Hi, if then, listeners, Will and I are not here with a new full episode of the show.

You'll see that in your feed on Wednesday.

Instead, we're here with a bonus of sorts, the first episode of the new technology show from Slate and the Economist, the Secret History of the Future.

Before we play episode one, we want to introduce you to our colleague, Seth Stevenson. He's one of the hosts of the Secret History of the Future. Seth, welcome. Hi, guys. Thanks for inviting me into your feed. It feels slightly imperial of me to barge into your territory like this, and I appreciate it. We're glad to have you and introduce your show to our listeners. Let me start by asking you about the title. What is the history of the future? And what's so secret about it? Yeah. So we're telling some tales from the history of technology that we hope a lot of listeners won't have heard before. So that's, I guess, the secret. And in terms of it being the history of the future, I think the idea is that we can learn a lot by looking at these older stories because technological history, as they say, doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme. So I think you can learn a lot by seeing how people responded to new technologies in the past, and there are a lot of echoes.

It's familiar, if you look at that history, with how people sometimes respond to new technologies

today. And so you can maybe glean some insights or maybe make some predictions about how new technologies

will be received or maybe come up with some ideas for modern-day

counterparts to older technologies that help solve problems.

It's true.

You know, back in my college days long ago, I researched the history of radio.

And back then, when radio was first being regulated, senators and members of the House were making a big to do about the power of these platforms and how they absolutely needed to be regulated in the public interest or else are going to completely control what people think and that these disembodied voices are just going to control public discourse in every way.

And it's so interesting now reporting on Facebook and Google every week and how we're

wrestling with the power of those platforms. This is a conversation that we've been having in the

U.S. for almost a century. Sure. And you mentioned radio. One episode we're going to do is about

this idea of information overload, how people, you know, can feel overwhelmed by all these notifications

and alerts and news pouring in. But, you know, can feel overwhelmed by all these notifications and alerts and

news pouring in. But, you know, in the, in the Hative Radio News, when they switch from news alerts

on the hour to news alerts twice per hour, people were like, oh, my God, that's too much news.

There's not that much happening. How can you assault us with so many news alerts? It is really

funny when you look back at the way people have received change because technology, you know, is always changing, but people in lots of ways kind of stay the same.

So this is one example of the type of stories you're going to be telling. Can you tell us a little bit about what your first show is about?

Yeah, the first show, which you're about to hear, is about

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