Slop Happens

Claudio Luís Vera and Bianca Prins
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Tech doesn’t always deliver, and that’s where things get weird. Slop Happens explores the messy side of innovation—from AI that hallucinates to decision engines that misfire — along with the ethics, errors, and hacks that shape our lives in the algorithmic age.

Episodes

  1. Jul 6

    Meta smart glasses: help for the blind or a surveillance tool?

    For blind and low-vision users, smart glasses that can read a letter aloud or identify a package on sight are nothing short of transformative. But those benefits rely on a camera that’s always on, always recording, and always sending data somewhere. Combined with facial recognition, though, they can provide far too much information to a stalker or form a grid of real time facial-recognition for a surveillance state. Same hardware. Same camera. Wildly different outcomes depending on who's wearing it and who's standing nearby. In this episode, Claudio and Bianca trace what happens when an assistive technology becomes a data pipeline — for facial recognition, for corporate data-selling, for law enforcement. They dig into a leaked Meta feature that quietly built in facial recognition, and photo of a federal agent wearing the glasses at an immigration raid, and explore the risk when someone else's glasses are recording you without your consent. Is this freedom or surveillance? Who's accountable when the tool works exactly as designed and someone still gets hurt? And is there a way to flag "this device is recording" that doesn't stigmatize the person wearing it? Florida, USA meets The Netherlands for a conversation that doesn't land on easy answers. Mentioned in this episode: WIRED — Meta Silently Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of PhonesFuturism — Meta Had the Worst Possible Response When Its Workers Were Watching Naked Footage of Its Ray-Ban AI Glasses Users404 Media — A CBP Agent Wore Meta Smart Glasses to an Immigration Raid in Los Angeles Correction: In this episode, the agent photographed wearing Meta smart glasses at a Los Angeles immigration raid is referred to as an ICE agent. Per 404 Media's reporting, the agent was with Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a related but separate agency.

  2. Jun 15

    Paper, Trust, and Democracy

    Your ballot is secret. Your donation history isn't. Your voter registration isn't. And in the age of algorithmic profiling, the data trail you leave before you vote may matter more than the vote itself. In this episode of Slop Happens, Bianca and Claudio dig into something that doesn't get enough attention: not whether elections get hacked on election night, but how the data surrounding them gets weaponized long before anyone casts a ballot. We walk through how Dutch paper balloting actually works — volunteers, sealed packages, signed-off destruction orders — and why that transparency is the feature, not the bug. We revisit the Tascón List (from Episode 3) and what it tells us about petition signatures, donor records, and the permanent data trails that political acts leave behind. The uncomfortable question: if you signed a petition today, would you be comfortable with it surfacing in a background check ten years from now? Paper isn't a primitive fallback. It's tamper-proof by design. Paper, trust, and democracy — and why all three are harder than they look.

  3. May 28

    Elections and the art of blacklisting

    In the age of AI, it’s easy to forget that it doesn’t take sophisticated tech to build an instrument of power. In the 2000s, Venezuela gave the world a masterclass on how a simple, flat database could turn a petition into a tool of repression. In this episode of Slop Happens, we unravel the dark legacy of the Tascón List —a petition for a recall referendum that turned into a political blacklist that targeted the opposition. Fast-forward to today: could the misuse of personal data, voting records, or social profiles create modern versions of these lists? We break down the risks, safeguards, and what we must do to protect our society from history repeating itself. Is the same dynamic playing out today, with government funding and contracts being tied to political loyalty? Is there a risk to signing a public petition, if there’s no guarantee that the data ever really disappears? Bianca and Claudio talk about what it takes to weaponize civic data, how the US voter registration system already exposes your party affiliation, and why signing a public petition today is a decision you might be living with for decades. New technologies, age-old tactics.

  4. Mar 11

    E2 - How "neutral" systems seem fair... until someone checks.

    In this second episode of Slop Happens, Bianca Prins and Claudio Luís Vera welcome Maranke Wierenga, advisor on data-driven work and member of the NEN Commission on AI & Big Data, where she also chairs the Working Group on Ethics and Fundamental Rights. Together, they explore curious cases where technology fails the people it’s meant to serve. First, they dive into the COMPAS case in Florida, where a risk-scoring system used in the justice system showed troubling bias across racial groups. The discussion looks at how “neutral” algorithms can reinforce inequalities already present in society. They then examine a case from the Netherlands, where automated parking enforcement unintentionally creates barriers for people with disabilities. What happens when efficient systems overlook real people? And how can we design technology that is fairer and more accountable? Join us for this conversation—and let us know what you think.

  5. Jan 30

    E1 Pilot - Space X

    Claudio and Bianca welcome you to their new podcast, Slop Happens, and discuss the weirdness that happens when technology goes wrong. One evening, Claudio sees a trippy cloud with shining debris overhead. The next day, he discovers it was a SpaceX mission that exploded and rained debris down over Florida, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. SpaceX issues a tweet on X, treating the explosion as a teachable moment that offers lessons for long-term success. But as if that weren't weird enough, the debris is actually SpaceX property – even if it comes hurtling through your roof.

  • 5 Episodes

About

Tech doesn’t always deliver, and that’s where things get weird. Slop Happens explores the messy side of innovation—from AI that hallucinates to decision engines that misfire — along with the ethics, errors, and hacks that shape our lives in the algorithmic age.

Information

  • Creator
    Claudio Luís Vera and Bianca Prins
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Claudio Luís Vera and Bianca Prins
  • Show Website
    Slop Happens