Radio Berkman

Radio Berkman 136: The Garden and the Net

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:36 +0000

The “Walled Garden” is an oft-used metaphor to describe an area of the web that is somehow closed off – think AOL in the 90s, or any site that lives behind a paywall. To some, these areas of the net are exclusive avenues to brilliantly curated content. To others “Walled Gardens” are threats to the [...]

Radio Berkman 135: The Quest for a Free Culture

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:00:57 +0000

There are few subjects more potentially divisive as the Free Culture Movement. Free Culture activists believe in a future in which people will be free to remix and distribute creative works like literature, movies, music, software, and images. These are the folks who can toss around phrases like ‘Free as in Speech versus Free as [...]

Radio Berkman Recent Classics: What the Heck is a Commons?

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:00:12 +0000

It’s been a busy week at the Berkman Center, so we had to forgo a new podcast this week. But have no fear, we did not forget you! We dusted off a recent classic from our archive by popular demand: “Episode 124, What the Heck is a Commons?” David Bollier, author of Viral Spiral: How the [...]

Radio Berkman 134: Small Medium at Large

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:00:58 +0000

Few dispute that the web will be the dominant medium of the 21st Century – swallowing whole newspapers, books, radio, television, and the cinema. And even as the web grows virtually – over a trillion unique urls and growing – it shrinks physically – from laptop, to netbook, from cell phone, to even tinier and [...]

Radio Berkman 133: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Inbox

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:00:12 +0000

Author and Professor of Public Policy Viktor Mayer-Schönberger believes that digital memory is a little too perfect. Every word you post on the web, every picture, every video, tweet, and email is set in stone, archived, permanently findable. Like the proverbial elephant, the digital world doesn’t forget. There are incredible benefits to this. And there might [...]

Radio Berkman 132: Learning to Share

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:53:41 +0000

Ownership structures for creative works – such as Copyright, Creative Commons, Fair Use, Public Domain – abound. This week, Kenneth Crews, the director of the Copyright Office at Columbia University, speaks with us about some of the distinctions, and the ways to make sure your work is protected as much or as little as possible. Listen: or [...]

Radio Berkman 131: Clay Shirky asks “How’s Your Web?”

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:00:53 +0000

Internet access. Anymore, it’s something many of us take for granted. Like water from the tap, power from the plug, outrageous outbursts from Kanye West. It’s there, it happens – why question it? Sure, there’s a lot of buzz about broadband and net neutrality going on in Washington, and in Geek Caves around the country. But [...]

Radio Berkman in the Great White North!

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:55:59 +0000

Radio Berkman is proud to announce a new collaboration with Spark, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s excellent radio show. The program, hosted by Nora Young, brings together essays, stories, interviews, and experimental pieces exploring the fascinating intersections between technology and culture. We’ve been a longtime fan of Spark’s podcast (click here to subscribe). Their shows cover a lot of the [...]

Radio Berkman 130: Adventures in Anonymity, Part One

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:57:19 +0000

Have you ever said something you wish you didn’t? Put your foot in your mouth? Insulted someone, cursed, or threatened somebody? In the real world, you can whisper your most seditious thoughts, and hope they don’t come back to bite you. Well, online, your comments are archived indefinitely. And if you don’t want those comments traced [...]

Radio Berkman 129: I Bought the Law

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:01:48 +0000

Steve Schultze is a busy fellow. He is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. He recently joined the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy as Associate Director. He also is one of the developers behind RECAP – an ambitious and provocative project that seeks to bring publicly available digital court records [...]

Radio Berkman 128: Tweeting a Dead Horse

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:43:23 +0000

The hype shows no signs of abating. Now that people have moved from just talking-about-Twitter, to the more meta talking-about-talking-about-Twitter, we here at Radio Berkman decided to take on the topic from our own perspective and see if there is possibly anything new left to be said about the popular microblogging service. Turns out there [...]

Radio Berkman Supreme: Is Twitter A Revolution? A Debate

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:19:11 +0000

The Berkman Center for Internet Society was blessed with the presence of dozens of interns this summer – some of the best, the brightest, and most energetic folks in the field of cyber study. Four of them came together earlier this summer for a semi-Oxford style debate on a topic of importance. The question: Is [...]

Radio Berkman 127: Video Killed the Video Star

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:34 +0000

Is the idea of a mainstream video culture dead? TV news anchors, sitcom stars, and A-list actors are losing ground to the groundswell of citizen journalists, independent web series creators, and the occasional cats falling off of pianos on YouTube. If everyone is a producer, what role will video play in our lives in the [...]

Radio Berkman 126: The G-fail

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:00:36 +0000

You don’t need to be a crowned Ranger class master hacker to sneak into someone’s email or facebook account these days. Which means that you’re not simply being a nervous nellie if you’re worried about security. In fact, users of public WiFi should be worried. If you use WiFi to access some of the most popular [...]

Radio Berkman 125: The Price of Music

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:00:30 +0000

At $80,000 per song, the 24 tracks Jammie Thomas-Rasset is accused of sharing on Kazaa could represent the most expensive album of all time. Last week a federal jury suggested the fine, adding up to $1.92 million, seemed like a fair price for willful infringement. Thomas-Rasset’s pro bono legal team of Kiwi Camara and Joe Sibley promise [...]