After covering the 2016 U.S. presidential election, reporter Jeff Horwitz knew that "something really weird was going on," that social media sites, especially Facebook, had played a role in shaping the election. But how — exactly? In his new book, "Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose Its Harmful Secrets," Horwitz details his chase to crack open this notoriously secretive black box that is Facebook. Host Maiken Scott talks to Horwitz about the powerful algorithms that favored engagement above all else, that not just amplified specific content, but started to shape everything from what we see, to what we post, to how politicians design their campaigns. Horwitz covers technology for The Wall Street Journal and was one of the reporters on the award-winning series "The Facebook Files."Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Wissenschaft & Technik
The Pulse Folgen
Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott. The Pulse takes you behind the doors of operating rooms, into the lab with some of the world's foremost scientists, and back in time to explore life-changing innovations. The Pulse delivers stories in ways that matter to you, and answers questions you never knew you had.
Folgen von The Pulse
130 Folgen
-
Folge vom 31.01.2024Inside Facebook: A Conversation with Jeff Horwitz
-
Folge vom 26.01.2024Facebook at 20Twenty years ago, a group of college sophomores created a website that would end up changing the world — fundamentally altering how we connect with other people, how much we know about each other, and how we curate our existence. That website was Facebook.In the years since, Facebook quickly grew from a quirky site for college students to a global powerhouse — one that can affect everything from how we feel about ourselves to the outcomes of elections.On this episode, a look at Facebook as it turns 20 — its history, its ongoing impact, and what we really know about how it operates. We hear stories about a curious coincidence linking Facebook to a defunct government surveillance project, why many researchers have mixed feelings about Facebook, and how the website's ever-changing features transformed the lives and mental health of young people.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
-
Folge vom 19.01.2024When Healing Happens But We Don't Know WhyMore than a third of Americans use complementary and alternative medicine, ranging from acupuncture to herbalism, Ayurveda to homeopathy. But despite its growing popularity, complementary and alternative medicine remains, for the most part, outside the Western medical mainstream — regarded by some as fringe, and by others as straight-up quackery. Despite that, many researchers and supporters have been trying to gain a deeper understanding of medical practices from around the world, and to incorporate them into our health care system. And that's led to more questions: Which practices work, and for what conditions? How do they work? And how do we measure and standardize treatments when they're removed from their cultural contexts? On this episode, we step outside the boundaries of Western medicine to explore those questions. We hear stories about a mysterious Vodou treatment, the struggle to bring acupuncture into the medical mainstream, and answers to Western skeptics.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
-
Folge vom 12.01.2024How to Live with UncertaintyHumans crave certainty — in science and politics, in our lives and our leaders, in our decisions and our futures. We find comfort in knowing the facts, and we fear the murky unknown. In the age of information, we've grown increasingly unnerved by uncertainty and do everything we can to mitigate that anxiety. We do research online, play out scenarios in our heads, make plans A, B, and C — imagining that if we can just prepare well enough, everything will be OK. But in her latest book, "Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure," author and journalist Maggie Jackson makes the case for an opposite way of being — embracing the unknown as an invitation to pause, an opportunity for growth and innovation. On this episode, we talk with Jackson about her book, and what science teaches us about living — and even thriving — amid uncertainty. We also hear stories about one reporter's quest to make a life-changing decision while filled with doubt, and how saying "yes" to the unknown changed an introvert's life.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy