Podcasts about digital democracy

So even the people that follow the topic closely are stunned by the digital landscape that engulfs our children, how quickly it evolves, and the potential social cost. Two people in a unique position to explain all this are our guest today, Jeffrey Chester and Kathryn Montgomery, both from the Center for Digital Democracy. Jeff is executive director of the Center, and Kathryn is its research director and senior strategist, as well as professor emerita of communication at American University. Jeff and Kathryn have been pioneers in this work and have been uniquely strong voices for protecting children. Interview Summary Let me congratulate the two of you for being way ahead of your time. I mean the two of you through your research and your advocacy and your organizational work, you were onto these things way before most people were. I'm really happy that you're joining us today, and welcome to our podcast. Kathryn, let me begin with you. So why be concerned about this digital landscape? Kathryn - Well, certainly if we're talking about children and youth, we have to pay attention to the world they live in. And it's a digital world as I think any parent knows, and everybody knows. In fact, for all of us, we're living in a digital world. So young people are living their lives online. They're using mobile phones and mobile devices all the time. They're doing online video streaming. They form their communications with their peers online. Their entire lives are completely integrated into this digital media landscape, and we must understand it. Certainly, the food and beverage industry understand it very well. And they have figured out enormously powerful ways to reach and engage young people through these digital media. You know, the extent of the kids' connection to this is really remarkable. I just finished a few minutes ago recording a podcast with two people involved with the Children and Screens organization. And, Chris Perry, who's the executive director of that organization and Dmitri Christakis who was with us as well, were saying that kids sometimes check their digital media 300 times a day. I mean, just unbelievable how much of this there is. There's a lot of reasons to be concerned. Let's turn our attention to how bad it is, what companies are doing, and what might be done about it. So, Jeff, tell us if you would, about the work of the Center for Digital Democracy. Jeff - Well, for more than a quarter of a century, we have tracked the digital marketplace. As you said at the top, we understood in the early 1990s that the internet, broadband what's become today's digital environment, was going to be the dominant communications system. And it required public interest rules and policies and safeguards. So as a result, one of the things that our Center does is we look at the entire digital landscape as best as we can, especially what the ultra-processed food companies are doing, but including Google and Meta and Amazon and GenAI companies. We are tracking what they're doing, how they're creating the advertising, what their data strategies are, what their political activities are in the United States and in many other places in the world. Because the only way we're going to hold them accountable is if we know what they're doing and what they intend to do. And just to quickly follow up, Kelly, the marketers call today's global generation of young people Generation Alpha. Meaning that they are the first generation to be born into this complete digital landscape environment that we have created. And they have developed a host of strategies to target children at the earliest ages to take advantage of the fact that they're growing up digitally. Boy, pretty amazing - Generation Alpha. Kathryn, I have kind of a niche question I'd like to ask you because it pertains to my own career as well. So, you spent many years as an academic studying and writing about these issues, but also you were a strong advocacy voice. How did you go about balancing the research and the objectivity of an academic with advocacy you were doing? Kathryn - I think it really is rooted in my fundamental set of values about what it means to be an academic. And I feel very strongly and believe very strongly that all of us have a moral and ethical responsibility to the public. That the work we do should really, as I always have told my students, try to make the world a better place. It may seem idealistic, but I think it is what our responsibility is. And I've certainly been influenced in my own education by public scholars over the years who have played that very, very important role. It couldn't be more important today than it has been over the years. And I think particularly if you're talking about public health, I don't think you can be neutral. You can have systematic ways of assessing the impact of food marketing, in this case on young people. But I don't think you can be totally objective and neutral about the need to improve the public health of our citizens. And particularly the public health of our young people. I agree totally with that. Jeff let's talk about the concept of targeted marketing. We hear that term a lot. And in the context of food, people talk about marketing aimed at children as one form of targeting. Or, toward children of color or people of color in general. But that's in a way technological child's play. I understand from you that there's much more precise targeting than a big demographic group like that. Tell us more. Jeff - Well, I mean certainly the ultra-processed food companies are on the cutting edge of using all the latest tools to target individuals in highly personalized way. And I think if I have one message to share with your listeners and viewers is that if we don't act soon, we're going to make an already vulnerable group even more exposed to this kind of direct targeted and personalized marketing. Because what artificial intelligence allows the food and beverage companies and their advertising agencies and platform partners to do is to really understand who we are, what we do, where we are, how we react, behave, think, and then target us accordingly using all those elements in a system that can create this kind of advertising and marketing in minutes, if not eventually milliseconds. So, all of marketing, in essence, will be targeted because they know so much about us. You have an endless chain of relationships between companies like Meta, companies like Kellogg's, the advertising agencies, the data brokers, the marketing clouds, et cetera. Young people especially, and communities of color and other vulnerable groups, have never been more exposed to this kind of invasive, pervasive advertising. Tell us how targeted it can be. I mean, let's take a 11-year-old girl who lives in Wichita and a 13-year-old boy who lives in Denver. How much do the companies know about those two people as individuals? And how does a targeting get market to them? Not because they belong to a big demographic group, but because of them as individuals. Jeff - Well, they certainly are identified in various ways. The marketers know that there are young people in the household. They know that there are young people, parts of families who have various media behaviors. They're watching these kinds of television shows, especially through streaming or listening to music or on social media. Those profiles are put together. And even when the companies say they don't exactly know who the child is or not collecting information from someone under 13 because of the privacy law that we helped get enacted, they know where they are and how to reach them. So, what you've had is an unlimited amassing of data power developed by the food and beverage companies in the United States over the last 25 years. Because really very little has been put in their way to stop them from what they do and plan to do. So presumably you could get some act of Congress put in to forbid the companies from targeting African American children or something like that. But it doesn't sound like that would matter because they're so much more precise in the market. Yes. I mean, in the first place you couldn't get congress to pass that. And I think this is the other thing to think about when you think about the food and beverage companies deploying Generative AI and the latest tools. They've already established vast, what they call insights divisions, market research divisions, to understand our behavior. But now they're able to put all that on a fast, fast, forward basis because of data processing, because of data clouds, let's say, provided by Amazon, and other kinds of tools. They're able to really generate how to sell to us individually, what new products will appeal to us individually and even create the packaging and the promotion to be personalized. So, what you're talking about is the need for a whole set of policy safeguards. But I certainly think that people concerned about public health need to think about regulating the role of Generative AI, especially when it comes to young people to ensure that they're not marketed to in the ways that it fact is and will continue to do. Kathryn, what about the argument that it's a parent's responsibility to protect their children and that government doesn't need to be involved in this space? Kathryn - Well, as a parent, I have to say is extremely challenging. We all do our best to try to protect our children from unhealthy influences, whether it's food or something that affects their mental health. That's a parent's obligation. That's what a parent spends a lot of time thinking about and trying to do. But this is an environment that is overwhelming. It is intrusive. It reaches into young people's lives in ways that make it virtually impossible for parents to intervene. These are powerful companies, and I'm including the tech companies. I'm including the retailers. I'm including the ad agencies as well as these global food and beverage companies. They're extremely powerful. As Jeff has been saying, they have engaged and continue to engage in enormous amounts of technological innovation and research to figure out precisely how to reach and engage our children. And it's too much for parents. And I've been saying this for years. I've been telling legislators this. I've been telling the companies this. It's not fair. It's a very unfair situation for parents. That makes perfect sense. Well, Jeff, your Center produces some very helpful and impressive reports. And an example of that is work you've done on the vast surveillance of television viewers. Tell us more about that, if you would. Jeff - Well, you know, you have to keep up with this, Kelly. The advocates in the United States and the academics with some exceptions have largely failed to address the contemporary business practices of the food and beverage companies. This is not a secret what's going on now. I mean the Generative AI stuff and the advanced data use, you know, is recent. But it is a continuum. And the fact is that we've been one of the few groups following it because we care about our society, our democracy, our media system, et cetera. But so much more could be done here to track what the companies are doing to identify the problematic practices, to think about counter strategies to try to bring change. So yes, we did this report on video streaming because in fact, it's the way television has now changed. It's now part of the commercial surveillance advertising and marketing complex food and beverage companies are using the interactivity and the data collection of streaming television. And we're sounding the alarm as we've been sounding now for too long. But hopefully your listeners will, in fact, start looking more closely at this digital environment because if we don't intervene in the next few years, it'll be impossible to go back and protect young people. So, when people watch television, they don't generally realize or appreciate the fact that information is being collected on them. Jeff - The television watches you now. The television is watching you now. The streaming companies are watching you now. The device that brings you streaming television is watching you now is collecting all kinds of data. The streaming device can deliver personalized ads to you. They'll be soon selling you products in real time. And they're sharing that data with companies like Meta Facebook, your local retailers like Albertsons, Kroger, et cetera. It's one big, huge digital data marketing machine that has been created. And the industry has been successful in blocking legislation except for the one law we were able to get through in 1998. And now under the Trump administration, they have free reign to do whatever they want. It's going to be an uphill battle. But I do think the companies are in a precarious position politically if we could get more people focused on what they're doing. Alright, we'll come back to that. My guess is that very few people realize the kind of thing that you just talked about. That so much information is being collected on them while they're watching television. The fact that you and your center are out there making people more aware, I think, is likely to be very helpful. Jeff - Well, I appreciate that, Kelly, but I have to say, and I don't want to denigrate our work, but you know, I just follow the trades. There's so much evidence if you care about the media and if you care about advertising and marketing or if you care, just let's say about Coca-Cola or Pepsi or Mondalez. Pick one you can't miss all this stuff. It's all there every day. And the problem is that there has not been the focus, I blame the funders in part. There's not been the focus on this marketplace in its contemporary dimensions. I'd like to ask you both about the legislative landscape and whether there are laws protecting people, especially children from this marketing. And Kathy, both you and Jeff were heavily involved in advocacy for a landmark piece of legislation that Jeff referred to from 1998, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. What did this act involve? And now that we're some years in, how has it worked? Kathryn - Well, I always say I've been studying advertising in the digital media before people even knew there was going to be advertising in digital media. Because we're really talking about the earliest days of the internet when it was being commercialized. But there was a public perception promoted by the government and the industry and a lot of other institutions and individuals that this was going to be a whole new democratic system of technology. And that basically it would solve all of our problems in terms of access to information. In terms of education. It would open up worlds to young people. In many ways it has, but they didn't talk really that much about advertising. Jeff and I working together at the Center for Media Education, were already tracking what was going on in that marketplace in the mid-1990s when it was very, very new. At which point children were already a prime target. They were digital kids. They were considered highly lucrative. Cyber Tots was one of the words that was used by the industry. What we believed was that we needed to get some public debate and some legislation in place, some kinds of rules, to guide the development of this new commercialized media system. And so, we launched a campaign that ultimately resulted in the passage of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Now it only governs commercial media, online, digital media that targets children under the age of 13, which was the most vulnerable demographic group of young people. We believe protections are really, really very important for teenagers. There's a lot of evidence for that now, much more research actually, that's showing their vulnerable abilities. And it has required companies to take young people into account when developing their operations. It's had an impact internationally in a lot of other countries. It is just the barest minimum of what we need in terms of protections for young people. And we've worked with the Federal Trade Commission over the years to ensure that those rules were updated and strengthened so that they would apply to this evolving digital media system. But now, I believe, that what we need is a more global advocacy strategy. And we are already doing that with advocates in other countries to develop a strategy to address the practices of this global industry. And there are some areas where we see some promising movement. The UK, for example, passed a law that bans advertising on digital media online. It has not yet taken effect, but now it will after some delays. And there are also other things going on for ultra processed foods, for unhealthy foods and beverages. So, Kathryn has partly answered this already, Jeff, but let me ask you. That act that we've talked about goes back a number of years now, what's being done more recently on the legislative front? Perhaps more important than that, what needs to be done? Well, I have to say, Kelly, that when Joe Biden came in and we had a public interest chair at the Federal Trade Commission, Lena Khan, I urged advocates in the United States who are concerned about unhealthy eating to approach the Federal Trade Commission and begin a campaign to see what we could do. Because this was going to be the most progressive Federal Trade Commission we've had in decades. And groups failed to do so for a variety of reasons. So that window has ended where we might be able to get the Federal Trade Commission to do something. There are people in the United States Congress, most notably Ed Markey, who sponsored our Children's Privacy Law 25 years ago, to get legislation. But I think we have to look outside of the United States, as Kathryn said. Beyond the law in the United Kingdom. In the European Union there are rules governing digital platforms called the Digital Services Act. There's a new European Union-wide policy safeguards on Generative AI. Brazil has something similar. There are design codes like the UK design code for young people. What we need to do is to put together a package of strategies at the federal and perhaps even state level. And there's been some activity at the state level. You know, the industry has been opposed to that and gone to court to fight any rules protecting young people online. But create a kind of a cutting-edge set of practices that then could be implemented here in the United States as part of a campaign. But there are models. And how do the political parties break down on this, these issues? Kathryn - I was going to say they break down. Jeff - The industry is so powerful still. You have bipartisan support for regulating social media when it comes to young people because there have been so many incidences of suicide and stalking and other kinds of emotional and psychological harms to young people. You have a lot of Republicans who have joined with Democrats and Congress wanting to pass legislation. And there's some bipartisan support to expand the privacy rules and even to regulate online advertising for teens in our Congress. But it's been stymied in part because the industry has such an effective lobbying operation. And I have to say that in the United States, the community of advocates and their supporters who would want to see such legislation are marginalized. They're under underfunded. They're not organized. They don't have the research. It's a problem. Now all these things can be addressed, and we should try to address them. But right now it's unlikely anything will pass in the next few months certainly. Kathryn - Can I just add something? Because I think what's important now in this really difficult period is to begin building a broader set of stakeholders in a coalition. And as I said, I think it does need to be global. But I want to talk about also on the research front, there's been a lot of really important research on digital food marketing. On marketing among healthy foods and beverages to young people, in a number of different countries. In the UK, in Australia, and other places around the world. And these scholars have been working together and a lot of them are working with scholars here in the US where we've seen an increase in that kind of research. And then advocates need to work together as well to build a movement. It could be a resurgence that begins outside of our country but comes back in at the appropriate time when we're able to garner the kind of support from our policymakers that we need to make something happen. That makes good sense, especially a global approach when it's hard to get things done here. Jeff, you alluded to the fact that you've done work specifically on ultra processed foods. Tell us what you're up to on that front. Jeff - As part of our industry analysis we have been tracking what all the leading food and beverage companies are doing in terms of what they would call their digital transformation. I mean, Coca-Cola and Pepsi on Mondelez and Hershey and all the leading transnational processed food companies are really now at the end of an intense period of restructuring to take advantage of the capabilities provided by digital data and analytics for the further data collection, machine learning, and Generative AI. And they are much more powerful, much more effective, much more adept. In addition, the industry structure has changed in the last few years also because of digital data that new collaborations have been created between the platforms, let's say like Facebook and YouTube, the food advertisers, their marketing agencies, which are now also data companies, but most notably the retailers and the grocery stores and the supermarkets. They're all working together to share data to collaborate on marketing and advertising strategies. So as part of our work we've kept abreast of all these things and we're tracking them. And now we are sharing them with a group of advocates outside of the United States supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies to support their efforts. And they've already made tremendous progress in a lot of areas around healthy eating in countries like Mexico and Argentina and Brazil, et cetera. And I'm assuming all these technological advances and the marketing muscle, the companies have is not being used to market broccoli and carrots and Brussels sprouts. Is that right? Jeff - The large companies are aware of changing attitudes and the need for healthy foods. One quick takeaway I have is this. That because the large ultra processed food companies understand that there are political pressures promoting healthier eating in North America and in Europe. They are focused on expanding their unhealthy eating portfolio, in new regions specifically Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. And China is a big market for all this. This is why it has to be a global approach here, Kelly. First place, these are transnational corporations. They are creating the, our marketing strategies at the global level and then transmitting them down to be tailored at the national or regional level. They're coming up with a single set of strategies that will affect every country and every child in those countries. We need to keep track of that and figure out ways to go after that. And there are global tools we might be able to use to try to protect young people. Because if you could protect young, a young person in China, you might also be able to protect them here in North Carolina. This all sounds potentially pretty scary, but is there reason to be optimistic? Let's see if we can end on a positive note. What do you think. Do you have reason to be optimistic? Kathryn - I've always been an optimist. I've always tried to be an optimist, and again, what I would say is if we look at this globally and if we identify partners and allies all around the world who are doing good work, and there are many, many, many of them. And if we work together and continue to develop strategies for holding this powerful industry and these powerful industries accountable. I think we will have success. And I think we should also shine the spotlight on areas where important work has already taken place. Where laws have been enacted. Where companies have been made to change their practices and highlight those and build on those successes from around the world. Thanks. Jeff, what about you? Is there reason to be optimistic? Well, I don't think we can stop trying, although we're at a particularly difficult moment here in our country and worldwide. Because unless we try to intervene the largest corporations, who are working and will work closely with our government and other government, will be able to impact our lives in so many ways through their ability to collect data. And to use that data to target us and to change our behaviors. You can change our health behaviors. You can try to change our political behaviors. What the ultra-processed food companies are now able to do every company is able to do and governments are able to do. We have to expose what they're doing, and we have to challenge what they're doing so we can try to leave our kids a better world. It makes sense. Do you see that the general public is more aware of these issues and is there reason to be optimistic on that front? That awareness might lead to pressure on politicians to change things? Jeff - You know, under the Biden administration, the Federal Trade Commission identified how digital advertising and marketing works and it made it popular among many, many more people than previously. And that's called commercial surveillance advertising. The idea that data is collected about you is used to advertise and market to you. And today there are thousands of people and certainly many more advocacy groups concerned about commercial surveillance advertising than there were prior to 2020. And all over the world, as Kathryn said, in countries like in Brazil and South Africa and Mexico, advocates are calling attention to all these techniques and practices. More and more people are being aware and then, you know, we need obviously leaders like you, Kelly, who can reach out to other scholars and get us together working together in some kind of larger collaborative to ensure that these techniques and capabilities are exposed to the public and we hold them accountable. Bios Kathryn Montgomery, PhD. is Research Director and Senior Strategist for the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD). In the early 90s, she and Jeff Chester co-founded the Center for Media Education (CME), where she served as President until 2003, and which was the predecessor organization to CDD. CME spearheaded the national campaign that led to passage of the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) the first federal legislation to protect children's privacy on the Internet. From 2003 until 2018, Dr. Montgomery was Professor of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C., where she founded and directed the 3-year interdisciplinary PhD program in Communication. She has served as a consultant to CDD for a number of years and joined the full-time staff in July 2018. Throughout her career, Dr. Montgomery has written and published extensively about the role of media in society, addressing a variety of topics, including: the politics of entertainment television; youth engagement with digital media; and contemporary advertising and marketing practices. Montgomery's research, writing, and testimony have helped frame the national public policy debate on a range of critical media issues. In addition to numerous journal articles, chapters, and reports, she is author of two books: Target: Prime Time – Advocacy Groups and the Struggle over Entertainment Television (Oxford University Press, 1989); and Generation Digital: Politics, Commerce, and Childhood in the Age of the Internet (MIT Press, 2007). Montgomery's current research focuses on the major technology, economic, and policy trends shaping the future of digital media in the Big Data era. She earned her doctorate in Film and Television from the University of California, Los Angeles. Jeff Chester is Executive Director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), a Washington, DC non-profit organization. CDD is one of the leading U.S. NGOs advocating for citizens, consumers and other stakeholders on digital privacy and consumer protections online. Founded in 1991, CDD (then known as the Center for Media Education) led the campaign for the enactment of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA, 1998). During the 1990s it also played a prominent role in such issues as open access/network neutrality, diversity of media ownership, public interest policies for children and television, as well the development of the FCC's “E-Rate” funding to ensure that schools and libraries had the resources to offer Internet services. Since 2003, CDD has been spearheading initiatives designed to ensure that digital media in the broadband era fulfill their democratic potential. A former investigative reporter, filmmaker and Jungian-oriented psychotherapist, Jeff Chester received his M.S.W. in Community Mental Health from U.C. Berkeley. He is the author of Digital Destiny: New Media and the Future of Democracy (The New Press, 2007), as well as articles in both the scholarly and popular press. During the 1980s, Jeff co-directed the campaign that led to the Congressional creation of the Independent Television Service (ITVS) for public TV. He also co-founded the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, the artist advocacy group that supported federal funding for artists. In 1996, Newsweek magazine named Jeff Chester one of the Internet's fifty most influential people. He was named a Stern Foundation “Public Interest Pioneer” in 2001, and a “Domestic Privacy Champion” by the Electronic Privacy Information Center in 2011. CDD is a member of the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD). Until January 2019, Jeff was the U.S. co-chair of TACD's Information Society (Infosoc) group, helping direct the organization's Transatlantic work on data protection, privacy and digital rights.

Could E-Voting Be the Future? IEC Explores Digital Democracy for South Africa by Radio Islam

As the world is increasingly shaped by the dominance of ‘Big Tech' – including the race for Artificial Intelligence – the outsized impact on our democratic and information systems has left many with fears and confusion about the path forward. But what if we could use technology as a tool that helps preserve the values of democracy and increases civic engagement, rather than eroding them? Furthermore, what sorts of people, projects, and policies are already paving the way?  Today Nate is joined by Taiwanese Digital Ambassador at large, Audrey Tang, to explore real-world examples of how technology is being leveraged globally to address – and in some cases reverse – critical societal challenges, such as polarization, misinformation, and the erosion of trust in governments and institutions.Tang emphasizes the importance of digital democracy, civic engagement, and incentivizing care in our policy making decisions to create a better experience and world for all humans. Is it possible to use social media as a tool that unifies citizens across polarized societies? How could technology be used to amplify the voices of citizens and influence policy making with human and planetary well-being in mind? And finally, even as technological corporations continue to consolidate power, what options are available to individuals who want to engage with technology in new and empowering ways?  (Conversation recorded on March 4th, 2025)    About Audrey Tang: Audrey Tang is Taiwan's Cyber Ambassador-at-large and was the first Digital Minister of Taiwan. Audrey is celebrated for their pioneering efforts in digital freedom. Named one of TIME's “100 Most Influential People in AI” in 2023, Tang was instrumental in shaping Taiwan's internationally acclaimed COVID-19 response and in safeguarding the 2024 presidential and legislative elections from foreign cyber interference. Audrey is now focused on broadening their vision of Plurality — technology for collaborative diversity — to inspire global audiences.   Show Notes and More Watch this video episode on YouTube   Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.   ---   Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future   Join our Substack newsletter   Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners  

Roberta Braga joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her career and founding Digital Democracy Institute for the Americas (DDIA), an organization run by and for Latinos to strengthen democracy online.

As artificial intelligence becomes an ever-present force in our lives, it's clear that this technology is not going away. And as it continues to transform education, governance and civic engagement, one crucial aspect remains largely unexplored: how to develop informed, engaged citizens for a democracy shaped by artificial intelligence. This event brings together experts in artificial intelligence, democracy building, and civic education to explore how AI intersects with the ways people learn about democracy, government and civic responsibility. They will examine the potential benefits and risks of AI in shaping how citizens understand and interact with democratic processes in the digital age, as well as the shared responsibilities of all stakeholders—including AI developers, educators, and subject matter experts—in the vital work of cultivating informed and active citizens. Please join us as our panel explores these critical issues and offers insights and practical strategies for preparing future citizens in a rapidly evolving, AI-driven world. This program is part of Creating Citizens, the civics education initiative at Commonwealth Club World Affairs.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(February 25,2025)Mayor Bass is getting criticism for ‘misrepresenting the facts' in the firing of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley. Trump, Putin, and the 3-year Ukrainian war. Newsom launches digital democracy tool called ‘Engaged California' describing it as ‘a townhall for the modern day.' Save the postal service.

We explore how going digital can contribute to a thriving city democracy and improve other things such as climate resilience and urban loneliness. The CEO of digital community-engagement platform Go Vocal describes its benefit for communities, the developer behind Europe’s most digitally connected neighbourhood tells us how they did it and we stop by the new Riyadh Metro.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a real-world experiment in governance happening that you've probably not heard about. It involves decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). These online collectives are trying to run billion-dollar enterprises using direct democracy and a controversial mechanism known as “liquid democracy”—where you can delegate your vote to anyone, at any time. Are these DAOs and blockchain experiments revolutionizing democracy—or just reinventing the wheel?Political scientist Andrew Hall (Stanford GSB), has been studying these systems to understand if delegated voting increases participation, improves decision-making, or simply creates new forms of power concentration. What happens when participation is low, and decisions are made by a few super-delegates? 

NIMBY. It's a cursed acronym that can send chills down an urban planner's spine and jettison approved building permits into liminal space. It stands for “not in my backyard,” and it can stop even the mightiest projects in their tracks. Blamed for gentrification, urban sprawl, and a myriad of other evils, NIMBYs tend to oppose land use change. So, how does a NIMBY evolve into a YIMBY? (A “yes, in my backyard!”) It's not magic. It's just good public consultation. And there's an app for that. Farhaan Ladhani is the CEO of Digital Public Square and Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. His latest project, Goodbit, is here to transform how we talk with each other about the topics that get us the most… heated.Join the Building Good community today:https://www.buildinggood.caLinkedIn

In this episode of The Horn, Alan talks with writer and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola about the wave of nationwide protests that have swept through Kenya in recent weeks and prospects for the country and the region. They unpack the political and economic factors driving discontent among young people in Kenya, the makeup of the demonstrators and social media's role in galvanising the protests. They discuss what options Kenya's President William Ruto has to address the country's economic woes and its spiralling debt crisis. They also talk about whether demonstrations might spread to other African countries facing structural challenges similar to Kenya's and what lessons can be learned from how protest movements have played out in Sudan and elsewhere in the region.For more, check out Nanjala's article in The Guardian The world is scrambling to understand Kenya's historic protests – this is what too many are missing, her book Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya and our recent Q&A What is Behind Kenya's Protest Movement? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to today's episode where we dive into the rapidly evolving world of technology and its impact on privacy, history, democracy, and consumer behavior. Join us as we explore the implications of Google FLoC cookies on online privacy, the dangers posed by AI Gemini in altering historical narratives, the role of technology in ensuring election integrity, and the influence of platforms like Temu on the online shopping experience. Google FLoC Cookies: Understand how Google's FLoC technology is reshaping online privacy and targeted advertising. Dangers of AI Gemini Changing History: Discover the risks of AI Gemini's potential to manipulate and rewrite historical events. Election Integrity Technology: Learn about the latest technologies designed to safeguard election integrity and ensure fair democratic processes. Temu and Online Shopping: Explore the impact of Temu and similar platforms on the future of online shopping and consumer habits. Don't forget to sign up for our Insider Newsletter to stay updated on the latest in technology and its implications for our world! You can also catch Craig at the following stations and channels: With Jim Polito at 0836 on TuesdaysWTAG AM 580 - FM 94.9 Talk 1200News Radio 920 & 104.7 FM WHJJNewsRadio 560 WHYNWXTKCraigs Show Airs 0600 Saturday and Sunday With Jeff Katz 1630 - TuesdaysWRVA 96.1 FM, 1140 AM   WGAN Matt Gagnon 0730 WednesdaysCraigs Show Airs 1700 Saturday  WGIR 610 & News Radio 96.7

We're joined today by longtime journalist, and co-founder of CalMatters, David Lesher. Last year David stepped down as editor-in-chief to direct a new project at CalMatters: Digital Democracy. Using the latest technology, including AI, Digital Democracy will gather a tremendous amount of data from California's state government: "every word uttered in public hearings, every dollar given to a politician, every bill introduced, every vote taken and more."After more than a year of development, Digital Democracy launched this month. David tells us how the system works, how it can be used by journalists, and ultimately by anyone interested in public policy, and how he hopes it will change the legislative process.Plus, Who Had the Worst Week in California Politics.1:14 What is Digital Democracy?3:56 "Phenoms"5:46 The three pieces7:17 Where can people find it?7:26 The AI component10:25 The fingerprint analogy11:40 The scale of the project and the infrastructure13:38 How will it work for reporters?17:33 The challenge of tracking donations19:25 Reaction from lawmakers20:51 The three goals for Digital Democracy22:52 "The Nastyness Scale"27:26 The State of the State speech30:06 #WWCAWant to support the Capitol Weekly Podcast? Make your tax deductible donation here: capitolweekly.net/donations/Capitol Weekly Podcast theme is "Pickin' My Way" by Eddie Lang"#WorstWeekCA" Beat provided by freebeats.io

Digital Democracy is the result of a collaboration between Cal Poly and CalMatters that aims to give every Californian access to information about what our lawmakers in Sacramento are doing. Al Stewart is appearing at the Cuesta CPAC with his band Empty Pockets on Saturday April 20th. He talks with KCBX's Sal Espana about history, wine, and songwriting in this interview from the KCBX archives. On Peace Love & Pets, host Robin Coleman speaks with Kristin Howland of Pacific Wildlife Care about their rehabilitation programs.

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Our government agencies are hopelessly out of date. Public documents are stored in backroom file cabinets, instead of being digitized and posted online. As FAI Senior Economist Samuel Hammond has noted, “We validate people's identity with a nine-digit numbering system created in 1936. The IRS Master File runs on assembly from the 1960s.” The deliberations of the government and its agencies are often inaccessible to the general public. And without this information, nearly everything becomes harder. How do you hold government institutions accountable when their activity and data are buried under layers of bureaucracy? How do we improve the collection, organization, and distribution of government information, as well as public information in general? And how will the arrival of new technologies like artificial intelligence help (or hurt) with that goal? Evan is joined by Jamie Joyce, Director at Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, and Founder of the Society Library, a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution that builds tools and develops products to improve the information ecosystem. She's also a board member at WikiTongues, an internet archive dedicated to the preservation of world languages.

EPISODE 1944: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Ehud Shapiro, a computer scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, about the egalitarian architecture necessary to build genuine digital democracy Ehud Shapiro is a multi-disciplinary scientist, artist, entrepreneur and a Professor of Computer Science and Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. With international reputation, he made fundamental contributions to many scientific disciplines. Ehud was also an Internet pioneer, a successful Internet entrepreneur, and a pioneer and proponent of e-democracy. Ehud is the founder of the Ba Rock Band and conceived its original artistic program. He is a winner of two European Research Council Advanced Grants.

As the year wraps up, we're looking back at ten of the episodes that defined our year at The Take. This originally aired on February 1. ChatGPT is taking the world by storm with AI-generated text that rivals actual literature – but there's a price. For its parent company, OpenAI, to get this quality product, human beings are paid to help teach it to identify the bad stuff: hate speech and violence of all kinds. We hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly of ChatGPT, including from one person who did the job and has real questions about whether it's worth the price. Note: This episode contains elements that were generated using ChatGPT. In this episode:  Nanjala Nyabola (@Nanjala1), author of Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era Is Transforming Politics in Kenya Michael Kearns (@mkearnsupenn), author of "The Ethical Algorithm" Mophat Ochieng, former AI content moderator  Episode credits: This episode was produced by Amy Walters with our host, Malika Bilal. Ashish Malhotra, Chloe K. Li, Miranda Lin and Alexandra Locke fact-checked this episode. Our production team includes Chloe K. Li, Miranda Lin, Ashish Malhotra, Negin Owliaei, and Amy Walters.  Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Megan Shahi, Director of Technology Policy at CAP Action, joins the show to discuss how social media and artificial intelligence could impact the 2024 elections, and what tech companies and policymakers can do to combat misinformation. Daniella and Colin also talk about COP28 with CAP Action's Frances Colón, and Donald Trump's extreme policy proposals.

Digital democracy uses digital technologies to promote and strengthen democracy, including accessing information, participating in political discussions, and holding elected officials accountable. Young people increasingly use digital technologies to participate in democracy, using social media to organize protests, raise awareness, and contact their elected officials.Jean-Desire Kouassi is a digital communications professional passionate about using technology to promote positive change. He has a bachelor's degree in English literature and linguistics from the University Alassane Ouattara in Bouake, Cote d'Ivoire, and a professional certification in social media marketing from Kirkwood Community College in the United States.Kouassi also has experience developing and implementing effective digital communication strategies in various sectors, including health, the press, international relations, family planning, technology, and civil society. He deeply advocates for internet access, quality digital education, and democracy, actively participates in policy initiatives, and leads digital literacy projects to promote positive change in these areas. Kouassi has earned me numerous national and international awards and is a firm believer in the power of digital technologies to connect people, create change, and build a better future.For more information about the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, visit icfrc.org.

Autism self-advocate Travis Misurell shares how the Future Is Now Coalition is working to make the democratic process more accessible. From the FiNC website: “They say those who don't conform to society create the most significant changes to the world. FiNC founder Travis Misurell, a neurodivergent and atypical thinker, saw how backward, contradictory, and antiquated our political systems are and felt compelled to design a solution. “Armed with a BA in Psychology and over a decade of experience in Operations and Process Management, Travis developed the tools to solve the increasing partisan divide, introducing the concept of Digital Politics. Travis founded the Future is Now Coalition (FiNC) using his unique perspective, passion for transparency, and the need to educate and empower Americans. Soon after, he was joined by over 40 people who felt the same and were willing to volunteer their time to bring FiNC, Digital Democracy, and the FiNC Research Hub to life.” For more about FiNC: https://futureis.org/ Follow Different Brains on social media: https://twitter.com/diffbrains https://www.facebook.com/different.brains/ https://www.instagram.com/diffbrains/ Check out more episodes of Exploring Different Brains! http://differentbrains.org/category/edb/

On this week of Serious Privacy, Paul Breitbarth of Catawiki and Dr. K Royal discuss a lot of events in a long week of privacy as they lead up to attending the Nordic Privacy Arena, including The Norwegian Data Protection Authority ordering Meta to stop personalized advertising, Fairplay and the Center for Digital Democracy (calling for investigation related to Google ads and COPPA), Gatekeepers, China, S. Korea, SmartCars, Mozilla's study on connected cars, OpenAI's enterprise offering, and more. If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn, Twitter @podcastprivacy @euroPaulB @heartofprivacy and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us! Proudly sponsored by TrustArc. Learn more about the TRUSTe Data Privacy Framework verification. upcoming webinars.#heartofprivacy #europaulb #seriousprivacy #privacy #dataprotection #cybersecuritylaw #CPO #DPO #CISO

Robby Mook joins The Great Battlefield podcast to discuss serving as Hillary Clinton's national campaign manager in 2016, his thoughts on modern campaigning, and his new initiative: the Defending Digital Democracy Project, which is developing strategies to protect systems against cyber and information attacks.

Prof. Ulrike Klinger, Professor for Digital Democracy at the European New School for Digital Studies at European University Viadrina, shares her latest research on negative campaigning on social media. We discuss some of the challenges in studying digital communication in the EU, as well as what explains a rise in negative campaigning across two European Parliament elections. Prof. Klinger also shares her research on the UN Global Compact for Migration, where extremist ideas from the Identitarian movement were picked up by the mainstream media. Lastly, we discuss Prof. Klinger's suggestions for increasing researcher data access ahead of the Digital Services Act. Here are links to the studies discussed in the episode:  Are Campaigns Getting Uglier, and Who Is to Blame? Negativity, Dramatization and Populism on Facebook in the 2014 and 2019 EP Election Campaigns (2023)From the fringes into mainstream politics: intermediary networks and movement-party coordination of a global anti-immigration campaign in Germany (2022)Delegated Regulation on Data Access Provided for the Digital Services Act (2023)Political Communication Special Issue: Digital Campaigning in Dissonant Public Spheres (2023)

Alyssa Ravasio is the founder and CEO of Hipcamp, a global online platform that brings the sharing economy to one of the planet's most plentiful resources—land. Built on the belief that getting outside should be simple, Hipcamp partners with private landowners across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom to create new spaces for recreation, increasing access to the outdoors while providing sustainable revenue to protect nature. To date, Hipcamp has unlocked access to more than 4 million acres of private land and helped people enjoy more than 7 million nights under the stars.Alyssa has received industry recognition for her achievement. She has served on the Outdoor Industry Association's Recreation Advisory Council and in 2022 she was recognized by Outside Business Journal as one of the 20 most influential people in the outdoor industry.Alyssa earned her bachelor's degree in Digital Democracy and Complexity Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She lives in the wilds of Marin County with her husband and young son, and one of her deepest passions is shaping how the internet impacts our humanity and our planet.Alyssa has graciously provided a discount code for Adventure Sports Podcast listeners! Use ADVENTURESPORTS10 for 10% off first booking with Hipcamp!@Hipcamphttps://www.hipcamp.com/en-USOur Sponsors:* Check out Green Chef and use my code asp250 for a great deal: https://www.greenchef.com/asp250* Check out Oris Watches: https://www.oris.ch* Check out Roark and use my code ASP15 for a great deal: https://roark.com/* Check out Shopify and use my code asp for a great deal: https://www.shopify.com/aspSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/adventure-sports-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You're likely familiar with the modern zombie trope: a zombie bites someone you care about and they're transformed into a creature who wants your brain. Zombies are the perfect metaphor to explain something Tristan and Aza have been thinking about lately that they call zombie values.In this Spotlight episode of Your Undivided Attention, we talk through some examples of how zombie values limit our thinking around tech harms. Our hope is that by the end of this episode, you'll be able to recognize the zombie values that walk amongst us, and think through how to upgrade these values to meet the realities of our modern world. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Is the First Amendment Obsolete?This essay explores free expression challengesThe Wisdom GapThis blog post from the Center for Humane Technology describes the gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our ability to make sense of themRECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES A Problem Well-Stated is Half Solved with Daniel SchmachtenbergerHow To Free Our Minds with Cult Deprogramming Expert Steve HassanYour Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

Nikki - What does cyber resiliency mean to you?Nikki - Can you tell us a little bit more about the Cyberspace Solarium Commission or CSC, in particular I'm interested in the promotion of national resilience. Can you talk a little bit about what that means and what's in progress at the moment? Chris - There's been a lot of activity lately with the Cyber EO, OMB Memos, activities by NIST, publications by CISA and of course the National Cyber Strategy. How do you feel about where we're headed as a nation on the Cyber front and do you think we could be doing more, and if so, what in particular?Chris - I recently saw you made comments regarding Cloud Service Providers (CSP) and their lack of being designated as critical infrastructure I believe. I have seen similar comments from the OCND, due to how critical CSP's, especially major IaaS providers are to the nation. Why do you think they have avoided this designation as long as they have?Nikki - There are a lot of us in cybersecurity that got into it to help defend our nation and protect our country (myself included). Are there ways that other cyber defenders or technical professionals can get involved or any resources you would recommend? Nikki - I don't see a ton in legislature or in the Executive Order about the human element behind cybersecurity and our challenges with risk management. Do you foresee any legislation or anything that may come out around how to protect our users and even our security practitioners? Chris - I mentioned the NCS earlier, a big part of that was shifting market forces, the idea of software liability and also safe harbor. What are your thoughts on this topic?Chris - CISA recently released "Secure-by-Design/Default" guidance for software suppliers and manufacturers. I wrote an article recently tracing the advocacy for "secure by design" back 50 years to the Ware Report. Yet here we are, still advocating for the same concepts. What do you think it will take for this to become a requirement rather than a recommendation and how important is this paradigm shift for national security?

Democracy in action has looked the same for generations. Constituents might go to a library or school every one or two years and cast their vote for people who don't actually represent everything that they care about. Our technology is rapidly increasing in sophistication, yet our forms of democracy have largely remained unchanged. What would an upgrade look like - not just for democracy, but for all the different places that democratic decision-making happens?On this episode of Your Undivided Attention, we're joined by political economist and social technologist Divya Siddarth, one of the world's leading experts in collective intelligence. Together we explore how new kinds of governance can be supported through better technology, and how collective decision-making is key to unlocking everything from more effective elections to better ways of responding to global problems like climate change.Correction:Tristan mentions Elon Musk's attempt to manufacture ventilators early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. Musk ended up buying over 1,200 ventilators that were delivered to California.RECOMMENDED MEDIAAgainst Democracy by Jason BrennanA provocative challenge to one of our most cherished institutionsLedger of HarmsTechnology platforms have created a race for human attention that's unleashed invisible harms to society. Here are some of the costs that aren't showing up on their balance sheetsThe Wisdom GapThis blog post from the Center for Humane Technology describes the gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our ability to make sense of themDemocracyNextDemocracyNext is working to design and establish new institutions for government and transform the governance of organizations that influence public lifeCIP.orgAn incubator for new governance models for transformative technologyEtheloTransform community engagement through consensusKazm's Living Room ConversationsLiving Room Conversations works to heal society by connecting people across divides through guided conversations proven to build understanding and transform communitiesThe Citizens DialogueA model for citizen participation in Ostbelgien, which was brought to life by the parliament of the German-speaking communityAsamblea Ciudadana Para El ClimaSpain's national citizens' assembly on climate changeClimate Assembly UKThe UK's national citizens' assembly on climate changeCitizens' Convention for the ClimateFrance's national citizens' assembly on climate changePolisPolis is a real-time system for gathering, analyzing and understanding what large groups of people think in their own words, enabled by advanced statistics and machine learningRECOMMENDED YUA EPISODESDigital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang They Don't Represent Us with Larry LessigA Renegade Solution to Extractive Economics with Kate RaworthYour Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

On a relatively lighter note, we welcome national baseball writer for the New York Times, Tyler Kepner, to talk about issues in the sports world in general but more specifically about his latest book “The Grandest Stage: A History Of The World Series.” Also joining the conversation will be friend of the program, Ken Reed, policy director of League of Fans, whose book “How to Save Sports: A Game Plan” has been updated. Plus, Ralph pays tribute to the late activist and entertainer, Harry Belafonte and has some choice words for Bernie Sanders' early endorsement of Joe Biden's 2024 presidential campaign.Tyler Kepner is national baseball writer for the New York Times, where he has covered every World Series Game of the last two decades. He's not just a sports reporter, he's a sports historian. He is the author of K: A History Of Baseball In Ten Pitches, and The Grandest Stage: A History Of The World Series.Certainly, it's the apex of the season— the thing that every fan ultimately looks forward to. The World Series as an event has had some challenges—certainly the Super Bowl has overtaken it in terms of eyeballs. But that's just one game. The World Series is a weeklong event. It's always fascinating to me the history behind it, the way it's managed within the games, the way certain players respond to that spotlight, the way momentum can turn so quickly.Tyler Kepner, author of "The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series"Dr. Ken Reed is Sports Policy Director for the League of Fans and the author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan, Ego vs. Soul in Sports: Essays on Sport at Its Best and Worst, and The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place. Ken's writing has been highly praised by legendary sports writers Robert Lipsyte and Frank Deford, and he is a long-time sports marketing consultant, sports studies instructor, sports issues analyst, columnist, and author.Some people ask me “Why do you hate sports?” or “Why are you so angry about sports?” Ironically, I'm probably one of the most passionate people there are about sports. But I think if you love sports, you have to be angry at some of these issues that we've talked about. I always go back to a RFK quote that I love— “The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country.” And I think that applies to me with sports, and that's why we do what we do at League of Fans.Ken Reed policy director "League of Fans"Harry Belafonte was a great entertainer and a great social activist for justice, civil rights, and African Americans. He grew up in the Caribbean, and he never faltered. He never was co-opted. He never put ambition before his candid statements, again and again, on the violations on the civil rights of people who were powerless.Ralph NaderI think it was a strategic mistake. [Bernie Sanders] endorsed [Joe Biden] without any conditions. He didn't get any commitments from Joe Biden for his endorsement. And because of his leadership role among progressive politicians, he's undermined progressive legislators from holding out and pulling Biden and the corporate Democrats more into progressive territory. I was shocked.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantis1. Who is behind the recent campaign to deregulate child labor? A new Washington Post report finds that a Florida based right-wing think tank called the Foundation for Government Accountability, and its lobbying arm the Opportunity Solutions Project, have been the prime movers behind the laws passed in Arkansas and Iowa, as well as efforts to do the same in Minnesota, Ohio, and Georgia. This campaign goes beyond the pale even for some traditional conservative groups. Randy Zook, president of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview that his state's law was “a solution looking for a problem.”2. From the Intercept: The war in Yemen appears to be winding down, as Saudi Arabia and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have agreed to a long-term ceasefire brokered by China. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, weighed in, saying “Biden promised to end the war in Yemen. Two years into his presidency, China may have delivered on that promise.” This breakthrough comes amid a broader Saudi-Iranian rapprochement – also driven by China – which has taken on the role of peacemaker both in the Middle East and in Ukraine in the absence of strong peace leadership from the US. Rep. Ro Khanna tweeted “It's past time for Saudis to end their brutal eight-year war and blockade on Yemen, as I've advocated for years. This will create the opportunity for the Yemeni people to decide their own political future.”3. Arizona activist Kai Newkirk reports that “By an overwhelming vote, the Arizona Democratic Party...passed a resolution calling on Democrats nationwide — from grassroots activists to party leaders — to pledge to support the winner of the Democratic primary to replace Kyrsten Sinema.” Moreover, Jezebel reports that a new Public Policy Polling survey shows that Ruben Gallego would pull 42 percent of the vote, in a three-way race, with election-denying Republican Kari Lake drawing 35 percent, and Sinema just 14 percent. Sinema also lags behind Gallego in terms of fundraising, bringing in just $2.1 million in the first quarter compared to Gallego's $3.7 million, with just 0.3 percent of her donations were from small dollar donors, per NBC News.4. From Reuters: Reinvigorated with new funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS was able to provide live support to 87% of customer calls this tax season, up from just 15% last year. The average time on hold decreased from 27 minutes to just four.5. A new article in the American Prospect covers the insidious new ways corporations are surveilling and targeting low-income consumers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP. Since the pandemic, the Department of Agriculture has allowed SNAP recipients to order groceries online, but have not erected sufficient data privacy protections. The Center for Digital Democracy, which has monitored the program, finds that the lack of oversight results in this data being exploited by predatory advertisers hawking junk food and even financial products like payday loans.6. Socialist Seattle City Councilor Kshama Sawant announced via Twitter that Seattle has passed her bill to cap late rent fees at $10 per month. The national standard late rent fee is between 5 and 10 percent, meaning this could save renters a considerable chunk of change.7. From Rolling Stone: The film How to Blow Up a Pipeline, adapted from the book of the same name, is causing quite a stir among law enforcement. At least 23 separate federal and sate entities, including the FBI, have sent out at least 35 warnings about the film, which is a work of fiction. The film also holds a 95 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.8. The Lever reports that on Monday, Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi received an award from the American Hospital Association or AHA, for “her incredible efforts in advancing health care.” The Lever alleges that she received this award for “blocking consideration of Medicare for All or any other major reforms to the insurance-based health care system.” The AHA, a top lobbying group for hospitals, raised $129 million in 2021 and represents large hospital chains like CommonSpirit Health, Ascension, and Tenet Healthcare.9. The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that Myles Cosgrove, the police officer who killed Breonna Taylor by mistake in a no-knock search, has been rehired by the Carroll County Sheriff's Department, about one hour northeast of Louisville. Cosgrove was fired by the Louisville Metro Police Department in January 2021.10.The Pentagon has requested an additional $36 million to fund research and treatment for “Havana Syndrome,” per the Intercept. Many doubt the very existence of Havana Syndrome, especially since a US Intelligence assessment in March found that the symptoms were “not caused by [an] energy weapon or foreign adversary,” as had long been alleged.11. According to the Washington Post, The brand-new Smithsonian American Women's History Museum announced last month that Nancy Yao will serve as its founding director. Yao currently runs the New York City-based Museum of Chinese in America and has been sued multiple times for wrongful termination, retaliation against whistleblowers, and protecting sexual harassers.12. Greenpeace USA announced that they have won the Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPP case, that they've been embroiled in. The suit was brought against Greenpeace by a Canadian logging company, who sued for $100 million dollars Canadian, in an attempt to “silence and bankrupt” the organization. Greenpeace added that they are “now able to turn our attention to what lays ahead in this continued fight: We can't allow corporate polluters to stand in the way of climate justice by manipulating our legal system and our democracy.” Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Justin is no stranger to entrepreneurial success, having sold his first company, theAmplify, in 2016. He has also penned a thought-provoking book called "Unapologetic Freedom", which showcases his unique perspective on life and personal freedom. Today, we'll be diving deep into the world of Zion, a groundbreaking decentralized social media application built on the Bitcoin network. Zion leverages decentralized identifiers (DID's), ION, and the Bitcoin Lightning Network to create a platform that encourages the open flow of content and payments between creators and their audiences at scale. This innovative platform has the potential to redefine social media, digital content sharing, and creator-audience relationships. Join us as we explore the fascinating journey of Justin Rezvani, uncover the driving forces behind his various ventures, and discuss the future of decentralized social media applications like Zion. Don't miss this captivating conversation with one of today's most forward-thinking entrepreneurs. Connect with Justin on social media and try out Zion.fyi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinrezvani/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinrezvani/ ============================================================ As the CEO of 3OneProductions, OpticTour Agency, and Restaurant Black Ops, Rami is a dedicated entrepreneur who has achieved great success in a short amount of time. He arrived in Austin in 1993 with only $475 and managed to open the best Italian restaurant in the city just seven years later. This success is due to his unwavering belief in never giving up on his dreams, staying inspired, and remaining positive while connecting with others who have big goals. In addition to his professional pursuits, Rami is a natural connector who enjoys hearing about other people's journeys and learning from their insights and perspectives. He believes that everyone has a unique story to share and that incredible things can happen when you share it with the world. When he's not busy with his various ventures, Rami can be found coaching and consulting with top-level executives, managers, and decision-makers. He is also the host of the popular YouTube show "Talk2Rami," where he interviews fascinating people and shares their stories with his audience. If you have any questions for Rami, please leave them in the comments section. + Website: http://talk2rami.com/ + Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raminjahedi/ + Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2u1ISRm24IjnFlaDQpVSrb + Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talktorami/ + Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talk2rami/ + Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/talk2rami #blockchain #ai #podcast #tiktokban #financialfreedom #bitcoin

Jenny Reich, Fellow at the Georgetown Law Center on National Security, discusses the Center's recent report entitled Social Media: The Canary in the Coal Mine. We dive into the potential security risks posed by digital technology developments as well as the report's recommendations for addressing them at the levels of government, the tech industry, and civil society. The report brings together various stakeholders to shed insight on the core democratic values of the United States, the major threats posed by technological advancements, and first steps toward developing regulatory frameworks and civil society resilience to meet these threats in ways that safeguard democracy and American national security interests. 

In this episode, Dr. Elaine Maimon - former President of Governors State University - explains why critical thinking and communications skills are so important to healthy participation in our rapidly evolving and increasingly digital democracy.References:Dual Degree Program Guidebook focused on community college partnerships, printed June, 2019, (electronic version updated September, 2019) with the generous support of The Kresge Foundationhttps://opus.govst.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=student_affairs_reportsArticle highlighting a local TV news station's use of a fact-checking service: “VERIFY THE NEWS,” The Philadelphia Citizen, 3/2/23https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/ideas-we-should-steal-verify-the-news/Article lamenting the exploitation of graduate students at colleges: “THE REAL PROBLEM AT TEMPLE … ISN'T JUST TEMPLE'S,” The Philadelphia Citizen, 2/16/23https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/the-real-problem-with-temple-union-woes/

In this week's edition of the “22 lessons on ethics and technology series,” I speak with Dr. Nassim Parvin. We talk about the ethical and political dimensions of design and technology, especially as related to values of democratic participation and social justice. How have digital technologies impacted, and how do they continue to impact, the future of social and collective interactions, particularly in the arenas of political participation and social justice? How do the designs of technologies create platforms for participation--or inhibit it? And how have the values of democracy, equity, and justice nfluence the way we imagine and design the technologies that we claim will serve these values? Dr. Nassim Parvin is an Associate Professor at the Digital Media program at Georgia Tech, where she also directs the Design and Social Justice Studio. Her research explores the ethical and political dimensions of design and technology, especially as related to questions of democracy and justice. Rooted in pragmatist ethics and feminist theory, she critically engages emerging digital technologies—such as smart cities or artificial intelligence—in their wide-ranging and transformative effect on the future of collective and social interactions. Her interdisciplinary research integrates theoretically-driven humanistic scholarship and design-based inquiry, including publishing both traditional scholarly papers and creating digital artifacts that illustrate how humanistic values may be cultivated to produce radically different artifacts and infrastructures. Her scholarship appears across disciplinary venues in design (such as Design Issues), Human-Computer Interaction (such as ACM CSCW), Science and Technology Studies (such as Science, Technology, and Human Values), as well as philosophy (such as Hypatia: Journal of Feminist Philosophy). Her designs have been deployed at non-profit organizations such as the Mayo Clinic and exhibited in venues such as the Smithsonian Museum, receiving multiple awards and recognitions. She is an editor of Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, an award-winning journal in the expanding interdisciplinary field of STS and serve on the editorial board of Design Issues. My teaching has also received multiple recognitions inclusive of the campus-wide 2017 GATECH CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. Dr. Parvin received her PhD in Design from Carnegie Mellon University. She holds an MS in Information Design and Technology from Georgia Tech and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran.

ChatGPT is taking the world by storm with AI-generated text that rivals actual literature – but there's a price. For its parent company, OpenAI, to get this quality product, human beings are paid to help teach it to identify the bad stuff: hate speech and violence of all kinds. We hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly of ChatGPT, including from one person who did the job and has real questions about whether it's worth the price. Note: This episode contains elements that were generated using ChatGPT. In this episode:  Nanjala Nyabola (@Nanjala1), author of Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era Is Transforming Politics in Kenya Michael Kearns (@mkearnsupenn), author of "The Ethical Algorithm" Muphat Ochieng, former AI content moderator  Episode credits: This episode was produced by Amy Walters with our host, Malika Bilal. Ashish Malhotra, Chloe K. Li, Miranda Lin and Alexandra Locke fact-checked this episode. Our production team includes Chloe K. Li, Miranda Lin, Ashish Malhotra, Negin Owliaei, and Amy Walters.  Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Welcome to our first-ever Ask Us Anything episode. Recently we put out a call for questions… and, wow, did you come through! We got more than 100 responses from listeners to this podcast from all over the world. It was really fun going through them all, and really difficult to choose which ones to answer here. But we heard you, and we'll carry your amazing suggestions and ideas forward with us in 2023.When we created Your Undivided Attention, the goal was to explore the incredible power technology has over our lives, and how we can use it to catalyze a humane future. Three years and a global pandemic later, we're more committed than ever to helping meet the moment with crucial conversations about humane technology - even as the tech landscape constantly evolves and world events bring more urgency to the need for technology that unites us, invests in democratic values, and enhances our well-being.We've learned from our guests alongside all of you. Sixty-one episodes later, the podcast has over 16 million unique downloads! That's a lot of people who care about the promise of humane technology and are working to construct a more humane version of technology in their lives, their family's lives, and within their communities and society at large. We're a movement! Thank you to everyone who submitted questions and comments for us. We loved doing this, and we're looking forward to doing it again!Correction:When discussing DeepMind's recent paper, Aza said the premise was four people entering their views and opinions, with AI finding the commonality between all of those viewpoints. It was actually three people entering their views and opinions.RECOMMENDED MEDIA CHT's Recommended Reading List:Foundations of Humane TechnologyOur free, self-paced online course for professionals shaping tomorrow's technologyThe Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff Foundational reading on the attention economyAlgorithms of Oppression by Safiya Umoja Noble Seminal work on how algorithms in search engines replicate and reinforce bias online and offlineAmusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman Written in 1985, Postman's work shockingly predicts our current media environment and its effectsAttention Merchants by Tim WuA history of how advertisers capture our attentionDoughnut Economics by Kate Raworth A compass for how to upgrade our economic models to be more regenerative and distributiveThinking in Systems by Donella MeadowsThis excellent primer shows us how to develop systems thinking skillsWhat Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael SandelSandel explores how we can prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they don't belongEssay: Disbelieving Atrocities by Arthur KoestlerOriginally published January 9, 1944 in The New York TimesHumane Technology reading listComprehensive for those who want to geek outORGANIZATIONS TO EXPLORE Integrity InstituteIntegrity Institute advances the theory and practice of protecting the social internet, powered by their community of integrity professionalsAll Tech Is Human job boardAll Tech Is Human curates roles focused on reducing the harms of technology, diversifying the tech pipeline, and ensuring that technology is aligned with the public interestDenizenDenizen brings together leaders across disciplines to accelerate systemic changeNew_PublicNew_Public is place for thinkers, builders, designers and technologists to meet and share inspirationPsychology of Technology InstitutePTI is non-profit network of behavioral scientists, technology designers, and decision-makers that protects and improves psychological health for society by advancing our understanding and effective use of transformative technologiesRadicalxChangeRxC is a social movement for next-generation political economiesThe School for Social DesignThe School for Social Design offers three courses on articulating what's meaningful for different people and how to design for it at smaller and larger scalesTechCongressTechCongress is a technology policy fellowship on Capitol HillRECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES An Alternative to Silicon Valley Unicornshttps://www.humanetech.com/podcast/54-an-alternative-to-silicon-valley-unicornsA Problem Well-Stated is Half-Solvedhttps://www.humanetech.com/podcast/a-problem-well-stated-is-half-solvedDigital Democracy is Within Reachhttps://www.humanetech.com/podcast/23-digital-democracy-is-within-reachYour Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

TODAY'S GUEST   Pia Mancini is a co-founder and CEO at Open Collective, a chair of the Democracy Earth Foundation, and a democracy activist who helped create the DemocracyOS platform and launched a Net Party in Argentina.   Her TED Talk, about upgrading democracy for the internet era, has exceeded a million views and helped reshape the conversation around the meeting place of democracy and the internet. She is a Y Combinator alum, a young global leader at the World Economic Forum, and she's also Roma's mum.   EPISODE SUMMARY   In this conversation we talk about: Her journey from empowering citizens in the political process to empowering collectives to self-fund and self-govern Her vision for a more inclusive and expansive digital democracy The tension between idealism and the realities of life, politics, and system   We also discuss: How do we, as individuals, create a system and an environment that affects change? How can we use technology to upgrade democracy? How do we trust ourselves and each other?   There is no more important discussion, I believe, than how our new technologies should be used and woven into the fabric of our public life. And how to move from chaotic, even destructive populism, to a constructive model of participation and empowerment. My conversation with Pia is one of the most fascinating conversations, in an ongoing series of design conversations we've lined up for you on design for democracy, social change, and positive impact.   TIMESTAMP CHAPTERS   [2:48] Life During Covid [10:26] Early Influences [20:54] Upgrading Democracy [30:23] DemocracyOS and Liquid Democracy [38:07] The Dream of a Borderless and Equal World [46:24] Net Party and the Clash with Reality [53:33] Maintaining Hope and Motivation [58:40] Building a New Narrative [1:03:55] A Transition to an Open Collective [1:21:14] A Sermon of Inspiration   EPISODE LINKS Pia's Links

Whether it is the intensification of polarization, the dissemination of disinformation, or the expansion of surveillance, today's digital technologies seem to radically disrupt liberal democratic politics. But what if the problems we face are less new than they first appear? In this podcast series, Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with the most pressing problems in political economy today with an eye to the past. What questions should we be asking about how technology, society and politics interact today? How can a historical perspective inform the future we are bringing into being?Our first season examines Digital Democracy. Social media platforms have expanded the possibilities of global communication, giving citizens new means of expressing themselves. Challenges like disinformation, harassment, and radicalization online have punctured techno-utopian optimism regarding the internet's democratic potential. Kristen Collins interviews people thinking about the relationship between digital technology and democracy from a myriad of perspectives to confront both the new challenges modern technology introduces and the enduring problems that social media and artificial intelligence might exacerbate or ameliorate.

Hackers, trolls and a crowded media landscape. We talk about how they are all affecting democracy in America. That's ahead of Thursday's Stanfield Conversations on that topic at Dalhousie University.

This is a story about a peer-to-peer mapping technology that is enabling people to "fight maps with maps"   https://www.digital-democracy.org/ You can find Mapeo here https://www.digital-democracy.org/mapeo/   Promoting OSM projects OpenCage and Mapscaping are working together to help projects based on OpenStreetMap reach a wider audience. Projects will be selected to be featured on upcoming Mapscaping podcast episodes, with all costs covered by OpenCage! Apply here! https://forms.reform.app/NAvQ41/opencage-mapscaping/af9MFV   Recommended Podcast episodes about Off-line mapping MerginMaps - QGIS offline and in the feild https://mapscaping.com/podcast/qgis-offline-and-in-the-field/   https://mapscaping.com/podcast/two-mobile-data-collection-apps-you-need-to-know-about/   More podcast episodes on GIS and GIS careers can be found on our website https://mapscaping.com/podcasts/   Consider supporting this podcast on Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/MapScaping?   Or go to MapScaping.com to find out about sponsoring our website reach out on Twitter https://twitter.com/MapScaping or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielodonohue/     

Matthew Scott is a Digital Media Entrepreneur working hard to change Media Entertainment, Digital Storytelling and Digital Democracy. Over the last 20-years he has worked as a creator, producer, marketer and innovator with the likes of SKY, BBC, Discovery Networks, Nike, Coca-Cola, Ford, Lego, Intel, Sony Pictures and countless more. His new company Play Human focuses on helping creators/brands engage with their audiences in the post-social world. In today's episode we talk about: Growing up on Bangor His early days as a storyteller What got him into tech How he ended up working with some of the biggest brands on the planet What the post-social world will look like And the biggest lessons he's learned along the way. Check it out.   // https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/matthew-scott-play-human //

Hailing from Argentina, Pia Mancini is a democracy activist and technical project leader. She came to public attention with her co-founded DemocracyOS software. With a background in coding and political theory, Pia is on a mission to modernize political institutions in the Internet age. Devising the future of decentralized communities is one of her passion projects, and a topic near and dear to my heart. Let us discover in this episode how best to give our political systems a smart upgrade. The floor is all Audrey & Pia's! | The episode is licensed by CC4.0 | ▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

Danny and Derek welcome Kevin Klyman, researcher at Harvard University’s Belfer Center, to discuss science, technology, and US imperialism. The discussion covers vaccine diplomacy/colonialism, digital democracy and authoritarianism, the role of Big Tech, the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, the Chips and Science Act, and more.Check out Kevin’s (Twitter handle @kevin_klyman) work discussed in the episode:“Biden's Campaign for ‘Digital Democracy’ is Really a Giveaway to Big Tech” (Jacobin)“Biden's Successor to TPP is a Boon for Big Tech (The American Prospect)“Vaccine Apartheid has Reinforced US Empire” (Jacobin)“High-Tech Pandemic Solutions Don't Save Lives. They Just Boost Profits (Jacobin) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

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For anyone concerned about the current global state of Democracy, which should be everyone, Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Digital Minister, may be our greatest hope:“I'm not here to make citizens transparent to government, I'm here to make government transparent to citizens.”She has flipped Big Brother, proving that this very same unprecedented internet connectivity can be harnessed to cultivate and manifest the very best of us as well — connecting instead of isolating, confirming truths instead of spreading lies, distributing power instead of consolidating it.Very much due to Audrey's work, Taiwan shot from 31st to 11th on the Economist's Global Democracy Index to become a “Full Democracy,” and Asia's most advanced democracy. At the same time, the U.S. dropped from 8th to 25th, now a “Flawed Democracy,” also due very much to one man.Here's a foundational story of how she started down this road. During the 2014 Sunflower Revolution in Taipei, students and dissidents peacefully occupied the Taiwan Yuan, or parliament, for 22 days protesting a trade deal with mainland China, or the PRC. Audrey flew in from Silicon Valley, borrowed a laptop, plugged into 300 meters of ethernet cable, and connected over 500,000 citizens and over twenty NGOs in a real-time dialogue towards what she would ultimately call “rough consensus.” The demonstration won the day and resulted in a new trade agreement, very much due to Audrey's remarkable and unprecedented real-time connectivity. The students remained completely peaceful throughout and respectfully cleaned up the parliament before they left, unlike other Congressional occupations of late. Powerful people in Taiwan's conservative government took note of what Audrey was doing, and called her in to talk… and so it began…I've listened to this interview countless times while editing, and I'm still hearing new things, so the odds are she's going to just lose you, both with the technology and her philosophy. So here are two quick shorthands for each.Per the tech: Virtually everything referred to, from Distributed and Polycentric ledgers to Multi-dimensional spaces to reverse accountability assures transparency, and empowers citizens, inspiring openness, real-time action, and the deployment of people's different viewpoints. It all encourages plurality as a way to demonstrate, as she puts it, “our shared values are hiding in plain sight.”     And all her philosophy, from calling herself a “post-gender, conservative anarchist” to the Lao Tzu and Taoist quotes sprinkled through this interview, are about cycling and returning power and voice to citizens, re-energizing the deepest, most fundamental precept of democracy: Power to the People.View our complete show notes here: http://zioncanyonmesa.org/podcast-archive/steer-the-wind-audrey-tang-is-saving-the-worldhttps://oftaiwan.org/social-movements/sunflower-movement/https://g0v.tw/intl/en/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Tanghttps://theasiadialogue.com/2018/05/23/tsais-second-year-the-emergence-of-non-partisans-in-taiwan/https://wtfisqf.com/?grant=&grant=&grant=&grant=&match=1000https://www.snopes.com/articles/386830/misinformation-vs-disinformation/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratic_voting#:~:text=Quadratic%20voting%20is%20a%20collective,voting%20paradox%20and%20majority%20rule.

A case for crypto for the left would undoubtedly have to include the potential for creating resilient methods for digital democracy. However to make real democracy of one person one vote is incredibly difficult without having a very good system of sybil resistance, or for a way to tell that a single account is a single person. This is why so many projects rely on pure token governance, which is not really that democratic. You have some projects that try to provide a layer of sybil resistance, but many times it includes a loss of some amount of privacy. Idena (@IdenaNetwork) has come across to me as a blockchain that has seemed to found a good balance between privacy and sybil resistance.For this episode I spoke to two community members of the Idena community that go by LTraveler and TravCrypto. In the interview we spoke about how Idena works, the different types of use cases it enables related to digital democracy, and how it protects users' privacy. More ResourcesUnderstanding Idena Article Quadratic Staking calculatorDecentralized AdvertisementsIdena DiscordLTraveler's Github pageIf you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit and Discord to join the discussion.ICYMI - The first documentary teaser was just released! You can watch it here. Be sure to subscribe to the channel on YouTube and follow the account on Twitter. You can read a lot more information about the documentary on the website at www.cryptofuturesdoc.comSupport the show

Rachel Tausendfreund talks to Taiwan's digital minister, Audrey Tang, about the perils and prospects of tech for democracy. Audrey discusses strategies to combat the infodemic (including “humor over rumor” and public notice) and explains the advantages of Taiwan's public social media platform PTT, which gave the government early warning for the coronavirus. Audrey outlines the art of troll control how purpose-seeking (as opposed to profit-seeking) social media can work. And because this is part of the Marshall75 collection Rachel and Audrey talk about what investments need to be made to ensure a healthier future of an open, democratic Internet, and which partners need to be on board.

In this episode, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Kevin Esterling talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about digital democracy and echo chambers. About Kevin Esterling: Kevin Esterling is a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and the Director of the Laboratory for Technology, Communication, and Democracy (TeCD Lab), at the University of California, Riverside. His research focuses on institutional design for communication in democratic politics, and he has interests in Bayesian statistics, experimental design, and science ethics and validity. His current work focuses on deliberative democracy and the design of technology that leads citizens to engage constructively in public discourse. Learn more about Kevin Esterling via https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/kevine Podcast Highlights: “The advantage is that we as individuals don't have to rely so much on intermediaries to express our concern to government.” - Kevin Esterling on the advantages of digital democracy. “If social media platforms just become a cesspool of misinformation and ideological content, at some people will find it less useful...” - Kevin Esterling on the topic of social media and echo chambers. “Technology is neither good nor bad, it's just how it's designed and how it ends up getting used.” - Kevin Esterling pointing out the "gray area" that technology often falls into. Guest: Kevin Esterling (Professor of Political Science and Public Policy) Interviewers: Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean's Chief Ambassador) Zeno Marganian (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean's Ambassador) Music by: C Codaine https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625 https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase Commercial Links: https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpp https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/ Subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

[This episode originally aired on July 23rd, 2020.] Imagine a world where every country has a digital minister and technologically-enabled legislative bodies. Votes are completely transparent and audio and video of all conversations between lawmakers and lobbyists are available to the public immediately. Conspiracy theories are acted upon within two hours and replaced by humorous videos that clarify the truth. Imagine that expressing outrage about your local political environment turned into a participatory process where you were invited to solve that problem and even entered into a face to face group workshop. Does that sound impossible? It's ambitious and optimistic, but that's everything that our guest this episode, Audrey Tang, digital minister of Taiwan, has been working on in her own country for many years. Audrey's path into public service began in 2014 with her participation in the Sunflower Movement, a student-led protest in Taiwan's parliamentary building, and she's been building on that experience ever since, leading her country into a future of truly participatory digital democracy. 

It is Episode 39, and we are joined by Guest Tracy Z. Maleeff AKA @InfosecSherpa | She talks about cybersecurity and sport, checking sources to beat misinformation, and mentoring Infosec students and professionals in Africa | Also we chat about a book called “The internet is not what you think it is” and we discuss Digital Colonialism and Digital Democracy.______________________________There is one truth that is not told enough: technology is not magic — but it can be magical.Technology is human — it is part of who we are… our evolution… our future.Will it be a Dystopian or Utopian one? Well, that is up to us, and nobody else._____________________________Join us for our live recording on… Twitter

Garbage in, garbage out, as the early computer innovators remarked about information. A vital free press is the single most important feedback loop in a democracy. New media including especially the Internet have challenged the supremacy of corporate media concentration and junk news. A brave new wave of activists such as Brad Friedman, John Stauber and Joan Blades are using digital media to restore the democratic lifeblood of a people's media. They're giving voice to the voiceless, checking and balancing corruption, and providing liberty and access for all.

In Episode 38, Gregg welcomes back Dr. Zak Stein (see Episode 8). Well-known in the metamodern space, Zak is educational philosopher and author of many well-known articles and essays, and the book Education in a Time Between Worlds: Essays on the Future of Schools, Technology, and Society. He is also a contributor to the Consilience Project, where among other things he has taken a lead role on a powerful four-part series of essays on propaganda and the current social media environment (see here, here, here, and here). This conversation reviews Zak's analysis of education, propaganda and the concept of undue influence, and syncs it up with UTOK's frame, especially regarding the dynamics of justification, investment, influence and the nature of thought control. ---