INTERNET EXPLORERS: AMAZON Will Feature NY Times' Kashmir Hill, Gizmodo's Dhruv Mehrotra, and Buzzfeed's Caroline Haskins

Privacy journalists Kashmir Hill (New York Times, Gizmodo) and Dhruv Mehrotra (Gizmodo), and tech reporter Caroline Haskins (Buzzfeed) will join Mark Vigeant for Internet Explorers: Amazon on January 24, 2020 at Caveat.

Amazon is a crazy big corporation. So big, in fact, it's hard to even wrap your head around just how big it is. Web hosting, groceries, streaming video, home surveillance, holiday gifts... you can get almost anything from Jeff Bezos' mega-company (including uranium ore, apparently?!)-if not on-demand, then less than a week later. But labor disputes, privacy concerns, antitrust concerns, tax loopholes, and Bezos' staggering personal wealth have perplexed the tech giant's place in popular culture, complicating everyday Americans' relationships with consumerism and democracy. How did we get here? What can we do about it? And isn't it all kind of silly?

On January 24, Mark Vigeant promises to cancel Amazon for good, redistribute Bezos' wealth, and bring balance to the free market-with the help of his expert guests and comedians, of course. JK, they won't solve anything, but everyone will learn a lot and ROFL as we do.

During her time at Gizmodo, Kashmir Hill worked with Dhruv Mehrotra to produce a series of videos in which Hill blocked the "Big Five" technology giants-Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Apple-from her life, one week at a time. Her first week, she blocked Amazon with the help of a custom VPN (built by Mehrotra), to the chagrin of her young daughter, who couldn't watch Coco for a whole week ?.

Caroline Haskins, a tech reporter now writing for BuzzFeed News, investigated the privacy implications of the Amazon Ring-a home security device that turns its users into a vast surveillance network-in a 3-part series for Vice's Motherboard called "Watching Ourselves."

The entire event will be available to watch simultaneously on the Web, and for free, on Mark's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/markvigeant. Those watching from home are encouraged to interact with Sam Reece, the event's live-stream moderator. Highlights from previous shows are available at https://www.twitch.tv/markvigeant/videos and https://www.youtube.com/markvigeant.

Additionally, check out Mark's "Extremely on YouTube" series, in which he explores platform-specific phenomena like channel types, vlogging, how-to videos, and trends like mukbang.

Mark Vigeant is a comedian who uses comedy to explore and demystify technology - Internet Explorers is his monthly live show where he takes sold-out houses (and viewers on YouTube) deep into a corner of the World Wide Web with comedians and Internet Experts to learn and laugh about everything from memes, Artificial Intelligence, and e-commerce to online dating, hacking, and the dark web.

Mark is joined each month by some of New York's most brilliant comedians from Comedy Central, SNL, and UCB; and technology experts from The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Atlantic.

Mark is additionally joined by composer Darren Solomon ("the band"), Rollie Williams ("the sidekick"), and Sam Reece ("the moderator").

Internet Explorers: Amazon will take place on January 24, 2020 at Caveat (21A Clinton Street). Doors open at 9:00pm and the show begins at 9:30pm. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be purchased at the door for $15.

Tickets can be purchased online at the link here: https://www.caveat.nyc/event/internet-explorers-1-24-2020