The Digital Insider with Sinan Aral

For our final episode of season one, we're bringing you a fantastic interview with Group Chief Executive - Technology & Chief Technology Officer of Accenture, Paul Daugherty. Not only does Paul Oversee Accenture's technology business globally and lead their technology and innovation strategy, technology R&D, ventures, and ecosystem groups, he is also a speaker, media-commentator and author. His latest book, Radically Human: How New Technology is Transforming Business and Shaping Our Future, received critical acclaim which Paul and Sinan discussed amongst many other topics including: Path to CTO, Lessons Learned, Technology Trends + Disruptions (2:28-11:51)The Metaverse and the Transformation of Organizations (11:59-18:31)Unlocking the Potential of AI and Human Work in Business (18:39-27:36)5 Key Ideas for Managers to Radically Rethink Technology (27:44-39:43)How Web3 is Transforming Business and The Importance of Creating Trust with Customers (39:52-52:41)Live, Learn and Teach: 3 Words to Drive Success (52:49-55:50)If you have enjoyed listening to the podcast, please share it with your friends, family and colleagues so they can catch up over the break and we'll catch you in early 2023 for season 2! Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @digitalinsiderpod on Instagram and TikTok.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Today we’re giving you access to the fireside chat Sinan moderated live at the MIT Conference on Digital Experimentation (CODE@MIT). Joined by Prominent Researchers, Hanna Halaburda (NYU Stern), Neha Narula (MIT Digital Currency Initiative), Catherine Tucker (MIT Sloan) and E. Glen Weyl (Microsoft), to discuss the promise and peril of Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Web3. Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with a friend. Enjoy the show!Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @digitalinsiderpod on Instagram and TikTok.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Today is a very important day across the United States – Election Day! While there is much hope in the hands of our democracy, there is also a looming threat and a vulnerability to election interference by foreign actors.  In today’s special “Hot Takes” episode of the podcast, Sinan Aral talks about the steps we—as individuals, policymakers, business owners, etc. —must take to prevent election influencers and prevent the spread of fake news. What social media companies can do to stop fake news on their platforms and whether breaking up Facebook and others will help or make the problem worse. And, what science tells us about why we are so susceptible to fake news and how we can break the cycle. Remember to rate, review, subscribe and share with a friend. Enjoy the show!Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @digitalinsiderpod on Instagram and TikTok.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Sinan and fellow MIT alumnus, Albert Wenger, partner at Union Square Ventures, a New York-based early stage VC firm focused on investing in disruptive networks, whose portfolio companies include: Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, Etsy, Kickstarter and Shapeways. Albert shares some excellent business advice and the lessons he’s learned along the way. The Winding Road from MIT PhD to Venture Capitalist (2:07-15:34)What Makes an Investment-Worthy Entrepreneur (15:42-21:51)Technology Trends and Transformations and AI Automation (21:59-41:22Web3, Blockchain, NFTs, Crypto + Decentralization (41:30-1:06:04)The State of the Global Political Economy and Solving the Climate Crisis (1:06:12-1:15:56)The Future of Social Media and Network Regulations (1:16:04-1:25:18)The Worst Investment Mistake You Can Make and How Mindfulness is Key to Success (1:25:26-1:30:13)The Biggest Fear + Hope for Our Kids (1:30:21-1:34:30)Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @digitalinsiderpod on Instagram and TikTok.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Sinan welcomes guest, Renée DiResta, author, analyst, speaker and the technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.Renee investigates the spread of narratives across social and media networks, with an interest in understanding how platform algorithms and affordances intersect with user behavior and factional crowd dynamics. She led an investigation into the Russian Internet Research Agency’s multi-year effort to manipulate American society, and presented public testimony. Her work on influence operations and computational propaganda has led her to advising roles for US Congress and The State Department.Topics Include:Parenting, Vaccine Requirements for Kids and Activism (2:18-12:41)Misinformation, Disinformation, Political Opinion and Social Media Polarization (12:49-21:24)International Operations and Governmental Influence in Social and Broadcast Media (21:32-34:24)Election Interference, Russia and Propaganda (34:32-38:28)The Rise of Influencers (38:36-50:10)Web3 and its Promise and Peril (50:18-58:19)Solutions and Pros + Cons of Platform Transparency, Regulations and Policy (58:26-1:10:47)How do we Prepare our Kids for The New Information Age - The Good, The Bad and Everything in Between (1:10:55-1:20:48)Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @digitalinsiderpod on Instagram and TikTok.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

This week's guest, Gary Vaynerchuk, is considered one of the leading global minds on what’s next in culture,  relevance and the internet. Gary is a serial entrepreneur, and serves as the Chairman of VaynerX,  the CEO of VaynerMedia and the Creator & CEO of VeeFriends.Sinan and Gary discuss everything from web3, TikTok, consumer blockchain, entrepreneurship and what it takes to be successful, as well as AI algorithms, and how positivity can take you a long way -- not just online, but in everyday life.Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @digitalinsiderpod on Instagram and TikTok.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

This week Sinan Aral and guest, Ali Velshi, journalist, news anchor and host of "Velshi" on MSNBC, cover his firsthand experience on the frontlines of some of the most notable events in history. The pair also explore fake news–its genesis, propagation, consequences and solutions and more!Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @digitalinsiderpod on Instagram and TikTok.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Get ready for The Digital Insider bonus series, "Hot Takes" where host Sinan Aral gives a deep dive and his expert opinion on one of the most topical issues of today.This week it's all about influencer marketing. Who are influencers? How do influencers, well... influence? From celebrities to micro-influencers, politicians and how their campaigns have been (and continue to be) influenced. Sinan breaks down the science behind all these questions and more!Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinanand@mit_ideon Instagram.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Today's guest, Scott Galloway is arguably the most prolific thought leader in the business world today, with millions of views on his viral YouTube and videos on his various social media channels filled with business advice and predictions.He's the bestselling author of Post Corona, The Four, and The Algebra of Happiness. The host of two chart-topping podcasts, The Prof G Show and Pivot with tech journalist, Kara Swisher and a regular face on prime-time TV. His company, Prof G Media, produces a weekly newsletter, four podcast episodes a week, YouTube videos, and a column for New York magazine.  He is a Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and a serial entrepreneur.Scott shares his unfiltered takes with Sinan on a range of topics like, the key to streaming networks and Scott’s rollercoaster with prime-time television. Which media company holds the power (hint: it’s NOT Netflix…anymore) and what the future looks like for media companies and social media platforms. Elon Musk and the moderation of harmful content on social media. The future of higher education. The best business advice from Scott to young entrepreneurs. The importance of young men having male role models, parenting and fatherhood.Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinanand@mit_ideon Instagram.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Today’s guest, Frances Haugen, is a radical advocate for accountability and transparency in social media.In 2019, she was recruited to Facebook to be the lead Product Manager on the Civic Misinformation team, which dealt with issues related to democracy and misinformation, and later also worked on counter-espionage. Frances became increasingly alarmed by the choices the company makes prioritizing their own profits over public safety and putting people's lives at risk. As a last resort and at great personal risk, Frances made the courageous decision to blow the whistle on Facebook. The initial reporting was done by the Wall Street Journal in what became known as “The Facebook Files”.Frances has testified in front of the US Congress, UK and EU Parliaments, the French Senate and National Assembly, and has engaged with lawmakers internationally on how to best address the negative externalities of social media platforms. Frances has filed a series of complaints with the US Federal Government relating to Facebook (now named ‘Meta’) claiming that the company has been misleading the public and investors on how it handles issues such as climate change, misinformation, and hate speech, and the impact of its services on the mental health of children and young adults.Sinan and Frances discuss transparency, or lack thereof, in social media, the free speech debate and censorship. Frances shares her knowledge on the harmful impact social media has on children and what we should be doing to stop the addiction,  as well as social media's role in the geopolitical landscape.Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and@mit_ideon Instagram.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Sinan is joined by Gary Marcus, scientist, best-selling author, and entrepreneur. Gary is Founder and CEO of Robust.AI, and was Founder and CEO of Geometric Intelligence, a machine learning company acquired by Uber in 2016.The pair discuss topics ranging from artificial General Intelligence, GTP-3, neuroscience, genetics, linguistics, and more. Gary's newest book, co-authored with Ernest Davis, Rebooting AI: Building Machines We Can Trust aims to shake up the field of artificial intelligence -- and that is exactly what happens during this fascinating and timely conversation.Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.Follow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @mit_ideon Instagram.Please remember to rate us and leave a review - the best way to support the podcast.

Sinan is joined by expert guests, Natalia Levina – Professor, New York University, Stern School of Business, Richard Stengel – Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and Political Analyst, CNBC and Clint Watts – Distinguished Research Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute and national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC, to discuss the information war in Ukraine. The historical sophistication of Russian influence operations through social media is well known. But today, in Ukraine, they are struggling to keep up with the modern information war raging over social and traditional media. Today, the information war in Ukraine is more intense, more tightly contested and arguably more important than ever because motivating volunteer fighters at home and encouraging foreign support aboard are critical to success. And this time, it seems, Russia is losing. President Zelenskyy is deftly outmaneuvering Putin in this information war. And this time around, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google are proactively engaged in the information war. Information campaigns are difficult to quantify during the fog of war. But while it is hard to pinpoint the extent to which the information war is contributing to the overwhelming international unity against Vladimir Putin’ aggression, one thing is clear: social media, mainstream media and the narrative framing of the Ukrainian invasion will undoubtedly play an important role in how this conflict ends. Now, vigilance and fortitude are not only needed on the battlefield, where lives and territory will be won and lost, but also online, where the hearts and minds of the world will be won or lost. Visit ide.mit.edu/podcast for moreFollow @sinanaral and @mit_ide on Twitter and @professorsinan and @mit_ide on Instagram

On today’s episode Sinan sits down with friend and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Maria Ressa, who shares her fascinating insights on her work as a fearless advocate of journalism and freedom of speech. The co-founder, CEO and executive editor of Rappler.com, an online news organization in the Philippines, Maria was one of the first reporters to expose the human rights abuses of President Rodrigo Duterte which culminated in her being awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize - the first Filipino recipient of the Prize. Today you’ll hear two parts to Sinan's conversation with Maria, the first part from a live recording at MIT and a second part from just the other day where Maria updated Sinan on her life now after the recent historic election in the Philippines and as she awaits the verdict of her appeal for 10-counts of cyber-libel while out on bail.Please be sure to subscribe, rate, and leave a review!Follow us on social media and share today's episode:Twitter - @mit_ide @sinanaralInstagram - @mit_ide @professorsinanVisit ide.mit.edu/podcast for more.

Get ready for the Digital Insider with Sinan Aral - Professor and Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and author of "The Hype Machine". Sinan is joined by the worlds leading thinkers to explore the latest trends in digital business and society. But with the goal of taking deep dives under the hood of how the digital economy actually works -- from AI bias, to NFTs, fake news to two-sided markets, cryptocurrencies, to quantum computing, we want to try to make sense that the lightning fast changes taking place in the tech driven world --- but from a scientific perspective.