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About Lee Vinsel

Lee Vinsel is an associate professor in the Department of Science, Technology and Society at Virginia Tech. He studies human life with technology, with particular focus on the relationship between government, business, and technological change. His first book, Moving Violations: Automobiles, Experts, and Regulations in the United States, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in July 2019.

NBN Episodes hosted by Lee:

Peoples & Things June 5, 2023

The History of 19th Century Quarantine Politics

A Conversation with David S. Barnes

David S. Barnes

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Listen:
David S. Barnes, Associate Professor of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about his book, Lazaretto: How Philadelphia Used an Unpopular Quarantine Based on Disputed …
Peoples & Things April 3, 2023

Control Through Communication

The Rise of System in American Management

JoAnne Yates

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
JoAnne Yates, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management, Emerita and Professor of Managerial Communication and Work and Organization Studies at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, talks about her classic and award-winning …
Peoples & Things March 20, 2023

Left to Our Own Devices

A Conversation with Julia Ticona

Julia Ticona

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Over the past three decades, digital technologies like smartphones and laptops have transformed the way we work in the US. At the same time, workers at both ends of the …
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 …
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) …
Peoples & Things February 23, 2023

New Books Network and Future Plans for "Peoples and Things"

Lee Vinsel

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
A special bonus episode. Peoples & Things host Lee Vinsel talks about the podcast’s recent move to the New Books Network and plans the Peoples & Things team have for …
Peoples & Things February 20, 2023

The History of the Black Urban Working-Class in the United States

A Conversation with Joe William Trotter, Jr.

Joe William Trotter, Jr.

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Joe William Trotter, Jr., Giant Eagle University Professor of History and Founder and Director of the Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) at Carnegie Mellon University, talks …
Peoples & Things February 16, 2023

The Politics of Bicycling

A Conversation with Zack Furness

Zack Furness

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Zack Furness, an associate professor of communications at Penn State Greater Allegheny, talks about his 2010 book, One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Temple University Press), with Peoples …
Peoples & Things February 15, 2023

Historians Examine Thomas Piketty’s "Capital and Ideology"

A Conversation with Andrew Popp and Jonathan Coopersmith

Andrew Popp and Jonathan Coopersmith

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Andrew Popp, a professor of history at Copenhagen Business School, and Jonathan Coopersmith, a professor (retired) of history at Texas A&M, talk about a recent special issue they edited in …
Peoples & Things February 14, 2023

The History of Student Loans in the United States

A Discussion with Elizabeth Tandy Shermer

Elizabeth Tandy Shermer

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, an associate professor of history at Loyola University Chicago, talks about her book, Indentured Students: How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in Debt, with Peoples & Things …
Peoples & Things February 13, 2023

American Independent Inventors in an Era of Corporate R&D

A Discussion with Eric Hintz

Eric Hintz

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Eric Hintz, a historian and fellowship coordinator with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, talks about his …
Peoples & Things February 12, 2023

Gun-Detecting AI, Infrastructure, and Bureaucracy

A Conversation with Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Aaron Gordon, Senior Writer at Motherboard, Vice’s science and technology website, talks about his co-authored article, “‘The Least Safe Day’: Rollout of Gun-Detecting AI Scanners Has Been a ‘Cluster,’ Emails …
Peoples & Things February 11, 2023

ALICE and Economic Hardship in the United States

A Conversation with Stephanie Hoopes

Stephanie Hoopes

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Stephanie Hoopes, National Director of United for ALICE, a research center founded at United Way of Northern New Jersey, talks about the ALICE program with Peoples & Thing host, Lee …
Peoples & Things February 10, 2023

The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication

A Discussion with Nirit Weiss-Blatt

Nirit Weiss-Blatt

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Communication researcher Nirit Weiss-Blatt talks about her book, The Techlash and Tech Crisis Communication, as well as some of her recent and forthcoming pieces on the digital technology industry with …
Peoples & Things February 9, 2023

Energy Costs, Poverty, and Race

A Discussion with Destenie Nock

Destenie Nock

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Destenie Nock, an assistant professor in the Engineering and Public Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments at Carnegie Mellon University and CEO of People’s Energy Analytics, a new startup …
Peoples & Things February 8, 2023

How a California Electricity Utility Caused Deadly Wildfires

A Discussion with Katherine Blunt

Katherine Blunt

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Journalist Katherine Blunt, who writes about renewable energy and utilities for the Wall Street Journal, talks about her new book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—and What …
Peoples & Things February 7, 2023

“Tech” Journalism and the Many Lives of Stewart Brand

A Discussion with John Markoff

John Markoff

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Journalist John Markoff has been writing about Silicon Valley for over forty years. In this interview with Peoples & Things host Lee Vinsel, Markoff talks about his long career, how …
Peoples & Things February 6, 2023

Gendered Labor, Food Security, and Technology in 20th-Century Mali

A Discussion with Laura Ann Twagira

Laura Ann Twagira

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Laura Ann Twagira, an associate professor of history, head of African Studies, and an affiliate with science in society program and feminist gender sexuality studies program at Wesleyan University, talks …
Peoples & Things February 5, 2023

The Promises and Perils of Hype in Science and Technology

A Discussion with Gemma Milne

Gemma Milne

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Journalist and STS graduate student Gemma Milne talks about her book, Smoke and Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It, with Peoples & Things host …
Peoples & Things February 4, 2023

The Internet, Inequality, and the “Digital Divide”

A Discussion with Daniel Greene

Daniel Greene

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Information scholar Daniel Greene, an assistant professor at University of Maryland, talks about his book, The Promise of Access: Technology, Inequality, and the Political Economy of Hope, with Peoples & …
Peoples & Things February 3, 2023

Computers, Information, and Decision-Making

A Discussion with Samantha Kleinberg

Samantha Kleinberg

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Samantha Kleinberg, an associate professor of computer science at Stevens Institute of Technology, talks about a book she’s been writing on how we can (and can’t) use information to make …
Peoples & Things February 2, 2023

Why It’s So Hard for Us to Subtract

A Discussion with Leidy Klotz

Leidy Klotz

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Leidy, professor of engineering at the University of Virginia, talks about his book, Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, with Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel. As Klotz shows throughout …
Peoples & Things February 1, 2023

Inventing American Telecommunications

A Conversation with Richard John

Richard John

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Historian Richard John, professor of journalism at Columbia University, talks about his book, Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications, with Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel. Network Nation is a history …
Peoples & Things January 31, 2023

War, Plague, and Confession in Fourteenth-Century Provence

A Discussion with Nicole Archambeau

Nicole Archambeau

Hosted by Lee Vinsel
Nicole Archambeau, associate professor of history at Colorado State University, talks about her book, Souls under Siege: Stories of War, Plague, and Confession in Fourteenth-Century Provence (Cornell University Press), with …