author and journalist
Journalist and author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
PROFILE
Nicholas Carr
Guest
FROM Nicholas Carr
To the Point
How Is Google Changing Our Lives? Even critics say Google makes the Internet usable. One clean and useful search tool has replaced that series of links that might or might not be productive. But it now handles two-thirds of all web searches in the US and gets three-fourths of the revenue. Is it using its dominance to lead searchers to its own products? What else does Google do that users don't know about? Thirteen years ago, before Google was ever invented, Bill Gates of Microsoft faced anti-trust charges before a Senate Committee. Yesterday, Eric Schmidt, the Chairman of Google, faced the same committee , determined not to repeat Gates' mistakes. Why did Schmidt say he wants to "get right up to the creepy line and not cross it?" We hear about yesterday's Senate Anti-Trust Committee hearing and a lot more about Google's dominance on business and its impact on users.
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To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.