How To Citizen with Baratunde

Latest Episodes:

When The Data Is Us (with Krystal Tsosie) Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

Baratunde continues his journey to discover how we can embed more justice into the data driving our increasingly automated lives and focuses on the most intimate data there is: our DNA. He talks with Krystal Tsosie, an indigenous geneticist, and bioethicist who fights for data sovereignty and the rights of indigenous peoples to have agency over their personhood and knowledge.

Guest: Krystal Tsosie

Bio: Indigenous (Diné/Navajo) geneticist-ethicist at Vanderbilt University and incoming faculty at Arizona State. Co-Founder of the Native BioData Consortium.

Online: Native BioData Consortium website; Krystal’s TED talk and Twitter @kstsosie

Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.

ACTIONS

- PERSONALLY REFLECT

What’s your data worth?

Ask yourself, “how much is my data privacy worth to me, and how do I feel about nonconsensual surveillance based on my data?” Now add in the element of genetic information. How would you feel if any of your biological kin donated genetic information that was tied to information about you that can be bought and sold?

- BECOME INFORMED

Learn about nonconsensual data collection

Read this NY Times article about Indigenous tribes in the Amazon who felt “duped, lied to, exploited” when they realized their donated blood samples were being sold for $75 a vial while the medicines they were promised in exchange never arrived. Or learn about Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cervical cancer cells (“HeLa”) changed the field of biology and have been commodified by laboratories, but without the knowledge of her or her family. Now let’s make it more personal. Find out what Big Tech knows about you with some of the suggestions in this article.

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Support ethical data practices

Empower science led by Indigenous scientists working with tribal communities to ensure that the benefits of biomedicine and public health benefit Indigenous peoples. Consider making a donation to the Native BioData Consortium. And help protect yourself and slow the market for selling our data by installing the Global Privacy Control. This is a feature of certain web browsers that lets you signal to a site not to trade information about you, and it’s backed by law!

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Arsenic in My Muffins (with Kasia Chmielinski) Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

Baratunde knows what is healthy to eat or not, thanks to the required nutrition labels on our food. But how do we know the ingredients in the algorithms and AI we depend on are safe to use? Baratunde speaks with Kasia Chmielinksi about the Data Nutrition Project, which helps data scientists, developers, and product managers assess the viability, health, and quality of the data that feeds their algorithms and influences our decisions daily.

Guest: Kasia Chmielinski

Bio: Co-Founder of the Data Nutrition Project, an affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, senior research advisor at the Partnership on AI

Online: The Data Nutrition Project website; Kasia on Twitter @kaschm

Show Notes + Links

Go to howtocitizen.com to sign up for show news, AND (coming soon!) to start your How to Citizen Practice.

Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!

We are grateful to Kasia Chmielinski for joining us! Follow them at @kaschm on Twitter, or find more of their work at datanutrition.org.

ACTIONS

- PERSONALLY REFLECT

Like people, machines are shaped by the context in which they were created. So if we think of machines and algorithmic systems as children who are learning from us - their parents - what kind of parents do we want to be? How do we want to raise our machines to be considerate, fair, and to build a better world than the one we are in today?

- BECOME INFORMED

Watch: Coded Bias

Listen: Radical AI Podcast

Read: Race after Technology, Weapons of Math Destruction, Data Feminism

Make Choices: *privacy not included (consumer guide for buying technologies)

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Donate to these groups on the front lines ensuring the future of AI is human and just: Algorithmic Justice League, ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Discuss: Host a book club! The books above are really great platforms to gather folks who want to learn from the literature and each other.

Attend a lecture or event: Data & Society, AI Now

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Defending Our Collective Psyche (with Sander van der Linden) Dec 02, 2021

Show notes

Can we inoculate ourselves against misinformation and conspiracy theories in the way we do for infectious diseases? Instead of debunking, can we “pre-bunk?” Sander van der Linden, co-founder of Inoculation Science, has created games that offer to do just that. Baratunde plays one of them and speaks with Sander about online misinformation campaigns, polarization, and how we can better protect ourselves.

Guest: Sander van der Linden

Bio: Professor of Social Psychology in Society at the University of Cambridge, co-founder Inoculation Science, author of The Truth Vaccine (writing)

Online: Inoculation Science website; Sander’s website and Twitter @Sander_vdLinden

Show Notes + Links

Go to howtocitizen.com to sign up for show news, AND (coming soon!) to start your How to Citizen Practice.

Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!

We are grateful to Sander for joining us! Follow Sander at @Sander_vdLinden on Twitter, or find more of his work at inoculation.science.

ACTIONS

- PERSONALLY REFLECT

Reflect on the game.

After you play the game at https://inoculation.science and watch a few videos, reflect on how they made you feel. Are there online experiences you’ve had that make more sense once you consider you might have been intentionally manipulated? How do you think these games will affect your future online experiences?

- BECOME INFORMED

Play the game.

Point your browser over to https://inoculation.science and play their set of inoculation games. In addition to Breaking Harmony Square, which we featured in this episode, they offer games to help you limit the harm of fake news and COVID misinformation.

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Share the game.

Finally, share the games with people you care about. Friends don’t let friends spread misinformation.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can Tech Save the Literal World? (with Jamie Margolin) Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

Baratunde connects with Gen-Z author and climate activist Jamie Margolin, to see how this next generation is using tech to save the planet. He was surprised more than once by this 19-year-old’s perspective. She is the founder of This Is Zero Hour, an intersectional movement of young people fighting for a livable planet and co-organizer of the 2018 Youth Climate March.

Guest: Jamie Margolin

Bio: 19-year-old Colombian-American organizer, activist, author, public speaker, and film & tv student.

Online: Jamie’s book, Youth To Power, and her Twitter and Instagram; Zero Hour on Instagram

Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.

ACTIONS

- PERSONALLY REFLECT

What do technology and Earth mean to you?

Jamie helped us conceive of technology in a different, more elemental way. When you think of technology, what do you think of? When you think of nature, what do you think of? Do you ever think of the same thing in answer to both questions?

- BECOME INFORMED

Learn about climate threats and opportunities.

For better climate news, check out CoveringClimateNow.org. On social media, follow groups like This Is Zero Hour and Sunrise Movement. For something more local, search online for climate change and your neighborhood or town. Try a search for climate action in the same way. I did and discovered regional climate action plans, zero waste retailers, and forecasts about climate change specific to where I live. I also highly recommend the book All We Can Save. It's an anthology of essays by women representing all the people we’ve ignored on climate and filled with solutions and inspiration. Find it in our show’s online bookshop.

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Take collective climate action of some kind

Those local searches I recommended might lead you to businesses you can support or groups you can join. I recommend the Citizens Climate Lobby as a possible place to start. An even more basic step is to take a look at your own energy use. I went through my electricity bill closely and saw an option to choose renewable energy sources, and signed up. Boom! Then talk about it. Are you composting, put that online? Trying to understand where your energy comes from? Take it to the socials! Let’s use tech to make climate action mainstream.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fast, Fair, Fun (with Digital Minister Audrey Tang) Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

After a life of civic hacking outside the system through efforts like vTaiwan, Audrey Tang, now Digital Minister of Taiwan, speaks with Baratunde about how to use digital tools to include people in more direct, participatory, democratic practices and her design philosophy of “fast, fair, fun.” She shows how tech can help government be more responsive to and collaborative with its citizens.

Guest: Audrey Tang

Bio: Digital Minister of Taiwan, open-source software contributor, poetician

Online: Taiwan’s Public Digital Innovation Space; On Twitter @audreyt and the hashtag #FastFairFun

Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.

ACTIONS

- PERSONALLY REFLECT

Flexing our personal power

When have you felt justified pushing against an authority in your life? How did you do it and did it achieve your goal? If not, why not? If so, were there other unintended consequences? If you could go back in time, would you change your actions in any way?

- BECOME INFORMED

What is Open Government?

Get informed about this idea of "open government." Learn more about Audrey’s work at digitalminister.tw. If you want to go deeper, read the book Open Democracy by Hélène Landemore. It's about centering ordinary citizens in the democratic process. Find it in our online bookstore bookshop.org/shop/howtocitizen. And search social media for the hashtag #OpenGovernment to discover other related thinkers and doers helping us govern ourselves.

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Public Forums

Practice sharing your voice on an issue you care about in a public forum (not just social media). For example, you can comment on upcoming federal regulations at regulations.gov. But the real action is local, so join a participatory budgeting initiative by searching online for “participatory budgeting near me”, or attend a virtual or live city or neighborhood council meeting and offer feedback during the public comment section. Use your voice to influence a public issue. Flex your power!

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Circles in a World Made for Triangles (with Pia Mancini) Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

Baratunde learns more about experiments in digital democracy. He speaks with Pia Mancini, cofounder of Open Collective, a platform empowering collectives and mutual aid groups with new transparent, decentralized financial tools that make local grassroots efforts more feasible than ever. It is a powerful example of how the use of technology can change the power dynamics and help people citizen together where they live and across the globe.

Guest: Pia Mancini

Bio: Democracy activist, open source sustainer, co-founder & CEO at Open Collective and Chair of DemocracyEarth Foundation.

Online: Open Collective website; Pia’s website; on Twitter @piamancini and @opencollect

Show Notes + Links

Go to howtocitizen.com to sign up for show news, AND (coming soon!) to start your How to Citizen Practice.

Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!

We are grateful to Pia for joining us! Follow her @piamancini on Twitter, or find more of her work at Opencollective.org.

ACTIONS

PERSONALLY REFLECT

Cultivate Optimism

Take a moment to reflect on when you feel most positive, most optimistic in your week? What are you doing, who are you around, what media/info sources are you consuming? Work on adding more of these elements to your weekly routines. The world needs more clear-eyed optimists for us to reach our collective potential. It’s hard to citizen when you’re only cynical.

BECOME INFORMED

Who in your life needs Open Collective

Take a moment to wrap your mind around this NEW community infrastructure that is truly revolutionizing the way local initiatives and groups work together around the world. We bet you know of a local project or informal group that could benefit from it! Take the time to learn more https://opencollective.com/. Also check out Pia’s TED talk, How To Upgrade Democracy for the Internet Era, for more about her beliefs and journey.

PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Join in with other locals

Support open-source and move away from private mega-malls like Facebook by adopting the Signal app, an open source, end-to-end encrypted, not-for-profit messaging platform. And if you use open source to build the product that is making you money, give back to open source, because open source is not free. It was paid for by someone else's time. So make sure you give back to the developers.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Move Slow and Fix Things (with Esra’a Al Shafei) Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

Esra’a is a Bahrani human rights activist and founder of Majal, a multiplatform organization that amplifies underrepresented voices in the Middle East and North Africa. She works collaboratively with technologists and designers across the world to create alternative digital spaces that are safe from censorship and trolling. Utilizing gamification and music, Majal’s platforms offer a safe space for people who face persecution based on their identity and politics.

Guest: Esra’a Al Shafei

Bio: Founder of Majal, Migrant Rights, and Mideast Tunes; civil rights activist dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ youth in the Middle East.

Online: Majal website; @ealshafei on Twitter

Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.

ACTIONS

- PERSONALLY REFLECT

Personal Security

When have you felt concerned for your safety and security online? What features online made you feel vulnerable or exposed? Was it something you could control or was it outside of your control? If you’ve never felt insecure on online platforms, why do you think that is?

- BECOME INFORMED

Question Scale in Philanthropy

Check out Majal.org and look at the platforms they operate.

When you are engaging with nonprofits and philanthropy, look at who founded and runs the groups you support or amplify. Find ones that are run by those closest to the problem, which are often people from marginalized communities. Start your learning journey by reading Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva.

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Challenge the philanthropic norms.

Instead of supporting large organizations that emphasize scalability and unsustainable growth, consider getting as local and grassroots as you can in terms of your time and resources. Often smaller, on-the-ground, and grassroots organizations have a more direct impact despite far fewer resources. And make the How To Citizen community look good: donate over at Majal.org so they can keep supporting the important platforms serving activists and LGBTQ youth in the Middle East.

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT & SUPPORT

Leave a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!
Find us at @howtocitizen on Instagram and tag us in your actions.
Visit our non-Bezos bookshop.
Subscribe to Baratunde's weekly Recommentunde Newsletter, his column on Puck, or you can even text him right now at 202-894-8844

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public Parks and Re-creation (with Eli Pariser) Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Right now we interact with the public more online than offline. But these digital spaces are not designed with our collective wellbeing in mind. Baratunde speaks with Eli Pariser, Co-founder of New_Public, about how we are missing intentionally designed digital public spaces, like libraries and park spaces online, and they discuss New_Public’s NEW! design playbook for creating platforms that bring us together instead of tear us apart.

Guest: Eli Pariser

Bio: Author, Activist, and Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of New_Public

Online: New_Public website; @elipariser on Twitter; Eli’s website

Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.

ACTIONS

- PERSONALLY REFLECT

Public Interactions

Reflect on some recent online interactions you’ve had with total strangers on social media. Now think about some interactions you’ve had with strangers offline, maybe in a public park or library. How did each experience make you feel? Did you prefer one over the other? Why?

- BECOME INFORMED

Check out New_Public’s work

Check out New_Public’s new design playbook for building digital public spaces of the future. It was built from two years of global research and feedback. Also, read Eli’s thought-provoking article in the Atlantic about envisioning a future online that serves the public good and supports a culture of democracy.

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Join a niche, online community forum.

Consider joining or starting your own online community where you can practice some of the 14 signals using a platform like Hylo or MightyNetworks. Most of the signals don’t require code as much as thoughtful governance, culture, and norm-setting to create a different kind of online space that helps us citizen. Said another way, try finding or creating an online community in a space that isn’t a giant shopping mall.

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT & SUPPORT

Leave a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!
Find us at @howtocitizen on Instagram and tag us in your actions.
Visit our non-Bezos bookshop.

Subscribe to Baratunde's weekly Recommentunde Newsletter, his column on Puck, or you can even text him right now at 202-894-8844

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Podcast-Sized History of Tech (with Scott Galloway) Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Baratunde has been sounding the alarm about the perils of Big Tech for years. In this episode, he breaks down his journey in tech and talks with tech expert and sharp critic, Prof G, otherwise known as Scott Galloway, co-host of the Pivot Podcast. They dive into Scott’s summary of what the hell went wrong, his recent argument that corporations need to start acting “as citizens,” and how this idea of corporate citizening informs his investment strategy.

Guest: Scott Galloway

Bio: Marketing expert who specializes in critiquing the worlds of tech & business, and how they operate within capitalism.

Online: His website; @profgalloway on Twitter; the Pivot podcast

Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.

ACTIONS

- INTERNALLY REFLECT

Feeds and Feelings

Take a moment to reflect on your various social media feeds. If your FB or Instagram feed had a personality how would you describe it (ie. sassy with a bit of inspiration or snarky, gossipy, and entertaining)? How do your social media feeds make you feel? Consider training the algorithm by selecting accounts and content that pushes you forward rather than drags you down. A small but perhaps mighty action for your mental and emotional wellbeing.

- BECOME INFORMED

Check out Baratunde’s Digital Manifesto

Read and contribute to an open Google Docs version of the manifesto here. Comment about what’s missing, improve it, or add references to work from others. Baratunde may share some of your feedback on his social channels. Also recommended by Scott, the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman available in our bookshop.

- PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE

Ensure regulation of Big Tech

Here are three grassroots efforts you can join to ensure big tech doesn’t go unregulated. Join with others to lend your voice and skills. Check out - Freedomfromfacebookandgoogle.com, Athenaforall.org working to free us from Amazon, and The Economic Liberties Project.us.

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT & SUPPORT

Leave a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!
Find us at @howtocitizen on Instagram and tag us in your actions
Visit our non-Bezos bookshop.
Subscribe to Baratunde's weekly Recommentunde Newsletter, his column on Puck, or you can even text him right now at 202-894-8844

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baratunde’s Tech Origins (with Belinda Yvonne Thurston) Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Technology and its promise of a better world is a part of Baratunde’s DNA. In this episode, Baratunde reminisces with his older sister, Belinda, about their upbringing in Washington DC in the 1980s. They discuss their mother’s influence on his earliest experiences with tech that would someday come to shape this very podcast.

Guest: Belinda Thurston

Bio: Yogini, tai chi player, Buddhist, African-Japanese American, journalist, speaker, motivator, number one sister.

Online: Just B Yoga website

Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.

ACTIONS

- INTERNALLY REFLECT

Relationships matter.

How have you invested in the key relationships that make your world go round? Do you have the relationship with your siblings and family members that you want? This Harvard Study showed that happiness boils down to one thing: relationships.

MORE WAYS TO CONNECT & SUPPORT

Leave a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!
Find us at @howtocitizen on Instagram and tag us in your actions
Visit our non-Bezos bookshop.

Subscribe to Baratunde's weekly Recommentunde Newsletter, his column on Puck, or you can even text him right now at 202-894-8844

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.