all over the world. The CTRL+T podcast team was among them.
02.17.2018
Robot assistants and a marijuana incubator
We’ve had plenty of time to get used to our robot overlords and Boston Dynamics is helping us get there. This week we talk about the company’s addition of a door-opening arm to its SpotMini robot. It’s not spooky at...
02.10.2018
The future is flying cars, rockets and diabetes-detecting Apple Watches
This week's episode is all about the future. Thanks to technology, the highest capacity rocket platform ever, the Falcon Heavy, blasted up into space. Meanwhile, over on Earth, Uber is working to make urban air travel a thing, and companies are...
02.03.2018
Teeth, flamethrowers and DeRay Mckesson on the racial wealth gap and mass incarceration
On this week's episode of CTRL+T, it's all about flamethrowers (yes, the devices that throw flames), startups trying to get inside your mouth and education in the prison system. Later on, I chat with the one and only DeRay Mckesson, who...
01.27.2018
Artificial intelligence may become a human rights issue
Welcome back to another glorious episode of CTRL+T. This week, Henry Pickavet and I explore Amazon's new cashier-less stores that promise no waiting in line -- except to get in -- and Uber's newest C-level executive hire. Later in the episode,...
01.20.2018
Blockchain explained and Tide Pod Challenge interrupted
Blockchain, contraceptive app being blamed for unwanted pregnancies, Uber safety move in the UK and people have been ingesting laundry detergent via pods.
01.13.2018
Diversity and its discontents
If you thought last year was intense for diversity, hold on tight, because based on the way this year is unfolding, it looks like we're in for a wild ride. Already, Google was hit with a revised gender pay lawsuit that...
01.06.2018
As long as it tastes like chicken, folds my clothes for cheap and doesn’t run me over
Wait, what? Yeah, this week a company called SuperMeat announced that it raised $3 million to create chicken in a lab. It requires real chicken cells, Petrie dishes probably and some patience. The benefits for fake (fake real?) chicken are...
12.30.2017
Automating your life
People can be lazy. So it's no wonder why on this week's episode of CTRL+T, we were drawn to some news that touched on home assistants and personal assistants for when you're out in the wild.
12.23.2017
The identity politics of emoji
This week we wondered if cell phones can adversely affect your health (or kill you), the madness of Magic Leap and the problem Twitter has with the hateful people on its platform. Then later in the ep, Megan chats up...
12.16.2017
Shonda Rhimes talks Netflix and not getting too comfortable
On this week's episode, hear about Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya's declaration that the social network is effectively "destroying how society works," the FCC's vote on repealing net neutrality and Netflix reminding everyone it's spying on its customers. Later in the show,...
11.24.2017
Welcome to CTRL+T
Welcome to CTRL+T, the TechCrunch podcast that looks at how technology impacts culture. Listen to TechCrunch reporter Megan Rose Dickey and Editorial Director Henry Pickavet as they dive into the week's headlines followed by interviews with influencers and innovators in...

What's TechCrunch Mixtape about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

TechCrunch Mixtape episodes:

Behind the curtain of diversity theater

Artificial intelligence and disability

Making technology accessible for everyone

DEI work needs a structural response to a systemic issue

Wellness in the time of the struggle

Proposition 22 and the gig worker labor divide

Unpacking the Capital One breach

Phenomenally tech with Meena Harris

Angelica Ross, co-star of FX’s ’Pose,' talks activism, transgender rights and spirituality

Can tech help those experiencing homelessness?

Instacart's apologetic week

Oracle's alleged $400M issue with underrepresented groups

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and that meme life

CES and its sex tech fail

That Super Mario Party life and enough with digital home assistants already

Wait, what's a 'culture fund'?

The housing struggle, ancestry and not 'hurting men's feelings'

Yes, dogs, mac and cheese, and working out are tech-related

Nintendo is making sure it’s still a thing

What it's like riding in a self-driving car

Finding purpose at San Quentin State Prison

The issue with Apple's Memoji

'Gaming disorder' is barely a real thing

Uber's unrelenting desire to be everything

That time we talked about Apple, Kanye West and slavery

About that new Tinder feature

Flying taxis are coming

Facebook's dating play

When scooters attack

Our homeless neighbors

Here come the zebras

Bail reform is coming

My house, my car, my rules

Your brain on ice and the alleged inaccessibility of Lyft

Moving to Tuesday

Data on a street corner

Incubating tech in the shadow of the civil rights movement

A Black Panther Moment

Robot assistants and a marijuana incubator

The future is flying cars, rockets and diabetes-detecting Apple Watches

Teeth, flamethrowers and DeRay Mckesson on the racial wealth gap and mass incarceration

Artificial intelligence may become a human rights issue

Blockchain explained and Tide Pod Challenge interrupted

Diversity and its discontents

As long as it tastes like chicken, folds my clothes for cheap and doesn’t run me over

Automating your life

The identity politics of emoji

Shonda Rhimes talks Netflix and not getting too comfortable

Welcome to CTRL+T