Episode 3.14 Smorgasbord, Part I
Venture capitalism, online classes, the ethics of algorithms, tracking people at work, and transparency in business.
We start wrapping up Season 3, tackling five topics that one or the other of us wanted to talk about but couldn’t get the other one all that excited about, or which we didn’t feel like we had enough to say yet:
- venture capitalism (both of us)
- online classes (Stephen)
- the ethics of algorithms (Chris)
- tracking people at work (Stephen)
- transparency in business (Chris)
Links
- Venture capitalism article on Wikipedia
- Insightful piece by Ben Thompson at Stratechery: “Venture Capital and the Internet’s Impact”
- “Democratizing celebrity styling: Uber for your hair has arrived”
- Algorithms failing: “Keep Calm and Rape a Lot”
- Amazon worker treatment:
- “Worse than Wal-Mart: Amazon’s sick brutality and secret history of ruthlessly intimidating workers” (from Salon, with a bit more acerbic a take than we might offer)
- “They’re Watching You at Work” (The Atlantic)
- 3.07: One Size Does Not Fit All
Music
- “Run With Me” by Heather LaRose. Used by permission.
- “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho, who is plotting ways to make this theme more robust for the upcoming seasons.
Sponsors
Many thanks to the people who help us make this show possible by their financial support! This month’s sponsors:
- Jeremy W. Sherman
- Jeremy Cherfas
If you’d like to support the show, you can make a pledge at or give directly via Square Cash.
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