{"podcast":{"title":"Breaking Math Podcast","slug":"breaking-math-podcast-325661","podcast_index_feed_id":325661,"rss_url":"https://media.rss.com/breaking-math/feed.xml","website_url":"https://breakingmath.io","image_url":"https://media.rss.com/breaking-math/20260128_120149_db52c06c727767171b7ad28e5f6a32af.png","author":"Autumn Phaneuf & Noah Giansiracusa","episode_count":192,"summary":"Breaking Math is a deep-dive science, technology, engineering, AI, and mathematics podcast that explores the world through the lens of logic, patterns, and critical thinking. Hosted by Autumn Phaneuf , an expert in industrial engineering, operations research, and applied mathematics, and Noah Giansiracusa , a mathematician and leading voice in algorithmic literacy and technology ethics, the show is dedicated to uncovering the mathematical structures behind science, technology, and the systems shaping our future. What began as a conversation about math as a pure and elegant discipline has evolved into a platform for bold, interdisciplinary dialogue. Each episode of Breaking Math takes listeners on an intellectual journey—into the strange beauty of chaos theory, the ethical dilemmas of AI and algorithms, the hidden math of biology and evolution, or the physics governing black holes and the cosmos. Along the way, Autumn and Noah speak with working scientists, researchers, and thinkers across fields: computer scientists, physicists, chemists, engineers, economists, philosophers, and more. But this isn’t just a podcast about equations. It’s a show about how mathematics shapes the way w…","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-math-podcast-325661"},"episode":{"title":"How Ransomware Became a Global Industry with Anja Shortland on Dark Screens","slug":"how-ransomware-became-a-global-industry-with-anja-shortland-on-dark-screens","published_at":"2026-05-05T16:26:01+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-math-podcast-325661/how-ransomware-became-a-global-industry-with-anja-shortland-on-dark-screens","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-math-podcast-325661","url":"https://rss.com/podcasts/breaking-math/2795949","audio_url":"https://content.rss.com/episodes/369257/2795949/breaking-math/2026_05_05_16_16_52_cf4b2a2d-7a65-4bf2-a1ea-07fc527091f8.mp3","summary":"What if ransomware did not begin with criminals, but with curiosity? In this episode of Breaking Math, Autumn and Noah talk with Anja Shortland, professor of political economy at King’s College London and author of Dark Screens. This conversation explores how playful hacking evolved into professionalized cybercrime, why ransomware gangs operate like morally questionable internet startups, how cryptocurrency made ransomware scalable, and why hospitals, governments, universities, and critical infrastructure remain especially vulnerable. We also dig into the mathematics behind encryption, asymmetric cryptography, game theory, negotiation, cyber insurance, and the uncomfortable trade-offs between freedom, privacy, and regulation. Chapters 00:00 The origins of ransomware and early hacker culture 02:13 The evolution of ransomware attacks since 2013 03:14 The paradox of cybercriminals as entrepreneurs 06:19 Early hackers: Steve Jobs and Wozniak as pioneers 12:34 The moral and legal landscape of hacking and cybercrime 13:39 The importance of cybersecurity awareness for individuals 15:03 The arms race: attackers vs defenders and the role of math 16:02 The technological innovations behind ransomware 19:21 Asymmetric encryption and cryptocurrency in ransomware 20:53 Bitcoin and the dark web: enabling cybercrime 22:45 The impact of AI on future cyber threats and defenses 34:07 The future of ransomware and cybersecurity challenges Follow Anja Shortland on LinkedIn ( https://uk.linkedin.com/in/anja-shortland-53133b231 ) Book ( https://amzn.to/4d6pB4X ) Follow Breaking Math on Substack ( https://breakingmath.substack.com/ ) Twitter ( https://x.com/breakingmathpod ) X ( https://www.instagram.com/breakingmathmedia/ ) Bluesky ( https://bsky.app/profile/breakingmath.bsky.social ) Website…","meta_description":"What if ransomware did not begin with criminals, but with curiosity? In this episode of Breaking Math, Autumn and Noah talk with Anja Shortland, professor…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2517,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/breaking-math-podcast-325661/episodes/how-ransomware-became-a-global-industry-with-anja-shortland-on-dark-screens/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/breaking-math-podcast-325661/how-ransomware-became-a-global-industry-with-anja-shortland-on-dark-screens.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}