Computer Science

Technology is evolving from an external tool we wield when needed to an always-there presence that is with us, on us, even inside of us. As we become more and more wired, are we becoming digital devices ourselves? In this episode meet a Swedish mom who implanted an RFID chip as a lifestyle choice; a filmmaker who lost his eye in a gun accident and replaced it with a camera; and the so-called "world most connected man," who uses between 300-700 tracking and life logging systems to monitor every aspect of his life.

The digital era gives rise to unprecedented opportunity to exploit, and be exploited. Troves of child pornography are available at the click of a mouse. Who are these children - and who profits from their abuse? While facilitating the darker side of our impulses, technology is also being touted as a cure to rehabilitate predators. In this episode meet the children who are forced to perform sex acts on camera; people who use the same technology to protect kids and nab the perpetrators; plus, a pedophile who reveals the roots of his addiction.

The Internet is an uncontrollable labyrinth of content and imagery that operates under loose laws and partial anonymity - a new frontier where people can do anything and see anything, whether they should or not. In this lawless landscape, who's in control? The protectors? The abusers? In this episode meet the content moderators who watch the worst of the Internet so you don't have to; a convicted hacker whose punishment was the virtual prison of the unplugged; plus, a blackhat hacker who encrypts and holds computer files hostage.

The Internet promises us escape from reality. We can go places we never thought possible and express ourselves as never before. But as we sit in our homes surrounded by screens, are we free... and safe? In this episode meet a woman pulled into an online cult from the safety of her bedroom; a former pilot who suffers from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity and can only find relief in the absence of electricity and wifi; plus, a quadriplegic who uses cutting-edge adaptive robotics and virtual reality to transcend his body's limitations.

The Internet enables us to connect with people, images and information in ways that were unimaginable 30 years ago. But with every click we are re-wiring the physical structure of our brains. Are we evolving or actively de-evolving down a dopamine-laced click-hole? In this episode meet a 17-year-old boy struggling with an addiction to online pornography; autistic technologists in Silicon Valley who are turning their genetic variation to an advantage; plus, Nootropics, a class of cognition-enhancing supplements that claims to rewire the brain.

We all project images of ourselves online - a curated identity that defines how we want to be perceived. But what temptations exist to embellish and what are the dark implications? In this episode, enter the world of Cyberbanging, where inner city youth are using social media to brag, conspire and incite violence; two African-American women bloggers who have turned the table on the trolls who threaten them; and the creator of Abdullah X, an online character who's trying to keep Muslim kids from falling under the spell of Islamic extremists.