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Science, Technology, and Society
Scholarly Communication March 18, 2023

The Challenge of AI to Publishing

A Discussion with Sally Wilson of Emerald Publishing

Sally Wilson

Hosted by Avi Staiman
Sally Wilson, VP of Publishing at Emerald opens up about the challenges publishers are facing in contending with the onset of the mass adoption of AI tools including ChatGPT, and …

Science, Technology, and Society

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Interviews with scholars of science, technology and society about their new books.

National Security March 17, 2023

Original Sin

Power, Technology and War in Outer Space

Bleddyn E. Bowen

Hosted by Samuel Canter
Space technology was developed to enhance the killing power of the state. The Moon landings and the launch of the Space Shuttle were mere sideshows, drawing public attention away from …
Anthropology March 17, 2023

The Philosophy of Tattoos

John Miller

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
‘History, it seems, is seldom written by the tattooed.’ The Philosophy of Tattoos (British Library, 2021) by Dr. John Miller presents an impressively broad yet personal account, exploring tattooing as …
American West March 16, 2023

A People's History of SFO

The Making of the Bay Area and an Airport

Eric Porter

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
What can an airport tell us about a city? Quite a bit, according to UC-Santa Cruz history professor Eric Porter in A People's History of SFO: The Making of the Bay Area and …
MIT Press Podcast March 15, 2023

Computer Music and Human Computer Interaction

A Discussion with Michael Gurevich

Michael Gurevich

Hosted by MIT Press
Michael Gurevich, lecturer at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at the Queen’s University, Belfast School of Music and Sonic Arts, serves as guest editor of the Winter 2010 issue of …
Ministry of Ideas March 14, 2023

Divine Technology--or, Religion, Technology, and Magic

Illuminations Episode 3

Tulasi Srinivas

Hosted by Zachary Davis
It’s common to feel that technology removes the magic of the world, but Hindu worshippers in Bangalore have shown that it's all in the approach. Guest: Tulasi Srinivas, associate professor of …
Peoples & Things March 13, 2023

Traveling Black, A Story of Race and Resistance

A Conversation with Mia Bay

Mia Bay

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Mia Bay, the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Chair in American History at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about her book Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance …
Ministry of Ideas March 13, 2023

Beyond Belief or, Science, Religion and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Illuminations Episode 2

Avi Loeb, Kate Dorsch, and Sen. Harry Reid

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Do scientists ever reject science? Research data on the controversial topic of extraterrestrial life has met with resistance from some in the scientific community and openness from communities of faith …
Politics & Polemics March 12, 2023

The Covid Consensus

The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left

Toby Green and Thomas Fazi

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
During the first months of the pandemic, governments worldwide agreed that ‘following the science’ with hard lockdowns and vaccine mandates was the best way to preserve life. But evidence is …
Scholarly Communication March 12, 2023

The Gentrification of the Internet

How to Reclaim Our Digital Freedom

Jessa Lingel

Hosted by Jen Hoyer
The internet has become a battleground. Although it was unlikely to live up to the hype and hopes of the 1990s, only the most skeptical cynics could have predicted the …
Economic and Business History March 12, 2023

Birth of Modern Facts

How the Information Revolution Transformed Academic Research, Governments and Businesses

James W. Cortada

Hosted by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo
For over twenty years, James W. Cortada has pioneered research into how information shapes society. In Birth of Modern Facts: How the Information Revolution Transformed Academic Research, Governments and Businesses …
Scholarly Communication March 11, 2023

Publishing Science

A Discussion with Tiffany Gasbarrini, Senior Science Editor, Johns Hopkins University Press

Tiffany Gasbarrini

Hosted by Avi Staiman
"It is not only for science to give to publishing, but the time has come for publishing to start giving back to science." Tiffany Gasbarrini clarifies the difference between commercial and …
Why We Argue March 9, 2023

Seeing Truth in the Lab

A Conversation with Professor Max Liboiron on Taking Control and Leveraging Science for Justice

Max Liboiron

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
Max Liboiron founder of Environmental Action Research (CLEAR), a feminist, anti-colonial laboratory talks about making better science and how they aren’t interested in dismantling the masters house (because who cares …
SSEAC Stories March 9, 2023

Social Media Influencers and Digital Media Regulation in Vietnam

A Discussion with Jonathon Hutchinson

Jonathon Hutchinson

Hosted by Natali Pearson
In 2021, a famous Vietnamese businesswoman hosted a three-hour long Facebook livestream, in which she named and shamed celebrities for their controversial public behaviours. This formed part of a regular …
Technology March 8, 2023

Playing Software

Homo Ludens in Computational Culture

Miguel Sicart

Hosted by Rudolf Thomas Inderst
The play element at the heart of our interactions with computers—and how it drives the best and the worst manifestations of the information age. Whether we interact with video games …
Ministry of Ideas March 7, 2023

IQ or, What if "Intelligence" Were a Matter of Life and Death?

Measure for Measure Episode 6

Hosted by Zachary Davis
The Intelligence Quotient is a measure of intelligence that has life-or-death consequences. Should we trust it? GUEST: Alan Gouddis is a Partner with Sherman & Sterling. He was recognized by The …
MIT Press Podcast March 7, 2023

Once Upon an Algorithm

How Stories Explain Computing

Martin Erwig

Hosted by MIT Press
In this episode, Martin Erwig show us how we can find computational concepts inside some of our favorite stories. Picture a computer scientist, staring at a screen and clicking away …
Peoples & Things March 6, 2023

Radio Broadcasting Along Mexico's Northern Border, 1930-1950

A Conversation with Sonia Robles

Sonia Robles

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Sonia Robles, an assistant professor of history at the University of Delaware, talks about her book, Mexican Waves: Radio Broadcasting Along Mexico’s Northern Border, 1930-1950 (University of Arizona Press, 2019) …
Film March 4, 2023

The New Cinephilia

Girish Shambu

Hosted by Annie Berke
Cinephilia has recently experienced a powerful resurgence, one enabled by new media technologies of the digital revolution. One strong continuity between today's "new cinephilia" and the classical cinephilia of the …
MIT Press Podcast March 4, 2023

The Chinese Typewriter

A History

Thomas S. Mullaney

Hosted by MIT Press
In this episode Chris Gondek speaks with author Tom Mullaney on the invention of the Chinese typewriter, and how the characters originally utilized are still the ones available on modern …