Machine Control, Citizen Scientists, Reality TV

Coming up on today’s show:

• With machine learning, we could be training our devices like pets instead of issuing commands through code. Jason Tanz, editor-at-large for WIRED, took a deep dive into machine learning for the publication’s June cover story, “The End of Code and Future of AI.” 

• How is growing connectivity changing the way we live? And how will the choices we make be enhanced or restricted as computers outperform humans? For answers, we turn to Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of “The Seventh Sense: Power, Fortune and Survival in the Age of Networks.”

• A new podcast from Marketplace, “The Uncertain Hour,” explores what it takes to make it in America, and the first season is focused on welfare reform. Krissy Clark, host of the podcast and senior correspondent for Marketplace’s Wealth and Poverty Desk, looks back at the last 20 years of welfare reform. 

• On Monday, the House introduced a bill to secure emergency funding to fight the Zika virus, and the Senate voted on their own version of a Zika funding bill on Tuesday. The two pieces of legislation are vastly different, and both fall short of the $1.9 billion requested by the White House. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich has the details. 

• As part of an effort to learn more about the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses, The Invasive Mosquito Project is asking volunteers to collect mosquito eggs in their communities and add the data to an online map. Lee Cohnstaedt, head of The Invasive Mosquito Project, explains how this initiative works.

• As part of their ongoing coverage of the opioid crisis, ProPublica created a searchable database of the prescribing habits of hundreds of thousands doctors across the country. But many Americans were using the search tool to find a doctor who would prescribe opioids, illuminating the limits of transparency as a panacea. Stephen Engelberg, editor-in-chief of ProPublica, explains. 

• Just 16 years ago, a staggering 52 million viewers tuned in to watch the season finale of “Survivor” during the so-called “golden age” of reality television. But that era is over, according to Chris Abrego, one of the minds behind some of the greatest reality TV programming. Abrego is author of the new memoir “Make It Reality: Create Your Opportunity, Own Your Success.”

Today we’re asking you to fill in the blanks: “Life was better before _____ because _____.” Check out the conversation on Anchor and add your voice.