18 episodes
Technically Optimistic Emerson Collective
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- Technology
Data is the most valuable resource on our planet, and the data economy impacts everything from mental health to human rights. On Season 2 of Technically Optimistic, host Raffi Krikorian engages engineers, activists, professors, and more to ask big questions about our data-driven era. How and why is our data being collected? How is it affecting our daily lives, our decision-making, our political systems? Perhaps most importantly, what does the future of data look like, and what can we do to help shape it? This season of Technically Optimistic is all about your data, and how you can gain back some control.
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Your data, your vote
Modern political campaigning has become a massive data operation. In the US, candidates from both parties frequently use data to try and better understand voters, in hopes of swaying them on election day. But how, exactly, is voter information being acquired, analyzed, and employed to influence voters? Do modeling and targeting really move the needle? And how are political campaigns a microcosm of the data economy, illuminating how data can transform society?
In this episode, Raffi talks to election veterans, data specialists, and former colleagues from his time as CTO at the Democratic National Committee, to talk about how data is utilized in campaigns. Guests include Dan Wagner, CEO of Civis Analytics; political consultant Max Wood; Lindsey Schuh Cortes, CEO of TargetSmart; and Tara McGowan, former political strategist & publisher of COURIER.
To learn more about Technically Optimistic and to read the transcript for this episode: emersoncollective.com/technically-optimistic-podcast
For more on Emerson Collective: emersoncollective.com
Learn more about our host, Raffi Krikorian: emersoncollective.com/raffi
Technically Optimistic is produced by Emerson Collective with music by Mattie Safer.
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How to save social media
When social media is at its best, we get genuine human connection, built-in audiences, and exciting avenues for creativity and exchange. But our current social platforms are built on a surveillance model, where our data is used to predict our behavior, show us ads, and train the algorithms that keep us perpetually on the platform. It’s time to explore a new vision for social media, where we don’t have to give up on privacy in order to connect.
In this episode, Raffi talks to prominent critics of existing social media — and the people actively reimagining it, with truly private messaging, hyperlocal communities, and renewed sense of control over our own social data. Guests include Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, whose 2021 leaks made national news and put the social media giant in the Congressional spotlight; scholar and internet activist Ethan Zuckerman; Meredith Whittaker, the president of the Signal Foundation; Flipboard co-founder Mike McCue; and Harvard Law professor Jonathan Zittrain.
To learn more about Technically Optimistic and to read the transcript for this episode: emersoncollective.com/technically-optimistic-podcast
For more on Emerson Collective: emersoncollective.com
Learn more about our host, Raffi Krikorian: emersoncollective.com/raffi
Technically Optimistic is produced by Emerson Collective with music by Mattie Safer.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: technicallyoptimistic.substack.com
Follow on social media @emersoncollective and @emcollectivepodcasts
Email us with questions and feedback at us@technicallyoptimistic.com
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
How your behavior became the world's biggest resource
How has our data become the world’s most valuable resource? What privacy tradeoffs are we making when we engage with personalized apps, recommendations, and always-connected smart devices? Is our personal data being used to make things better, or to make tech giants even more powerful? And what do “cookies” have to do with all this?
Host Raffi Krikorian chats with experts about data’s role in AI, “big data” and the data economy, surveillance capitalism, and much more. Guests include AI researcher Amba Kak, executive director of the AI Now Institute; data scientist Chris Wiggins, co-author of How Data Happened; media scholar, tech writer, and internet activist Ethan Zuckerman; engineer and inventor of the cookie Lou Montulli; and Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain.
To learn more about Technically Optimistic and to read the transcript for this episode: emersoncollective.com/technically-optimistic-podcast
For more on Emerson Collective: emersoncollective.com
Learn more about our host, Raffi Krikorian: emersoncollective.com/raffi
Technically Optimistic is produced by Emerson Collective with music by Mattie Safer.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: technicallyoptimistic.substack.com
Follow on social media @emersoncollective and @emcollectivepodcasts
Email us with questions and feedback at us@technicallyoptimistic.com
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Season Two is all about your data
The second season of Technically Optimistic is all about your data. Who’s taking it? What are they doing with it? And how can you gain back some control?
Join host Raffi Krikorian, CTO of Emerson Collective, down this road. It’s going to lead to some predictable places — like AI and social media — but also to stories about health care, political campaigning, and criminal justice reform.
Subscribe now! New episodes are coming soon.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
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Unpacking Biden's AI plan
On Monday, October 30th, Biden signed a landmark executive order on artificial intelligence safety and security. It was timed strategically, released the same week as VP Harris gave a speech at a UK AI summit. And, in the absence of any Congressional action, Biden’s document represents the most comprehensive and official policy of the United States on AI at the moment.
So, what’s in the executive order? Host Raffi Krikorian speaks with journalist Courtney Rozen, who covers the White House and tech policy for Bloomberg, and Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a Brown University computer science professor who co-wrote the influential Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights in 2022.
Sign up for the Technically Optimistic newsletter: technicallyoptimistic.substack.com
To learn more about Technically Optimistic: emersoncollective.com/technicallyoptimistic
For more on Emerson Collective: emersoncollective.com
Learn more about our host, Raffi Krikorian: emersoncollective.com/persons/raffi-krikorian
Technically Optimistic is produced by Emerson Collective with music by Mattie Safer.
Email us with questions and feedback at technicallyoptimistic@emersoncollective.com.
Subscribe to Emerson Collective’s newsletter: emersoncollective.com
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Justin Hendrix on AI policy and democracy
As AI rapidly advances, how do we balance speed and safety? Justin Hendrix is the CEO and Editor of Tech Policy Press, a nonprofit media and community venture covering the intersection of technology and democracy. Through his reporting and research, he’s got a lot to say about the global developments in AI regulation, including the AI Act in the EU, emerging efforts in the US, and the implications for the future of US-China relations.
On September 8th, Hendrix sat down with host Raffi Krikorian for a live Fellows Friday virtual event hosted by Emerson Collective. This episode is an edited recording of that event.
Sign up for the Technically Optimistic newsletter: technicallyoptimistic.substack.com
To learn more about Technically Optimistic: emersoncollective.com/technicallyoptimistic
For more on Emerson Collective: emersoncollective.com
Learn more about our host, Raffi Krikorian: emersoncollective.com/persons/raffi-krikorian
Technically Optimistic is produced by Emerson Collective with music by Mattie Safer.
Email us with questions and feedback at technicallyoptimistic@emersoncollective.com.
Subscribe to Emerson Collective’s newsletter: emersoncollective.com
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices