First up, Brian Fung, technology reporter for the Washington Post, talks about Comcast expanding its Internet Essentials program by offering debt forgiveness for low-income families with outstanding Comcast bills. Then, what does it take to turn your town into a tech hub? Sometimes, having a wealthy resident can help. Aaron Mendelson reports on how the city of San Leandro is trying to make this transformation.

First up, Chester Wisniewski, senior advisor at the online security firm Sophos, on the Black Hat security conference happening this week in Las Vegas. Then, Adriene Hill joins us from a student data conference looking at the uses of collected student information.

Maryellen Fullerton, professor at Brooklyn Law School, on Edward Snowden’s attempt to continue to live in Russia and any challenges he might face. Plus, Sam Harnett looks at the battle over business travelers from new ridesharing and home sharing services. Finally, how well have you kept up with the week in tech news? This week, Ben plays Silicon Tally with Nilay Patel, Editor-in Chief at The Verge. 

First up, Leoneda Inge reports on Sony’s earnings. Plus, Katie Notopoulos of Buzzfeed talks about her push to unfollow men on Twitter. Also, today’s ambulance is based off a design from the 1970’s and in dire need of a redesign. A fully outfitted ambulance can cost up to $160k. Budgets are tight, whether ambulances are provided by local municipalities or private companies. So updating the fleet could be really costly and slow.  

First, we talk to Nate Elliot, Analyst at  Forrester, about Twitter’s Q2 earnings report. Then, Nancy Marshall-Genzer examines the video game industry’s entry into the Washington lobbying game.  Game companies are weighing in on such issues as online privacy, videogame violence and net neutrality. And when it comes to influencing legislation, they have a secret weapon: millions of committed and politically active gamers.  Finally, Syed Karim, CEO of Outernet, talks about building an internet network from low-cost, miniature satellites.

Today, Kattie Orr stops by to talk about internet company lobbying. Then, Leoneda Inge reports on the TSA’s competition to crowdsource improvements to airline security. Finally, we talk to Joseph Kosper, CEO of a company moving into a startup incubator for veteran owned businesses. 

With Nissan releasing its earnings following the company’s announcement that owners of its electric car, the ‘Nissan Leaf,’ will pay the surprisingly low price of $5,500 for a replacement battery, we look at how Nissan managed to keep the price so low, and if the move will pay off. Plus, we talk to Ibrahim Abdul-Matin about social media apps and other ways Muslims use technology during Ramadan.  Finally, we talk to Chiara Atik about voyeurism on Venmo, a mobile banking app.

FIrst up, we look at  a new, open source privacy tool for developers who want to embed embed easy-to-understand privacy notices in their apps. The notices let users know what data the app collects and how it’ll be used. Plus, Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of Space X, joins us for our Big Thinkers series. Finally, how well have you kept up with the week in tech news? It’s time for Silicon Tally! This week, Ben takes on Marketplace Weekend host Lizzie O’Leary.

First up, Melissa Parrish, an analyst at Forrester research, stops by to talk Facebook earnings. Then, Thorin Klosowski, a writer for LifeHacker and Amazon super user, talks Amazon’s new Fire Phone and its real-world product identifying feature Firefly. Finally, as part of Marketplace’s Big Thinkers series, we talk to Tessie Guillermo, CEO of Zero Divide, an organization that provides technology adoption services for non-profits.