Father Jim Keenan

Podcast #29: Jim Keenan on Environmentalism, Justice, and Faith

Father Jim Keenan of Boston College discusses Pope Francis’s views on environmentalism and social justice, and how those resonate across belief systems.

Jonathan Taplin

Podcast #28: Jonathan Taplin on Internet Aggregators

Jonathan Taplin, former music and film professional, tells first-hand what the new rentier economy of Internet aggregators like Google and Facebook has done to the creative arts, journalism, and democracy.

Robert Lustig

Podcast #27: Robert Lustig on Biochemistry and Health

Author and endocrinologist Robert Lustig explains the neurochemical difference between happiness and pleasure and how it’s been exploited to make so many of us fat, addicted, and depressed. Then, he reminds us how to reclaim our health.

Adam Gazzaley

Podcast #26: Adam Gazzaley on Our Distracted Minds

Neurologist Adam Gazzaley discusses how the brain’s attentional system functions–or doesn’t–when buffeted by digital distraction.

Marcy Darnovsky

Podcast #25: Marcy Darnovsky Talks Genetic Engineering

Marcy Darnovsky, Executive Director of the Center for Genetics and Society, chats with us about the moral minefield of genetic engineering.

Michael Zimmerman

Podcast #24: Michael Zimmerman Gets Philosophical on Tech

In a wide-ranging conversation, philosopher Michael Zimmerman contextualizes our technological journey within the history of Western thought.

David Bosworth

Podcast #23: David Bosworth on Conscientious Thinking

Author and cultural critic David Bosworth discusses America’s myth of individualism and how it feeds a digital culture that ironically infantilizes its users and demands constant approval from strangers.

Ryan Calo

Podcast #22: Ryan Calo on Technology and the Law

Legal theorist Ryan Calo explores how the law is (or isn’t) evolving in response to technological quandaries like robotics and digital surveillance.

Betsy Brunner

Podcast #21: Betsy Brunner on Circumventing Censorship

Betsy Brunner of Idaho State examines social media and social movements, particularly in China, where she’s looked at the creative ways people get around the limits of surveillance and censorship.