David and Christopher start the show by discussing a technology that drove decades of innovation: the spreadsheet. Dan Bricklin, creator of VisiCalc - the Lotus and Excel predecessor that was so successful people bought Apple computers just to use it - joins to talk about why number-crunching was such a killer app. Then WSJ reporter Julia Carpenter comes on to talk about family cellphone plans - how they came to be the most popular plans, and why even non-families use them. Finally, David interviews Troy Hunt, creator of Have I Been Pwned, about whether your data is secure (probably not) and what you can do about it (plenty).

#37: Why the Family Phone Plan Rules

Feel overwhelmed by the never-ending waves of technology news? Join The Wall Street Journal's technology columnists as they talk about the most important tech trends -- and why you should care.

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In a special encore presentation, a look back at the WSJ Future of Everything Festival, the three-day event filled with speakers, panels and demos showing us where the world is going-for better or worse. Lots of Hyperloop, self-driving vehicles, AR and VR, good AI, bad AI... all the AI, really. So now Joanna and David present a few of their favorite moments from the festival: a chat with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, a performance from Imogen Heap and a rousing debate about whether the tools that make us "more productive" are actually good for us.

#42: Looking Back ... to the Future (of Everything)

David and Joanna discuss the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10, the phone for people who get stuff done. (Stuff. Not other words.) It has a new stylus and some new software and a bunch of new cameras. Later, WSJ reporter Liz Hoffman comes in to talk about the new Apple Card, which David has been using to recklessly spend money all week. Is this the future of how we spend money? In this week's Today I Learned, David plans his wedding... at a Taco Bell. And wonders what the phrase "sauce bouquet" could possibly mean. Last, David interviews Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof and the so-called "godfather of biohacking," about how he experiments on his own body and how others can do the same as safely and thoughtfully as possible.

#41: Fancy Phones and Fancier Credit Cards

David, Joanna and Christopher start by discussing the future of retail, which at least partly involves all those brands you see in Instagram ads suddenly showing up in a store near you. (The gang also learns a new word: "omnichannel.") Next, WSJ reporter RT Watson hops on to discuss Netflix's upcoming slate of blockbuster-hopeful films, and to answer the big question: Why are streaming services so good at TV and so bad at movies? In this week's TIL, Joanna discovers Apple's old Find My Friends app and finds her friends. Too many friends. Last, David interviews Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger about his "Declaration of Digital Independence" and the future of social media.

Links:



Christopher's retail column: https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-the-internet-save-the-department-store-11564200060
RT Watson on Netflix's movie binge: https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-splurges-on-big-budget-movies-11564417323
Larry Sanger's Declaration of Digital Independence: https://larrysanger.org/2019/06/declaration-of-digital-independence/

#40: Where Are the Good Netflix Movies?

This week, it's all about how to make the internet faster--and how the world changes when we do. David, Joanna and Christopher talk about Joanna's nationwide test of the new 5G network. Later, WSJ's Scott McCartney comes on to talk about the race to make airplane Wi-Fi better. (Though we'd even settle for "less bad.") In this week's Today I Learned, David explains the new tech behind the new "The Lion King." Finally, David interviews Marc Porat, the former CEO of General Magic, the company that tried to invent the smartphone in the '90s. And might have pulled it off, if the company had understood the internet.

#39: The Fight For Faster Internet

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Even if you don't care about space travel, there's a good chance the work NASA did to get men on the moon affects your life even now. First, David and Christopher chat with Al Gross, a former NASA engineer who helped design the Apollo spacesuits, then went on to use the materials and techniques to design early versions of the sturdy, super-comfy shoes we all wear now. After that, Jennifer Levasseur, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's space history curator, talks about the cameras used on Apollo - and how all the tech required to broadcast a TV show live from the lunar surface may have led to the tiny camera in your smartphone.

#37: Why the Family Phone Plan Rules

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