Podcast: DeepMacro: Future of FinanceEpisode: Crypto, The Uberization of Money, and Why Central Banks Want Digital CurrenciesPub date: 2022-02-01Jeff Young spoke with Eswar Prasad, Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy and Professor of Economics at Cornell University. He recently published the book The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance, where he looks at Bitcoin and the transformative potential of the blockchain, the pros and cons of central bank

Podcast: The Anti-Dystopians (LS 24 · TOP 10% what is this?)Episode: Who is Amazon?Pub date: 2022-01-30In this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Rowena Squires, an ancient historian, asks Alina Utrata everything you ever wanted to know about Amazon. How did Amazon go from online bookstore to commercial empire? Is Amazon Alexa really recording everything you say? How was AWS cloud computing invented? And why is the Library of Alexandria such a good origin story for the Amazon Alexa?You can

Podcast: DeepMacro: Future of FinanceEpisode: Crypto, The Uberization of Money, and Why Central Banks Want Digital CurrenciesPub date: 2022-02-01Jeff Young spoke with Eswar Prasad, Tolani Senior Professor of Trade Policy and Professor of Economics at Cornell University. He recently published the book The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance, where he looks at Bitcoin and the transformative potential of the blockchain, the pros and cons of central bank

Podcast: Ethical Schools (LS 27 · TOP 10% what is this?)Episode: From Skinner to computer-based education: Can machines teach?Pub date: 2022-01-21We speak with independent journalist Audrey Watters, author of "Teaching machines: The history of personalized learning," about the origins of teaching machines and the pedagogies that incorporate mechanical devices for teaching and learning. Ms. Watters explains how BF Skinner’s emphasis on behaviorism, in combination with commercial opportunism,

Podcast: New Books in Sociology (LS 39 · TOP 2% what is this?)Episode: Helga Nowotny, "In AI We Trust: Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms" (Polity, 2021)Pub date: 2022-01-20Today I talked to Helga Nowotny about her new book In AI We Trust: Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms (Polity, 2021).One of the most persistent concerns about the future is whether it will be dominated by the predictive algorithms of AI - and, if so, what this will mean for our

Podcast: Ethical Schools (LS 27 · TOP 10% what is this?)Episode: From Skinner to computer-based education: Can machines teach?Pub date: 2022-01-21We speak with independent journalist Audrey Watters, author of "Teaching machines: The history of personalized learning," about the origins of teaching machines and the pedagogies that incorporate mechanical devices for teaching and learning. Ms. Watters explains how BF Skinner’s emphasis on behaviorism, in combination with commercial opportunism,

Podcast: Tech Won't Save Us (LS 55 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)Episode: Envisioning Platform Socialism w/ James MuldoonPub date: 2022-01-13Paris Marx is joined by James Muldoon to discuss his vision for platform socialism and the different ways we could reorganize platforms to serve the public good over corporate profit.James Muldoon is the author of Platform Socialism: How to Reclaim our Digital Future from Big Tech. He’s also a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter and the Head of

Podcast: TRASHFUTURE (LS 56 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)Episode: Hell Is Other Human Resources ft. Alex PressPub date: 2022-01-18We are joined by Alex Press (@alexnpress), of Jacobin and the Primer podcast, to do some more Amazonology. This time, we look at the specifics of how HR operates at this company, how its shittiness ends up hurting workers, and how Amazon is gearing up to export more of its working practices to others. But first, we wonder at why and how it was the parties that finally

Podcast: Tech Won't Save Us (LS 55 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)Episode: Envisioning Platform Socialism w/ James MuldoonPub date: 2022-01-13Paris Marx is joined by James Muldoon to discuss his vision for platform socialism and the different ways we could reorganize platforms to serve the public good over corporate profit.James Muldoon is the author of Platform Socialism: How to Reclaim our Digital Future from Big Tech. He’s also a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter and the Head of

Podcast: TRASHFUTURE (LS 56 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)Episode: Hell Is Other Human Resources ft. Alex PressPub date: 2022-01-18We are joined by Alex Press (@alexnpress), of Jacobin and the Primer podcast, to do some more Amazonology. This time, we look at the specifics of how HR operates at this company, how its shittiness ends up hurting workers, and how Amazon is gearing up to export more of its working practices to others. But first, we wonder at why and how it was the parties that finally

Podcast: Digital Planet (LS 51 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)Episode: Robots under the Thwaites GlacierPub date: 2022-01-12Huge robots, including a seven-metre two-tonne vessel named Ran, are on their way to the Thwaites Glacier to learn more about the retreating ice and its impact on Climate Change. But this won’t be the only tech that’s being deployed on the 65-day mission; British Antarctic Survey’s Boaty McBoatface and the Autosub Long Range vehicle operated by the National Oceanography

Podcast: Digital Planet (LS 51 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)Episode: Robots under the Thwaites GlacierPub date: 2022-01-12Huge robots, including a seven-metre two-tonne vessel named Ran, are on their way to the Thwaites Glacier to learn more about the retreating ice and its impact on Climate Change. But this won’t be the only tech that’s being deployed on the 65-day mission; British Antarctic Survey’s Boaty McBoatface and the Autosub Long Range vehicle operated by the National Oceanography

Podcast: Untangling the Web (LS 24 · TOP 10% what is this?)Episode: Safiya Noble on Algorithms of OppressionPub date: 2022-01-07Our guest for this episode is Safiya Noble, an associate professor of gender studies and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Safiya is the co-founder and faculty director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, an interdisciplinary research center focused on the intersection of human rights, social justice, democracy, and

Podcast: On the Media (LS 72 · TOP 0.05% what is this?)Episode: Aaron Swartz: The Wunderkind of the Free Culture MovementPub date: 2022-01-05In 2013, 26-year-old software developer and political activist Aaron Swartz died by suicide. He had been indicted on federal charges after illegally downloading 4.8 million articles from JSTOR, a database of academic journals, and potentially faced a million dollar fine and decades in jail. While his death made headline news, Swartz had long been an

Podcast: Untangling the Web (LS 23 · TOP 10% what is this?)Episode: Safiya Noble on Algorithms of OppressionPub date: 2022-01-07Our guest for this episode is Safiya Noble, an associate professor of gender studies and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Safiya is the co-founder and faculty director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, an interdisciplinary research center focused on the intersection of human rights, social justice, democracy, and

Podcast: On the Media (LS 72 · TOP 0.05% what is this?)Episode: Aaron Swartz: The Wunderkind of the Free Culture MovementPub date: 2022-01-05In 2013, 26-year-old software developer and political activist Aaron Swartz died by suicide. He had been indicted on federal charges after illegally downloading 4.8 million articles from JSTOR, a database of academic journals, and potentially faced a million dollar fine and decades in jail. While his death made headline news, Swartz had long been an

Podcast: Future Histories (LS 42 · TOP 1.5% what is this?)Episode: S02E11 - James Muldoon on Platform SocialismPub date: 2022-01-09Platforms are ubiquitous. However, they arguably can only realise their full potential when they are no longer subjected to the imperatives of the profit motive. For this we need: Platform Socialism. Collaborative Podcast Transcription If you would like to support Future Histories by contributing to the collaborative transcription of episodes, please contact us

Podcast: Rules to Reality: how regulation shapes, or fails to shape, our daily livesEpisode: #13 The road to digital surveillance is paved with good intentions – with Prof Kate HennePub date: 2022-01-09 Today I speak with Professor Kate Henne. Kate is the director of RegNet, which is the school of Regulation and Global Governance at ANU. She also leads the Justice and Techno Science Lab within the RegNet school. Kate’s research interests and areas of expertise are enormous, and I’ll

Podcast: Future Histories (LS 41 · TOP 1.5% what is this?)Episode: S02E11 - James Muldoon on Platform SocialismPub date: 2022-01-09Platforms are ubiquitous. However, they arguably can only realise their full potential when they are no longer subjected to the imperatives of the profit motive. For this we need: Platform Socialism. Collaborative Podcast Transcription If you would like to support Future Histories by contributing to the collaborative transcription of episodes, please contact us

Podcast: Rules to Reality: how regulation shapes, or fails to shape, our daily livesEpisode: #13 The road to digital surveillance is paved with good intentions – with Prof Kate HennePub date: 2022-01-09 Today I speak with Professor Kate Henne. Kate is the director of RegNet, which is the school of Regulation and Global Governance at ANU. She also leads the Justice and Techno Science Lab within the RegNet school. Kate’s research interests and areas of expertise are enormous, and I’ll