Interesting corners of the internet, the impact of technologies on our lives, and more

A micronation just six miles off the coast of England

99% Invisible — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:36:11 +0000

Another old favourite episode is From the Sea, Freedom which talks about Sealand, a micronation just six miles off the coast of England.

The history of the internet vs how it’s used today

Freakonomics Radio — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:35:36 +0000

Zeynep Tufekci and Yochai Benkler are guests, and I’m big fans of both. There was nothing massively new in this episode for me, but a good refresher of some of the major points in the history of the Internet, and the main discussions about its structure and use today.

Do our personalities stay stable over the course of our lifetimes?

Invisibilia — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:35:01 +0000

A lot of great episodes here too, but one that made me think a lot was “The Personality Myth”, on whether our personalities stay stable over the course of our lifetimes and with people who have committed serious crimes, how this affects their rehabilitation and re-integration into society.

A girl who grew up off the grid – and without documentation – struggles to integrate into mainstream society.

RadioLab — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:34:25 +0000

This episode was very well-timed for my arrival in the US, as I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of documentation that was needed to set up here. The episode looks at the real story of a girl whose parents brought her up completely off the grid, meaning that when she tried to integrate into US society, she has been finding it incredibly difficult because she’s missing the documents that make her into a “real” person…

How race, ethnicity and culture play out in the world of journalism

Code Switch — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:33:55 +0000

I love the theme of looking at how race, ethnicity and culture play out in the world of journalism. I loved (and learned a lot from) this episode, which, given the crazy election cycle going on over here, seemed particularly pertinent to educate myself on.

A fantastic example of how much work goes in behind the scenes of podcasting

Mystery Show — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:33:19 +0000

Again, another all-time favourite. There’s only 6 episodes and I’m torn between wanting to listen to all of them at once, or wanting to spread them out over a long period of time… I love all of them that I’ve listened to so far, and I am full of appreciation and awe for the amount of time and work that must go into creating every single episode. Sadly its future is a bit uncertain at the moment but I’m crossing all of my fingers and toes that Starlee figures something out. The third episode, Belt Buckle, was for me a fantastic example of how much work goes into behind-the-scenes of podcasting – just a couple of minutes covers months of work, and the way she brings it all together in such a cohesive and compelling way, was incredible to listen to. It’s also such a surprisingly moving episode!

Imagine a world where we decide everything through direct democracies

Flash Forward — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:32:37 +0000

Probably my all-time favourite podcast. It’s also one of those things that contributes to my growing conviction that science fiction is an incredibly important tool for anyone working in tech and data to be able to open up their minds to new possibilities, and really imagine what could be, what should be (and what definitely shouldn’t be…). Particularly relevant for this time of year is Swipe Right for Democracy, which imagines a world where we decide *everything* through direct democracies. Spoiler: that kind of future involves a lot of seemingly minute decisions, and seems pretty overwhelming to me.

How magic can help us understand technology and its impacts

Digital Human — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:32:03 +0000

Not all of the episodes necessarily cover ‘new’ topics but I appreciate their way of synthesising and combining with interviews and analysis. It’s from last year, but the episode Magic is a particular favourite – the more I learn about tech, the more I believe that lots of the ways we think about magic could help us understand technology (and its impacts) better.

A great and deep dive into how emoji are created and the role they play in communication in different parts of the world.

a16z — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:31:27 +0000

The surreal story of Chile’s socialist government’s foray into cybernetic systems and politics

99% Invisible — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:30:48 +0000

In many ways a lighter and easier to digest telling of Eden Medina’s book, Cybernetic Revolutionaries, which I read last year and thoroughly enjoyed. In this episode, host Roman Mars talks with Eden Medina about the surreal story of Chile’s socialist government’s foray into cybernetic systems and politics. If you haven’t got time to read the book (which can be dense at times, and is quite expensive to buy), the podcast episode gives a great overview, and it’s a fantastic tale.

A nicely human take on some complex tech issues, by Manoush Zomorodi

Note to Self — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:30:13 +0000

This episode features two artists and designers whose work I’ve followed for a long time: Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec. Even though I follow them both on Twitter and I’ve been a fan of Dear Data almost since it started, this was the first time I’d heard either of them talk themselves about their work, which I enjoyed. I like the style of the podcast, too.