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.
In a wide-ranging conversation, philosopher Michael Zimmerman contextualizes our technological journey within the history of Western thought.
Are we in capitalism’s end days? University of Illinois Professor Robert McChesney thinks we might be, or at least we might need to be, if technology continues to displace workers and concentrate wealth. He is a long-time observer of the interplay between media, policy, economics, and society; he sat down with The Technoskeptic to discuss the ramifications of technological automation on our economic system and our democracy. Professor McChesney has written more than 20 books including Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy. His latest, co-written with John Nichols, is People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy.
Kentaro Toyama is Professor of Community Information at the University of Michigan and the author of the book Geek Heresy. After spending five years in India attempting to deploy technology to aid international development, he came back disillusioned. He chats with the Technoskeptic about his experience there and in years of teaching that gave him an understanding of how technology often exacerbates, rather than levels, underlying disparities.