Reimagining the Internet

Latest Episodes:

90. Are American politics more polarized than ever? Brendan Nyhan thinks social media just helps us see it more. Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

Brendan Nyhan spends a lot of time researching America’s political polarization and the strength of its democracy with the organization he founded, Bright Line Watch. In part 2 of our interview with him, he tells us how questions about the state of America’s democracy really need to be put in the context that we didn’t […]

89. Facebook scores your politics with a number. Brendan Nyhan figured out what they do with it. (Part 1 of 2) Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

Does Facebook make people’s politics more extreme? Do algorithms force us into bubbles? Does social media threaten American democracy? Political scientist Brendan Nyhan used his permission to research political data on Facebook as an opportunity to tackle these questions head on. In part one of our interview with Brendan, he tells us about his contribution […]

88. Does Facebook change your politics? Talia Stroud is leading studies to find out. Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

Our first ever guest Talia Stroud is one of the principal investigators on a slate of social science research investigating Facebook’s impacts on the 2020 elections, and we’re thrilled to welcome her back to tell us about what her team is finding when they look at the funny things algorithms do, the pervasiveness of polarized […]

87. Before Laura Edelson was the DOJ’s chief antitrust technologist, Facebook deleted her account Sep 13, 2023

Show notes

Did Facebook influence how people voted in the 2020 elections? This month, we’re focusing on a recent spate of studies published in Science and Nature studying how Facebook’s algorithms handle political content. First up is Laura Edelson, who was banned by Facebook for her work studying its ads through her project at NYU, the Ad […]

86. danah boyd on freaks, geeks, queers, and lying to the US Census Aug 30, 2023

Show notes

danah boyd is so fascinated by data and society that she founded a research institute called Data and Society. We brought her on Reimagining this week to talk about one of her long-running research interests—the social lives of teens online—and ended up with a sprawling conversation that touched on everything from anti-trans culture wars to […]

85. Timnit Gebru Looks at Corporate AI and Sees a Lot of Bad Science Aug 16, 2023

Show notes

Timnit Gebru is not just a pioneering critic of dangerous AI datasets who calls bullshit on bad science pushed by the likes of OpenAI, or a tireless champion of racial, gender, and climate justice in computing. She’s also someone who wants to build something different. This week on Reimagining, we talk to the thrilling, funny […]

84. Ted Lasso’s Dylan Marron Wants to Redeem Jar Jar Binks Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Jar Jar Binks, the human side of online harassment, restorative justice, the Friends writers room, solidarity with UPS, what life looks like in the creative gig economy after your show has won an Emmy. Dylan Marron (Ted Lasso, Welcome to Nightvale) joins us for a sprawling, poignant conversation about how social media has effected our […]

83. A History of Why the Internet Sucks Right Now with Dave Karpf Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

2010s online activism, the Reddit blackout, antitrust, academic data access, Newt Gingrich, enshitifcation. We brought scholar/activist Dave Karpf on to talk about his work leading fellow academics to fight for data access standards, and we ended up with a Reimagining greatest hits. Dave Karpf is associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs […]

82. Twitter Blocked Tracy Chou’s Anti-Harassment App. Now She Wants to Fix Your Browser. Jul 12, 2023

Show notes

When we had Tracy Chou on the show in 2021, she was rolling out software to give users a revolutionary toolset to block harassment on Twitter, and she was doing it with the Twitter corporation’s help. Fast forward to today, when she’s one of Time Magazine’s 2022 Women of the Year and her work has […]

81 Third Wave Internet with Ben Tarnoff Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

We’re always told algorithms are going to change our world. And they do, but it always seems to be for the worse. Do we have any alternative to simply breaking the machines that have run afoul of our values and needs? We’re thrilled to welcome Ben Tarnoff back on the show to talk his calls […]

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