Reimagining the Internet is a production of the Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure at UMass Amherst, asking scholars, activists, journalists, and artists what is broken on the internet and how to fix it.
Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure
The Reimagining the Internet podcast is an engaging and thought-provoking series that delves into the profound impact of the internet on society and explores innovative solutions to some of its most pressing challenges. This podcast stands out for its ability to tackle big questions and present a wide range of perspectives from experts in various fields. It is highly recommended for anyone who uses the internet, as it provides valuable insights into how we can shape the future of this powerful tool.
One of the best aspects of The Reimagining the Internet podcast is its ability to bring together a diverse pool of individuals who share their experiences and ideas for a better digital future. From tech entrepreneurs to policymakers, academics, and activists, each episode features an array of voices that enriches the conversation. This diversity allows for a holistic exploration of the topics at hand, providing listeners with different angles and approaches to consider.
Furthermore, this podcast does an excellent job of highlighting positive examples of technology done well. For instance, one episode focuses on Wikipedia's distinctive structure that fosters the creation of neutral content. By showcasing such successful cases, The Reimagining the Internet podcast inspires listeners with tangible models that demonstrate how technology can be harnessed for societal benefit.
However, one potential drawback worth noting is that this podcast caters primarily to individuals who are comfortable consuming audio content through podcasts. While podcasts have gained significant popularity in recent years, there are still many people who prefer written transcripts or other formats. Providing transcripts or alternative ways of accessing the information discussed in each episode would greatly enhance its accessibility and reach a wider audience.
In conclusion, The Reimagining the Internet podcast is an invaluable resource for those interested in understanding and shaping our digital future. Its ability to ask profound questions and present diverse perspectives makes it highly engaging and thought-provoking. Although improvements could be made by providing alternative formats such as transcripts, this podcast remains a commendable source for anyone looking to explore the complex relationship between technology and society.
Eric Gordon has spent his career as an social scientists trying to understand how city governments can use technology to better engage their citizens. But he’s learned that technology doesn’t matter if governments aren’t willing to listen and citizens don’t feel listened to. Add to surveillance technology to the mix, and technology doesn’t seem to […]
As highlighted in part one of this interview, Esra’a Al Shafei has been a key figure in online activism in the Arab world for much of this century. Her community-driven Surveillance Watch project tracking the shadowy surveillance industry came from her first hand experience of seeing governments enlist tools built by private companies to track […]
Since the late aughts, Bahraini activist Esra’a Al Shafei has been building spaces where Arab and Middle Eastern queer folk, dissidents, and migrants can safely gather online, often amid governmental suppression. In part one of our interview with Esra’a, we talk through some of the oral history of her long-running Majal project and the queer-centric […]
Dan Saltman is the founder of Redact, one of the very few tools that lets you delete data across many of your social media accounts. So why are there so few projects that put users in control of their data, like Dan’s? This week on Reimagining, we talk about the legal, technical, and market obstacles […]
Part two of our interview with Erin Kissane is a deep dive into her work on the Fediverse. Why do people use it, how do they govern, and how can you, dear listener, get your own healthy Fediverse community going? Plus Erin talks about Blue Sky a lot. Erin Kissane runs wreckage/salvage, helmed the COVID […]
In part one of our interview with researcher, designer and, in her own words, “ancient Internet person” Erin Kissane, we look at what happens when a platform swallows a whole society’s media landscape but abdicates all responsibility to the people using it. In this case, we’re talking about Myanmar but it’s understandable if your mind […]
Nathan Schneider has spent roughly 15 years as a journalist and academic trying to understand democracy in the 21st century through Occupy Wall Street, cooperatives, the blockchain, and currently, federated social media. This week on Reimagining, Nathan explains how poor democracy on major social media platforms has eroded our actual democratic governance, and how practicing […]
The TikTok ban decision passed down by the Supreme Court late last year is a clear violation of First Amendment precedent, but President Trump's refusal to enact it as law is a constitutional crisis in the making. We brought Stanford Law professor, rising First Amendment star scholar, and Moderated Content host Evelyn Douek on the […]
Ho ho ho, five years of Reimagining the Internet holiday specials! For this year’s edition we’re spreading holiday cheer by showering our dear listeners with gifts. From good Wikipedia rabbit holes to the gift of network effects, everyone here at iDPI is offering something from the heart. Links to some gifts mentioned in this episode: […]
For the final episode of our Good Web series, artist, designer, and educator Laurel Schwulst joins Mike to talk through her proposal for a PBS of the Internet. She describes how a PBS-like body that intentionally crafts the spaces, software, and information for a public good could crucial for creating an environment that rewards curisoity […]
Building a Good Web doesn’t just mean making the current Internet a nicer place, but making an Internet that everyone can use. This week Lola Odelola (Lola’s Lab, formerly of Bocoup) joins the Good Web series to talk about the fundamentals of web accessibility and the fascinating process the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) uses […]
At 13 years old, Are.na boasts a healthy, creative community and stable finances while rejecting many of the hallmarks of popular social media platforms such as a focus on video, endless push notifications, or surveillant advertising. For this week’s edition of our Good Web series, founder Charles Broskoski sits with Mike to walk through what […]
Metafilter contains the seeds for everything from Twitter to Reddit to comments sections on blogs, and it’s older than podcasts, the blog boom, Facebook, and well, basically everything online. Owner Jessamyn West sat down for a deep conversation with Mike about how MetaFilter’s reliance on community-focusd governance and person-scale moderation has helped it achieve its […]
Michael Wood-Lewis from Front Porch Forum joins us for this second (maybe third?) appearance to help us kick off our Good Web series, where we’re highlighting the successful people building a better, smaller Internet. Michael was gracious enough to have producer Mike Sugarman up to the FPF offices in Burlington, VT to give us an […]
To kick off our Good Web series, Cory Doctorow joined us for a deep dive into his enshittification theory, and how regulation, labor power, competition, and user self-help will make it a thing of the past. We also got him to tell us a little bit about his new novel The Bezzle. Cory first joined […]
CW/TW: Intimate partner violence, child exploitation Diana Freed has spent the past several years radically reframing the threat model in cybersecurity with groundbreaking research into how domestic abusers utilize everyday technology like smart phones and tracking apps. Diana sits down with us to talk about digital safety for survivors of intimate partner violence and youth, […]
For the 100th episode of Reimagining the Internet, Ethan and Mike sit down for a conversation about a human-scale Internet, the threat of an LLM ouroboros destroying our online commons, and Ethan’s fantasies of swithing to urban planning. We want to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been listening to Reimagining the […]
A fearsome feminist movemnet has sprung up in response to an epidemic of feminicide in South America, achieving change thanks in large part to an innovative data activism campaign. Cathering D'Ignazio of the Data + Feminism Lab at MIT wrote a wonerful book that doesn't just chronicle the movement, but acts as a handbook for using data in fights for justice.
Trigger/content warning: child sexual abuse materials, sexual exploitation of children, and trauma stemming from sexual abuse. Brian Levine has a storied career as a computer scientist working in cybersecurity. Earler, pivotal work in privacy has given way to his current all-hands-on-deck fight against the spread of CSAM (child sexual abuse material) online. Ethan and Brian […]
Rerun of episode 85 from August, 16 2023 Timnit Gebru is not just a pioneering critic of dangerous AI datasets who calls bullshit on bad science pushed by the likes of OpenAI, or a tireless champion of racial, gender, and climate justice in computing. She’s also someone who wants to build something different. This week […]
This is a rerun of episode 84. Jar Jar Binks, the human side of online harassment, restorative justice, the Friends writers room, solidarity with UPS, what life looks like in the creative gig economy after your show has won an Emmy. Dylan Marron (Ted Lasso, Welcome to Nightvale) joins us for a sprawling, poignant conversation […]
Our lab’s Ryan McGrady and Kevin Zheng are taking a victory lap around some amazing work they’re doing here at the lab. Ryan just published an article in The Atlantic about the research he’s leading to understand how big YouTube is and what exactly is on it, and Kevin recently debuted his amazing tool to […]
Rerun of episode 69 from February 15th, 2023. José van Dijck is arguably the preeminent sociologist in the Netherlands, conducting research about how online platforms have crept into public life that has proved foundational to European regulation like the Digital Services Act. Today on Reimagining the Internet, José talks to us about PubHubs, an attempt to build […]
Rerun of episode 69 from February 15th, 2023. José van Dijck is arguably the preeminent sociologist in the Netherlands, conducting research about how online platforms have crept into public life that has proved foundational to European regulation like the Digital Services Act. Today on Reimagining the Internet, José talks to us about PubHubs, an attempt… Continue reading Rewind: The Netherlands’ most important sociologist is building the other DPI: the Dutch Public Internet
Rerun of episode 81 from June 24th, 2023 We’re always told algorithms are going to change our world. And they do, but it always seems to be for the worse. Do we have any alternative to simply breaking the machines that have run afoul of our values and needs? We’re thrilled to welcome Ben Tarnoff […]
Rerun of episode 81 from June 24th, 2023 We’re always told algorithms are going to change our world. And they do, but it always seems to be for the worse. Do we have any alternative to simply breaking the machines that have run afoul of our values and needs? We’re thrilled to welcome Ben Tarnoff… Continue reading Rewind: Third Wave Internet with Ben Tarnoff
From April 5th, 2023: We talk a lot about reimagining the internet here at iDPI, and that's because it's something we spend most of our time at the lab doing. We're thrilled to share our new, banner white paper with you, and we hope you're excited by our call to widen your own imagination if […]
From April 5th, 2023: We talk a lot about reimagining the internet here at iDPI, and that's because it's something we spend most of our time at the lab doing. We're thrilled to share our new, banner white paper with you, and we hope you're excited by our call to widen your own imagination if… Continue reading Rewind: iDPI’s New Manifesto: The Three-Legged Stool
It’s that wonderful time of year for one of our favorite lab activities here at iDPI: making the Reimagining the Internet holiday special. This year we decided to go for unmitigated optimism and making promises to ourselves we’ll definitely be keeping. That’s right, everyone here at iDPI made New Year’s resolutions for the Internet. Join us as […]
It’s that wonderful time of year for one of our favorite lab activities here at iDPI: making the Reimagining the Internet holiday special. This year we decided to go for unmitigated optimism and making promises to ourselves we’ll definitely be keeping. That’s right, everyone here at iDPI made New Year’s resolutions for the Internet. Join… Continue reading 96. Should All Old Passwords Be Forgot: The 2023 Holiday Special
Ifeoma Ajunwa wrote the definitive book about how data is used to surveil and attempt to automate away workers. This week on Reimagining, Dr. Ajunwa tells us how a history rooted in eugenics and Henry Ford sending private detectives to workers’ homes led us to this moment when software is used as a cover for discriminatory hiring […]
Ifeoma Ajunwa wrote the definitive book about how data is used to surveil and attempt to automate away workers. This week on Reimagining, Dr. Ajunwa tells us how a history rooted in eugenics and Henry Ford sending private detectives to workers’ homes led us to this moment when software is used as a cover for… Continue reading 95. What’s the answer when workplace surveillance creeps into the home? Ifeoma Ajunwa says civil rights and organized labor
Kevin Rothrock has been reporting on Russian culture and politics since the mid-aughts, and as the English-language editor of Meduza, he's a crucial figure in helping the English-speaking West understand the day-to-day in Putin's Russia during the war in Ukraine, and on the front lines too. This week on Reimagining, Kevin Rothrock tells us how […]
Kevin Rothrock has been reporting on Russian culture and politics since the mid-aughts, and as the English-language editor of Meduza, he's a crucial figure in helping the English-speaking West understand the day-to-day in Putin's Russia during the war in Ukraine, and on the front lines too. This week on Reimagining, Kevin Rothrock tells us how… Continue reading 94. How does Meduza’s Kevin Rothrock publish some of the best reporting about Russia? From far, far away.
When we call Christine Moelleberndt “queen of the moderators” we mean it. She just finished a 7-year stint at Reddit as a moderator of its moderators where she went by the user name kethryvis, and she’s been doing work like that since her days overseeing the community around the ’90s web comic User Friendly. This […]
When we call Christine Moelleberndt “queen of the moderators” we mean it. She just finished a 7-year stint at Reddit as a moderator of its moderators where she went by the user name kethryvis, and she’s been doing work like that since her days overseeing the community around the ’90s web comic User Friendly. This… Continue reading 93. Reddit is powered by community moderators. We asked former senior mod Kethryvis if that can last.
Emilie Friedlander got her start covering Western Mass music while living in France, and made a career as a music editor at the biggest online magazines like Pitchfork and VICE. This week on Reimagining, Mike asks her: where did all the music writing go? Emilie Frielander is cohost of The Culture Journalist with Andrea Domanick.… Continue reading 92. Where’d all the music blogs go? with Emilie Friedlander
Georgia Popplewell has dedicated two decades to publishing local bloggers writing in 52 languages. What’s Global Voices fate in this strange era of the Internet? The long-time managing director of Global Voices joins the show to talk to her co-founder Ethan about the blogosphere of yore and why we’ll never stop needing global, local perspectives.… Continue reading 91. Global Voices has spent 19 years platforming bloggers in 52 languages. Georgia Popplewell, where does it go from here?
Brendan Nyhan spends a lot of time researching America’s political polarization and the strength of its democracy with the organization he founded, Bright Line Watch. In part 2 of our interview with him, he tells us how questions about the state of America’s democracy really need to be put in the context that we didn’t… Continue reading 90. Are American politics more polarized than ever? Brendan Nyhan thinks social media just helps us see it more.
Does Facebook make people’s politics more extreme? Do algorithms force us into bubbles? Does social media threaten American democracy? Political scientist Brendan Nyhan used his permission to research political data on Facebook as an opportunity to tackle these questions head on. In part one of our interview with Brendan, he tells us about his contribution… Continue reading 89. Facebook scores your politics with a number. Brendan Nyhan figured out what they do with it. (Part 1 of 2)
Our first ever guest Talia Stroud is one of the principal investigators on a slate of social science research investigating Facebook’s impacts on the 2020 elections, and we’re thrilled to welcome her back to tell us about what her team is finding when they look at the funny things algorithms do, the pervasiveness of polarized… Continue reading 88. Does Facebook change your politics? Talia Stroud is leading studies to find out.
Did Facebook influence how people voted in the 2020 elections? This month, we’re focusing on a recent spate of studies published in Science and Nature studying how Facebook’s algorithms handle political content. First up is Laura Edelson, who was banned by Facebook for her work studying its ads through her project at NYU, the Ad… Continue reading 87. Before Laura Edelson was the DOJ’s chief antitrust technologist, Facebook deleted her account
danah boyd is so fascinated by data and society that she founded a research institute called Data and Society. We brought her on Reimagining this week to talk about one of her long-running research interests—the social lives of teens online—and ended up with a sprawling conversation that touched on everything from anti-trans culture wars to… Continue reading 86. danah boyd on freaks, geeks, queers, and lying to the US Census
Timnit Gebru is not just a pioneering critic of dangerous AI datasets who calls bullshit on bad science pushed by the likes of OpenAI, or a tireless champion of racial, gender, and climate justice in computing. She’s also someone who wants to build something different. This week on Reimagining, we talk to the thrilling, funny… Continue reading 85. Timnit Gebru Looks at Corporate AI and Sees a Lot of Bad Science
Jar Jar Binks, the human side of online harassment, restorative justice, the Friends writers room, solidarity with UPS, what life looks like in the creative gig economy after your show has won an Emmy. Dylan Marron (Ted Lasso, Welcome to Nightvale) joins us for a sprawling, poignant conversation about how social media has effected our… Continue reading 84. Ted Lasso’s Dylan Marron Wants to Redeem Jar Jar Binks
2010s online activism, the Reddit blackout, antitrust, academic data access, Newt Gingrich, enshitifcation. We brought scholar/activist Dave Karpf on to talk about his work leading fellow academics to fight for data access standards, and we ended up with a Reimagining greatest hits. Dave Karpf is associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs… Continue reading 83. A History of Why the Internet Sucks Right Now with Dave Karpf
When we had Tracy Chou on the show in 2021, she was rolling out software to give users a revolutionary toolset to block harassment on Twitter, and she was doing it with the Twitter corporation’s help. Fast forward to today, when she’s one of Time Magazine’s 2022 Women of the Year and her work has… Continue reading 82. Twitter Blocked Tracy Chou’s Anti-Harassment App. Now She Wants to Fix Your Browser.
We’re always told algorithms are going to change our world. And they do, but it always seems to be for the worse. Do we have any alternative to simply breaking the machines that have run afoul of our values and needs? We’re thrilled to welcome Ben Tarnoff back on the show to talk his calls… Continue reading 81 Third Wave Internet with Ben Tarnoff
Do Spotify’s algorithms make a listener’s music taste, or does taste make the algorithm? Nick Seaver embedded himself as an ethnographer at a music recommendation software firm to learn about the the very real way very specific people influence the algorithms that power our automated world. Nick Seaver directs the program in Science, Technology, and… Continue reading 80 *Slaps Roof of Algorithm* You Can Fit so Much Taste in This Thing with Nick Seaver
For our first ever episode talking about Amazon (somehow?), Logic Magazine co-founder Moira Weigel tells us what she learned about Amazon by spending years interviewing its third-party sellers. From hand sanitizer hoarding to Chinese vendors getting “dragon boated,” Moira gives us a fascinating look at a massive, unregulated economy. Moira Weigel is assistant professor in… Continue reading 79 Taking Stock of the Everything Store with Moira Weigel
We’re thrilled to launch a new tool today: a big interactive map of Reddit, showing how biggest subreddits on the site are connected with each other. Mike is joined by iDPI’s very own Jasmine Mangat and Virginia Partridge for a riveting tell-all about RedditMap.Social. You can visit the tool at RedditMap.Social, talk to other redditors… Continue reading 78 We Mapped Reddit with Jasmine Mangat and Virginia Partridge
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