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Latest Episodes:

David Danks on causality, human-technology interaction, and ethics of autonomous systems Dec 30, 2019

Show notes

David Danks is a professor of philosophy and psychology and head of the department of philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University. His research lies at the intersection of philosophy, cognitive science, and machine learning, with a recent focus on the ethics of and policy for autonomous systems such as self-driving vehicles and autonomous warfare. David is the author of Unifying the Mind: Cognitive Representations as Graphical Models, as well as, Building Theories: Heuristics and Hypotheses in Science.

In our conversation with David, we cover: his journey into philosophy, learning models, causality, the impact of information overload on human cognition, and the role of trust in human-technology adoption cycles. David also shares his views on ethics and policy considerations for autonomous systems, and how we might think about agency and sovereignty for artificial intelligence-based systems.

About and from Prof. David Danks:

Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/philosophy/people/faculty/danks.html
Publications: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/ddanks/pubs.html
Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=david+danks&btnG=

Research:

Assorted Links:

Institute for Strategic Analysis: https://www.cmu.edu/isa/isa-people/faculty_affiliates/david-danks.html
The Center for Informed Democracy and Social Cybersecurity: https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2019/july/knight-foundation-disinformation.html

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm
Luminary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luminary-fm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post David Danks on causality, human-technology interaction, and ethics of autonomous systems appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Mahzarin Banaji on the human mind and subconscious biases Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

Mahzarin Banaji is an award-winning experimental psychologist and professor at the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Her research explores the human mind, why and how we think and feel in certain ways, especially in a social context, and frameworks for better identifying and addressing implicit human biases. She is the co-creator of the implicit association test, which has been used over 40 million times.

In this episode, we cover: How human beings think and the nature of subconscious human biases; Mahzarin’s book, Blindspot: hidden biases of good people, Project implicit, and her many other initiatives seeking to address implicit cognitive biases. We also discuss the impact of technology on psychology research and how social media may influence human biases.

About and from Prof. Mahzarin Banaji:

Website: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~banaji
Website: https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/mahzarin-r-banaji
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahzarin_Banaji

Research:

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People: http://blindspot.fas.harvard.edu/Book
Project Implicit: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit
Implicit Association Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABSeKU2qJoI
Unconscious Bias: https://news.aamc.org/video/interview-unconscious-bias-mahzarin-banaji
Mind Bugs | Mahzarin R. Banaji | TEDxBari : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFEaCFFsM2U
Evaluations of Talent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWYflxJ5Lcw – evaluation of talent

Assorted Links:

Book Recommendations:
- Why Teach: In Defense of a Real Education https://www.amazon.com/Why-Teach-Defense-Real-Education/dp/162040107X
- These Truths: A History of the United States: https://www.amazon.com/These-Truths-History-United-States/dp/0393635244

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm
Luminary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luminary-fm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Mahzarin Banaji on the human mind and subconscious biases appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Jonathan Aldrich on the design and evolution of programming languages Sep 30, 2019

Show notes

Jonathan Aldrich is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the software engineering Ph.D. program at Carnegie Mellon’s Institute for Software Research. Jonathan’s research focuses on software scalability. His work aims to improve software quality and programmer productivity through an interdisciplinary approach to software design. He has received the National Science Foundation career award and the Dahl-Nygaard prize.

In our conversation with Jonathan, we cover his journey into research and academia, the evolution of programming languages, characteristics of the ideal programming language, as well as ways to measure software quality. He calls for a multi-disciplinary approach to designing programming languages. Jonathan also shares his recent research in building programming languages for writing web, mobile and blockchain applications.

About and from Prof. Jonathan Aldrich:

Website: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aldrich
Institute for Software Research, faculty page: https://www.isri.cmu.edu/people/core-faculty/aldrich-jonathan.html
Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AzHmOtcAAAAJ&hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaldrichcmu

Research:

Obsidian (domain-specific language for writing safer smart contracts on the blockchain and other platforms): http://obsidian-lang.com
Wyvern (general-purpose language focused on security, modularity, and language extensibility): http://wyvernlang.github.io
Penrose (language for visualizing mathematical objects): http://www.penrose.ink/
Interdisciplinary Programming Language Design: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aldrich/papers/onward2018-pldesign.pdf
Design Intent: a Principled Approach to Application Security: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~aldrich/papers/cylab2009-slides.pdf
Using Capability-Based Modules to Enforce Secure Resource Usage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYkAzbhVcpM

Assorted links:

Institute for Software Research: https://www.isri.cmu.edu/
Book Recommendation: Why we make mistakes by Joseph T. Hallinan: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/73874/why-we-make-mistakes-by-joseph-t-hallinan/9780767928069/

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm
Luminary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luminary-fm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Jonathan Aldrich on the design and evolution of programming languages appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Amy Lippert on visual culture, images, and the celebrity phenomenon Aug 19, 2019

Show notes

Amy Lippert is a former assistant professor of urban and social history at the University of Chicago, with a particular focus on visual imagery, visual culture, and mass production. She is the author of Consuming Identities: Visual Culture in Nineteenth Century San Francisco.

In this episode, we cover: the nature, importance, and history of visual images, how visual images have influenced and intersected with society and culture, and why 19th century San Francisco is a unique case study in visual imagery and culture. We also discuss why celebrities exist and how images create and narrate stories around celebrities.

Just a heads-up, we had some issues while this recording this episode which impacted the audio quality towards the end.

About and from Prof. Amy Lippert:

Website: https://amylippert.com

Assorted links:

Consuming Identities: https://www.consumingidentities.com
The Visual Pedagogy of Reform: White Slavery in America: https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/td2vN5uhdmNw77bbIzKT/full
Emerging Scholars Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jALc2EP8jL4
History of printing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_printing
WJT Mitchell: https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/wjtmitchell
Michael Baxandall, period eye: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Period_eye
Martin Jay: https://history.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/emeritus/martin-e-jay
Walter Benjamin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin
The Work of Art in the Era of Mechanical Reproduction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Work_of_Art_in_the_Age_of_Mechanical_Reproduction
Louis Daguerre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Daguerre
Daguerreotype: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotype
Cartomania: https://www.lincstothepast.com/exhibitions/tennyson/cartomania/
Eadweard Muybridge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge
Representative Men: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_Men
Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keywords:_A_Vocabulary_of_Culture_and_Society

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm
Luminary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luminary-fm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Amy Lippert on visual culture, images, and the celebrity phenomenon appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Manu Prakash on the power of observation, curiosity-driven science, and physical biology Jul 08, 2019

Show notes

Manu Prakash is a physical biologist, inventor, and associate professor of BioEngineering at Stanford University. Manu was awarded the McArthur fellowship in 2016 and has received numerous other prestigious awards. His research is driven by curiosity, empathy for solving challenges in underserved communities, and a passion for democratizing access to science.

In this episode, we cover: his philosophy around curiosity-driven science and the power of observation, trends in bioengineering, the water-droplet computer, and the (Anti) Gravity Machine, which answers questions about life in the ocean. We also discuss the idea behind frugal science and his Foldscope and Paperfuge inventions, and why democratizing access to science is a global imperative.

Podcast Transcript

About and from Prof. Manu Prakash:

Website: https://profiles.stanford.edu/manu-prakash
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Prakash
MacArthur Fellow: https://www.macfound.org/fellows/965
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrakashLab
Reading Recommendation: Exploring Curvature by James Comey (https://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Curvature-James-Casey/dp/3528064757)

Assorted links:

Curiosity-Driven Science – http://web.stanford.edu/group/prakash-lab/cgi-bin/labsite
Frugal Science: https://125.stanford.edu/frugal-science/
- Wildly frugal: http://web.stanford.edu/group/prakash-lab/cgi-bin/labsite/research/frugal-science-and-global-health/
- Philosophy of Frugal Science: https://www.hhmi.org/stories/qa-manu-prakash-philosophy-frugal-science
- Foldscope Instruments: www.foldscope.com
- TED Talk (A 50-cent microscope that folds like origami): https://www.ted.com/talks/manu_prakash_a_50_cent_microscope_that_folds_like_origami
- TED Talk (Lifesaving scientific tools made of paper) : https://www.ted.com/talks/manu_prakash_lifesaving_scientific_tools_made_of_paper
Computing with Fluids: https://ee.stanford.edu/event/general/computing-fluids
- TED Archive (Computing with fluids): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhroLzvW-JI
“A question of taste”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3814136

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm
Luminary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luminary-fm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com): Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Manu Prakash on the power of observation, curiosity-driven science, and physical biology appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Kimberlé Crenshaw on the state of civil rights in America, intersectionality, and the critical race theory May 20, 2019

Show notes

Kimberlé Crenshaw is an American civil rights advocate and legal scholar, well-known for her work around intersectionality and critical race theory. She is a Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and UCLA. Kimberlé is the director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia, which she founded in 2011. She is also co-founder of the African American Policy Forum. Her work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the National Black Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review, and many other leading publications.

In our conversation with Kimberlé, we cover: the state of civil rights in America, biases in the interaction between civil rights and the law, critical race theory and its critiques, the framework of intersectionality, her work with the African-American policy forum, the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, and the role technology can play in the civil rights discourse.

About and from Prof. Kimberlé Crenshaw:

Columbia Law School: https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/kimberle-crenshaw
UCLA Law: https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/kimberle-w-crenshaw
Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberl%C3%A9_Williams_Crenshaw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sandylocks
Book Recommendations:
- Becoming, Michelle Obama
- Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, Kate Manne

Assorted links:

African American Policy Forum: http://www.aapf.org
Intersectionality Matters Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/intersectionality-matters/id1441348908?mt=2
The urgency of intersectionality: https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality
Mapping the Margins: https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mapping-margins.pdf
Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf
Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement: https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Race-Theory-Writings-Movement/dp/1565842715/ref=asc_df_1565842715
On Intersectionality: Essential Writings: https://www.amazon.com/Intersectionality-Essential-Writings-Kimberl%C3%A9-Crenshaw/dp/1620972700

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm
Luminary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luminary-fm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Kimberlé Crenshaw on the state of civil rights in America, intersectionality, and the critical race theory appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Gerta Keller, the forensic detective, on mass extinctions, dinosaurs, and geo sciences Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

Gerta Keller is a professor of paleontology and geology in the geo sciences department at Princeton University with a wonderful personality. Gerta has over 240 scientific publications focused on major earth catastrophes and mass extinctions, including the biotic and environmental effects of meteorite impacts and volcanism.

In our conversation with Gerta, we cover: her courageous journey – against all odds – in attaining a university degree, the mechanics of major earth catastrophes, the mystery surrounding the KT boundary and the dinosaur mass extinction, the impact theory and theory of deccan volcanism, and the deep trials and tribulations of advocating for a non-consensus theory in the scientific community.

As a heads up, this episode contains some explicit language.

About and from Prof. Gerta Keller:

Website: https://massextinction.princeton.edu/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerta_Keller
Deccan Volcanism: https://massextinction.princeton.edu/deccan-volcanism

Assorted links:

2004 BBC documentary: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22682z
The Atlantic article on Prof. Keller and the impact theory controversy: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/09/dinosaur-extinction-debate/565769/
Princeton alumni magazine article: https://paw.princeton.edu/article/dissenter
Geoscientist online article: https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/keller
K-T Boundary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_boundary
Iridium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium
Zircon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zircon
The Trouble with Physics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Physics

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm
Luminary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luminary-fm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Gerta Keller, the forensic detective, on mass extinctions, dinosaurs, and geo sciences appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Chika Okeke-Agulu on the call for artistic expression and rise of African diaspora art Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

Chika Okeke-Agulu is an Igbo-Nigerian artist, art historian, art curator, and a blogger specializing in African and African Diaspora art history. He is the Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Art & Archaeology at Princeton University.

In our conversation with Professor Okeke-Agulu, we cover his journey of creativity and adaptation to one’s surrounding while operating under constraints; his contributions in the rise to relevance of the African Diaspora Art’s; how his call to artists in the Black Lives Matter movement has led to artistic expression; and learn about the impact of technology on art education and art market.Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chika_Okeke-Agulu

About and from Prof. Chika Okeke-Agulu:

Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chika_Okeke-Agulu
Blog, Ọfọdunka: http://chikaokeke-agulu.blogspot.com
Book, Post-Colonial Modernism: https://www.dukeupress.edu/postcolonial-modernism
Article, On Contemporary Art and Black Lives Matter: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/on-contemporary-art-and-the-black-lives-matter-movement_b_6992774.html
Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art: http://www.nkajournal.org
Follow Chika on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chikaokekeagulu

Assorted links:

Nsukka School: http://sunnewsonline.com/50-years-after-nsukka-arts-school-celebrates-culture-of-creativity-2
Journal of Contemporary African Art: http://www.nkajournal.org
1–54: http://1-54.com
Documenta: https://www.documenta.de/en/
Structural adjustment programs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_adjustment
Haus Der Kunst: https://hausderkunst.de/en/

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Chika Okeke-Agulu on the call for artistic expression and rise of African diaspora art appeared first on Luminary.fm.

Kevin Leyton-Brown on the kitten algorithm, computer science, and economics Feb 18, 2019

Show notes

Kevin Leyton-Brown is an award-winning computer scientist focusing on predominantly two streams of research: 1) algorithmic game theory and 2) empirical algorithms and machine learning. He is a professor of computer science at University of British Columbia and co-teaches two popular Coursera courses on game theory, which are approaching one million participants.

In our conversation with Kevin, we cover why the intersection of economics and computer science is particularly fertile, the art and science of modeling human strategic interaction and incentives in multi-agent systems, his work with the Federal Communications Commission incentive auction, moral and ethical implications of artificial intelligence, using AI to do good, applying the kitten algorithm, and much more.

About and from Prof. Kevin Leyton-Brown:

Website: https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~kevinlb/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Leyton-Brown
Books
- http://www.masfoundations.org/
- http://www.gtessentials.org/
Coursera courses: https://www.coursera.org/instructor/kevinlb
AAAI fellow: https://twitter.com/RealAAAI/status/947985533887684608
Twitter: https://twitter.com/k_leyton_brown

Assorted links:

Franz Edelman award recipient: https://www.informs.org/Recognizing-Excellence/Award-Recipients/Federal-Communications-Commission
Kudu: https://kudu.ug/about/
Papers:
Talks:
John Nash: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Nash_Jr.
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_Games_and_Economic_Behavior

Luminary Podcast:

Visit us: https://www.luminary.fm
Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/luminaryfm

Music:

Music used in this podcast: Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Chipper Doodle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

The post Kevin Leyton-Brown on the kitten algorithm, computer science, and economics appeared first on Luminary.fm.

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