Fellow Fellow Mark Lerner

In this episode of Fellow Fellow, Mark talks to Flavia Chen, a public health researcher, on the current state and future paths of public health data. The conversation weaves through topics surrounding public health data and, as Flavia puts it, “what health related information is collected, who collects it, on whom, how it's used, how it's shared, how it's stored - and then at a more ethical level, how individual and collective rights, like privacy, are balanced with broader public interests.”

It’s no secret that we will all have to change how we move and drive in order to slow the pace of climate change. However, as companies race to build technology and raise investments on both electric and self-driving cars, one factor still stands in the way of significant progress: public perception of these technologies. Listen in as Mark interviews Devin Gladden on his research on how we as a country feel about automated and electric vehicles, and what you personally can do to move these markets forward.

Rebecca Williams takes us into a deep conversation on her research on the future of technology in cities. Weaving together her background working in data analysis, policy analysis, city planning, law, and civic technology, Rebecca’s work highlights five key harms that unchecked and unregulated technology in cities can bring to our society.

Mark talks with Liz Sisson, Chief Operating Officer at venture group Urban Us and a fellow Fellow researching the intersection of venture capital and public purpose. The two of them talk about the existing frameworks in the venture capital space for thinking about public purpose, where they are lacking, and how Liz is building a new model for thinking about incentive and structures in the venture world.

Mark talks to Jake Taylor, a researcher on quantum information science with experience in a wide array of institutions, including the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. Here, Jake talks about how he’s taking the lessons learned in the quantum space about how to create effective public-private partnerships via the Consortium model, and how we can scale this to other public-purpose topics.

In this inaugural episode of Fellow Fellow, Mark interviews Clare Bayley, a fellow Fellow at TAPP, former Director of Product for the U.S. Digital Service, and sex-positive researcher. Together, they discuss her research on the sex positivity, or lack thereof, of social media platforms. Sexual censorship, discrepancies between policies and implementation, and a reckoning on how society views sexuality, all make an appearance in this conversation.