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Parisa Tabriz, Google Chrome’s “Security Princess”

Parisa Tabriz is Google’s self-described “Security Princess,” a euphemism she created in part because “hired hacker” sounds kind of evil. Her job is to figure out the problems with Google Chrome and fix them before the bad guys do. That’s a pretty amazing job for anyone, much less a 31-year-old woman, which isn’t exactly the norm in the tech world. Last July, Elle magazine ran a long profile on her.

(Full disclosure: I knew Parisa in high school and we had classes together, though we haven’t talked much since graduating.)

We spoke with Parisa about how she gets into the mind of a hacker, how we can get more women into this field, and how ignorance really isn’t bliss in her world.

January 12, 2015 by

Marshall Brain, Author of How “God” Works

Marshall Brain is best known as the founder of the website HowStuffWorks.com. In 2007, Discovery Communications bought the site for a whopping $250 million.

He has appeared on Oprah, National Geographic Channel, and CNN, and written several books.

His latest one may be the most controversial one yet. It’s called How “God” Works: A Logical Inquiry on Faith.

We spoke with Marshall about how his book is different from those by the New Atheists, why he’s risking his reputation by deconstructing God, and how he’ll know if the book is successful.

January 5, 2015 by

Max Temkin, Co-Creator of Cards Against Humanity

Max Temkin is one of the creators of Cards Against Humanity, the “party game for horrible people.” What began as a game Max played with his friends soon became a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2011, and it has turned into one of the most popular and entertaining (and sometimes controversial) card games today.

We spoke with Max about how he and the writers determine when a card has crossed the line, what the process is like for coming up with new cards, his involvement with Barack Obama‘s U.S. Senate campaign, and the glitch that took place during the Ten Days or Whatever of Kwanzaa.

And, as was mentioned on the episode, if you’d like to reach the Cards Against Humanity customer support hotline, you can do so at 312-756-0834. You know you want to…

December 28, 2014 by

Rabia Chaudry, Catalyst for the Serial Podcast

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney who specializes in immigration law, a National Security Fellow at the New America Foundation, and President of the Safe Nation Collaborative, an organization that, among other things, consults with federal agencies about how to counter violent extremism. She writes at SplitTheMoon.com.

But you may know her best because she’s the person who brought the story of Adnan Syed to reporter Sarah Koenig, resulting in the Serial podcast phenomenon. Rabia’s little brother was Adnan’s best friend and their families were also close.

(I should point out that we taped this episode the day before the final episode aired. Rabia reflected on the final episode and entire series in this article for TIME.)

We spoke with Rabia about what she learned from Serial that she didn’t know before, her relationship with Sarah Koenig, and whether she was compelled to respond to the misinformation about Adnan online.

December 20, 2014 by