Impossible Tradeoffs with Katie Harbath

For my last podcast of season three and 2024, I’m thrilled to welcome Ravi Agrawal, the Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Policy magazine, to reflect on this historic year of elections.

We discussed the significant trends and observations from the 2024 elections globally during our conversation. He highlights the challenges incumbents faced, the role of cybersecurity and AI in elections, and the geopolitical implications of these electoral...

This week I had the honor of moderating a fireside chat with NPR CEO Katherine Maher and C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist at the National Conference on Citizenship’s annual conference. We were able to record it to bring to you on this podcast.

Katherine and Sam both took on these roles this year, and some of the things we discuss include:

* Reflections on the evolving role of civic media in an increasingly polarized society.

* How NPR and C-SPAN ...

I’m grateful this week that Aaron Rodericks, Vice President of Trust and Safety at Bluesky, made the time to join me for a conversation about how the platform is tackling the surge in users it’s seen in the U.S. since the election. This isn’t the first time they’ve seen such growth spurts—another happened in Brazil when X was briefly banned. These rapid user increases bring unique challenges to moderating content and require some i...

Happy Thanksgiving! I decided to release an episode today because I figured people would want something to listen to while prepping the turkey or driving to see family and friends.

I also know that Thanksgiving and the holidays can be a time when tough conversations arise, especially after an election. That’s why I wanted to talk to Lori Brewer Collins.

Lori is an executive coach. She and I met after the 2016 election when she create...

This week on the podcast, I chatted with Rebekah Park, Vishnupriya Das, Devika Kumar, and Laura Murray, researchers at Gemic, a global growth strategy firm. They worked with Nhu Le, Rachel Xu, and Beth Goldberg from Google’s Jigsaw on a study looking at how young people in India and the US trust online content in the age of generative AI.

I wrote about this study back in October and have been quoting it nonstop to people exploring h...

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If I’m honest, I’m still processing everything. I’m giving myself and others the space to process everything.

But, I still wanted to do a podcast. I have this deep fear that if I don’t stick to a schedule, I’ll fall off the wagon of creating content. It's probably not true, but I like to keep doing things to move forward. Since I had no idea where we would be as a country today, I decided to conduct an exper...

In this episode, I welcome Maria Giannopoulos who shares her unique journey at the intersection of politics and technology, particularly her role in the 2024 Republican National Convention. She discusses the extensive planning involved in organizing such a large-scale event, developing a digital strategy to engage both on-site attendees and online audiences, and the increasing importance of influencers in political campaigns. Maria...

In this episode, Nicole Schneidman discusses the critical processes involved in the electoral system, emphasizing the importance of understanding what happens after voting. She outlines key dates in the election cycle, changes in election laws since 2020, and the journey of a ballot from submission to certification. The discussion also highlights the increased scrutiny and risks faced by election officials, as well as the role of c...

Twenty years ago, Wired editor Chris Anderson wrote “The Long Tail” - a story about how “the future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream.” Also, twenty years ago, the term “podcasting” was coined thanks to the introduction of the iPod and RSS feeds that could carry audio files.

Today, in these final days before the election, we can confidently say that this prediction has become a ...

We have another bonus podcast episode for you. One perspective I wanted to get for this season of the podcast is what people outside of the United States think about the election and this country’s overall approach to tech.

There’s no one better to ask that question of than Mark Scott. Mark has covered tech as a journalist and now works at the Atlantic Council studying tech’s impact on our information ecosystem. He also writes a wee...

In this episode, Tim Harper discusses his extensive background in election administration and technology, focusing on the intersection of democracy and technology. He elaborates on his work with the Bipartisan Policy Center's task force aimed at improving election processes, as well as his current role at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), where he addresses the challenges posed by generative AI in elections. (You can f...

I’ve been so lucky to have some great conversations for the podcast this Fall, but with Election Day rapidly approaching in the United States, I will do two bonus Monday episodes on top of the usual ones on Thursdays to get all of this content out.

First, we have Betsy Hoover and Eric Wilson discuss with me the evolving landscape of campaign technology, highlighting the importance of tailored solutions for political campaigns. They...

I’m excited to welcome Allie Funk, Grant Baker, and Kian Vesteinsson of Freedom House’s technology and democracy team to the podcast, who released their 2024 Freedom on the Net report this week. Our conversation revolves around the latest Freedom on the Net report, highlighting the ongoing decline of global internet freedom for the 14th consecutive year. We cover various factors contributing to this decline, including censorship, v...

Welcome to fellow newsletter writer, Bruce Mehlman who has long been a fixture in DC for his smart graphs and quarterly reports on where the trends are going, not just in politics but also in the economy, tech, national security, and more. I highly recommend you sign up for his newsletter, Bruce Mehlman's Age of Disruption.

In our conversation, Bruce discusses his journey from a political lawyer to a prominent figure in tech policy,...

We’re back! Thanks again to everyone for your understanding of my gap week.

In this episode, Amanda Elliott and Kyle Tharp, both newsletter writers focused on digital politics, discuss their experiences and insights into the evolving landscape of political campaigning. They explore the impact of digital strategies, fundraising, and the role of social media platforms like TikTok in reaching voters. The discussion also touches on the ...

Good morning. Due to some scheduling changes, I don’t have a podcast for this week. Thank you for understanding.

If you are new to the pod, I recommend you check out the archives. Some of the more popular episodes include:

* A conversation with Renee DiResta about her book Invisible Rulers

* Dave Willner on the evolution of trust and safety in tech - and use of AI for content moderation

* Yoel Roth on making hard tradeoffs and the futu...

We’re back! Welcome to season three of Impossible Tradeoffs. This season will focus mainly on the U.S. election, how the campaigns use tech, how tech companies respond, and what people outside the United States are watching.

First up is Paolo Carozza, a member of the Meta Oversight Board and law professor at Notre Dame. Earlier this week, the Oversight Board released a report on using AI in content moderation.

In this conversation, w...

I’ve got another special episode of the Summer Spectacular podcast for you with my good friend Emi Kolawole. Emi has 10 years of experience in communications, design, and tech. In our conversation, she shares her insights from attending the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Socrates program.

She highlights the importance of including diverse voices, particularly women and minorities, in the conversations around artificial intelligence (...

Ahead of TrustCon next week, I wanted to bring you a conversation I’ve been trying to set up since Duco released the Trust and Safety Market Research Report in March.

Guests, investors Lauren Wagner and Shu Dar Yao, join me to discuss their involvement in the report and the reasons behind it. They highlight key takeaways from the report, such as the unbundling of the tech stack in trust and safety and the impact of regulations and t...