Comcast and Charter, companies with a combined 47 million customers, put out a vague press release this week stating they would explore opportunities for “operational cooperation.” Roger Cheng, executive editor of news at CNET, explains why the two are coming together and what that could mean for consumers’ internet options. Afterwards, we’ll take a brief look at the story of Dread Pirate Roberts. No, not the character from “The Princess Bride,” but the man who created the Silk Road website using that name as his online pseudonym: Ross Ulbricht. Nick Bilton, author of “American Kingpin,” stopped by to talk about controversy over the creator’s identity, legal pushback against the site, and ethical quandaries surrounding the dark web.

Snap has tons of daily active users, tons of daily active media brands, and soon, it could have television programming. Shalini Ramachandran from the Wall Street Journal shares the type of programming Snap is planning to roll out, and how the company will collaborate with old media like NBC. Afterwards, Jalek Jovanputra, a managing partner and founder of Future Perfect Ventures, explains how the underlying technology of bitcoin might be used in the physical world. 

France is gearing up to choose its new president in just a couple of days. Among those that are watching: Facebook and Google, who hope that fake news will be less visible than it was in the run up to the U.S. presidential election last fall. Sarah Frier, a tech reporter for Bloomberg, details the different efforts both companies are making to combat the issue, which includes collaborations with fact-checking organizations and research investment. And finally, we’ll cap off today’s show by playing Silicon Tally with Quartz reporter Mike Murphy.

Despite its popularity, the Netflix drama “13 Reasons Why” has received criticism for its very graphic depiction of suicide. Dan Romer, a research director at the University of Pennsylvania, joined us to discuss the effect of media depictions of the act on audience members. Next, we’ll look at Facebook’s decision to hire 3,000 people over the next year to help address violence on its site, and then check out the soundtrack “Bird World” from composer Leon Chang, which he created by imagining a video game that doesn’t actually exist.

Some educational tools Microsoft is betting on: OneNote. Word. And, yes, Minecraft. The tech giant is releasing a suite of products for the classroom, which include “Minecraft: Education Edition,” to get kids interested in the STEM fields. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella joined Marketplace’s Molly Wood to chat about these offerings, the company’s competition, and why ed tech can’t be a substitute for everything. Afterwards, we’ll look at New Orleans’ burgeoning tech scene by hearing from the CEO of a market research startup called Lucid.

The new season of “Orange is the New Black” has been released a little earlier than expected this year. A hacker (or group of hackers) named thedarkoverlord leaked the episodes online, and has threatened to post shows from other networks. Michael Smith of Carnegie Mellon and the author of “Streaming, Sharing, Stealing” stopped by to explain the cost of piracy and whether anti-piracy legislation has an effect on consumer behavior. Afterwards, we’ll discuss what the vast amount of venture capital money flowing in China right now could mean for its economy.

A lot of people think bitcoin will play a part in the future of financial services, but what some have a bigger eye on is the currency’s underlying technology: blockchain. That includes financial behemoths like JP Morgan Chase. We spoke with one of the company’s directors, Amber Baldet, to find out what makes it so appealing. Afterwards, we’ll chat with journalist Sarah Jeong about her experience getting hacked — on purpose.   

It’s been a busy past few days in the tech world, so we’re going to kick off the show by playing “Silicon Tally” — the game where were try to stump people with numbers from the week’s tech news. Our guest this Friday: Melissa Kirsch, editor in chief of Lifehacker. Afterwards, we’ll look at virtual reality’s strong presence at the annual Tribeca Film Festival, and then chat with researcher Molly Sauter about the laws governing cyber crime.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai wants to put an end to net neutrality rules, a move that shouldn’t be surprising given the position he took on the issue during the Obama era. But why? Recode’s Tony Romm is here to explain why Pai is so against these regulations. Afterwards, we’ll look at Amazon’s new Echo Look, a device that can snap photos of you and provide some fashion advice. Zeynep Tufekci, an associate sociology professor at the University of North Carolina, argues this is the latest evidence that suggests “surveillance capitalism” may take over our lives. Plus: Ryan McKnight, an ex-Mormon, talks about his website MormonLeaks — a venue for members of the Mormon Church to post information anonymously.