The Received Wisdom - Shobita Parthasarathy

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Episode 29 Apr 19, 2025

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British Politics, the CHIPS and Science Act, and Rethinking the Green Revolution ft. Glenn Stone

November 02, 2022

Episode 29: British Politics, the CHIPS Act, and Rethinking the Green Revolution ft. Glenn Stone The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

Jack and Shobita chat about the disasters in British politics, the CHIPS and Science Act, and how to determine whether self-driving cars are safe. Plus we chat with anthropologist Glenn Davis Stone, Professor at Sweet Briar College and author of the recent book The Agricultural Dilemma: How Not to Feed the World. Stone argues that we've been learning the story of the Green Revolution all wrong, and this has huge implications for how we think about more recent agricultural technologies like fertilizer and genetically modified organisms.

Study Questions:

How is the CHIPS and Science Act being framed in the United States?
What are the problems with the conventional tale of the Green Revolution?
Why has the myth of the Green Revolution been so persistent?
What is the problem with GMOs, and specifically BT crops, in India?
How have publics gotten more involved in the decisions of the agricultural system? What are the impacts?

The Politics of Open Access, Alzheimer’s Research, and Ghost Work ft. Mary Gray

September 13, 2022

Episode 28: The Politics of Open Access, Alzheimer’s Research, and Ghost Work ft. Mary Gray The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

It's a new season of The Received Wisdom!! After their partial summer hiatus, Shobita and Jack discuss the fraud allegations that are rocking the foundations of what we know about Alzheimer's Disease, and the Biden Administration's directive to make freely available all publications based on federally funded research. And, they chat with Macarthur Fellow Mary Gray about the "ghost workers" behind digital technologies and supposedly artificial intelligence. Gray is Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, Faculty Associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, and faculty in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering with affiliations in Anthropology and Gender Studies at Indiana University.

Study Questions:

Why was the amyloid plaque hypothesis for Alzheimer's so successful?
What are the potential drawbacks and limitations to the US government's adoption of an open access publication policy?
What is ghost work?
Why can't the problem of content moderation be solved solely through computation, and more generally computer science and engineering? What insights can deep understanding of the social dimensions of science and technology provide?
What don't we think of ghost workers as experts? How might reframing it in that way change the discussion? What public policy options might it reveal?
How do Gray and Suri categorize different types of ghost work?

How could self-driving cars change the world? - Part 2

July 15, 2022

Episode 27: How could self-driving cars change the world? - Part 2 The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

This episode is the second of Jack’s investigations into self-driving cars. Last time, he was interested in Phoenix, Arizona. This time, he’s back home in London, an old, complicated, messy city with an extensive public transport system.

The episode was presented and written by Jack Stilgoe and edited by Gemma Milne, with research assistance from Nuzhah Miah.

Study Questions:

How can the history of the motorcar help us anticipate futures for self-driving vehicles?
What would it mean to, as Lucy Suchman puts it, ‘close the world’ to make life easier for self-driving vehicles?
Which attachments of ‘autonomous’ vehicles are likely to prove most consequential?
How should cities respond to the development of self-driving vehicles?

How could self-driving cars change the world? - Part 1

June 10, 2022

Episode 26: How could self-driving cars change the world? - Part 1 The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

This month is a bit different. This episode is the first part of an investigation, led by Jack, into self-driving cars, trying to locate the technology in particular places. The first part focuses on Phoenix, Arizona, a testbed for some of the technology’s most ambitious developers and also the scene of the first self-driving car crash to kill a pedestrian. Jack talks to various experts - historians, crash investigators, journalists and tech company representatives - to ask what the technology might mean for different places. The second part moves to Jack’s home town, London.

The episode was presented and written by Jack Stilgoe and edited by Gemma Milne, with research assistance from Nuzhah Miah.

Study Questions:

What explains the gap between self-driving car hype and reality?
What can we learn from technological accidents?
In what ways is ‘autonomous vehicle’ a misnomer?
Are self-driving cars likely to look different in different places?
Are there places in which we are likely to never see a self-driving car?
How should self-driving technologies be governed as they start to appear in more places around the world?

The TRIPS Patent Waiver and Communicating Science Differently ft. Sabrina McCormick

May 14, 2022

Episode 25: Science in Abortion Politics and the Failure of One Laptop Per Child ft. Morgan Ames The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

This month, Shobita and Jack discuss how scientists are engaging in the boiling politics of abortion in the United States, the implications of large language models (a new type of artificial intelligence), and Elon Musk's possible takeover of Twitter. And we have a fascinating conversation with Morgan Ames about her award-winning book The Charisma Machine, which focuses on the global One Laptop Per Child project. Ames is Professor of Practice at the School of Information and Associate Director of Research for the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society at the University of California, Berkeley.

Study Questions:

What are the problems with scientists taking such a prominent role in the abortion debate, especially in the US?
What was the hope behind the One Laptop Per Child project, and how did it fail?
What biases lay underneath the One Laptop Per Child project, in the idea, the design, and the implementation?
What role does hype play in shaping our understanding of emerging technologies? What are its positive and negative dimensions?
Could a One Laptop Per Child-type project ever be successful? How?

The TRIPS Patent Waiver and Communicating Science Differently ft. Sabrina McCormick

March 23, 2022

Episode 24: The TRIPS Patent Waiver and Communicating Science Differently ft. Sabrina McCormick The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

In this episode, Shobita and Jack discuss this uncertain moment in the pandemic around the world, including the latest negotiations related to the TRIPS patent waiver related to COVID vaccines. They consider emerging efforts to develop a "pangenome" that emphasizes human genetic diversity. And they chat with Professor Sabrina McCormick, a scholar, policymaker, and filmmaker, about her efforts to advocate for climate change action in creative ways.

Study Questions:

What it the TRIPS patent waiver and how might it influence global vaccine equity?
Why is it important to use storytelling to talk about important science and technology issues
Why are there pressures to “deanimate science”, as Bruno Latour puts it, and what are the benefits and drawbacks of that?
What role does emotion play in scientific research?
What kind of storytelling related to climate change do you think is ineffective? Effective?

The Myths of Genius, IP, and Surveillance ft. Chris Gilliard

February 15, 2022

Episode 23: The Myths of Genius, IP, and Surveillance ft. Chris Gilliard The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

This month, Jack and Shobita discuss the resignation of the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, African scientists' success in copying the Moderna vaccine and the potential long-term implications, and the politics of long COVID. And we speak with scholar and writer Chris Gilliard about the rise of surveillance technologies, their implications especially for marginalized communities, and what we can do about it.

Study Questions:

Can you think of additional examples of luxury and imposed surveillance? What are their similarities and differences?
What are the limitations to the consent model for accessing digital technologies? What harms might it cause?
Think of a common digital technology that clearly produces social harm (e.g., Facebook, facial recognition technology). How might you redesign it to maximize the social benefits while limiting the harms?
How might governments regulate emerging digital technologies to maximize societal benefits?

Theranos, Medical Devices, and Indigenous Knowledge on Climate Change ft. Kyle Powys Whyte

January 11, 2022

Episode 22: Theranos, Medical Devices, and Indigenous Knowledge on Climate ft. Kyle Powys Whyte The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

In this episode, Shobita and Jack discuss the recent conviction of the now-notorious Elizabeth Holmes, former CEO of Theranos, and what it means for tech hype. They talk about the UK government's recent decision to review the racial bias embedded in medical devices, and consider whether this will move equity objectives forward. And they speak with Kyle Powys Whyte, George Willis Pack Professor of Environment and Sustainability, and Affiliate Professor of Native American Studies and Philosophy, at the University of Michigan, about how indigenous knowledge can inform the science and policy discussions related to climate change.

Study Questions:

What does climate science look like for indigenous peoples?
What lessons might indigenous approaches to climate science hold for Western science?
How do indigenous peoples think about the relationship between science and society?
What are the benefits and drawbacks to the framing of climate change as an urgent problem?
How have histories of colonialism shaped climate change, both in the United States and elsewhere?
Is a just energy transition possible? What would it take to make the energy transition truly just?

Considering an AI Bill of Rights, Facebook, and the Technological Surveillance of Truckers ft. Karen Levy

November 15, 2021

Episode 21: An AI Bill of Rights, Facebook, and the Surveillance of Truckers ft. Karen Levy The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

This month, Shobita and Jack discuss efforts to engage publics in the development and regulation of AI, including the AI Bill of Rights proposed by the White house, and the most recent Facebook controversies. And they talk to sociologist and lawyer Karen Levy about her forthcoming book examining the rise of technology-based surveillance in the trucking industry and its social, political, and labor implications.

Study Questions:

What are the benefits and drawbacks of bringing EDL and other surveillance technologies into trucking?
To what extent do you think the trucking (and other forms of labor) shortage can be traced to resistance to and frustration with surveillance technologies?
How do the new technologies transform the kinds of knowledge and expertise deemed relevant to trucking? What knowledge is now valued, and what is devalued? What are the consequences?
What is a multi-sited ethnography, and why is it useful for studying technologies, their implications, and the development of appropriate policies to manage them?

Risk, Expertise, and the Power of Community Perspectives in Science and Technology ft. Jason Delborne

October 05, 2021

Episode 20: Risk, Expertise, and Community Perspectives in Science and Tech ft. Jason Delborne The Received Wisdom Download

TRANSCRIPT

In this episode, Shobita and Jack compare how the US and UK governments are managing risk and uncertainty in both pandemic policymaking and in their evolving artificial intelligence strategies. And they chat with Jason Delborne, a professor at North Carolina State University who has done both research and public and policy engagement related to gene drives, a new form of biotechnology that could transform our ecosystems.

Study Questions:

Why do we turn to surveys as measures of public opinion, and what might consensus conferences or other deliberative methods allow us to do?
Why do we need social scientists involved in discussions about science and technology policies
What’s the deficit model of public engagement, and what’s wrong with it?
Why might the science and engineering communities be skeptical of engaging communities in decisionmaking about science and technology, and how might these concerns be overcome?

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The Received Wisdom – Shobita Parthasarathy

British Politics, the CHIPS and Science Act, and Rethinking the Green Revolution ft. Glenn Stone

Study Questions:

Related links:

The Politics of Open Access, Alzheimer’s Research, and Ghost Work ft. Mary Gray

Study Questions:

Related links:

How could self-driving cars change the world? - Part 2

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Related links:

How could self-driving cars change the world? - Part 1

Study Questions:

Related links:

The TRIPS Patent Waiver and Communicating Science Differently ft. Sabrina McCormick

Study Questions:

Related links:

The TRIPS Patent Waiver and Communicating Science Differently ft. Sabrina McCormick

Study Questions:

Related links:

The Myths of Genius, IP, and Surveillance ft. Chris Gilliard

Study Questions:

Related links:

Theranos, Medical Devices, and Indigenous Knowledge on Climate Change ft. Kyle Powys Whyte

Study Questions:

Related links:

Considering an AI Bill of Rights, Facebook, and the Technological Surveillance of Truckers ft. Karen Levy

Study Questions:

Related links:

Risk, Expertise, and the Power of Community Perspectives in Science and Technology ft. Jason Delborne

Study Questions:

Related links:

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