In The Bezzle, Doctorow continues his investigation into something that is “tremendously complex, but no less clever.”
I like to have people of a certain… vintage on this podcast.
That is, old enough to remember the good old Internet and old enough to better explain today's bad Internet.
“What makes noir fiction noir is that detectives are portrayed as unlicensed cops who go where cops can't go and ask questions cops can't ask in order to solve crimes cops can't solve. But by the end, he's forced to remember that these were actually places the cops didn't want to go to.”
cory doctorow
There is no better person to talk about this than Canadian journalist and author Cory Doctorow. Not only did he coin the term “Enshittification” that best describes the internet today, he spent an entire episode on it, but he's been around for just a little while.
He met Stewart Butterfield while in California in the late '90s, founding a start-up, working for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and well before selling Flickr to Yahoo!.
Yahoo! That's a good transition. Because Corey's new book, the high-tech crime thriller The Bezzle, is set at the beginning of the Web 2.0 bubble and features prominently Yahoo! It's a page-turner, but unlike other crime writers, Corey is interested in technology and its effects, and it shows in the book.
This is reflected in our conversations, which cover a wide range of topics. It took us from the Panama Papers to his sweaty sci-fi scenes in 70s Canada to Pournelle's golden rule of bureaucracy and a guest appearance by his uncle (!).
And ultimately, it's about how and why Corey gets up every day to advocate and educate. To remind us of the good old internet and fight for the new good internet.
No matter where this conversation goes, trust me. Like all of Cory's work, it's always meaningful.
So, what is a basil?
Let's dig deeper.
To follow Cory Doctorow on The Bezzle Book Tour, visit his website Pluralistic. If you'd like the audio version of The Bezzle narrated by Wil Wheaton (!), go here.
The BetaKit Podcast is sponsored by Mastercard Canada.
On March 27, join Darrell McMullin, Senior Vice President of Products and Solutions at Mastercard Canada, for a BetaKit Live fireside conversation where emerging technologies, open banking, and evolving cybersecurity challenges bring financial innovation to life. Discuss how this will affect the future of
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The BetaKit Podcast is hosted by Douglas Soltys and Rob Kenedi. Produced and edited by Kati Ra. Sponsored by Mastercard Canada. Feature image provided by Cory Doctorow. Original cover art and design by Will Staehle.