Original Content podcast: ‘Altered Carbon’ is a murder mystery in a body-swapping future

Altered Carbon, released today by Netflix, is adapted from a science fiction novel by Richard K. Morgan. It tells the story of Takeshi Kovacs, a one-time rebel played by a Joel Kinnaman, who’s forced to take on the role of detective and track down a rich man’s murderer.

The twist: The murder victim is also Kovacs’ employer, because the series takes place in a future where human consciousness can be transferred between bodies.

In this week’s episode of TechCrunch’s Original Content podcast, Jordan Crook, Darrell Etherington and Anthony Ha offer their initial thoughts on the series, which livens up a familiar, Blade Runner-y setting with some big science fiction ideas — and it expects viewers to keep up without much explanation.

We also discuss YouTube TV’s launch on Roku and Apple TV and HBO’s online growth. And while it’s not streaming-related, but we had to talk about the accident Darrell was in while testing out automated driving tech.

You can listen in the player above, subscribe using Apple Podcasts or find us in your podcast player of choice. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review on Apple. You also can send us feedback directly.