About this episode
As wildfires tear through California, our decades-old infrastructure comes back to bite us. On this week’s On the Media, how we can understand this latest climate catastrophe through a metaphor from the computer world. Plus, the on-going struggle over the fate of the internet message board 8chan. And, Radiolab's Molly Webster digs into the right to be forgotten. 1. Writer Quinn Norton [ @quinnnorton ] on how California's wildfires are caused in large part by infrastructure decays, or the "technical debt" being accumulated by the state, and governments around the country. Listen . 2. Producer Micah Loewinger [ @MicahLoewinger ] reports on whether 8chan can remain dead after being de-platformed in August, featuring a conversation with the founder of the site Frederick Brennan [@ HW_BEAT_THAT ], who now advocates for shutting it down. Listen . 3. Radiolab [ @Radiolab ] producer Molly Webster on a group of journalists in Ohio trying an experiment: unpublishing content they’ve already published. Listen . Music from this week's show: John Zorn — Prelude 7: Sign and Sigil John Zorn — Night Thoughts Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet: Coney Island Dreaming Korla Pandit — Procession of the Grand Moghul Michael Andrews: The Artifact and Living On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today ( https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm ). Follow our show on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.