Tech Policy Podcast

Hosted by TechFreedom

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Episodes

445

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

Tech policy is at the center of the hottest debates in American law and politics. On the Tech Policy Podcast, host Corbin Barthold discusses the latest developments with some of the tech world's best journalists, lawyers, academics, and more.

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60 recent

June 4, 202652 min

437: Data Centers Are Good, Actually

Judge Glock (Manhattan Institute) joins the show to discuss the past, present, and future of data center construction in the United States. Links: The Surprising Heart of the Data-Center Boom

May 26, 202650 min

436: The Future of Space Exploration

Dr. Mekhi Dhesi is a space industry executive at Slingshot Aerospace and a space communicator. She joins the show to discuss orbital mechanics, rocket science, black holes, the Fermi paradox, and more. Follow her on Instagram @cosmic_mekhi!

May 13, 20261 hr 16 min

435: Live: The Perennial Urge to Censor New Technology

Host Corbin Barthold heads to New York to speak at FIRE’s Free Speech Future event series. The panel features Kmele Foster (The Fifth Column), Nico Perrino (FIRE), and Prof. Christopher Ferguson (Stetson University). Links: Free Speech Future: Episode III – Cycles of Censorship: Emerging Technologies Free Speech Future

April 28, 20261 hr 0 min

From the Vault: Algorithmic Amplification

From January 9, 2022 (Episode 310): Daphne Keller discusses her paper “Amplification and Its Discontents” with Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn. Links: Amplification and Its Discontents: Why Regulating the Reach of Online Content Is Hard Tech Policy Podcast 389: The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform

April 14, 202659 min

434: The Free Speech Recession

Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff discuss their fantastic new book, The Future of Free Speech. Links: The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom

April 7, 20261 hr 6 min

433: AI and the First Amendment

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Santana Boulton, and Andy Jung discuss whether AI promotes free speech, why AI outputs are protected free expression, why Anthropic should win its First Amendment lawsuit against the Department of War, and much else besides. Links: AI + 1A: Why the First Amendment Protects Artificial Intelligence Don’t Ban Kids From Using Chatbots Heaven’s Gate—How and When It May Be Entered

March 23, 202656 min

432: Live: The New Frontiers of Speech

Our host, Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom), speaks on a panel at State of the Net with Joel Thayer (Digital Progress Institute) and Ashkhen Kazaryan (The Future of Free Speech), and Luke Hogg (Foundation for American Innovation). They discuss how the First Amendment should work in a world of algorithms and AI. Links: AI + 1A: Why the First Amendment Protects Artificial Intelligence (Corbin’s new paper) (https://tinyurl.com/mw5vbuzf) State of the Net 2026 Tech Podcast Policy 373: Porn and the First Amendment Tech Podcast Policy 417: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Is Wreaking Havoc

March 9, 202651 min

431: Barrett’s Moody Concurrence: Oddly Popular, Wholly Wrong

Host Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) deconstructs Justice Barrett’s surprisingly influential concurrence in Moody v. NetChoice. Or: Why the First Amendment protects algorithms and AI. Links: Moody v. NetChoice The Post-human First Amendment Tech Policy Podcast 286: How Algorithms Can Fight Extremism Tech Policy Podcast 414: Beware the Butlerian Jihad

February 26, 202652 min

430: Social Media on Trial

A landmark bellwether trial in Los Angeles is testing whether Instagram and YouTube can be blamed for teen addiction and mental health problems. Clay Calvert (American Enterprise Institute) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) review the many problems with letting plaintiffs’ lawyers demagogue social media platforms in front of a jury. Links: Social Media Addiction Lawsuits: The Deceptively Flawed Tobacco Analogy Tech Policy Podcast 347: When Schools Scapegoat Social Media

February 11, 202652 min

429: AI and Jobs

Brent Orrell (American Enterprise Institute) discusses the future of work in a world of genius machines.Links:De-Skilling the Knowledge Economy What Anthropic’s Internal Study Suggests About the Future of WorkDid the Canaries Just Die?AI and the Future of Work Looks Bright