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Does the algorithm know you too well? Here’s how to shake up your recommendations for a more varied listening experience.

Summary List PlacementConspiracy theorists and pro-Trump extremists are using podcasts hosted on mainstream tech platforms to push misinformation, despite a widespread crackdown on individual social media accounts that push these ideas. The AP first reported that podcasts on Apple, Spotify, and Google were peddling claims that the US election was rigged, and that the January 6 US Capitol riots were staged, among other claims. Insider likewise found podcasts easily available on all three platforms that claimed President-elect Joe Biden's win was "a fraud." The podcast "Red Pill News", hosted by a user called RedPill78, described the US Capitol riots as "a staged event" in an episode aired January 11. That's still available on Apple Podcasts as of January 17. The AP found another podcast, "X22 Report", which said in one episode ahead of the Capitol riots: "We the people, we are the storm, and we're coming to DC." That is also available on Google's podcasting platform as of January 17. And Insider on Sunday found a third podcast, called "Quite Frankly" and hosted on Spotify, Apple, and Google, where the host characterized the election in a January 16 episode as "a stinky, smelly, suspicious election" in a wider rant about free speech. "Quite Frankly" has also hosted RedPill78 on prior episodes. The ongoing availability of these podcasts contrasts with the strict stance taken by several major tech firms to crack down on social media accounts pushing conspiracies, or apps that peddle hate, in the wake of the Capitol riots on January 6. Apple, for example, removed alternative social network Parler from its App Store on January 10, saying that the firm hadn't done enough to moderate violent speech in the run-up to the riots. Pro-Trump rioters reportedly used Parler and other platforms to plan the insurrection. Google likewise barred Parler, and explicitly banned some QAnon content from YouTube in October. It also announced it would penalize accounts that post election misinformation. Spotify, meanwhile, in November banned "War Room", a podcast hosted by former White House adviser Steve Bannon. The show was also suspended from Twitter and YouTube after Bannon suggested beheading the government's pandemic expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, and FBI director Christopher Wray. Yet, while the X22 Report podcast remains available via Apple, it has been suspended by YouTube, Spotify, and Twitter. Red Pill News' podcast description also states it is no longer available on YouTube. A fourth podcast "SoulWarrior Uncensored" is run by self-declared QAnon believer Melody Torres. According to the AP, she said she has been booted from Twitter. Her podcast remains available on Apple and Google, but was removed from Spotify after an inquiry by the AP. Oren Segal of ADL's Center on Extremism told AP: "Podcasts filled with hatred and incitement to violence should not be treated any differently than any other content. "If you're going to take a strong stance against hate and extremism in the platform in any way, it should be all-inclusive." Insider approached Spotify, Google, and Apple for comment.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America

Names on the move ahead of the open.

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Legendary Nigerian afrobeats singer/songwriter Waconzy known by his evergreen song "I celebrate" delivers a 2021 youtube music video full of good vibes and good food for his latest pop wedding song titled “MARRY YOU.” This wedding, pop & love song is from his 3rd studio album titled "Afrobeats music legend". Produced by Mr Drill in Lagos Nigeria, MARRY YOU was shot in Puerto Viejo, Limon Costa Rica. The video was directed by Christian Bryant (Dj Chris).

Summary List Placement2021 looks set to be a blockbuster year for books on Big Tech.  As COVID-19 continues to force millions around the world to stay at home, what better time could there be to brush up on the inside stories, secret scandals, and ingenious innovations from Silicon Valley and beyond? Highlights include "An Ugly Truth", the latest deep dive into Facebook from New York Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang, which reveals how Facebook tried to deny its role in the spread of disinformation worldwide, and "Driven", the new book from Insider's very own Alex Davies, which charts Big Tech's battle to develop autonomous vehicles.  Check out our 21 books for 2021 below: 'Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX' Author: Eric Berger Summary: Drawing on unprecedented insider interviews with the people who were there from the beginning, Berger, senior space editor at Arts Technica, tells the story of how SpaceX went from unfathomable to unstoppable.   Publisher: William Morrow  Release date: March 2, 2021  Find it here.  'The Spotify Play: How CEO and Founder Daniel Ek Beat Apple, Google, and Amazon in the Race for Audio Dominance' Author: Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud Summary: Since launching in 2006, Spotify has become synonymous with the global music industry, with hundreds of thousands of songs being streamed on the platform every minute.  Swedish investigative tech journalists Carlsson and Leijonhufvud lift the lid on the firm's early struggles, and the stories that define the firm today.  Publisher: Diversion Books  Release date: Jan 26, 2021 Find it here.  'An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination' Author: Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang Summary: Two veteran New York Times reporters bring years of experience covering one of the world's biggest tech companies to a head with this in-depth dive into the world of Facebook.  Publisher: Harper  Release date: June 15, 2021  Find it here.  'Driven: The Race to Create the Autonomous Car' Author: Alex Davies Summary: This upcoming book from one of Insider's very own senior editors charts the dramatic battle between leading tech firms like Uber and Google to develop revolutionary autonomous vehicle technology.  Publisher: Simon & Schuster Release date: January 5, 2021 Find it here.  'The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley' Author: Jimmy Soni Summary: A long-time contributor to the likes of Slate, The Atlantic, and CNN, Soni's upcoming book delves into the origins of the infamous "PayPal mafia", a motley crew of tech geeks that would change the world of financial technology forever.  Publisher: Simon & Schuster Release date: August 10, 2021 Find it here.  'Mother of Invention: How Good Ideas Get Ignored in An Economy Built for Men' Author: Katrine Marçal Summary: In her latest work, Marçal, a Swedish writer, journalist and correspondent for Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, lifts the lid on how everyday sexism prevents women from helping to change the world.  Publisher: William Collins  Release date: June 24, 2021 Find it here.  'TikTok Boom: China, the US and the Superpower Race for Social Media' Author: Chris Stokel-Walker Summary: What does TikTok mean for the future of technology? In his second book, author and Business Insider contributor Stokel-Walker digs deep into the past, present, and future of the trendiest – and one of the most controversial – social media app of the past few years.  Publisher: Canbury Press Release date: 15 April, 2021 Find it here.  'House of Wirecard' Author: Dan McCrum Summary: In June 2020, Wirecard, Germany's audacious fintech giant, was forced to file for insolvency after admitted around $2 billion was "missing".  In "House of Wirecard", McCrum reveals how he and a team of Financial Times colleagues uncovered one of Europe's biggest corporate fraud scandals of all time.  Publisher: Penguin  Release date: Unconfirmed    'Atlas of AI' Author: Kate Crawford Summary: In "Atlas of AI", Crawford, a senior principal researcher at Microsoft and cofounder of the AI Now Institute at New York University, tracks the impact of artificial intelligence on politics, the planet, and people.  Publisher: Yale University Press Release date: April 6, 2021 Find it here.  'The Voice Catchers: How Marketers Listen In to Exploit Your Feelings, Your Privacy, and Your Wallet' Author: Joseph Turow Summary: "According to scientists, your weight, height, age, race, and illnesses can also be determined from the sound of your voice," he writes. "Ultimately not only marketers – but also politicians and governments – may use voice profiling to infer characteristics about you to serve their interests, not yours or society's."  Publisher: Yale University Press  Release date: June 22, 2021 Find it here.  'This is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyber Weapons Arms Race' Author: Nicole Perlroth Summary: In her upcoming book, distinguished New York Times cybersecurity reporter Perlroth goes digging into the cyber-weapons market.  Publisher: Bloomsbury Release date: Feb 9, 2021 Find it here.  'Go Big: How to Fix Our World' Author: Ed Miliband Summary: Now back in frontline politics after a sabbatical spent hosting the 'Reasons to be Cheerful' podcast, Miliband's new book promises to be a manifesto for radical innovation, looking at how a combination of technology and new policy ideas could transform our world.   Publisher: Bodley Head  Release date: June 3, 2021 Find it here.  'Your Computer is On Fire' Author: Various, edited by Thomas S. Mullaney, Benjamin Peters, Mar Hicks, and Kavita Philip Summary: This collection of essays from leading academics is a call for radical action, warning society can no longer be "lulled into complacency by narratives of techno-utopianism." Publisher: The MIT Press  Release date: March 9, 2021 Find it here.  'Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms' Author: Dhruti Shah and Dominic Bailey Summary: From bear hugs to unicorns, the worlds of business and finance are racked with terrifying terminology. As a host of tech companies look set to IPO in 2021, why not brush up on your lingo, with some animal-oriented inspiration?  Publisher: Portico Release date: April 6, 2021  Find it here.  'Undoing Optimization: Civic Action in Smart Cities' Author: Alison B. Powell Summary: In "Undoing Optimization", Powell, an associate professor of media and communication at the LSE and an affiliate of the Ada Lovelace Institute, examines how town planners, politicians, architects, and activists expect new technologies might transform life in the city.  Publisher: Yale University Press Release date: April 13, 2021  Find it here.  'Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future' Author: Elizabeth Kolbert Summary: This book offers a deep insight into the new world being created around us every day, including interviews with biologists trying to preserve the world's rarest fish, engineers turning carbon emissions to stone in Iceland, and physicists who are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere to cool the earth. Publisher: Crown Release date: Feb 9, 2021  'Saving Social: The Dysfunctional Past and Promising Future of Social Media' Author: Ryan Holmes Summary: In "Saving Social", the founder and CEO of Hootsuite takes a hard look at growing concerns around social media building the world over.  Publisher: Advantage Media Group  Release date: January 12, 2021 Find it here.  'Whistleblower: My Unlikely Journey to Silicon Valley and Speaking Out Against Injustice' (Paperback edition) Author: Susan Fowler Summary: The paperback edition of Fowler's 2020 bestseller reveals the inside story of her stand against sexual harassment in Silicon Valley, which came just a short time before the downfall of her former boss, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.  Publisher: Penguin Books  Release date: Feb 16, 2021 Find it here.  'Hacker, Influencer, Faker, Spy: Intelligence Agencies in the Digital Age' Author: Rob Dover Summary: In his latest book, Dr Dover, a senior lecturer in Intelligence and International Security at the University of Leicester, uncovers how the shady world of international espionage has been forced to up its game in the age of social media.  Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers  Release date: 27 May, 2021 Find it here.  'Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Deception, Disinformation and Social Media' Author: Marc Owen Jones Summary: In this upcoming book, Jones, an assistant professor of Middle East Studies at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, uncovers the full range of online tactics deployed by Gulf regimes and their allies to deceive domestic and international audiences. Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers  Release date: 24 June, 2021 Find it here.  'Data: A Guide to Humans' Author: Phil Harvey and Noelia Jiménez Martínez Summary: In their crowdfunded new release, the authors of "Data: A Guide to Humans" unveil how to properly exploit data, why it's important, and how companies and governments are using it right now.  Publisher: Unbound Release date: January 21, 2021  Find it here. 

Summary List PlacementIf you find you are no longer using Spotify, you can delete your account — but you can only do so in an internet browser, not through the app. Before closing your account, make sure you're aware of the repercussions, and note that you can cancel your subscription without deleting your account altogether.  If you close your account, you won't be able to use your current username with Spotify again; you can, however, create a new account with the same email address. Additionally, you won't have access to your playlists and followers anymore. You'll also lose all the music you've saved to your library. Finally, if you're signed up for Spotify Premium with a student discount, you'll have to wait a full year until you can apply for that discount again. Here's how to close your account. How to delete your Spotify account To begin, you'll have to first navigate to Spotify's "Contact Customer Support" page. Make sure you're logged into the account that you want to delete. This will begin the process to close your account. 1. Click "Account." 2. Click "I want to close my account." 3. Verify that you actually want to permanently close your account, or just cancel your paid subscription. Click the black "Close Account" option on the left side to move forward with deletion. 4. This will bring you to a page that says "We're sad you want to leave us" and will begin the five-step process to close your account. Click the blue "Continue" button to move forward after each step. 5. Verify that you're signed into the right account. Click the blue "Continue" button. 6. Spotify will warn you that you'll lose your followers and playlists. Check the box confirming you understand the consequences, and click the blue "Continue" button. 7. Click "Continue" again on the next page. You'll receive an email — sent to the account you signed up with — to confirm you still want to close your account. 8. Open the link you received and click the final "Close My Account" option. This appears as a green button, and must be clicked within 24 hours of receiving the email. Related coverage from Tech Reference: You can get a free Hulu subscription with Spotify, but only if you're a college student — here's what you need to know How to unlink a Spotify account from your PS4 in 2 different ways How to stop Spotify from opening on startup on your Mac computer, in 2 different ways How to connect your Spotify account to Facebook using a computer or mobile device How to put a song on repeat on your iPhone in Apple Music or Spotify SEE ALSO: The best iPhone for every type of person and budget Join the conversation about this story »