Podcast appearances and mentions of Jeremy M Weinstein

Today on the podcast, why are more unequal neighborhoods sometimes better at promoting the collective good?A world of high inequality is, in many ways, a world in which the fortunes of the rich are detached from the welfare of the poor. It's a world in which the affluent are less reliant on public goods for securing their own safety and wellbeing. Those with money can purchase essential services – even things like security, sewage systems, or street lights – on private markets – rather than turning to the government. A highly unequal society is thus one in which the affluent may have little reason to support public infrastructure and services – or the high taxes required to finance them. It's a society, in short, that's going to have a hard time providing widespread public goods. The result can be a vicious circle – deteriorating living conditions among the poorest and growing comfort and prosperity among the better-off.But our guest today argues that things don't always have to work this way – that the consequences of inequality depend not only on who has what, but also on where. Dr. Alice Xu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice and Department of Political Science. In her article published in the American Political Science Review – and a book project currently in progress – Alice argues that whether or not the affluent support the provision of public goods depends on patterns of residential segregation and integration. As Alice argues, when the middle and upper classes live in close proximity to the poor, their fortunes are more closely intertwined than they are in cities that are highly segregated by social class. In an integrated city, when the poor experience unsafe streets or disease-ridden sewage runoff, so too do their better-off neighbors. Alice talks to us about the in-depth, mixed method study she carried out in several cities in Brazil – one of the world's most unequal countries. We dig into how class-integrated neighborhoods sometimes escape inequality's vicious circle – as the middle and upper classes demand that the state invest more generously in urban infrastructure and services for everyone. This is work that doesn't just shed new light on the political economy of inequality but also holds important lessons for the planning and governance of the world's cities – in particular, showing just what is at stake in avoiding high levels of segregation by social class.We hope you enjoy this conversation. To stay informed about future episodes, follow us on Bluesky @scopeconditions and check out our website, scopeconditionspodcast.com, where you can also find references to all the academic works we discuss. And if you like the show, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Now, here's our conversation with Alice Xu.Works cited in this episodeAllport, Gordon Willard, Kenneth Clark, and Thomas F. Pettigrew. The nature of prejudice. Vol. 2. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1954.Boustan, Leah Platt. “Was postwar suburbanization ‘white flight'? Evidence from the black migration.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 125, no. 1 (2010): 417–443.Derenoncourt, Ellora. “Can you move to opportunity? Evidence from the Great Migration.” American Economic Review 112, no. 2 (2022): 369–408.Habyarimana, James, Macartan Humphreys, Daniel N. Posner, and Jeremy M. Weinstein. Coethnicity: Diversity and the dilemmas of collective action. Russell Sage Foundation, 2009.McGhee, Heather. The sum of us: What racism costs everyone and how we can prosper together. One World, 2022.Milanovic, Branko. Worlds apart: Measuring international and global inequality. Princeton University Press, 20

Technology is rapidly reshaping our lives. And not always for the better. In this episode, three Stanford professors argue that if we want technology to advance human progress, we need to rein in big tech.

In this episode, we invite you to listen in on a recent AEI event on the book System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (Harper Academic, 2021). On June 22, 2023, AEI's Brent Orrell and Shane Tews were joined by Rob Reich of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and Jeremy M. Weinstein of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies to discuss their book, which they co-authored along with their fellow Stanford professor Mehran Sahami.The panelists discuss the challenges that Big Tech in the 21st century—particularly artificial intelligence—poses to democracy. They explore the dangers of the "optimizing" mindset that competition in technology encourages; the trade-offs between the values of privacy, safety, agency, and productivity; the rise of misinformation and disinformation; and issues of power concentration and regulatory capture in the technology sector.Mentioned in the EpisodeSystem Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can RebootRob ReichMehran SahamiJeremy WeinsteinFreeman Spogli Institute for International StudiesStanford Institute for Human-Centered AI“Get Rich U.” in the New YorkerDoNotPay - Your AI Consumer ChampionFacebook “Connect the World” MemoSen. Schumer's SAFE Innovation FrameworkAI Bill of RightsNIST AI Risk Management FrameworkThe Precautionary PrincipleEU AI Act

Graeme Blair talks about the effects of community policing in the Global South. “Community Policing Does Not Build Citizen Trust in Police or Reduce Crime in the Global South” by Graeme Blair, Jeremy M. Weinstein, Fotini Christia, Eric Arias, Emile Badran, Robert A. Blair, Ali Cheema, Thiemo Fetzer, Guy Grossman, Dotan Haim, Rebecca Hanson, Ali Hasanain, Ben Kachero, Dorothy Kronick, Benjamin Morse, Robert Muggah, Matthew Nanes, Tara Slough, Nico Ravanilla, Jacob N. Shapiro, Barbara Silva, Pedro C. L. Souza, Lily Tsai, and Anna Wilke. *** Probable Causation is part of Doleac Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you enjoy the show, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you for supporting our work! *** OTHER RESEARCH WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE: “Community Policing, Chicago Style” by Wesley G. Skogan and Susan M. Hartnett. “Impact Evaluation of the LAPD Community Safety Partnership” by Sydney Kahmann, Erin Hartman, Jorja Leap, and P. Jeffrey Brantingham. “Crime, Insecurity, and Community Policing: Experiments on Building Trust” by Graeme Blair, Fotini Christia, Jeremy M. Weinstein, Eric Arias, Emile Badran, Robert A. Blair, Ali Cheema, Thiemo Fetzer, Guy Grossman, Dotan Haim, Rebecca Hanson, Ali Hasanain, Ben Kachero, Dorothy Kronick, Benjamin Morse, Robert Muggah, Matthew Nanes, Tara Slough, Nico Ravanilla, Jacob N. Shapiro, Barbara Silva, Pedro C. L. Souza, Lily Tsai, and Anna Wilke. [Forthcoming book.]

Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world's leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Rob Reich and Jeremy Weinstein, authors of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Rob Reich is professor of political science and codirector of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at Stanford University. Jeremy M. Weinstein went to Washington with President Obama in 2009. A key staffer in the White House, he foresaw how new technologies might remake the relationship between governments and citizens, and launched Obama's Open Government Partnership. When Samantha Power was appointed US Ambassador to the United Nations, she brought Jeremy to New York, first as her chief of staff and then as her deputy. He returned to Stanford in 2015 as a professor of political science, where he now leads Stanford Impact Labs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first episode of In Reality, co-hosts Eric Schurenberg and Joan Donovan are joined by Rob Reich, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Stanford University and Author of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot.At its birth, social media promised to be a tool to promote democracy. Instead, it has become the accelerant to a firestorm of lies and, far from democratizing power has concentrated it among a few social media giants. “Mark Zuckerberg is now the unelected mayor of three billion people,” says Rob Reich. “That is unacceptable.” How did things go so wrong? Reich blames, what he calls, the “engineering mindset” of social media's inventors and the financial ecosystem that supports them. Along with co-authors Mehran Sahami and Jeremy M. Weinstein, Reich teaches a class on technology and ethics at Stanford University, the high temple of the engineering mindset. He knows what he is talking about! Engineers seek to “optimize” for a specific, measurable outcome without regard to social ramifications. Thus, for example, algorithms designed to give social media users engaging content to wind uploading news feeds or search results with content that triggers outrage, hatred or fear. Engagement—measured by clicks or time spent on the site climbs exponentially as a result--but at an enormous social cost.   Reich believes that the solutions lie in tempering the optimization mindset with regulations that weigh a technology's social costs against its effectiveness, much as stop signs moderate optimal traffic flow in the interests of safety. Listen and judge for yourself. His ideas require political resolve to execute, to be sure. But the need is urgent. Democracy is at stake.

Most of the problems we face today are messy, complex, and have no correct answer. Further, we have no precedence of how to solve them. Kevin chats with Sarah Stein Greenberg, who shares practical and maybe unusual ways to help you tackle the challenges you face. It is critical to have a curious mind and be intentional with your actions. Key Points Sarah shares her thoughts about design and risk. She discusses how to extend our curiosity. She shares examples of paths to creativity including: Come up with ideas. Locate your own voice. Tell a compelling story. Slow down and focus. Meet Sarah Name: Sarah Stein Greenberg Her Story: Sarah is the author of Creative Acts for Curious People: How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways. She is also the Executive Director of the Stanford d.school. She leads a community of designers, faculty, and other innovative thinkers who help people unlock their creative abilities and apply them to the world. Worth Mentioning: Sarah holds an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business and a BA in history from Oberlin College. She also serves as a trustee for the global conservation organization Rare. This episode is brought to you by… Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential, Kevin's free weekly e-newsletter. It's full of articles and resources to help you become a more confident and successful leader. Book Recommendations Creative Acts for Curious People: : How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways by Sarah Stein Greenberg System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot by Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami, Jeremy M. Weinstein Related Podcast Episodes Innovation is Everybody's Business with Tamara Ghandour. Making Creativity an Everyday Habit with Scott Anthony.

It took no time at all. In the beginning, we looked at computers and the internet with wide eyes and open arms. It was a technology of liberating potential for us all. Now, it is arguably a dystopia: a dark monolith of algorithms, surveillance, criminality, and job-displacing robots. Three Stanford professors with long careers in the tech industry, know of the shadows of these tangled webs—they shined a light on them, and offered some hope with System Error. It doesn't have to be this way. Big tech's focus on optimization leaves out one key facet: human optimism. Big tech is driving towards deeper riffs of discrimination, further erosions of privacy, and more losses for the working class. What do we hope for in the future? What is it that we value? Should big tech tell us what we value? Or should it be the other way around? Reich, Sahami, and Weinstein offered thoughts, suggestions, and tools to give us some power against that dark monolith. Rob Reich is a philosopher who directs Stanford University's Center for Ethics in Society and is the associate director of its new Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Mehran Sahami was recruited to Google in its start-up days and was one of the inventors of email spam-filtering technology. He's been a computer science professor at Stanford University since 2007. Jeremy Weinstein was a White House staffer for Barack Obama, launching Obama's Open Government Partnership. Since 2015, he's been a professor of political science at Stanford University, where he now leads Stanford Impact Labs. Lauren Sato is the Chief Executive Officer of Ada Developers Academy, a nonprofit, cost-free coding school for women and gender-expansive adults. Creating greater economic power and agency for BIPOC women and gender expansive folks means a better world for everybody. Buy the Book: System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation online click here. 

In the era of big tech, groundbreaking technological innovation has given rise to an increasingly efficient and methodical society. But these advances are not without consequence, as unbounded technological growth demands control over how we work, think, consume and communicate. Our panelists say too many have accepted biased algorithms, job-displacing robots, and surveillance-based capitalism as an inexorable cost of innovation, giving a powerful few the reins over our evolving society. Technologists, the venture capitalists who fund them, and the politicians who allow for this unregulated growth have stepped into the seat of power, often prioritizing technological optimization and efficiency over fundamental human values. System Error, authored by three Stanford professors, offers an alternative to this dystopian vision of a world controlled by big tech. Armed with the combined knowledge of philosopher Rob Reich, a leading thinker at the intersection of technology and ethics, political scientist and former Obama staffer Jeremy Weinstein, as well as the director of Stanford's undergraduate computer science program Mehran Sahami, System Error reveals how big tech can be held to account for the power it wields over our society. Join us as professors Reich, Weinstein and Sahami uncover the gripping reality of big tech and explain how we can chart a new path forward to control technology before it controls us. About the Speakers Rob Reich is the director of Stanford University's Center for Ethics in Society; co-director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and associate director of its new Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; and co-author of System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Mehran Sahami is a professor of computer science at Stanford University; former senior research scientist at Google; and co-author of System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Jeremy M. Weinstein is a professor of political science at Stanford University; former deputy to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former director for development and democracy on the White House National Security Council staff during the Obama Administration; and co-author of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. SPEAKERS Rob Reich Director, Stanford University's Center for Ethics in Society; Co-author, System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Mehran Sahami Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University; Co-author, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Jeremy M. Weinstein Professor of Political Science, Stanford University; Co-author, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Levi Sumagaysay Tech Reporter, MarketWatch—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the era of big tech, groundbreaking technological innovation has given rise to an increasingly efficient and methodical society. But these advances are not without consequence, as unbounded technological growth demands control over how we work, think, consume and communicate. Our panelists say too many have accepted biased algorithms, job-displacing robots, and surveillance-based capitalism as an inexorable cost of innovation, giving a powerful few the reins over our evolving society. Technologists, the venture capitalists who fund them, and the politicians who allow for this unregulated growth have stepped into the seat of power, often prioritizing technological optimization and efficiency over fundamental human values. System Error, authored by three Stanford professors, offers an alternative to this dystopian vision of a world controlled by big tech. Armed with the combined knowledge of philosopher Rob Reich, a leading thinker at the intersection of technology and ethics, political scientist and former Obama staffer Jeremy Weinstein, as well as the director of Stanford's undergraduate computer science program Mehran Sahami, System Error reveals how big tech can be held to account for the power it wields over our society. Join us as professors Reich, Weinstein and Sahami uncover the gripping reality of big tech and explain how we can chart a new path forward to control technology before it controls us. About the Speakers Rob Reich is the director of Stanford University's Center for Ethics in Society; co-director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and associate director of its new Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; and co-author of System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Mehran Sahami is a professor of computer science at Stanford University; former senior research scientist at Google; and co-author of System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. Jeremy M. Weinstein is a professor of political science at Stanford University; former deputy to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former director for development and democracy on the White House National Security Council staff during the Obama Administration; and co-author of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot. SPEAKERS Rob Reich Director, Stanford University's Center for Ethics in Society; Co-author, System Error:Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Mehran Sahami Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University; Co-author, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Jeremy M. Weinstein Professor of Political Science, Stanford University; Co-author, System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot Levi Sumagaysay Tech Reporter, MarketWatch—Moderator In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 27th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Fynan talks with Professors Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami, and Jeremy M. Weinstein about their book, SYSTEM ERROR. Learn more: https://www.harperacademic.com/pages/systemerrorbook.

Mehran Sahami and Jeremy M. Weinstein, Stanford University professors and co-authors (with Rob Reich) of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot, join The Realignment to discuss their new approach to empowering users, citizens, and technologists, and founders to develop new approaches to the tech industry's future. You can preorder System Error at our Bookshop or wherever else you purchase your books.

Avital Livny of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne talks about her latest book, Trust and the Islamic Advantage: Religious-Based Movements in Turkey and the Muslim World, with Marc Lynch on this week's podcast.  The book shows that the Islamic advantage is rooted in feelings of trust among individuals with a shared, religious group-identity, and presents a new argument for conceptualizing religion as both a personal belief system and collective identity. (Starts at 27:01). Ala' Alrababa'h discusses the article, Attitudes Toward Migrants in a Highly Impacted Economy: Evidence From the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Jordan (co-authored by Andrea Dillon, Scott Williamson, Jens Hainmueller, Dominik Hangartner, Jeremy M. Weinstein) published in Comparative Political Studies. (Starts at 0:58). Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl of Leiden University talks about his article, On-Side fighting in civil war: The logic of mortal alignment in Syria, published in the Rationality and Society journal. (Starts at 12:58). Music for this season's podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his Facebook and Instagram page.