Amazing, unexpected news: Why’d You Push That Button? has recently been declared the official podcast of Texas!
Just kidding, but we’re going there anyway. Our very first live episode will be recorded (and live-streamed) from SXSW on March 9th at 4 PM CT (5 PM ET). We’ll be at The Belmont (305 W 6th St) in downtown Austin and we hope you will be, too, asking smart questions and generally sending us good vibes while we discuss a harrowing topic: all the ways technology encourages us to “ghost” on dates, partners, friends, and even roommates.
As usual, Ashley Carman and I will host, with behind-the-scenes magic from our producer Andrew Marino. And as usual, there’ll be some high-stakes drama followed by a descent into misery that may or may not be reversed by the end of the hour. We’ll be joined by OkCupid engineering manager Jordan Guggenheim, who’s going to answer all our questions about how dating app designers think about human behavior. Can they con us into treating each other kindly? Should they throw up their hands and let us break each other’s hearts? Dr. Jess Carbino, the in-house sociologist at Bumble, will weigh in from the human nature side of things, and I sure hope it gets messy.
You should RSVP to find out, and while you’re at it, sign up to attend live tapings of The Vergecast (12PM CT on March 9th), Recode Decode (2PM CT on March 11th), and The Ezra Klein Show (3:30PM CT on March 11th). Ezra is interviewing Melinda Gates? Wild. It’s all part of Vox Media’s “The Deep End,” which also includes a fancy Texas dinner with editors from Eater, a dream arcade set up by Polygon, and a gaming tournament hosted by SBNation. It’s a brand activation, but it’s a cool brand activation.
There will be stickers. Eyeballs!
Also, the season 2 premiere of Why’d You Push That Button? is coming on March 6th — just before we head down to Austin. So tune in! And in the meantime, catch up on anything you missed from season 1. You can find us anywhere you find podcasts, including on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, and our RSS feed.
Why’d You Push That Button? at SXSW is sponsored by Great Clips and Tempur-Pedic, so thanks a bunch to those guys. And to you: keep getting haircuts and sleeping.
See you in Texas!