How stores are spying on you
Shopping online can be creepy. Suggested products, targeted ads...it feels like your phone is listening to you. You might be tempted to hit the mall instead. But actually, AI is tracking you there too.
Many brick-and-mortar stores depend on holiday sales to stay alive. And increasingly they’re borrowing tricks from the online world to get us to buy stuff – lots of stuff. So in the age of Artificial Intelligence, is there any way to stop being tracked when you shop?
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes.
Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Whitney Henry-Lester. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.
-
Joshua McNichols
Growth and Development Reporter
As KUOW's Growth and Development reporter and co-host of KUOW's Booming podcast, Joshua's "growing pains" beat sits at the nexus of housing, transportation, urban planning, government and the economy. His favorite stories also include themes of history, technology, and climate change.
More stories from Joshua McNichols » -
Monica Nickelsburg
Labor & Economy Reporter
Monica Nickelsburg is an economy reporter covering labor issues, the changing nature of work, the rise and fall of industries, technology trends, and workplace equity. She has extensive experience covering Amazon, Microsoft, and other major players re-shaping the Seattle region.
More stories from Monica Nickelsburg » -
Carol Smith
Editor
Carol is an editor of news, features, documentaries and podcasts at KUOW. She specializes in narrative approaches. Her team of reporters has covered a range of beats, including regional growth issues, homelessness, the economy, public health, immigration, food, arts and culture. Prior to joining KUOW, Carol was a long-time print journalist for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Los Angeles Times and others. Her enterprise reporting has won multiple national j awards for investigative and explanatory journalism. She is author of the memoir: Crossing the River: Seven Stories that Saved My Life (Abrams Press, 2021).
More stories from Carol Smith » -
Lucy Soucek
Podcast Producer
Lucy Soucek is a podcast producer who works on THE WILD with Chris Morgan, a podcast about the wonder and resilience of nature. She's trudged through waist-deep sawgrass looking for pythons and planned reporting trips 5,000 miles away in Ireland.
More stories from Lucy Soucek » -
Whitney Henry-Lester
Podcast Producer
Whitney is a podcast producer at KUOW. She helped develop some of KUOW's first podcasts, including How's Your Day? and Second Wave.
More stories from Whitney Henry-Lester »
