Exponent is a podcast about tech and society hosted by Ben Thompson and James Allworth

Ben Thompson is the author and founder of Stratechery, a blog about the business and strategy of technology. You can follow him on Twitter @benthompson.

James Allworth is the co-author with Clay Christensen of How Will You Measure Your Life and a writer for the Harvard Business Review. You can follow him on Twitter @jamesallworth.

Episode 177 — Principle Stacks

Ben and James discuss the origins of the First Amendment, what a culture of free expression means, and Facebook’s ad policy.

Links

  • Ben Thompson: Tech and Liberty — Stratechery
  • Randall Munroe: Free Speech — xkcd
  • Pat Kerr: Why I think xkcd is wrong about Free Speech — Medium
  • Ben Thompson: The China Cultural Clash — Stratechery
  • The Federalist Papers : No. 84 — Yale Law
  • Rep. Ocasio-Cortez questions Mark Zuckerberg on when Facebook will fact check — YouTube
  • Jon Gertner: The Very, Very Personal Is the Political — The New York Times Magazine
  • United States v. Alvarez — Casetext
  • Julia Angwin and Terry Parris Jr.: Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race — ProPublica

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Episode 176 — The Second Estate Era

Ben and James discuss how the Internet’s impact will be like the printing press’s, and what that means for how we should think about Facebook.

Note: We apologize for the slight audio discrepancy between Ben and James

Links

  • Ben Thompson: The Internet and the Third Estate — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Zuckerberg’s Speech, Facebook Versus China, The Structure of Free Expression — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: TV Advertising’s Surprising Strength — And Inevitable Fall — Stratechery
  • Perry Link: China: The Anaconda in the Chandelier — ChinaFile
  • Mark Zuckerberg Stands for Voice and Free Expression — Facebook
  • The Federalist Papers: No. 47— Yale Law
  • Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery

Hosts

 

 

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Episode 175 — The Abyss Stares Back

Ben and James discuss the NBA and Apple in China and the long-term implications of doing business with authoritarian governments.

Links

  • Ben Thompson: The China Cultural Clash — Stratechery
  • r/HongKong: List Of Companies Under China’s Censorship Orders (So Far). Credit To U/Lebe — Reddit
  • Sam Dastyari Quits As Labor Senator Over China Connections — The Guardian
  • Rejected three times due to fear of Beijing, controversial book on China’s secret influence will finally be published — Business Insider
  • Ethan Strauss: Can Steve Kerr and the NBA do better on China? — The Athletic
  • Ben Thompson: Apple Pulls Hong Kong App, Tim Cook’s Memo, Honesty and Control — Stratechery
  • A message about iOS security — Apple
  • Ben Thompson: Apple Versus Project Zero, Apple’s Poor Response, The China Paradox — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Privacy Fundamentalism — Stratechery

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Episode 174 — Distracted at Facebook

Ben and James discuss Facebook from multiple angles, including child sexual abuse material, encryption, Oculus, and a leaked all-hands meeting.
 

Links

  • Ben Thompson: Friction — Stratechery
  • The Internet Is Overrun With Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong? — New York Times
  • Ben Thompson: Child Sexual Abuse Material Online, The Problem With Community, Towards More Friction — Stratechery
  • Casey Newton: Read The Full Transcript of Mark Zuckerberg’s Leaked Internal Facebook Meetings — The Verge
  • Ben Thompson: Facebook’s All-Hands Leak, Facebook Versus Warren, Zuckerberg’s Culture
    — Stratechery
  • Attorney General Bill Barr Will Ask Zuckerberg To Halt Plans For End-To-End Encryption Across Facebook’s Apps — BuzzFeed News
  • Ben Thompson: Facebook’s Privacy Cake — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Beachheads and Obstacles — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: The Curse of Culture — Stratechery

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Episode 173 — The Exponent IPO

Ben and James discuss Cloudflare and what it is like going through an IPO, as well as what has gone wrong with WeWork.
 

Links

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Episode 172 — Game of Phones

Ben and James discuss WWDC keynote and why it was so important for Apple to move past the iPhone.
 

Links

  • Ben Thompson: Apple’s Audacity — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Apple’s Middle Age — Stratechery
  • Letter from Tim Cook to Apple investors — Apple
  • Ben Thompson: Strategy Credit — Stratechery
  • Updates to the App Store Guidelines — Apple
  • Ben Thompson: Antitrust, the App Store, and Apple — Stratechery

Hosts

 

 

Podcast Information

 

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Episode 171 — An Intra-west Debate

Ben and James discuss the U.S.-China trade war and the fundamental issues facing both countries generally and tech specifically.

Links

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Episode 170 — A Perfect Meal

Ben and James discuss the Zoom and Slack IPOs in the context of Microsoft’s current success and long-term challenges.

Links

  • Ben Thompson: Microsoft, Slack, Zoom, and the SaaS Opportunity — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: The State of Technology at the End of 2018 — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Google Fights Back — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: The End of Windows — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Microsoft’s Earnings, Microsoft’s Growth Opportunities — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Microsoft Build, Microsoft’s Strategic Clarity, An Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: The Cost of Developers — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Google Fights Back — Stratechery
  • Geoffrey Moore: To Succeed in the Long Term, Focus on the Middle Term — Harvard Business Review
  • Ben Thompson: Apple Should Buy Netflix — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Services, Not Devices — Stratechery

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Episode 169 — Family-Friendly Disney

Ben and James discuss Disney’s recent announcements on streaming and what it says about not just TV but strategy broadly in the Internet era.

Links

  • Ben Thompson: Disney and the Future of TV — Stratechery
  • Ben Thompson: Disney and the Value of the Consumer Relationship, Disney’s Consolidation of Hulu, Comcast and AT&T — Stratechery Daily Update
  • Disney CEO Bob Iger Unveils Details on Disney+ Streaming Service — CNBC
  • Ben Thompson: Airbnb and the Internet Revolution — Stratechery

Hosts

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Episode 168 — A Community of Loonies

Ben and James discuss why Internet regulation is coming, why it is probably necessary, and how it should be targeted.

Links

  • Ben Thompson: A Regulatory Framework for the Internet — Stratechery
  • New Livestreaming Legislation Fails to Take Into Account How the Internet Actually Works — The Conversation
  • Out of the Clouds and Into the Weeds: Cloudflare’s Approach to Abuse in New Products — Cloudflare
  • Unpacking the Stack and Addressing Complaints about Content — Cloudflare
  • Ben Thompson: Mark Zuckerberg’s Proposal, The Copyright Directive and Sunk Costs, You Say You Want Some Regulation — Stratechery Daily Update

Hosts

Podcast Information

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Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS