Science, Technology, and Society

Science, Technology, and Society

episodes

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

Ignacio Cofone, "The Privacy Fallacy: Harm and Power in the Information Economy" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

March 28, 2024

The Privacy Fallacy

Ignacio Cofone
Hosted by Jake Chanenson

Our privacy is besieged by tech companies. Companies can do this because our laws are built on outdated ideas that trap lawmakers, regulators, and…

Anita R. Gohdes, "Repression in the Digital Age: Surveillance, Censorship, and the Dynamics of State Violence" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 26, 2024

Repression in the Digital Age

Anita R. Gohdes
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Global adoption of the Internet has exploded, yet we are only beginning to understand the Internet's profound political consequences. Authoritarian st…

How Can We Reach International Consensus on AI Regulation?

March 25, 2024

How Can We Reach International Consensus on AI Regulation?

Gabriele Mazzini

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Gabriele Mazzini, a lawyer and officer of the European Commission and e…

On Bloomsbury's "Object Lessons" Series: A Discussion with Christopher Schaberg

March 25, 2024

On Bloomsbury's "Object Lessons" Series

Christopher Schaberg
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Object Lessons is a series of concise, collectable, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Each book starts from a spec…

John Warner on Teaching Writing in the Age of Generative AI

March 25, 2024

Teaching Writing in the Age of Generative AI

John Warner
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host Lee Vinsel talks with writer and editor John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for more than twenty years. Warner …

George S. Takach, "Cold War 2.0: Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle between China, Russia, and America" (Pegasus Book, 2024)

March 24, 2024

Cold War 2.0

George S. Takach
Hosted by AJ Woodhams

A vivid, thoughtful examination of how technological innovation—especially AI—is shaping the tensions between democracy and autocracy during the new C…

Tonia Sutherland, "Resurrecting the Black Body: Race and the Digital Afterlife" (U California Press, 2023)

March 22, 2024

Resurrecting the Black Body

Tonia Sutherland
Hosted by Pete Kunze

The first critical examination of death and remembrance in the digital age—and an invitation to imagine Black digital sovereignty in life and death. …

Beth Linker, "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America" (Princeton UP, 2024)

March 21, 2024

Slouch

Beth Linker
Hosted by Mark Klobas

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college stude…

Jörg Matthias Determann and Shoaib Ahmed Malik, "Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion" (I. B. Tauris, 2024)

March 19, 2024

Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life

Jörg Matthias Determann
Hosted by Roberto Mazza

Over the last thirty years, humanity has discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life could be …

Brandon R. Brown, "Sharing Our Science: How to Write and Speak STEM" (MIT Press, 2023)

March 18, 2024

Sharing Our Science

Brandon R. Brown
Hosted by Daniel Shea

Listen to this interview of Brandon Brown, Professor of Physics at the University of San Francisco. We talk about factoring in both message-sender and…

Once More--What Does It Even Mean for a Machine to be Generative?

March 16, 2024

Once More--What Does It Even Mean for a Machine to be Generative?

Bill Cope, Mary Kalantzis, and James Gee
Hosted by Daniel Shea

Listen to Episode No.9 of All We Mean, a Special Focus of this podcast. All We Mean is an ongoing discussion and debate about how we mean and why. The…

Lisa Messeri, "In the Land of the Unreal: Virtual and Other Realities in Los Angeles" (Duke UP, 2024)

March 16, 2024

In the Land of the Unreal

Lisa Messeri
Hosted by Noopur Raval

In the mid-2010s, a passionate community of Los Angeles-based storytellers, media artists, and tech innovators formed around virtual reality (VR), bel…

Ruth A. Morgan, "Climate Change and International History: Climate Diplomacy in the Global North and South Since 1950" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

March 16, 2024

Climate Change and International History

Ruth A. Morgan
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Exploring how climate change has configured the international arena since the 1950s, Climate Change and International History: Negotiating Science, Gl…

Nick Jones, "Gooey Media: Screen Entertainment and the Graphic User Interface" (Edinburgh UP, 2023)

March 15, 2024

Gooey Media

Nick Jones
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The Graphic User Interface, or GUI, is the adhesive centre of today’s screen entertainment web. From films and television to apps and videogames, it h…

Peter D. McDonald, "Run and Jump: The Meaning of the 2D Platformer" (MIT Press, 2024)

March 15, 2024

Run and Jump

Peter D. McDonald

How abstract design decisions in 2D platform games create rich worlds of meaning for players.Since the 1980s, 2D platform games have captivated their …

Eleanor Patterson, "Bootlegging the Airwaves: Alternative Histories of Radio and Television Distribution" (U Illinois Press, 2024)

March 12, 2024

Bootlegging the Airwaves

Eleanor Patterson
Hosted by Pete Kunze

Long before internet archives and the anytime, anywhere convenience of streaming, people collected, traded, and shared radio and television content vi…

Zachary Loeb on the History of the End of the World

March 11, 2024

Zachary Loeb on the History of the End of the World

Zachary Loeb
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Are you into the end of the world? Well, have we got the guest for you. In this episode, Peoples & Things host Lee Vinsel interviews Zachary Loeb, ass…

Brian Merchant, "Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech" (LIttle, Brown, 2023)

March 10, 2024

Blood in the Machine

Brian Merchant
Hosted by Michael Vann

"Luddite" has become an insult and Brian Merchant wants to change that. Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech (Little, B…

Hsuan L. Hsu, "Air Conditioning" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

March 8, 2024

Air Conditioning

Hsuan L. Hsu
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Air conditioning aspires to be unnoticed. Yet, by manipulating the air around us, it quietly conditions the baseline conditions of our physical, menta…

Christy Spackman, "The Taste of Water: Sensory Perception and the Making of an Industrialized Beverage" (U California Press, 2023)

March 8, 2024

The Taste of Water

Christy Spackman
Hosted by Garrett Broad

Have you ever wondered why your tap water tastes the way it does? The Taste of Water: Sensory Perception and the Making of an Industrialized Beverage …