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In this episode, April Glaser is joined once again by guest co-host Meredith Broussard, a data journalism professor at New York University and author of Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World.
First, historian Mar Hicks joins the show to talk about the tech industry’s longtime aversion to organized labor and how that’s clashing with recent worker actions at major tech companies like Google and Uber.
Then, Alexis Madrigal joins the hosts to talk about his recent piece in the Atlantic called “The End of Cyberspace,” where he argues that the ’90s dream of an unregulated internet is starting to fade. According to Madrigal, it’s time to create a new alluring vision for what cyberspace should be.
Stories discussed on the show:
“How to Tell if the Uber Strike Is Working”
“What the Google Protests Really Need to Achieve”
Don’t Close My Tabs:
Meredith: “The Raisin Situation”
April: “The Chinese Surveillance State, Part 1” and “The Chinese Surveillance State, Part 2”
Podcast production by Cameron Drews.
You can follow April @Aprilaser and Meredith @merbroussard. If you have a question or comment, you can email us at ifthen@slate.com.
If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.
