Peoples & Things

Peoples & Things

episodes

Peoples & Things is a podcast in which host Lee Vinsel interviews scholars, practitioners, and activists about human life with technology.

Fred Turner on Countercultures, Cybercultures, and Californian and Texan Ideologies

February 25, 2026

Countercultures, Cybercultures, and Californian and Texan Ideologies

Fred Turner
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, and guest host, Paula Bialski, Associate Professor of Digital Sociology at University of St. Gallen, talk to Fred T…

111 Thomas Haigh on the History of “AI” as a Brand

December 8, 2025

The History of “AI” as a Brand

Thomas Haigh
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Thomas Haigh, Professor and Chair of History and affiliate of the Department of Computer Science at Univ…

Verena Halsmayer on Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact

November 24, 2025

Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact

Verena Halsmayer
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, chats with Verena Halsmeyer, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Vienna, about her recent, award-winning boo…

Cory Doctorow on Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It

November 17, 2025

Cory Doctorow on Enshittification

danah boyd and Cory Doctorow
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

In this special livestream edition of Peoples & Things, host Lee Vinsel and very special guest host, danah boyd, formerly of Microsoft Research, prese…

Colleen Dunlavy on How Government Made the U.S. into a Manufacturing Powerhouse

November 10, 2025

How Government Made the U.S. into a Manufacturing Powerhouse

Colleen Dunlavy
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Colleen Dunlavy, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, about her recent book…

Kate Epstein on How Twentieth-Century Technology Theft Built the National-Security State" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

October 27, 2025

How Twentieth-Century Technology Theft Built the National-Security State

Kate Epstein
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

In this episode I sit down with Kate Epstein, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Camden, as she details her research on the inter…

Whitney Laemmli on Making Movement Modern

October 13, 2025

Whitney Laemmli on Making Movement Modern

Whitney Laemmli
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Whitney Laemmli, Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies at the Pra…

Ashleigh Wade on How Black Girls Use Social Media

September 29, 2025

Ashleigh Wade on How Black Girls Use Social Media

Ashleigh Greene Wade
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Ashleigh Greene Wade, Associate Professor of Digital Studies with a joint appointment in Media Studies a…

Julien Mailland on "The Game That Never Ends: How Lawyers Shape the Videogame Industry"

September 15, 2025

Julien Mailland on The Game That Never Ends: How Lawyers Shape the Videogame Industry

Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Julien Mailland, Associate Professor of Media Management, Law, and Policy at The Media School of Indiana…

Tiia Sahrakorpi on a Use-Based History of Electricity in Finland

September 1, 2025

Tiia Sahrakorpi on a Use-Based History of Electricity in Finland

Tiia Sahrakorpi
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Tiia Sahrakorpi, Visiting Professor at Weber State University, about her interesting book project, Our L…

Mary Bridges on US Bankers Abroad and the Making of a Global Superpower

August 18, 2025

US Bankers Abroad and the Making of a Global Superpower

Mary Bridges
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Mary Bridges, Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy at the Belfer Center for Science and International…

Savannah Mandel on an Argument for the End of Human Space Exploration

July 14, 2025

An Argument for the End of Human Space Exploration

Savannah Mandel
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with space anthropologist, writer, and Virginia Tech doctoral candidate, Savannah Mandel, about her book, Gro…

The History of the Idea and Culture of “Innovation” in the United States

June 30, 2025

The History of the Idea and Culture of “Innovation” in the United States

Matthew Wisnioski
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Matt Wisnioski, Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech, about his new book, Ever…

Benjamin H. Snyder, "Spy Plane: Inside Baltimore’s Surveillance Experiment" (U of California Press, 2024

June 16, 2025

Spy Plane

Benjamin H. Snyder
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

In this 100th episode (!!!) of Peoples & Things, host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Benjamin H. Snyder, Associate Professor of Sociology at Williams College…

Beth Linker on Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America

June 2, 2025

Beth Linker on Slouch

Beth Linker
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with historian Beth Linker, Samuel H. Preston Endowed Term Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the…

Helen Thompson on Disorder and the Analysis of Contemporary Geopolitics

May 19, 2025

Disorder and the Analysis of Contemporary Geopolitics

Helen Thompson
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University and co-host of the great podcast,…

Jessica Smith on Engineering and Public Accountability in Energy Industries

May 5, 2025

Engineering and Public Accountability in Energy Industries

Jessica Smith
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks to Jessica Smith, Professor in the Engineering, Design, and Society Department and Dean’s Fellow for Earth an…

Lauren E. Bridges on Fantasies and Realities of Digital Transformation and the Data Center Industry

April 22, 2025

Fantasies and Realities of Digital Transformation and the Data Center Industry

Lauren E. Bridges
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Lauren Bridges, Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia, about her work on th…

Jeremy Braddock on "Firesign: The Electromagnetic History of Everything as Told on Nine Comedy Albums"

April 7, 2025

Firesign: The Electromagnetic History of Everything as Told on Nine Comedy Albums

Jeremy Braddock
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Jeremy Braddock, Associate Professor of Literatures in English and Coordinator of the Media Studies Init…

Jeffrey Lee Funk on Unicorns, Hype, and Bubbles: A Guide to Spotting, Avoiding, and Exploiting Investment Bubbles in Tech

March 24, 2025

Jeffrey Lee Funk on Unicorns, Hype, and Bubbles

Jeffrey Funk
Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with retired professor, consultant, Discovery Institute fellow, and a winner of the NTT DoCoMo Mobile Science…