Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what’s going on in the digital world. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

• What’s everyone talking about online? Sacha Baron Cohen‘s keynote address at Anti-Defamation League‘s 2019 Never Is Now Summit on anti-Semitism and hate. The comedian best known for his roles as Borat, Bruno, etc… evicerated the social media platforms. It included lines like: “All this hate and violence is being facilitated by a handful of internet companies that amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history,” and “This is not about limiting anyone’s free speech. This is about giving people, including some of the most reprehensible people on earth, the biggest platform in history to reach a third of the planet. Freedom of speech is not freedom of reach. Sadly, there will always be racists, misogynists, anti-Semites and child abusers. But I think we could all agree that we should not be giving bigots and pedophiles a free platform to amplify their views and target their victims.” And this: “Under this twisted logic, if Facebook were around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his ‘solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem,’ So here’s a good standard and practice: Facebook, start fact-checking political ads before you run them, stop micro-targeted lies immediately, and when the ads are false, give back the money and don’t publish them.” It was brutal and brilliant. 
• Side-bar: live and on the air, I messed up that the ADL stands for the Anti-Defamation League. Apologies for this.
• Marie Kondo (author of the massive book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up) is at the top of the minimalism and “getting rid of stuff” movement. Her famous phrase is to never buy anything or keep anything that doesn’t “spark joy” in your life. Well, Marie just launched her own online store with over 125 items for sale. How about a $98 gemstone water bottle? Does that spark joy, or does it just spark up their bank account? 
• App of the Week: Let’s Marie Kondo Facebook with the “mute button”… 🙂

You can also listen in via I Heart Radio.