Moral Repair: A Black Exploration of Tech

Latest Episodes:

Tech Boom Or Bust? A Syracuse Story Aug 21, 2024

Show notes

Tech Companies and American Manufacturing have a history of booming and busting towns. The Big Question for this last episode of the season is, will this AI chip factory scheduled to open in a suburb just north of Syracuse, NY actually provide reasonable, sustainable increased quality of life, or will it be the latest iteration of the boom and bust cycle? Annanda and Keisha ask key Syracusans to find out.

SHOW NOTES

Talk to us at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/

Syracuse

Syracuse Poverty info
From 2003 History of the Syracuse area’s Decline of manufacturing jobs – Brookings Institution
Carrier Corporation – why it left
Episode about Haudenosaunee
Bob Searing's Article
https://www.syracuse.com/living/2022/10/back-to-the-future-cny-is-poised-to-return-to-a-familiar-role-as-a-hub-of-leading-edge-american-manufacturing.html
Onondaga Historical Association cnyhistory.org

Micron

https://www.cnycec.org/ – Melanie Littlejohn is co-chair of the Central New York Community Engagement Committee for NY State’s Micron investment
Melanie Littlejohn also is the CEO of the CNY Community Foundation. Here’s a video
Environmental impact w/ map
Inside Micron Taiwan’s Semiconductor Factory | Taiwan’s Mega Factories EP1
What will Micron Technology mega computer chip fab look like in Central New York?

AI & the African Diaspora Jul 31, 2024

Show notes

This week, Keisha and Annanda explore AI and tech from the perspectives of the African diaspora in North America, in Europe, and continental Africa. We ask: Where’s Africa in the story of AI? What does the diaspora have to say about inclusion in tech? Our featured guest is Mutale Nkonde (AI For the People), and we get into inclusion, colonialism, and what we can all learn from the Maori.

SHOW NOTES

Talk to us at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/
Follow Mutale Nkonde at AI for the People.
MIT Technology Review: “Africa’s push to regulate AI starts now.” (March 2024)
African Union: “African Ministers Adopt Landmark Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy, African Digital Compact to drive Africa’s Development and Inclusive Growth” (June 2024)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Anna Julia Cooper
Combahee River Collective statement (1977) https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/combahee-river-collective-statement-1977/
China and African infrastructure projects: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/china/china-african-loans-development-belt-and-road-intl-hnk/index.html

Life on Spaceships and Mars Jul 17, 2024

Show notes

This Episode Annanda and Keisha Explore The Big Question of, is it worth the expense to go to Mars given the needs on Earth? And what would it be like to live on Mars or in space? They interview Kai Staats, Director of Research for SAM at the University of Arizona to get the space tea.

Magic in the United States: Ancient Technopagans Jul 03, 2024

Show notes

This week we’re sharing an episode with you from Heather Freeman at Magic in the US.

Magic in the US is a PRX show that explores America’s magical communities. In this episode, we hear how pagans in the 1980s used the early internet to find each other.

Enjoy the episode!

Follow Magic in the US wherever you listen.

Tech & Public Safety: Activism and Community Jun 19, 2024

Show notes

Keisha and Annanda talk to Sarah Nahar of Community Peacemaker Teams and Buddhist Peace Fellowship about technologies of public safety and conflict in the United States and how communities can organize themselves to repair the harms of oppression and policing. We look at the history and values of public safety in the USA, specific policing tech, and ways communities in and out of tech are responding.

How Tech Impacts American Farmland Jun 05, 2024

Show notes

How do the profits from Big Tech impact family farmers, food-ways and the environment in the United States? Annanda & Keisha talk to Jamie Fanous, Director of Policy for Community Alliance with Family Partners and Dr. Amina Darwish, the Associate Dean and Advisor for Muslim Life at The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life at Stanford University.

SHOW NOTES

We’re excited to be live in Oakland on June 11 for a live in-person show at Kinfolx in the East Bay. Join us in person @4pm PST or online at, Making It: A Night of Big Questions! Sign up at Eventbrite

Talk to us on Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn.

Sabbaths and Light Phones: Technologies for Rest May 22, 2024

Show notes

Always-on technology has amplified distraction and overwhelm, disconnection, and cultural polarization. What ancient and emerging tools can help us put tech in its rightful place? Keisha and Annanda talk to Judith Shulevitz and Joe Hollier about what can we learn from Sabbath traditions about community, connection, and thriving.

SHOW NOTES

Talk to us online: at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/
We’ll be in Oakland, CA, for a live event on June 11. Stay tuned for details!
Zomorodi’s TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/manoush_zomorodi_how_boredom_can_lead_to_your_most_brilliant_ideas
Research on “technoference,” relationships, and quality of life: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-52280-001; tips from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201501/how-cellphone-use-can-disconnect-your-relationship
Learn about the Light Phone: https://www.thelightphone.com/
Try a Tech Shabbat! Tiffany Shlain explains the principles in WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/everything-you-need-to-enjoy-one-tech-free-day-a-week/

Tell us: What are the community spaces where you find rest with others?

Political Strategies & AI May 08, 2024

Show notes

It’s a major election year in American politics. This episode explores the big question, how is AI used in American political decision-making? What are the tools out there? How do they impact the political process? While this episode will not be political, it will touch on the evolution of political culture via AI and the impact it has the everyday person. Our episode features special guest, Cyber Security expert Bruce Schneier of the Harvard Kennedy School.

Talk to us on Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn.

SHOW NOTES

The whole cup of tea… The Guardian Interview with Christopher Wylie

They are still going y’all! Chicago Festival for the Humanities

Check Out Bruce’s Corner of the Internet! Bruce Schneier

Government Regulation: Afrofuturism and Equity in Tech Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

What do we need to know about recent regulatory guidelines on AI trust and safety? What does one recent federal regulator think still needs attention? How could critical Black digital perspectives reshape the conversation? Annanda and Keisha talk Afrofuturism and equity with Dr. Alondra Nelson, deputy director for science and society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2021-2023.

SHOW NOTES

Talk to us online: at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/
The Social Text Afrofuturism issue: https://www.dukeupress.edu/afrofuturism-1
About the Black Panther’s clinics: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/institutions-african-american-history/black-panther-partys-free-medical-clinics-1969-1975/“
“No Justice, No Health”: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12111-019-09450-w
Nelson + Lander explain the AI Bill of Rights (WIRED) https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-bill-of-rights-artificial-intelligence/
How many medical tech advances came from HIV-AIDS research: https://www.princeton.edu/\~ota/disk2/1990/9026/902612.PDF

Moral Repair Season 2 Trailer Apr 17, 2024

Show notes

On Moral Repair: A Black Exploration of Tech, hosts Annanda Barclay and Keisha McKenzie talk with tech and wisdom leaders. Their conversations inspire curiosity about tech while showcasing practical wisdom from the African continent and diaspora to nurture wellbeing for all.

Moral Repair expands mainstream tech narratives, celebrates profound insight from Black philosophy and culture, and promotes technology when it serves the common good. Listeners leave each episode with new ways to think about tech’s impacts and apply practical wisdom in their own lives.