16 Minutes on the News

What's hype and what's real?

16 Minutes on the News is a short news podcast where we cover the top headlines of the week in tech and business, the a16z Podcast way. With host Sonal Chokshi — a16z’s editor in chief and the showrunner for the a16z Podcast — and guests from a16z and the broader tech ecosystem, the show tries to answer: why are these topics in the news; what’s hype and what’s real, from our vantage point; and what are our experts’ quick takes on these trends?

Latest Episodes

March 28, 2021

NFTs: What, Where, How, Why, Who

This deep-dive -- one of our occasional 2-4X explainer episodes on 16 Minutes; (past such episodes have covered everything from Section 230 and Tiktok to GPT-3 ...

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March 20, 2021

The U.S. Vaccine Rollout

Today on our news analysis show 16 Minutes — since this show is all about teasing apart what’s hype/ what’s real and where we are on the long arc of ...

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March 16, 2021

The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine and COVID Efficacy Rates

In today's episode of our news analysis show 16 Minutes, our topic is the ongoing buzz and the mixed news around the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was ...

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March 7, 2021

Semiconductor Shortage and the Global Supply Chain Squeeze

In this week’s episode of 16 Minutes, our show where we talk about tech trends in the news, what’s hype/ what’s real, and where we are on the long arc of ...

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February 25, 2021

When Christie's Meets Crypto — The NFT Moment

In this week’s episode of 16 Minutes — where we talk about tech trends in the news, what’s hype/ what’s real, and where we are on the long arc of ...

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February 20, 2021

China Steams Ahead in Gaming; MetaHuman Creator and the Uncanny Valley

We have two brief segments — taking up less than 16 Minutes! — in this week’s episode of "16 Minutes," where we talk about tech trends in the news, ...

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February 6, 2021

Beyond Bezos: Amazon, Cloud, and CEO Transitions

Amazon just announced this week that its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos "will transition to the role of Executive Chair in the third quarter of 2021 and [CEO of ...

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February 1, 2021

Anatomy of a Hack: SolarWinds and Ripples Beyond

In this special “3x”-long episode of our (otherwise shortform) news analysis show 16 Minutes -- past such 2-3X explainer episodes have covered section 230, ...

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January 26, 2021

Dall-E AI for Images; Direct Listings, SEC Ruling for Issuing Shares

We've got segments on artificial intelligence and IPO innovation in today's episode of 16 Minutes, where we take a look at the news and what it means for the ...

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January 16, 2021

All about Section 230, In the News

All about section 230 of the Communications Decency Act -- what does and doesn't it say? How does this law play out against broader questions and debates ...

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January 11, 2021

FinCEN Crypto Rule; Haven Healthcare Breakup

We're covering two trends in this week’s episode of "16 Minutes," where we talk about the news, tech trends, and the long arc of innovation:  #1 FinCEN, ...

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December 16, 2020

U.S. Government Hacked; Scaling Ethereum

We're back to covering multiple items on our show 16 Minutes -- which covers the news, occasional explainers, and teases apart what's hype/ what's real -- as ...

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Get Started with These Popular Episodes

GPT-3, Beyond the Hype

What's real, what's hype when it comes to all the recent buzz around the language model GPT-3? What is "it", how does it work, where does it fit into the arc of broader tech trends -- and are we really getting closer to artificial general intelligence?

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Tiktok and 'Seeing Like an Algorithm'

In this special "2x" episodes of 16 Minutes, we cover the algorithm that powers TikTok. We cover what we learn from the "creativity network effects" flywheel of TikTok; about "algorithm friendly" product design; and more.

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Section 230 CDA: Content Moderation, Free Speech, the Internet

We break down Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, including what it is and isn't, its evolution, where platforms and content moderation comes in -- explaining nuances, debunking popular rhetoric, and more.

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The Case of Zoom and Scaling Cloud Security

Zoom has been in the headlines for security related issues and concerns, while experiencing unprecedented growth as well. What's hype, what's real, and what does it tell us about bottom-up SaaS and cloud security?

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