Listen ad-free

Understood: Who Broke the Internet?

CBC

Host Cory Doctorow coined the word "enshittification" to describe the state of the modern internet: a broken down, decaying place, once full of promise, now overrun with intrusive ads, hateful trolls, aggressive algorithms, zero privacy, and AI-generated slop, with every billionaire tech titan in a race to the bottom to bleed their users and their customers alike.


It can feel like it was inevitable — but it didn't have to be this way.The modern internet is the result of decisions made by powerful people, at key moments in history, despite repeated warnings about where it would lead.


In Understood: Who Broke the Internet?, Doctorow traces the downward spiral from the heady days of '90s tech-optimism through to today's rotten "enshitternet." You'll meet everyone from visionaries to villains to regular people just trying to survive in today's online world. And you'll discover who broke the internet — and, more importantly, a plan to fix it.


Know more, now. Understood is an anthology podcast that takes you out of the daily news cycle and inside the events, people, and cultural moments you want to know more about. Over a handful of episodes, each season unfolds as a story, hosted by a well-connected reporter, and rooted in journalism you can trust. Driven by insight and fueled by curiosity…The stories of our time: Understood.


Season 1 - The Naked Emperor: the rise and fall of bitcoin king Sam Bankman-Fried.

Season 2 - The Pornhub Empire: the story of how a Montreal-founded company came to dominate the adult industry.

Season 3 - Modi’s India: how one man rose from poverty to the peak of political power.

Season 4 - Céline: the surprising cultural, political and business alchemy that created a superstar.

Season 5 - Who Broke the Internet? The internet sucks now, and it happened on purpose.

read less

Our Editor's Take

The Modi's India: Understood podcast is about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Salimah Shivji started the show to explore Modi's impact on India and the world. Anyone who follows Indian and global politics may enjoy this informative content.

This podcast is part of the Understood anthology. The series explores significant events and figures shaping the world today. The English podcast begins by examining Modi's rise to power. He went from being a humble tea seller to one of the most powerful leaders in India. Modi's early life and political strategies helped him gain great popularity. The show also scrutinizes the impact of the 2002 religious riots on his career. It questions whether these events hindered or propelled Modi's ascent.

Much of the podcast discusses Modi's economic policies. His supporters say he changed India's economy making it the fifth largest in the world. The show examines how Modi's plans for development earned him the support of millions. It also discusses how people worldwide view his leadership.

Modi's India: Understood explores other controversial topics as well. It covers accusations against Modi of involvement in religious violence. It also addresses alleged international assassination plots during his time in office. Shivji offers a balanced analysis of Modi's leadership. The show considers what might happen if Modi wins a third term. It also speculates on the future of India's democracy and secularism.

The show also analyzes India's broader cultural and political environment. It examines how Modi's government has affected Bollywood films and Gandhi's legacy. Some worry that democracy is in danger. The series shows the struggle between what India believes about democracy and what is happening.

Each season of Understood addresses different topics. Listeners may also enjoy The Pornhub Empire: Understood and The Naked Emperor: Understood. The straightforward storytelling and careful research in each season could enthrall its audience.

Modi's India: Understood can be a compelling listen. The larger anthology began in 2023.

read less
News
Play Trailer
Introducing: The Pornhub Empire
22-02-2024
Introducing: The Pornhub Empire
Pornhub — that site you only access on your browser’s incognito mode? It gets way more views than Netflix. But because of the sheepishness and stigma around porn, it’s treated as if it’s fringe, instead of what it really is: one of Canada’s largest cultural exports.In The Pornhub Empire: Understood, hear the story of how a Montreal-founded company came to dominate the adult industry — only to have its reputation obliterated in a massive scandal — and where it stands today.The Pornhub Empire is a new season of Understood, from the CBC. Four episodes, starting March 11.

Season 5

Introducing Understood: Who Broke the Internet?
28-04-2025
Introducing Understood: Who Broke the Internet?
It's not you — the internet really does suck. Novelist, blogger and noted internet commentator Cory Doctorow explains what happened to the internet and why you're tormented by ads, bots, algorithms, AI slop and so many pop-ups.Spoiler alert: it wasn't an accident.In a four-part series, Doctorow gets into the decisions made by powerful people that got us here, and most importantly, how we fix it. New episodes released weekly starting on Monday, May 5, 2025.
Don't Be Evil
05-05-2025
Don't Be Evil
Google Search was the gold standard — a product born in a dorm room during the internet’s early, idealistic era. But when internal emails surfaced they revealed a deeper conflict inside the company: was Google making Search worse, on purpose, to boost ad revenue? Google says its changes are all about benefiting users. Critics say it’s all part of a bigger pattern — one that host Cory Doctorow calls enshittification: the slow, deliberate decay of platforms in the name of profit.Guests in this episode include Ed Zitron, Emmanuel Goldstein, Clive Thompson, and Steven Levy.
Ctrl, Ctrl, Ctrl
12-05-2025
Ctrl, Ctrl, Ctrl
In 1998, the United States Congress tried to tame the wild internet with a new law: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. But buried in its fine print was a provision that would end up giving tech giants ultimate legal protection and control, and stop innovators from fixing what's broken. Host Cory Doctorow traces how a law written for a different era led to the arrest of a researcher, became the playbook for Meta's enshittification, and lets platforms degrade your online life today — protecting them while they do it.  Guests in this episode include Seth Schoen and Pam Samuelson. Archival recordings feature Dmitry Sklyarov, Bruce Lehman, Al Gore, and Steve Sipress.
In God We Antitrust
19-05-2025
In God We Antitrust
American antitrust laws were designed to stop companies from wielding the power of kings. But in the 1970s, a legal scholar named Robert Bork convinced Washington to ignore those laws. Host Cory Doctorow traces how Bork's influence gave digital giants like Amazon a decades-long free pass to dominate markets, crush competitors, exploit their own business clients, and treat users like hostages — and how, after 40 years of inaction, former FTC chair Lina Khan took on the fight to rein in monopoly power. Guests in this episode include Michael Wiesel, Lina Khan, and Clive Thompson. Archival recordings feature Robert Bork.
Kick 'Em in the Dongle
26-05-2025
Kick 'Em in the Dongle
It's 2025. President Trump is back, and the richest men in tech are on stage with him. What started as a dysfunctional internet run by tech giants, and enabled by failed legislation, has morphed into something even more dangerous: what economist Yanis Varoufakis calls technofeudalism. Host Cory Doctorow traces how U.S. trade pressure dragged Canada into America's broken internet model, how shortsighted attempts to make big platforms behave came back to haunt us during the worst wildfire season in Canadian history, and offers up a solution for how to save the internet, asking: in a post-free trade world, why are we still playing by American rules?Guests in this episode include Yanis Varoufakis, Delaney Poitras, Michael Geist, Pam Samuelson, Clive Thompson, Ed Zitron, and Emmanuel Goldstein. Archival recordings feature James Moore.

Season 4

Introducing Céline: Understood
08-10-2024
Introducing Céline: Understood
Céline Dion is having a moment. It’s not her first. And millions of fans are hoping it won’t be her last. While Céline’s international stardom seems obvious now, it was all so unlikely. This four-part series hosted by Céline expert Thomas Leblanc explores the surprising cultural, political and business alchemy that created one of the most enduring superstars the planet has ever seen. Four episodes releasing weekly starting on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
Céline Episode 1: Conquering Québec
15-10-2024
Céline Episode 1: Conquering Québec
Céline Dion slept in a drawer as a baby born into a poor francophone Catholic family in Québec. At 12, she gets discovered in an office in Montreal, and she becomes a rising star in the insular constellation of Québec celebrity. But just as Céline is trying to break into English Canada, political tensions are running high in Québec. And some accuse her of selling out.
Céline Episode 2: The U.S. Gamble
22-10-2024
Céline Episode 2: The U.S. Gamble
With her manager René Angélil by her side, Céline Dion is starting to crossover into the US. But there’s a secret René and Céline have been keeping: one René feared could stop Céline’s blooming career in its tracks.
Céline Episode 3: The Globalization of Céline
29-10-2024
Céline Episode 3: The Globalization of Céline
Céline Dion becomes inescapable in the mid-nineties with her hit song from the Titanic soundtrack, My Heart Will Go On. She achieves a unique level of global fame, earning fans from Jamaica to Iraq. But her ubiquity will also inspire a backlash in North America.
Céline Episode 4: The Céline-aissance
05-11-2024
Céline Episode 4: The Céline-aissance
In the aftermath of René Angélil’s death, a Céline-aissance. But then, illness strikes. In the final episode of Céline: Understood, a look at her recent years, and why her fame endures.

Season 3

Modi's India: Season 3 of Understood
24-04-2024
Modi's India: Season 3 of Understood
How did one man rise from poverty to the peak of political power and secure the adoration of nearly one billion people? And how did he overcome accusations — that he denies — of complicity in religious violence and alleged international assassination plots?In the latest season of Understood, Mumbai-based journalist Salimah Shivji examines the remarkable rise, and incredible power that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has acquired. And as his country embarks on a massive election, Shivji asks the pressing question: what’s at stake if he wins again? Coming May 13, 2024.
Modi's India Episode 1: Emperor of Hindu Hearts
13-05-2024
Modi's India Episode 1: Emperor of Hindu Hearts
How did Narendra Modi, the son of a humble tea seller rise up the political ranks to become one of the most powerful leaders India has ever seen? And did bloody religious riots damage his political future, or turbocharge it?Access the transcript for this episode here.
Modi's India Episode 2: Development Man
13-05-2024
Modi's India Episode 2: Development Man
Narendra Modi is the most popular political leader on the planet. His supporters boast that he’s transformed India’s economy – it’s now the world’s fifth largest, surpassing its former colonial ruler, Great Britain. How did Modi shake off the memory of deadly religious riots to win the devotion of hundreds of millions of Indians across the country and the world?Access the transcript for this episode here.
Modi's India Episode 3: The Strongman
20-05-2024
Modi's India Episode 3: The Strongman
Entering his second term stronger than ever, Modi can wield his power in ways that shock many inside India and out. There are crackdowns on dissent at home and accusations his government is tied to assassination plots abroad. His government denies these allegations, but the question remains: how far will Modi go to stop those who challenge him?Access the transcript for this episode here.
Modi's India Episode 4: The Storyteller
27-05-2024
Modi's India Episode 4: The Storyteller
India’s democracy has been called a miracle. Now, some fear it’s at risk.From Gandhi’s legacy to Bollywood films, how is Modi rewriting the story of India?Access the transcript for this episode here.
BONUS: Modi’s weak win
05-06-2024
BONUS: Modi’s weak win
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have narrowly won a third term, but without a majority government, his grip on power appears weaker than ever. On this bonus episode of Modi’s India: Understood, host Salimah Shivji and producer Joyita Sengupta talk about the surprising results of the Indian election. Access the transcript for this episode here.

Season 2

Introducing: The Pornhub Empire
22-02-2024
Introducing: The Pornhub Empire
Pornhub — that site you only access on your browser’s incognito mode? It gets way more views than Netflix. But because of the sheepishness and stigma around porn, it’s treated as if it’s fringe, instead of what it really is: one of Canada’s largest cultural exports.In The Pornhub Empire: Understood, hear the story of how a Montreal-founded company came to dominate the adult industry — only to have its reputation obliterated in a massive scandal — and where it stands today.The Pornhub Empire is a new season of Understood, from the CBC. Four episodes, starting March 11.
The Pornhub Empire Episode 1: Free porn for everyone
11-03-2024
The Pornhub Empire Episode 1: Free porn for everyone
How did a handful of competitive foosball players in Montreal create the world’s largest online porn site? And what do a picturesque Dutch cabin, thousands of pornographic VHS tapes, and the subprime mortgage crisis have to do with it?This is episode 1 of The Pornhub Empire: Understood. Hosted by Samantha Cole.Full transcript here.
The Pornhub Empire Episode 2: Pornhub goes mainstream
18-03-2024
The Pornhub Empire Episode 2: Pornhub goes mainstream
Not only did Pornhub become a massive moneymaker, it also helped push porn into the spotlight by using data, clever PR, and the power of celebrity. How did Pornhub make itself a household name? This is episode 2 of The Pornhub Empire: Understood. Hosted by Samantha Cole.Full transcript here.
The Pornhub Empire Episode 3: Pornhub’s disgrace
25-03-2024
The Pornhub Empire Episode 3: Pornhub’s disgrace
Jane was coerced into making a pornographic film, and told it would never be shared online. Then, it was posted on Pornhub, over and over again. How did a scandal involving the hosting of sexual abuse material seriously damage the lives of many and nearly destroy the company? This is episode 3 of The Pornhub Empire: Understood. Hosted by Samantha Cole.Full transcript here.