Tech Life
Tech Life discovers and explains the ways technology is changing our lives, wherever we are in the world. We meet the people with bright ideas for rethinking the way we work, learn and play, and get hands-on with the products they dream up. We hold tech giants to account for their huge power to affect our lives, and ask who wins, and who loses, in the technology transformation. Tech Life is your guide to a future being made, and remade, at lightning speed in front of our eyes.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 25 minutes
- Episodes
- 320
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
The Tech Tent Christmas quiz
The technology news team review the year in the form of a quiz. Paul Carter and Liv McMahon take on Nick Kwek and Alasdair Keane to see who remembers most about the best - and worst - tech news momen…
The law catches up with Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried is arrested and charged days after telling our reporter Joe Tidy he was confident he would avoid prosecution. We discuss the question Joe asked Sam - has he killed crypto?
Also this…
ChatGPT: The AI chatbot everyone is talking to
How do you feel about talking to a computer? New AI chatbot, ChatGPT, passed one million users in just a week but what are its potential uses and limitations. We also hear from tennis icon, Billie Je…
China's Great Firewall fails
This week journalist and author James Griffiths explains how the Great Firewall of China works - and why it failed to stop the recent wave of protests there. Reporter Alasdair Keane meets the robots …
Is there a future for smart speakers?
Smart Speakers have become part of the furniture of many people's homes, but they don't seem to have proved as lucrative as the companies who created them had hoped. We explore what's next for them. …
FTX: A crypto crisis
The collapse of the FTX currency exchange, and the downfall of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried has been astonishing. Where does the industry go now? The biggest ever satellite, BlueWalker 3, has succe…
Big Tech's big job losses
This week Facebook owner Meta becomes the latest tech giant to axe thousands of jobs. We ask veteran industry watcher Michael Malone how big a crisis this is for Silicon Valley - and we hear from our…
Twitter's tumultuous first week under Elon Musk
Tech Tent analyses Elon Musk's first few days in charge of Twitter. Cyber reporter Joe Tidy meets the people pouring millions of dollars into the Metaverse, before it even exists. Is it finally time …
'This is junk science': The UK takes aim at biometric tech
The UK's deputy information commissioner tells Tech Tent why some new biometric technologies are "the modern phrenology", and based on "magical" thinking. We discuss whether the world is too dependen…
This number has been disconnected
Tech Tent explores why millions of SIM cards face being disconnected in Kenya and Ghana as authorities force people to register them. We'll also speak to writer Becky Holmes on why she responds to ro…
How TikTok syphons off money from some of those most in need
Tech Tent finds out about the BBC investigation into how much money donated through Tik Tok live actually makes it to displaced people’s pockets. Also this week, what should the future of the office …
Elon Musk's Twitter take over rises from the ashes
Elon Musk wanted Twitter, then he didn't - and now he does again. Why has he changed his mind and what does it mean for Twitter? Our Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton guides us through the latest…
Why are there still so few women in tech?
The boss of Apple, Tim Cook, tells the BBC there are no good excuses for the persistent gender imbalance in tech. We ask women starting their careers in the sector what needs to change. How the EU is…
The protests sending Iran offline
This week: Iran suffers internet blackouts and mobile phone outages as protestors mount angry protests against the country's morality police. Will it help stifle dissent? Wikipedia on their competiti…
The Merge: A cryptocurrency revolution
This week on Tech Tent: the Merge - Ethereum, the world's second biggest cryptocurrency, attempts the Merge, a radical new operating model that cuts its energy usage by 99%. Will it work - and how wi…
Apple tries to build back the buzz
On Tech Tent this week Silicon Valley reporter James Clayton joins us from Apple's new product launch in Cupertino, California. We hear from the British firm which is ahead of the pack when it comes …
India's high speed broadband revolution
On Tech Tent this week, we hear about India's ambitions to build the world's fastest 5G network - and why WhatsApp is launching a grocery shopping service there. British regulators take a dim view of…
More trouble at Twitter
On Tech Tent this week, reporter Chris Vallance runs us through the serious allegations about lax security levelled at Twitter by its former employee Peiter "Mudge" Zatko. Dr Jon Roozenbeek, of Cambr…
Can TikTok stars make it on the real stage?
This week Tech Tent speaks to TikTok stars Chloe and Tabby Tingey - aka the Sugarcoated Sisters - about transferring their act to the Edinburgh Fringe and a real life audience. Reporter Alaisdair Kea…
Esports at the Commonwealth Games
We meet the gamers vying for unofficial medals that the Commonwealth Games
Amazon warehouse workers in the UK protest
And we attempt a conversation with Meta's new chatbot
Plus as WhatsApp ditches an i…