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Longform

Episode 244: Nick Bilton

Longform

Longform

Education, Arts, Books, News

4.71.9K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2017

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nick Bilton is a special correspondent for Vanity Fair and the author of American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road. “I’ve been covering tech for a long, long time. And the thing I’ve always tried to do is cover the people of the tech culture, not the tech itself. … I've always been interested in the good and bad side of technology. A lot of times the problem in Silicon Valley is that people come up with a good idea that’s supposed to do a good thing—you know, to change the world and make it a better place. And it ends up inevitably having a recourse that they don’t imagine.” Thanks to MailChimp, Viacom, and Audible for sponsoring this week's episode. @nickbilton nickbilton.com Bilton on Longform [00:00] Ponzi Supernova [01:15] American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road (Portfolio • 2017) [01:45] Bilton’s New York Times archive [01:45] Bilton’s Vanity Fair archive [01:45] Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal (Portfolio • 2014) [07:30] "The Underground Website Where You Can Buy Any Drug Imaginable" (Adrian Chen • Gawker • Jun 2011) [07:30] Adrian Chen’s first appearance on the Longform Podcast [07:30] Adrian Chen’s second appearance on the Longform Podcast [09:15] NYC Resistor [11:45] "Uber’s C.E.O. Plays With Fire" (Mike Isaac • New York Times • Apr 2017) [16:00] Fan Club [21:30] Bits, New York Times technology blog [21:45] Gizmodo [23:00] Bill Keller’s New York Times archive [23:00] John Markoff’s New York Times archive [25:45] "The iEconomy" series [27:30] "How the Kindle Moved From BlackBerry to iPad" (New York Times • Sep 2011) [29:45] "Disruptions: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why" (New York Times • Nov 2011) [50:45] "Meet the Dread Pirate Roberts, The Man Behind Booming Black Market Drug Website Silk Road" (Andy Greenberg • Forbes • Sep 2013) [50:45] "Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison" (Andy Greenberg • Wired • May 2015) [50:45] "The Rise & Fall of Silk Road Part I" (Joshuah Bearman • Wired • Apr 2015) [50:45] "The Rise & Fall of Silk Road Part II" (Joshuah Bearman • Wired • May 2015) [51:00] "Exclusive: How Elizabeth Holmes’s House of Cards Came Tumbling Down" (Vanity Fair • Oct 2016) [52:00] "‘It’s An Honor’" (Jimmy Breslin • New York Herald Tribune • Nov 1963) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Support for this show comes from Krakan.

0:03.0

Krypto is like the financial system, but different.

0:07.0

It doesn't care where you come from, what you look like, your credit score,

0:11.0

or your outrageous food delivery habits.

0:13.7

crypto is finance for everyone everywhere all the time.

0:18.4

Krakhan, see what crypto can be.

0:21.3

Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest.

0:25.0

This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

0:31.2

Support for this show comes from Visible Wireless. They say mystery is the spice of life.

0:37.0

But who needs mystery in your Wireless Plan? With Visible, what you see is what you get.

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A one-line plan with unlimited 5G data, powered by Verizon

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for just $25 a month, taxes and fees included.

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Switch today at visible.com.

0:51.4

For data management practices in additional terms, visit visible.com. For data management practices in additional terms, visit visible.com.

0:55.2

In times of traffic, your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic.

0:58.9

Mobile hotspot capped at 5 megabits per second.

1:01.4

5G access requires a 5G capable device and a 5G coverage area.

1:05.0

Hey, before we get going I want to give you a word from our sponsor Audible, but this is no

1:12.4

normal Audible Sponsorship. This is for their new six-part

1:16.8

audible original series, Ponzi Supernova. Ponzi Supernova sheds new light on Bernie Madoff and the biggest

1:24.9

Ponzi scheme in history. God this is made for me. I love Conman. I love Ponzi

1:29.2

schemes and I love original audio documentaries. So as you probably know, Bernie Madoff went to jail

...

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