BBC World Service
Tech Life
Tech Life discovers and explains the ways technology is changing our lives, wherever we are in the world. We meet the people with bright ideas for rethinking the way we work, learn and play, and get hands-on with the products they dream up. We hold tech giants to account for their huge power to affect our lives, and ask who wins, and who loses, in the technology transformation. Tech Life is your guide to a future being made, and remade, at lightning speed in front of our eyes.
Author
BBC World Service
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Podcast website
Latest episode
Jul 7, 2026
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Episodes
More trouble at Twitter 26.08.2022 22:59
On Tech Tent this week, reporter Chris Vallance runs us through the serious allegations about lax security levelled at Twitter by its former employee Peiter "Mudge" Zatko. Dr Jon Roozenbeek, of Cambridge University, explains how educating people about how misinformation works appears to be an effective way of informing their online experience. And the makers of a voice changing technology respond...
Can TikTok stars make it on the real stage? 19.08.2022 22:59
This week Tech Tent speaks to TikTok stars Chloe and Tabby Tingey - aka the Sugarcoated Sisters - about transferring their act to the Edinburgh Fringe and a real life audience. Reporter Alaisdair Keane finds out how organising festivals is increasingly reliant on tech too. We also digest China's decision to force its biggest tech firms to share their algorithims with regulators in the name of data...
Esports at the Commonwealth Games 12.08.2022 22:59
We meet the gamers vying for unofficial medals that the Commonwealth Games Amazon warehouse workers in the UK protest And we attempt a conversation with Meta's new chatbot Plus as WhatsApp ditches an irksome feature we look at the new do's and don'ts in instant messaging (Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
The future of medical virtual reality 05.08.2022 22:59
We take a look at virtual reality as it helps surgeons in Brazil work with colleagues in Britain on an operation to separate twins joined at the head. As global temperatures rise how do we keep data centres cool in a power efficient end environmentally friendly way. Teaching technology in Africa - the founder of a school in Lesotho tells us how it got started. And should records ditch vinyl to go...
The battle over encrypted messaging 29.07.2022 22:59
The head of WhatsApp signals the firm will resist efforts to weaken its encryption, as the UK and EU look to enact legislation that could compel firms to scan messages.
Is Tesla in trouble? 22.07.2022 22:59
On Tech Tent this week, tech journalist Charles Arthur on the troubles at Tesla. The boss of Tinder tells our reporter Shiona McCallum how she wants to make the dating platform safer. The creator of an app to help children with type diabetes on his troubles with the Google playstore. And Robert Metcalfe, associate professor of Economics at the University of Southern California, on the powerful way...
Twitter and Elon Musk: The deal goes sour 15.07.2022 22:59
As Twitter launches legal action to compel Elon Musk to complete a takeover he says he now wants to stop, Silicon Valley tech reporter James Clayton and New York business correspondent, Michelle Fleury join us to take stock of how what was meant to be the biggest deal in tech has turned into the industry's biggest row instead. Tech Tent also speaks to Carl Pei as he launches the Nothing One and at...
How Wimbledon has gone high tech 08.07.2022 22:59
This week Tech Tent comes from the Wimbledon tennis championships, in London, and finds out about the sophisticated AI systems powering match predictions, with Kevin Farrar, from IBM. Alexandra Willis, Communications and Marketing Director at Wimbledon, discusses how this most traditional of tournaments is venturing ever furter into online and virtual worlds. And away from the tennis, cyber report...
The profound tech consequences of Roe v Wade 01.07.2022 22:59
Professor Gina Neff and Eva Blum-Dumontet investigate how individuals and tech companies should react to abortion becoming illegal in parts of the US. David Martin Ruiz from the Eurpoean consumer group BEUC explains what it calls Google's "fast track to surveillance" for its users, and making virtual reality sound immersive, with professor Mark Plumbley.
The graphic content missed by Meta's moderators 24.06.2022 22:58
On Tech Tent this week, a BBC investigation into so-called "up-skirting" on Facebook - and Thomas Hughes from Meta's Oversight Board on its first year as an arbiter on disputes on Facebook and Meta. Dr Andrew Hundt on why AI mimicks the prejudice of human beings. Shiona McCallum has been to the Teen Tech awards. And Glastonbury Festival is back - with festival goers set to gobble up more mobile d...
Is El Salvador's bitcoin revolution failing? 17.06.2022 22:59
This week Tech Tent is presented by Joe Tidy, who's been to El Salvador - which has bought thousands of bitcoins and become the first country in the world to make it legal tender. Now prices are crashing so will its experiment end in failure? Bitcoin podcast host Natalie Brunell and finacnail commentator Frances Coppola give their thoughts. Also: entrepreneurs at London tech week on their hopes an...
Is the work from home revolution unstoppable? 10.06.2022 22:59
As new data shows the work from home revolution is accelerating, we ask if technology has forced the world of work to change for ever. Claire McCartney, from the CIPD, shares her expertise and the BBC's New York business correspondent Michelle Fleury gives the picture from the US. Zoe interviews the boss of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, about the company's future. Kyle Glen, co-host of the Osint Bunker...
Why is the internet still a hostile place for women? 03.06.2022 22:59
This week, Dianne Olivan, Gender Engagement and Policy Officer, World Wide Web Foundation, and coordinator of the Women’s Rights Online Network, and Kerry Allen, the BBC's China media analyst discuss women and the internet. Dr Terence Leung, Dr Judith Meek and Dr Christabel Enweronu-Laryea on an app for diagnosing jaundice. Finn Myrstad from the Norwegian Consumer Council sets out his concerns abo...
Another setback for facial recognition technology 27.05.2022 22:59
This week Dr Stephanie Hare, author of Technology is Not Neutral, and Dr Rick Muir, of the Police Foundation, discuss whether facial recognition technology can ever be used in a way that satisfies regulators. Shiona McCallum speaks to Olympian Jess Ennis Hill about period tracking apps, and whether they help with fitness. And as Dyson says it's working on home robots, we ask the people of London w...
Is the cryptocurrency bubble bursting? 20.05.2022 23:59
This week Tech Tent takes the temperature of the crypto market with the BBC's cyber reporter Joe Tidy and the Financial Times' Markets Editor, Katie Martin. Dr Johnny Ryan from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties on how our personal data is sold hundreds of times a day; and Rebecca Romo Teague, a radio host from Cape Cod, on how social media is helping with the US baby formula milk crisis.
Learning the lessons of Wannacry, five years on 13.05.2022 22:59
Tech Tent speaks to Marcus Hutchins, the British cyber security expert who singlehandedly stopped the Wannacry attack. The BBC's cyber reporter Joe Tidy and the cyber expert Lisa Forte discuss Wannacry's legacy. Also this week why Russians are resorting to medieval memes to express dissent about the war in Ukraine, how Tiktok is transforming Eurovision, and Tony Fadell, inventor of the Ipod reflec...
Are we on the cusp of a VR revolution? 06.05.2022 22:59
Meta announcing plans for a Metaverse has intensified interest in virtual and augmented reality. But does the hardware and content match the marketing hype? Tech Tent hears from Alex Counsell, Technical Director at the newly opened Centre for Creative and Immersive & eXtended Realities. Tech expert Kate Bevan talks about scammers using shared screen programmes. And Bill Gates gives his thought...
Twitter: The Elon Musk takeover 29.04.2022 22:59
On the programme this week, Brooke Erin Duffy of Cornell University returns to give her assessment of Twitter's new owner. The MEP Arba Kokalari explains the new tougher approach Europe is taking to regulating tech. And wine drinkers see if they can tell the difference between a real sommelier and an AI one.
A setback for Netflix 22.04.2022 22:59
Tech Tent speaks to Julian Aquilina, from Enders analysis, on how serious a blow Netflix's loss of subscribers is. James Clayton checks back in with an update on Elon Musk and Twitter. And our technology reporter Shiona McCallum has been speaking to an astronaut.
Facial recognition technology and the war in Ukraine 15.04.2022 22:59
A controversial facial recognition company helps identify the dead in Ukraine. And a look at whether age verification tech can stop children viewing pornography online.
What next for Twitter now Elon Musk is on board? 08.04.2022 22:59
This week, Tech Tent speaks to Professor Brooke Erin Duffy about what Elon Musk investing in Twitter could mean for the social platform. The curator of TED, Chris Anderson, gives details about the return of the conference in person. And Kay Wackwitz, from Drone Industry Insights, considers a major expansion of deliveries by unmanned aircraft in the US.
A huge, new crypto heist 01.04.2022 22:59
We report on the latest high-profile, high value theft of cryptocurrency. David Canellis, from the website, Protos, analyses what happened. The space expert Dr Teasel Muir-Harmony explains why the US and Russia continue to co-operate over the International Space Station. And Alex Bornyakov, the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, describes how tech workers there are taking the fi...
The tech of war crime investigation 25.03.2022 26:29
This week's episode features an interview with Wendy Betts, who is involved with an app developed for war crimes investigators. John Hultquist, who’s Vice President of the cyber security firm, Mandiant, speaks about the cyber threat Russia poses to the US. And Tom Gerken reports on the millions of dollars raised by people playing Fortnite for the Ukrainian humanitarian effort.
Tech goes to the aid of Ukrainian refugees 19.03.2022 26:29
This week's guests include Ina Burgstaller, who set up an online service for victims of the war needing medical treatment. One of the volunteer medics, Dr Lawrence Barnes also explains why he got involved. We hear about the lift-sharing scheme dubbed Uber for refugees, helping to get Ukrainians to safety. And a new trial to see if gaming can ease pain.
The cyber conflict in Ukraine 05.03.2022 27:03
Alongside the physical conflict in Ukraine, battles are also being fought online. What do they tell us about the evolving nature of hacking attacks and disinformation ? And as volunteer hackers and hacktivists join the fray is there a risk they could provoke a response that takes the conflict to a new level? We also hear how digital businesses in Ukraine are adapting to the sudden arrival of war,...
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