SHORT BIO
Molly Wood is the former host and senior editor of "Marketplace Tech," a daily broadcast focused on demystifying the digital economy, and former co-host of "Make Me Smart," where she and co-host Kai Ryssdal would try to make sense of big topics in business, tech and culture.
What was your first job?
Grocery store checker (but I also drove an ice cream truck once).
Fill in the blank: Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you ______.
Time, the most precious thing of all.
What is something that everyone should own, no matter how much it costs?
A pet!
What’s the favorite item in your workspace and why?
My electric fireplace! It is both cute and cozy.
Episodes by Molly (3,464)
Latest Stories (2,747)
Border dispute involves Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Google Maps
by
Molly Wood
Nov 19, 2010
A Nicaraguan general looks on Google Maps, sees that some nearby land is marked as belonging to his country but is currently flying a Costa Rican flag. So he marches in, has the flag taken down, and claims the land. If it was a movie, he'd be played by Steve Carrell. But the reality of the situation is more complex and thought-provoking.
Same-sex couple in Texas gets married via Skype
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Molly Wood
Nov 18, 2010
Mark Reed and Dante Walkup have been together for 10 years and decided to get married. But they live in Dallas where same-sex marriage is not legal. After doing a little research, they found that the District of Columbia, where same-sex marriages are recognized, does not have clear laws forbidding what are called proxy weddings. So they got married via Skype.
Why was 15 percent of the world's internet traffic routed through China for 18 minutes?
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Molly Wood
Nov 17, 2010
Short answer? We don't know. Slightly longer answer: It's kind of strange that we don't know. The incident occurred last April and was recently reported by the security firm McAfee. The Chinese government says the sudden traffic reroute was an accident but little is known about what happened to the data when it was there.
Do you trust Facebook enough to let it handle your email?
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Molly Wood
Nov 16, 2010
Facebook announced a new messaging system that incorporates email, texts, instant messaging, and the Facebook messaging people are already using. But given the privacy concerns that have dogged the social media giant for years, are users going to be willing to trust Facebook enough to use it for all their personal communications?
New prosthetic arms are wired directly to the human brain
by
Molly Wood
Nov 16, 2010
A new breakthrough in the field of prosthetic limbs could make available a new generation of arms that are more nimble and dexterous than ever before. And not only do they resemble a natural arm in shape, size, weight, and strength, they have much more sophisticated wiring, letting the wearer operate the arm with brain signals.
Amazon.com removes controversial book but controversies may return
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Molly Wood
Nov 12, 2010
Amazon.com has removed an especially controversial title from its Kindle electronic book store. Amazon initially defended its own carrying of the book, saying that to remove it would be censorship, and then they yanked it anyway. But given the way Amazon stocks the virtual shelves of its online store, isn't this issue likely to come up again?
Google picks up data, threats, investigations, criticisms
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Molly Wood
Nov 11, 2010
The Federal Communications Commission confirmed Wednesday it's investigating Google in response to the company collecting information from unsecured Wi-Fi networks while taking pictures for the Google Street View service. Google says it was an accident but the issue is far from settled.
Fired for Facebook slams: Is Facebook a water cooler or a blog?
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Molly Wood
Nov 10, 2010
Dawnmarie Souza worked as an emergency medical technician for a company called American Medical Response of Connecticut. Souza didn't like her boss. At all. So she dealt with it on Facebook, ripping into him repeatedly, using vulgar language, and calling him a "17", the company term for a psychiatric patient. Souza got fired. Now the National Labor Relations Board has taken up her case, saying that she shouldn't have been.
Bracelet may help communication for people with autism
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Molly Wood
Nov 9, 2010
For people with autism, communication can be a struggle, one that can seem insurmountable. But a team of researchers at MIT may have come up with a fairly simple solution: a bracelet. The Q Sensor wristband can provide a window into how the wearer is feeling at a given time.
Mind Blowing Monday: Digital sweatshops are hiring
by
Molly Wood
Nov 9, 2010
As the economy struggles to rebound and unemployment continues to hover above 9 percent, it may be heartening to hear that there are plenty of jobs available online that you can do from home. But it may not be that simple.