Megan Mahle walks us through how she invests in American innovation from the lens of Department of Homeland Security. Through programs like the Small Business Innovation Research grant and the Silicon Valley Innovation Program, DHS enables startups to build new technologies that are useful both for security and commercial purposes. Check out the Ho…

How can we ensure the future of this country is determined by those who'll have to live in it? We speak with Jahnavi Rao, founder of New Voters, which is a non-profit that has helped over 50,000 high school students register to vote across the nation. Jahnavi discusses her work in managing a nationwide, distributed team of volunteers who help stude…

How do we build a regulator for digital platforms? In this episode, we talk to Tom Wheeler, former Chair of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), about how regulators can balance technological innovation with other public interests such as protecting truth in media, a competitive marketplace, consumer data privacy, and more. Listen to T…

Jarred Johnson and Ethan Finlan join us from Transit Matters, a Boston-based equitable transit advocacy group to help us envision a transit-forward Boston. Jarred and Ethan frame the conversation by discussing how necessary building sustainable infrastructure is in the US, as well as pointing to its rising importance in tackling climate change and …

How can we fix the harms created by social media? In this episode, we talk to Trisha Prabhu from ReThink about addressing cyberbullying and other harms on social media. Listen to Trisha discuss how as a teenager she came to building an anti-cyberbullying app to tackle the problems that she saw firsthand in her community and with her peers and how w…

Let’s bring the government into the 21st Century. We chat with Jake Kramer, managing partner at FedTech, who tells us more about their work in the dual use technology space. With FedTech, Jake works with the Department of Defense, Department of Education, NASA, NIST, and more to incubate, invest in, and inspire new deep-tech startups who will turn …

How do we take action with data and ensure it’s used for good? Sarah Williams, Professor at MIT, joins us to discuss her work using data to evoke change. Sarah discusses her various projects, such as the Digital Matatus and Million Dollar Blocks, and how she both came across in designing them and also in constraining them to ensure they have the in…

How can we kickstart civic tech careers for young professionals? Ariana Soto, Deputy Director of Coding It Forward, joins us to discuss her work in creating new opportunities for students to learn more about applying their technical skills to government roles. Ariana discusses how Coding It Forward has supported over 300 students in helping bring f…

How can we use tech to make better buildings and cities in the future? In this episode, we talk to Raja Ghawi from Suffolk Tech about his work investing in technology companies innovating on making construction cheaper, safer, and more environmentally friendly. For example, Raja talks about how software can catch small construction mistakes before …

What is the future of mobility? In this episode, we speak with Prachi Vakharia from the MBTA and co-founder of Womanium. Prachi discusses her meandering path towards transportation tech and innovation as well as her work in guiding electrification and autonomous vehicle development. Prachi tells us more about how policy has to lay the groundwork fo…

What is the future of money? In this episode, we talk to Tim Massad, former Chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission about how to regulate stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CDBCs), and other cryptocurrencies. Tim discusses how his experience with helping the U.S. government implement its bail-out of large banks during the …

What happens when thousands of middle schoolers and high schoolers show their apps to Congress? In this episode, we talk to Joe Alessi of the Congressional App Challenge about how more than 40,000 middle schoolers and high schoolers from around the US have participated in one of the largest hackathons in the US every year and even influenced how Me…

How can tech address inequality? In this episode, we talk to Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee of the Brookings Institution about algorithmic discrimination and broadband access. Listen to Nicol talk about why she thinks addressing algorithmic discrimination is so important, why algorithms reflect and reinforce existing structural inequalities in society, and h…

What role does data and tech play in the future of news? In this episode, we talk to Robin Berjon of The New York Times about why it's important for news and media companies to have a strong data privacy system in place to gain the trust of their users. Listen to Robin discuss how the EU's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) has pushed the no…

How does a Presidential campaign target voters with ads online? In this episode, we talk to Megan Clasen of the Biden 2020 campaign about the role of digital political ads when campaigning in the US today. Listen to Megan discuss how the Biden 2020 campaign was able to target specific persuasion messages to the relevant voters and how digital polit…

This is How Tech Becomes Law, a weekly public interest tech podcast about technology, public policy, and career advice. We are your co-hosts, Jinyan Zang and Dhruv Gupta. How Tech Becomes Law uncovers insights from leaders in government, business, journalism, and academia to highlight how technology can be built in the public interest. Interviewees…