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kill switch

maybe ICEBlock was 'activism theater,' but is banning it protecting us?

kill switch

Kaleidoscope

Science, News, Technology, Tech News

4.7635 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

ICEBlock was an app created to help people report ICE sightings. Then, Apple pulled it from the App Store. But in between those events, there was a semi-public fight over whether the app was actually helpful to immigrants. Dexter talks with security researcher and journalist Micah Lee about why he criticized ICEBlock (calling it “activism theater”), why he still supports the app’s developer in fighting censorship, and what all this means for your ability to use your phone how you want.

Got something you’re curious about? Hit us up killswitch@kaleidoscope.nyc, or @killswitchpod, or @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky.

Read + Watch: 

ICEBlock app homepage:
https://www.iceblock.app

Micah’s blog posts on ICEBlock: 

https://micahflee.com/unfortunately-the-iceblock-app-is-activism-theater/

https://micahflee.com/iceblock-handled-my-vulnerability-report-in-the-worst-possible-way/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is an I-Heart podcast.

0:04.6

Malcolm Gladwell here.

0:05.9

This season on Revisionous History, we're going back to the spring of 1988 to a town in northwest Alabama,

0:11.8

where a man committed a crime that would spiral out of control.

0:15.6

And he said, I've been in prison 24, 25 years.

0:18.3

That's probably not long enough.

0:20.3

I didn't kill them.

0:22.1

From Revisionist History, this is The Alabama Murders.

0:26.4

Listen to Revisionous History, The Alabama Murders on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:32.0

or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:34.5

When news broke earlier this year that baby KJ, a newborn in Philadelphia, had successfully

0:38.9

received the world's first personalized gene editing treatment, it represented a milestone

0:42.9

for both researchers and patients. But there's a gripping tale of discovery behind this

0:47.3

accomplishment and its creators. I'm Evan Ratliff, and together with biographer Walter Isaacson,

0:52.3

we're delving into the story of Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Dowdna, the woman who's helped change the trajectory of humanity.

0:58.5

Listen to Aunt CRISPR, the story of Jennifer Dowdna with Walter Isaacson on the IHeart Radio app,

1:02.7

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:06.2

Michael Lewis here.

1:08.0

My bestselling book, The Big Short, the story of the build-up and burst

1:12.6

of the U.S. housing market back in 2008. A decade ago, the Big Short was made into an Academy

1:18.4

award-winning movie. And now I'm bringing it to you for the first time as an audiobook narrated

1:23.9

by Yours Truly. The Big Short's story, what it means to bet against the market,

...

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