The Data Fix

Mél Hogan
  • 4.6 (8)
  • Education

Hi everyone, my name is Mél Hogan and I’m a critical media studies scholar based in Canada. I’m working on a project called The Data Fix through a series of conversations with scholars, thinkers, and feelers. Together we explore the significance of living in a world of data, and especially the growing trend of “digital humans” in the form of chatbots, holograms, deepfakes, ai images and videos, and even tech that revives the dead. The conversations are minimally edited, and serve as an archive of the collective thinking and feeling that is going into the Data Fix project. Please see thedatafix.net for more details and show notes. Thank you so much for listening.  Cover art by Oona Ode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 1d ago

    Whispers, with Nicole Sugarman, Shawmar Pitts, Steph Jordan, Livia Garofalo, Cella Sum, and Linda Huber

    This episode was a recap of an event called How to Stop a Data Center that took place at Swathmore College in April 2026. I was able to listen via Zoom and then later asked available panelists to come on the podcast to discuss community-based activism against AI data centers. Recorded June 17, 2026. Released July 13, 2026. Fight Data Centers https://www.kairosfellows.org/fightdatacenters For more info on Stop the Data Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan: Stop the Data Center Campaign link tree https://linktr.ee/stopthedata  Stop the Data Center substack for major updates and calls to action https://stopthedatacenter.substack.com/  How to Stop a Data Center https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/04/10/how-to-stop-a-data-center/  For more info on Steph Jordan https://stephaniebethjordan.com/  'PENNSYLVANIA IS PERFECT' https://newint.org/science-and-technology/2026/pennsylvania-perfect PENNSYLVANIA’S POWER Why Local Authority Is the Key to AI Infrastructure Decisions  https://datasociety.net/library/pennsylvanias-power/ DATA AS DESTINY IN THE STEEL CITY How Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past Is Being Leveraged for an AI Future https://datasociety.net/points/data-as-destiny-in-the-steel-city/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Jun 29

    Monstrosities, with Rania Masri, Simon Enoch, Adam Wilkins, Lauren Stephens Smith, Sophie Toupin, Vijay Kolinjivadi, and Christiane Bailey

    This episode is a recording of an event that took place at Concordia University: So an AI Data Centre is coming to your community? Don't panic! A roundtable on strategies for building community power. We discuss tactics and strategies for pushing back against Big Tech and their AI data centers -- seen as monstrosities by those who know how much humanity stands to lose by and through AI logics and their instantiations in infrastructure. Recorded June 12, 2026. Released June 29, 2026. Featuring: Adam Wilkins and Lauren Stephens Smith (Save Lorneville), Rania Masri (NC Environmental Justice Center), Simon Enoch (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives). Hosted by the Social Justice Centre. So you’re getting a data centre! Here’s what to know https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/so-youre-getting-a-data-centre-heres-what-to-know/ In New Brunswick, residents battle the government over a planned AI data centre https://thenarwhal.ca/lorneville-ai-data-centre/ Dr. Rania Masri https://ncejn.org/staff/dr-rania-masri/ Event Sponsors: Social Justice Centre (Concordia), SCPA Student Association (SCPSA), School for Community and Public Affairs (Concordia), Climate Justice Montreal, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Time, Technology, and Capitalism (Concordia), Confronting Emergent Dystopia Working Group (Concordia). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Jun 15

    Fiction, with Teresa Heffernan

    This episode covers the role of fiction -- literal readings and total misreadings of sci-fi -- in how they shape tech CEOs ideas about the future. Teresa Hefffernan is incredible at communicating the problems with AI today. Please listen to the podcast/lecture linked below, too, for more. Recorded June 10, 2026. Released June 15, 2026. CBC Ideas Literature Versus the AI Industry https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-23-ideas/clip/16208906-literature-versus-ai-industry The 2026 Wiegand Lecture featuring Teresa Heffernan — Literature Versus the AI Industry https://youtu.be/hPV-Ql_KGzM?si=XperXIzFO5ydcStU Teresa Hefffernan website https://www.socialrobotfutures.com/publicationsmedia/publications/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. May 25

    Rage, with Valerie Veatch

    This episode is with the amazing Valerie Veatch, director of Ghost in the Machine -- a documentary that serves as a critical takedown of "AI". It's the best argument against "AI" that I've seen, highlighting the voices of scholars across various academic disciplines. You can watch the film via the link below and listen to the director explain her process and ideas for continuing the conversation... as a trilogy. Recorded May 12, 2026. Released May 25, 2026. Ghost in the Machine 2026 • 1h 30m • Documentary • Valerie Veatch (dir) https://kinema.com/films/ghost-in-the-machine-pvxg4p Not AI https://notaidoc.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. May 11

    Strategies, with Sonja Solomun

    In this episode, in front of a live audience at Carleton University for their "The Ends of AI: A symposium on technopolitics and intellectual culture", I spoke about strategies and outlooks on environment justice with policy expert, Sonja Solomun. Recorded Apr 2, 2026. Released May 11, 2026. The end of accountability: How autonomous AI could supercharge climate disinformation https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/27/opinion/ai-conspiracies-climate-disinformation Polarization as the technological goal – not the error https://www.mediatechdemocracy.com/all-work/polarization-as-the-technological-goal-not-the-error From Tech to Justice: A Call for Environmental Justice in AI https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/collection/a-new-ai-lexicon-sustainability Beyond Technology: The Role of Information Interference in Climate and Election Obstruction https://www.mediatechdemocracy.com/all-work/beyond-technology-the-role-of-information-interference-in-climate-and-election-obstruction “You will be in positions that matter. Positions in which you can decide the nature and quality of other people’s lives. Your errors may be irrevocable. So when you enter those places of trust, or power, dream a little before you think, so your thoughts, your solutions, your directions, your choices about who lives and who doesn’t, about who flourishes and who doesn’t will be worth the very sacred life you have chosen to live. You are not helpless. You are not heartless. And you have time.” ― Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  6. Apr 27

    Simulation, with Dan McQuillan

    In this episode with Dan McQuillan, we discussed the current AI moment as/within the polycrisis, and also as a temporary period between illusion and simulation. Dan proposes a series of countermeasures to AI under the umbrella of 'decomputing'. We also spend some time talking about illusion, shame, authenticity, and a slew of other contradictions that are important to note in relation to this AI moment. Recorded Apr 7, 2026. Released Apr 27, 2026. Preprint: AI, Decomputing and the Interregnum https://www.danmcquillan.org/ai_decomputing_interregnum.html  Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence (2022) https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/resisting-ai  Meta Security Researcher's AI Agent Accidentally Deleted Her Emails https://www.pcmag.com/news/meta-security-researchers-openclaw-ai-agent-accidentally-deleted-her-emails Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. Apr 13

    Offloading, with [Anonymous]

    For this episode, I interviewed someone who asked to be made anonymous (and voice altered) in order to openly discuss their complicated feelings of regularly offloading work tasks to an AI chatbot. Is there any shame is using AI? Isn’t everyone doing it? Why would people pretend not to? Does it change you? Is it bad for the brain? Recorded Mar 22, 2026. Released Apr 13, 2026. How I Realized AI Was Making Me Stupid—and What I Do Now https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-i-realized-ai-was-making-me-stupidand-what-i-do-now-5862ac4d Study Finds That People Who Entrust Tasks to AI Are Losing Critical Thinking Skills https://futurism.com/study-ai-critical-thinking  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Mar 30

    Mundane, with Wendy H. Wong

    In this episode, Wendy H. Wong explains the human rights implications of datafication. We talk about how data become valuable, sticky data, big tech’s encroachment on governance, our faces/selves as datapoints, and how the mundane underlies and explains so much of how data collection happens in the first place. Recorded Mar 20, 2026. Released Mar 30, 2026. Wendy H. Wong We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262048576/we-the-data/ Human Rights in the Digital Age https://youtu.be/HyLV5Tf54QM?si=y08lMREdIgYVULcG Big Tech companies govern our lives. It’s time they’re held accountable for it https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-google-amazon-apple-meta-microsoft-governance-accountability/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Hi everyone, my name is Mél Hogan and I’m a critical media studies scholar based in Canada. I’m working on a project called The Data Fix through a series of conversations with scholars, thinkers, and feelers. Together we explore the significance of living in a world of data, and especially the growing trend of “digital humans” in the form of chatbots, holograms, deepfakes, ai images and videos, and even tech that revives the dead. The conversations are minimally edited, and serve as an archive of the collective thinking and feeling that is going into the Data Fix project. Please see thedatafix.net for more details and show notes. Thank you so much for listening.  Cover art by Oona Ode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Mél Hogan
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    86
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Mél Hogan
  • Show Website
    The Data Fix

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