IRL: Online Life is Real Life

Democracy and the Internet

IRL: Online Life is Real Life

Show Notes

Part of celebrating democracy is questioning what influences it. In this episode of IRL, we look at how the internet influences us, our votes, and our systems of government. Is democracy in trouble? Are democratic elections and the internet incompatible?

Politico's Mark Scott takes us into Facebook's European Union election war room. Karina Gould, Canada's Minister for Democratic Institutions, explains why they passed a law governing online political ads. The ACLU's Ben Wizner says our online electoral integrity problem goes well beyond a few bad ads. The team at Stop Fake describes a massive problem that Ukraine faces in telling political news fact from fiction, as well as how they're tackling it. And NYU professor Eric Klinenberg explains how a little bit of offline conversation goes a long way to inoculate an electorate against election interference.

IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org

More from IRL: Online Life is Real Life

Dec 18, 2025

Bridget goes to Barcelona to learn more about inverse surveillance, or as some call it, watching the watchers.

Aug 19, 2025

Today, we’re bringing you an episode from our friends at Techish, a podcast by two tech founders and investors talking about all things tech, pop culture, and life. It's equal parts ChatGPT, equal parts Cardi B. Starring Michael Berhane and Abadesi Osunsade.

Jul 8, 2025

AI may be able to talk to animals, but at what cost to the planet. Who is making those decisions, and why it matters.

Jul 1, 2025

AI lives in my city, and probably yours too. What does it mean for our neighborhoods, the people in them, and where data lives?

Jun 24, 2025

There are some good reasons to let AI into our brains. But how much do we know about the privacy of brain data?

See all episodes →