2018 was a rough year for some of us. The already angry medium of the offline world can feel even

angrier on social media. After the early promise of digital communities uniting the world, many of them have become digital disunities instead.

On this week's show, can we make our social lives positive again?

If so, how? How?

This is Radio Atlantic of the year. I am once again Matt Thompson,

executive editor of the Atlantic, and I have got a few surprises in store for you

this episode. And let me get right to the first, my guest, Alexix Madrigal,

at Linux Staff Writer, and one of the world's smartest writers and thinkers on the past and future of technology.

Mr Madrigal, thank you for joining us.

Thanks for having me, Matt. Mr. Madrigal, thank you for joining us.

Thanks for having me, Matt.

So we are convened today to talk about our problematic platforms.

Maybe first and foremost, Twitter, possibly because it's the one that I use the most.

But I think the discussion that I want to have with you Alexis encompasses more than just

Twitter. I think it's Facebook, it's YouTube, Netflix,

possibly all of the technological things that we currently call platforms.

And one of the reasons I'm excited to have this conversation with you that we currently call platforms.

And one of the reasons I'm excited to have this conversation with you, Alexis Madrigal,

is your particular history with technology.

I remember that moment when you came from Wired after covering technology as a reporter and

writer for Wired and started the Atlantic Tech section here I was not yet

working at the Atlantic. I was then

...