Podcasts

Tech Podcast: Wikileaks, Hacktivism, and Four Views of the ‘Net

Audio: Play | Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

We’ve got some really thought-provoking stories in the podcast this week. We start with an extended version (that’s why we love the podcast…no time constraints!) with Kathleen McLaughlin, a China-based reporter for the online outfit Global Post. Kathleen’s been working on a series of stories tracking where some of the goodies that make your high-tech gadgets are sourced. In this interview, she talks about a factory she found where employees are suffering health problems because a solvent called hexane, which is used in the making of those groovy touch screens we all know and love. Here are some relevant links for that story:

• Global Post: Kathleen McLaughlin’s series “Silicon Sweatshops”
• Photo Gallery: Silicon Sweatshops
• The World: Lead recycling in Senegal
• The World’s Technology Podcast

Also, we once again sample some of the BBC’s SuperPower series on the Internet. The BBC’s Chris Vallance explores all sides of the argument surrounding the Wikileaks website, and delves into the world of online activism, or “hacktivism” as some call it.

And we end with a series of four short opinion pieces on the future of the global Internet. You can find out more about all four of the contributors here.

Remember, we’re on Twitter and Facebook.

You can subscribe via iTunes or RSS.