“Marketplace,” Tech Insider joining forces on “Codebreaker” podcast

The public radio show “Marketplace” and Business Insider’s Tech Insider site are launching a podcast next month called “Codebreaker.”

The podcast will start Nov. 11.

“Codebreaker” will explore the issues surrounding new technology, and the first season will ask a basic question — “Is it evil?” Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson and his producer Clare Toeniskoetter are behind it.

Marketplace Tech is taking the lead in producing and reporting the series, with appearance by Tech Insider reporters with stories to tell. Tech Insider reporters will also be blogging about the topics covered in the series and in at least one case animating a story from the podcast.

The partnership came out of a conversation between Tech Insider special projects editor Dan Bobkoff and one of his former colleagues at “Marketplace.”

“Since Marketplace has a massive radio audience but little web presence and a small team, while Tech Insider is built for the web with a big team but doesn’t have a lot of brand recognition (since launching in August), it seemed like a natural fit,” said Tech Insider editor Gus Lubin.

Listeners can binge-listen. To binge, listeners need to “unlock” each new episode with a code deciphered from the previous episode.

Otherwise, listeners have to wait and listen every week when episodes are released like a normal podcast. The codes will get progressively harder over time. The podcast is seasonal with seven episodes to start this season, and all of the first season’s episodes will be finished by launch on Nov. 11.

Each episode will operate under the theme of answering “Is it evil?” Should there be a season two, it will address another fundamental question about technology/web culture and apply it to different technology.