Tech'ed Up with Niki Christoff
What’s happening right now on the frontlines of tech? Silicon Valley veteran Niki Christoff hosts zippy conversations about trending technology with experts, enthusiasts, regulators, policymakers, CEOs, and reporters. New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Episodes
CEO and co-founder of Audioshake, Jessica Powell, joins Niki remotely to talk AI and music. Her company created tech that has helped artists and fans alike since before we ever heard of a musical “deep fake.” In this episode, they chat karaoke, video game music, and Jessica breaks down what a stem is - as well as the creative impact AI will have on the music industry as we know it.
Washington-based litigator, Previn Warren, joins Niki in the studio to talk about his law firm’s multi-district litigation against social media giants Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube. They discuss the growing epidemic of social media addiction among teens and tweens, and its impact on kids’ mental health, their developing brains, and bodies.
**This episode contains some serious subject matter including mentions o...
Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Foundation, joins Niki in the studio to talk about the real world, right-now positive use cases blockchain technology is having on the underbanked. They explore the work the foundation is doing with the UNHCR and IRC in Ukraine, their partnership with MoneyGram, and why you should care. Denelle shares some sage advice for the industry on how to better communicate with regulators.
Head of Public Affairs for DeepMind, Dorothy Chou, is in Washington from London and joins Niki in the Tech’ed Up Studio to talk about the massive impact AI is already having on science, work, and the future of our economy. They cover the hard questions we all should be asking as this tech develops at breakneck speed, discuss the role of government in shaping this emerging tech, and highlight the importance of wrangling all kinds of...
Cybersecurity veteran and VP of Global Security at IBM Consulting, Debbie Taylor Moore, joins Niki in the studio for an eye-opening discussion on the future of cybersecurity threats, the need for cyber literacy, and practical advice on how to protect yourself, your data, and your home online in the event of a critical breach or outage.
- Follow Debbie on LinkedIn
- Watch Debbie’s CES Panel
- Follow Niki on Twitter
Block Party CEO & Founder, Tracy Chou, joins Niki remotely to talk about what her team is doing to make the internet a safer place and why she’s passionate about their mission. Her app puts control back in the hands of social media users using block lists, lock-out filters, and other tips and tricks to combat trolls. The conversation covers why the social media giants aren’t incentivized to do this work themselves, what action ...
Bloomberg reporter Emily Birnbaum visits Niki in the Tech’ed Up studio for a rollicking conversation about online speech and the U.S. Supreme Court’s forthcoming opinion on Gonzalez v. Google. This conversation covers the Justices’ overall vibes, the limitations of Section 230, Niki’s observations from inside the courtroom, and Emily’s assessment of the stakes for tech companies.
- Follow Emily on Twitter
- Gen Z dating habits?...
Denise Zheng, Managing Director for Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the CEO at Accenture, joins Niki in the studio to highlight ways the metaverse is already being put to work in business. She goes beyond the jargon of XR, AI, and web3 and explains what the metaverse is and why she thinks right now is a pivotal moment in the development of a tech that is sure to shape our future.
- Follow Denise Zheng on Linked...
Former Congressman and presidential candidate, John Delaney, joins Niki in the studio to discuss bipartisanship, practical policymaking, and answering the call to serve. From investing in de-carbonization projects to crafting AI policy, from banning gas stoves to TikTok, they cover it all in this wide-ranging conversation.
- Follow former Rep. Delaney on Twitter
- Learn more about Forbright Bank
- Follow Niki on Twitter
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) joins Niki from Capitol Hill to take a deep dive into tech issues facing the 118th Congress. Specifically, Sen. Warner lays out the national security risks the United States faces from the Chinese Communist Party’s involvement in one of America’s favorite apps: TikTok. This conversation includes a look back at last year’s passage of the CHIPs Act and a look forward to his potential bipartisan social media...
Taped live from the main stage at the CES conference in Las Vegas, CEO of Crypto Council for Innovation Sheila Warren and Niki chat about all things crypto. After the crypto earthquake of FTX and the beginning of another crypto winter, what aftershocks does the industry face? Sheila shares why she’s still a true believer in the blockchain.
- Follow Sheila Warren on LinkedIn
- Learn more about CCI
- Check out CES
- Follow Niki on Twitter
Security start-up Prescient's VP of Cyber, Stefanie Drysdale, joins Niki in the studio to talk insider threats, whistleblowers, and bug bounties. She gives a pulse check on developments inside and outside the security business, including her fears for the future of the cyber industry if we lose focus on who the bad guys are.
- Follow Stefanie on LinkedIn
- Watch Prescient’s weekly cyber update on YouTube
- Follow Niki on Twitter <...
CEO of MG Equity Consulting and New America Fellow, Malcom Glenn, joins Niki in the studio to talk about the role businesses can play in promoting mental health and equity for employees. They touch on some popular misconceptions about Gen Z, why “quiet-quitting” is a misnomer, and the business case for doing right by people.Malcom shares some insights from his days at Uber and Niki explains why she’ll always be a Googler at heart. ...
Former Ambassador and Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Karen Kornbluh, joins Niki in the Tech’ed Up studio for a rollicking conversation about whether tech policy is passé, the ongoing Twitter implosion, and misinformation being a loser. This conversation covers the erosion of trust in institutions, cynicism as a by product of social media, and the power of storytelling to combat both.
○ Read Karen’s New York Tim...
Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle joins Niki in the studio hot on the heels of the FTX meltdown in this episode of Tech’ed Up. They discuss the need for regulation, the role of stablecoins, and the argument for optimism about the future of crypto.
- Learn more about Circle
- Check out Dante’s Website
- Follow Niki on Twitter
- Watch "Inside Job"
Washington Post reporter Nitasha Tiku joins Niki remotely to discuss the latest innovations in AI. We get to know LaMDA, the AI a Google engineer believes is conscious, and discuss the brand new text-to-image generator, DALL-E. We also wax philosophical about the impact of sci-fi on our understanding of AI technology. Nitasha dives beneath the fun and viral consumer developments in AI to explore what’s lurking beneath.
Bloomberg reporter Mark Bergen joins Niki remotely to discuss his new book “Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination.” We dive into the behind-the-scenes impact Google has had on shaping YouTube into the search juggernaut it is today. Mark details the outsized influence YouTube has on the social media landscape while remaining a “sleeping giant” largely ignored by regulators and protected from m...
General Counsel of Ripple Labs, Stu Alderoty, joins Niki in the studio to discuss the need for Washington to establish regulatory clarity for digital assets. He takes listeners on a deep dive into how blockchain can simplify cross-border payments, the crypto industry’s appetite for clear regulations, and Ripple’s engagement in D.C. – including litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Links:
- Follow Stua...
VP and Head of Global Communications at Grindr and long-time tech veteran, Patrick Lenihan, joins Niki remotely to talk about the iconic dating app. The company is both a “start-up” and one of the first-ever geospatial social networking applications…and now it’s preparing to go public. The conversation ranges from Grindr itself to the company’s business, mission, and current work to bring public health information to the LGBTQ+ com...
Washington Post reporter Tory Newmyer joins Niki in the studio to discuss his coverage of the crypto lobby’s full-court press in Washington. Tory’s watched and reported as the crypto lobby exploded within the last year. In this episode, he joins Niki to discuss what’s working, what’s not, and what’s coming next for the industry’s expanding influence campaign.
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