The eerie similarity of coffee shops all over the world was so confounding to Kyle Chayka that it led him to write the new book Filterworld: How Algorithms Are Flattening Culture. In today’s episode, Kyle’s going to walk us through the recent history of the cafe, to help us see how digital behavior is altering a physical space hundreds of years older than the internet itself, and how those changes are happening everywhere—it’s just easier to see them when they’re spelled out in latte art.
This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Katie Shepherd. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd and Evan Chung. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Special thanks to Ben Frisch and Patrick Fort.
If you haven’t yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.
If you’re a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate’s website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Decoder Ring: Making Real Music for a Fake Band
Decoder Ring: Can the “Bookazine” Save Magazines?
Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes (Encore)
Decoder Ring: Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet
Decoder Ring: The Gen X Soda That Was Just "OK"
Announcing Slow Burn Season 9
One Year: 1990 | 5. The Angry Death of Kimberly Bergalis
One Year: 1990 | 4. Art on Trial
One Year: 1990 | 3. Bush vs. Broccoli
One Year: 1990 | 2. Mandrake the Magician
One Year: 1990 | 1. Pizzastroika
Decoder Ring: The Forgotten Video Game About Slavery
Decoder Ring: The Dating Manual Unlike Any Other
Decoder Ring: Mailbag - The Recorder, Limos, and “Baby on Board” Signs
Decoder Ring: When Art Pranksters Invaded Melrose Place
Decoder Ring: The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance
One Year: 1955 | 6. The Hiroshima Maidens
One Year: 1955 | 5. The Cutter Incident
One Year: 1955 | 4. Siberia, USA
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Russia Rising
In The Dark
Over My Dead Body
The Dropout
Broken Harts