Podcasts about rewire digital cosmopolitans

Internet scholar and activist Ethan Zuckerman is horrified by the American ban on TikTok. As a self-described “progressive” with a long and distinguished career advocating for internet freedom, Zuckerman expresses alarm at how the U.S. has moved from defending unfettered access to information in the 1960s to now being willing to ban popular Chinese platforms like TikTok and perhaps even DeepSeek. He suggests the ban stems from the anti-China hysteria and exaggerated fears about social media's impact on young people fueled by paranoid critics like Jonathan Haidt. If this trend toward online censorship continues, Zuckerman warns, America will become indistinguishable from other authoritarian states in its disdain for digital freedom. Here are the 5 KEEN ON takeaways from the interview with Zuckerman:* The TikTok ban represents a dramatic shift in American values - Zuckerman points out that the US has moved from defending unfettered access to information (even Communist propaganda) in 1965 to now being willing to ban popular platforms. He sees this as contradicting core First Amendment principles.* Anti-China sentiment and social media fears are driving policy - The push to ban TikTok stems from a combination of paranoia about Chinese influence and exaggerated concerns about social media's effects on youth. Zuckerman argues there's little evidence supporting claims of Chinese manipulation or widespread social media harm.* Young people view the TikTok ban as evidence of institutional disconnect - Students see the ban as proof that lawmakers don't understand modern technology or youth culture. Their response of moving to other Chinese platforms demonstrates their cynicism toward government actions.* Social media platforms have become too powerful to easily abandon - Despite disagreeing with the politics of platforms like Facebook and X, users remain because of network effects. Zuckerman himself confesses to still using these platforms to maintain connections, even while advocating for alternatives.* "Middleware" could offer a solution - Rather than banning platforms or creating new ones, Zuckerman (like Frank Fukuyama) advocates for tools that let users modify how they interact with existing platforms. However, he warns, major platforms like Meta actively resist these efforts through legal threats and technical barriers.Ethan Zuckerman is an associate professor of public policy, communication, and information, as well as director of the UMass Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, focused on reimagining the Internet as a tool for civic engagement. His research focuses on civic media, online community governance, digital public infrastructure, quantitative studies of media attention, technology, and social change. Before coming to UMass, Zuckerman was at MIT, where he served as director of the Center for Civic Media and as associate professor of practice in media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab. His research focuses on the use of media as a tool for social change, the role of technology in international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists. The author of Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection, he will publish a new book, Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them (W.W. Norton), in early 2021. In 2005, Zuckerman cofounded Global Voices, which showcases news and opinions from citizen media in more than 150 nations and 30 languages. Through Global Voices, and as a researcher and fellow for eight years at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, Zuckerman has led efforts to promote freedom of expression and fight censorship in online spaces. In 1999, Zuckerman founded Geekcorps, an international, nonprofit, volunteer organization that sent IT specialists to work on projects in developing nations, with a focus on West Africa. Previously, he helped found Tripod.com, one of the web's first "personal publishing" sites. In addition to authoring numerous academic articles, Zuckerman is a frequent contributor to media outlets such as The Atlantic, Wired, and CNN. He received his bachelor's degree from Williams College and, as a Fulbright scholar, studied at the University of Ghana at Legon.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Send us a Text Message.Throughout the 21st century, mistrust in our societal institutions has become commonplace. Regardless of your political leanings, we've become skeptical and suspicious of the governmental, educational, and religious institutions meant to support and protect us. How did this happen? What should we do about it? Perhaps, this mistrust is the very catalyst for reform? In today's episode, Prof. Ethan Zuckerman dissects this phenomena. Topics:The rise of institutional mistrustIs influencer culture a response to mistrusting institutions?How to transform institutionsSocial media and worldview differences"What books have had an impact on you?""What advice do you have for teenagers?"Bio:Prof. Ethan Zuckerman is an associate professor of public policy, communication and information at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is the founder of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure, a research group that is studying and building alternatives to the existing commercial internet. Prof. Zuckerman is the author of two books: Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them and Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection, both published through W.W. Norton. He is also the co-founder of global blogging community Global Voices and works with social change nonprofit organizations around the world. He is an alumnus of the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard, the MIT Media Lab and Comparative Media Studies at MIT, Geekcorps, and Tripod.Socials! -Lessons from Interesting People substack: https://taylorbledsoe.substack.com/Website: https://www.aimingforthemoon.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiming4moon/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aiming4MoonFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiming4moonTaylor's Blog: https://www.taylorgbledsoe.com/

EPISODE 1664: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Ethan Zuckerman, author of MISTRUST, about he history of blogging, the Arab Spring and why there will never be another Twitter Ethan Zuckerman is an associate professor of public policy, communication, and information, as well as director of the UMass Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, focused on reimagining the internet as a tool for civic engagement. Prior to coming to UMass, Zuckerman was at MIT, where he served as director of the Center for Civic Media and associate professor of practice in media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab. His research focuses on the use of media as a tool for social change, the role of technology in international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists. The author of Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection, he will publish a new book, Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them (W.W. Norton), in early 2021. In 2005, Zuckerman co-founded Global Voices, which showcases news and opinions from citizen media in more than 150 nations and 30 languages. Through Global Voices, and as a researcher and fellow for eight years at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, Zuckerman has led efforts to promote freedom of expression and fight censorship in online spaces. In 1999, Zuckerman founded Geekcorps, an international, nonprofit, volunteer organization that sent IT specialists to work on projects in developing nations, with a focus on West Africa. Previously, he helped found Tripod.com, one of the web's first "personal publishing" sites. In addition to authoring numerous academic articles, Zuckerman is a frequent contributor to media outlets such as The Atlantic, Wired, and CNN. He received his bachelor's degree from Williams College and, as a Fulbright scholar, studied at the University of Ghana at Legon. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ethan Zuckerman is a Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (my alma mater), where he teaches Public Policy, Communication, and Information. His work focuses on designing and advocating for versions of social media that have positive social and civic impacts. Which means moving beyond existing models of funding and governance. On the show, Ethan talks about the Metaverse, trust, Facebook vs Apple, making the Metaverse a safe space, governance of online spaces, data ownership, what the biggest piece missing from the Metaverse conversation is, Omar Wasow and Black Planet, and technical barriers when it comes to storytelling access on various platforms. Ethan founded the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure to explore the ideas previously mentioned. It's a research group studying and building alternatives to the existing commercial internet. Previously Ethan was at the MIT Media Lab working at the Center for Civic Media, researching the relationship between media and social change, and building tools to study how ideas spread in the media, and how citizens can better participate in their civic lives. He is also the inventor of pop-up windows. Ethan has many hats but the one that he wears the most is that of a blogger/writer. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, CNN, Wired and others. He also has a Ted Talk about listening to global voices. Over the years, he's been a tech startup guy (with Tripod.com), a non-profit founder (Geekcorps.org) a peace Corp for geeks, transferring tech skills from geeks in developed nations to geeks in emerging nations, especially entrepreneurial geeks who are building small businesses. He is also the Co-founder of Globalvoices.org which is a global blogging community. He's has written two books: Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them and Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection, both published through W.W. Norton. And is an alumnus of the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard, the MIT Media Lab and Comparative Media Studies at MIT, Geekcorps, and Tripod. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/DreamNation/support

Today's episode features a conversation hosted recently by the Digital Public Library of America, DPLA. The DPLA brings together many collections of America's libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world on a shared platform.  This DPLA Book Talk features a conversation on trust and the crisis faced by our institutions; the promise of the movements rising to challenge them; and the obstacles we must confront if we are to rebuild civic life and create meaningful change.  It includes Ethan Zuckerman, Katherine Maher, and Alberto Ibargüen. Ethan Zuckerman is an associate professor of public policy, communication and information at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and is founder of the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure, a research group that is studying and building alternatives to the existing commercial internet. He's the author of two books: Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them and Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection. Mistrust, published in November 2020, looks at how and why Americans are losing faith in our institutions and how we can harness the methods of successful social movements to both transform and replace them, and serves as the basis for today's discussion. Katherine Maher was the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation until this spring, when she stepped down after a long and successful tenure. The foundation operates Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects. She is a longtime advocate for free and open societies, and has worked around the world leading the integration of technology and innovation in human rights, good governance, and international development. Katherine has worked with UNICEF, the National Democratic Institute, the World Bank, and Access Now on programs supporting technologies for democratic participation, civic engagement, and open government.  Alberto Ibargüen, who moderates the discussion, is president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. He is the former publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald and during his tenure, The Miami Herald won three Pulitzer Prizes and El Nuevo Herald won Spain's Ortega y Gasset Prize for excellence in journalism.

Ethan Zuckerman, Director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, and an Associate Professor of the Practice at the MIT Media Lab. His research focuses on the use of media as a tool for social change, the role of technology in international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists. He is the author of Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection. Topics explored in this episode: Did Ethan Zuckerman really invent the pop-up ad? (Yes, yes he did!) Does Facebook have more control over where we put our attention than we think? “How to fix facebook before it fixes us” - How Ethan predicted the Facebook crisis. How does Ethan’s experience bringing internet to West Africa affect his work at the MIT Media Lab? How does Ethan approach screen time with his own child?

In the early days of the Internet, optimists saw the future as highly connected, where voices from across the globe would mingle and learn from one another as never before. However, as Ethan Zuckerman argues in Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection (Norton, 2013), just because a connection is possible does not mean disparate voices are being heard. Instead, things and not ideas have become more connected; we now live in a world where is easier to get a bottle of water from a tropical island halfway around the world than it is to get (let alone comprehend) news from that island. Zuckerman, a media scholar and activist based at MIT, suggests despite our perceived “connectedness,” the wired world is actually becoming more provincial and narrow, as we shift from professionally curated news and information, to search engines and algorithmically selected information based on previous “likes” and those of our homogeneous social circles. In other words, we are getting more and more of what we already know we want with ever-greater efficiency, but not what we need to be informed participants in a global world. In an expansive analysis that takes on everything from the global response to modern pandemics, to Greek philosophy, to the “Arab Spring,” to musical hybridization across cultures, Zuckerman calls for a world of “digital cosmopolitans,” where those who can bridge between communities are called upon to foster deeper, more nuanced conversations around the globe in ways that fulfill the promise of expanding technological opportunities. At once a thoughtful analysis, an engaging history, and a bold call to arms, Rewire offers readers a deep understanding of how media is evolving to shape and be shaped by global voices. As such, it has vast implications at both personal and geopolitical levels for the future of information, technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early days of the Internet, optimists saw the future as highly connected, where voices from across the globe would mingle and learn from one another as never before. However, as Ethan Zuckerman argues in Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection (Norton, 2013), just because a connection is possible does not mean disparate voices are being heard. Instead, things and not ideas have become more connected; we now live in a world where is easier to get a bottle of water from a tropical island halfway around the world than it is to get (let alone comprehend) news from that island. Zuckerman, a media scholar and activist based at MIT, suggests despite our perceived “connectedness,” the wired world is actually becoming more provincial and narrow, as we shift from professionally curated news and information, to search engines and algorithmically selected information based on previous “likes” and those of our homogeneous social circles. In other words, we are getting more and more of what we already know we want with ever-greater efficiency, but not what we need to be informed participants in a global world. In an expansive analysis that takes on everything from the global response to modern pandemics, to Greek philosophy, to the “Arab Spring,” to musical hybridization across cultures, Zuckerman calls for a world of “digital cosmopolitans,” where those who can bridge between communities are called upon to foster deeper, more nuanced conversations around the globe in ways that fulfill the promise of expanding technological opportunities. At once a thoughtful analysis, an engaging history, and a bold call to arms, Rewire offers readers a deep understanding of how media is evolving to shape and be shaped by global voices. As such, it has vast implications at both personal and geopolitical levels for the future of information, technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early days of the Internet, optimists saw the future as highly connected, where voices from across the globe would mingle and learn from one another as never before. However, as Ethan Zuckerman argues in Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection (Norton, 2013), just because a connection is possible does not mean disparate voices are being heard. Instead, things and not ideas have become more connected; we now live in a world where is easier to get a bottle of water from a tropical island halfway around the world than it is to get (let alone comprehend) news from that island. Zuckerman, a media scholar and activist based at MIT, suggests despite our perceived “connectedness,” the wired world is actually becoming more provincial and narrow, as we shift from professionally curated news and information, to search engines and algorithmically selected information based on previous “likes” and those of our homogeneous social circles. In other words, we are getting more and more of what we already know we want with ever-greater efficiency, but not what we need to be informed participants in a global world. In an expansive analysis that takes on everything from the global response to modern pandemics, to Greek philosophy, to the “Arab Spring,” to musical hybridization across cultures, Zuckerman calls for a world of “digital cosmopolitans,” where those who can bridge between communities are called upon to foster deeper, more nuanced conversations around the globe in ways that fulfill the promise of expanding technological opportunities. At once a thoughtful analysis, an engaging history, and a bold call to arms, Rewire offers readers a deep understanding of how media is evolving to shape and be shaped by global voices. As such, it has vast implications at both personal and geopolitical levels for the future of information, technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early days of the Internet, optimists saw the future as highly connected, where voices from across the globe would mingle and learn from one another as never before. However, as Ethan Zuckerman argues in Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection (Norton, 2013), just because a connection is possible does not mean disparate voices are being heard. Instead, things and not ideas have become more connected; we now live in a world where is easier to get a bottle of water from a tropical island halfway around the world than it is to get (let alone comprehend) news from that island. Zuckerman, a media scholar and activist based at MIT, suggests despite our perceived “connectedness,” the wired world is actually becoming more provincial and narrow, as we shift from professionally curated news and information, to search engines and algorithmically selected information based on previous “likes” and those of our homogeneous social circles. In other words, we are getting more and more of what we already know we want with ever-greater efficiency, but not what we need to be informed participants in a global world. In an expansive analysis that takes on everything from the global response to modern pandemics, to Greek philosophy, to the “Arab Spring,” to musical hybridization across cultures, Zuckerman calls for a world of “digital cosmopolitans,” where those who can bridge between communities are called upon to foster deeper, more nuanced conversations around the globe in ways that fulfill the promise of expanding technological opportunities. At once a thoughtful analysis, an engaging history, and a bold call to arms, Rewire offers readers a deep understanding of how media is evolving to shape and be shaped by global voices. As such, it has vast implications at both personal and geopolitical levels for the future of information, technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early days of the Internet, optimists saw the future as highly connected, where voices from across the globe would mingle and learn from one another as never before. However, as Ethan Zuckerman argues in Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection (Norton, 2013), just because a connection is possible does not mean disparate voices are being heard. Instead, things and not ideas have become more connected; we now live in a world where is easier to get a bottle of water from a tropical island halfway around the world than it is to get (let alone comprehend) news from that island. Zuckerman, a media scholar and activist based at MIT, suggests despite our perceived “connectedness,” the wired world is actually becoming more provincial and narrow, as we shift from professionally curated news and information, to search engines and algorithmically selected information based on previous “likes” and those of our homogeneous social circles. In other words, we are getting more and more of what we already know we want with ever-greater efficiency, but not what we need to be informed participants in a global world. In an expansive analysis that takes on everything from the global response to modern pandemics, to Greek philosophy, to the “Arab Spring,” to musical hybridization across cultures, Zuckerman calls for a world of “digital cosmopolitans,” where those who can bridge between communities are called upon to foster deeper, more nuanced conversations around the globe in ways that fulfill the promise of expanding technological opportunities. At once a thoughtful analysis, an engaging history, and a bold call to arms, Rewire offers readers a deep understanding of how media is evolving to shape and be shaped by global voices. As such, it has vast implications at both personal and geopolitical levels for the future of information, technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the Internet really such a threat to radio? This media scholar & internet activist says no. Radio can still teach us something about risk, about the unexpected I interview Ethan Zuckerman, the guy responsible for the “Cute CatsTheory of Digital Activism.” This is the idea that the same tools that distribute LOLcatz can be used for subversive communication by activists. Ethan is a self-described “big, white, American geek” and is director of MIT’s Center for Civic Media. He wrote "Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection" I asked Ethan about the future of radio in a wired world. I figured he probably doesn’t own a radio. But I was wrong.

Get ready for a flurry of Hearsay Culture activity, beginning with Show #203, February 5, my interview with Ethan Zuckerman, Director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT and author of Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection. Rewire is a wonderful and insighful study of how people connect using the Internet and modern communication devices, and how information flows throughout this network. Ethan takes a clear-eyed view of the power and limitations of the technology and how we use it, offering a perspective influenced by his years as a communications scholar. I was thrilled to have Ethan on the show and enjoyed the interview! {Hearsay Culture is a talk show on KZSU-FM, Stanford, 90.1 FM, hosted by Center for Internet & Society Resident Fellow David S. Levine. The show includes guests and focuses on the intersection of technology and society. How is our world impacted by the great technological changes taking place? Each week, a different sphere is explored. For more information, please go to http://hearsayculture.com.}

Ethan Zuckerman [Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/51610

Ethan Zuckerman [Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection] http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/51610

Host: Chris Mooney Our guest this week is an inspiring thinker whom we've wanted to get on the show for a long, long time: Ethan Zuckerman. He's the director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, and works at MIT's Media Lab. He's also the co-founder of Global Voices, a community of global bloggers—and has worked in the past at Geekcorps and Tripod. We're here to discuss his new book Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age of Connection—which among other things argues that the technological ability to communicate with someone does not inevitably lead to increased human connection. In other words, it's about nothing less than how to use the Internet to open, rather than close, your mind.