Best Dr Helen West Podcasts (2024)

1
The EU AI Act Part 2, with Amba Kak and Sarah Myers West from AI NOW 31:33

2h ago31:33

31:33

In this episode, we talk to Amba Kak and Sarah Myers West of the AI Now Institute, who are the co directors of this leading policy think tank. In the episode, which is the second installment of our EU AI Act series, Amba and Sarah explore why different tech policy narratives matter, the difference between the US and the EU regulatory landscape, why…

1
A “Climate Solutions Week” encore: Digging into regenerative farming with ‘Healing Grounds’ author Liz Carlisle 29:00

7h ago29:00

29:00

For NPR’s “Climate Solutions Week,” in 2024 leaning into food systems, ‘The Write Question’ team is encoring host Lauren Korn’s conversation with professor of food and farming Liz Carlisle, author of ‘Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming’ (Island Press).By Lauren Korn

1
TWQ Mini: About Third Act, Bill McKibben says, “There’s no known way to stop old people from voting” 10:08

6d ago10:08

10:08

For this mini episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Bill McKibben, author of ‘The End of Nature’ (Penguin Random House; first published in 1989 and called the first book on global warming written for a general audience) and founder of 350.org; in 2020, Bill founded Third Act, a new political movement of retirees (60+ years) …

1
The EU AI Act Part 1, with Caterina and Daniel from Access Now 36:32

24d ago36:32

36:32

In this episode, we talk to Daniel Leufer and Caterina Rodelli from Access Now, a global advocacy organization that focuses on the impact of the digital on human rights. As leaders in this field, they've been working hard to ensure that the European Union's AI Act doesn't undermine human rights or indeed fundamental democratic values. They share wi…

1
TWQ Mini with Sarah Capdeville: “Hope is an action, a practice, and a way of being” 13:52

13d ago13:52

13:52

In this sneak peek of season eighteen of ‘The Write Question,’ you’ll hear memoirist Sarah Capdeville speaking about her debut memoir, ‘Aligning the Glacier’s Ghost: Essays on Solitude and Landscape’ (University of New Mexico Press).By Lauren Korn

1
TWQ Mini: Kevin Barry talks about his “abandoned Butte, Montana, novel” in this sneak peek of The Write Question’s eighteenth season 9:31

27d ago9:31

9:31

For this mini episode, host Lauren Korn gives listeners a look into the eighteenth season of ‘The Write Question,’ coming this fall. In this sneak peek, you’ll hear Irish author Kevin Barry talking about ‘The Heart in Winter’ (Doubleday Books; Penguin Random House).By Lauren Korn

1
Encore: ‘This is Wildfire’: Nick Mott and Justin Angle follow award-winning podcast with “first of its kind” guide 29:02

2M ago29:02

29:02

This week, MTPR is encoring host Lauren Korn’s conversation with podcasters and authors Nick Mott and Justin Angle; the three talk about the nuances of wildfire: ‘This is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home, and Your Community in the Age of Heat’ (Bloomsbury Publishing) “offers everything you need to know about fire in one useful volume.”…

1
What on Earth Is Ethical Maths? with Maurice Chiodo 38:42

3M ago38:42

38:42

We often think that maths is neutral or can't be harmful, because after all, what could numbers do to hurt us? In this episode, we talk to Dr. Maurice Chiodo, a mathematician at the University of Cambridge, who's now based at the Center for Existential Risk. He tells us why maths can actually throw out big ethical issues. Take the atomic bomb or th…

1
Can Technology Save us from Housework? with Helen Hester 37:08

3M ago37:08

37:08

This is a special live episode because Kerry is talking to Professor Helen Hester at the tech transformed conference in London. Helen is a leading thinker of feminism technology and the future of work, and she explores the history of domestic technologies- so technology used around the house. It's really important that we understand that technologi…

1
Dr. Alan Townsend: “You don’t have to be a scientist to have a scientific lens on the world and let that influence your life in positive ways” 29:00

3M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks to Dr. Alan Townsend, author of ‘This Ordinary Stardust: A Scientist’s Path from Grief to Wonder’ (Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group).By Lauren Korn

1
Poisoning AI and Silencing Alexa with Heather Zheng 27:57

4M ago27:57

27:57

In this episode, we talk to Heather Zheng, who makes technologies that stop everyday surveillance. This includes bracelets that stopped devices from listening and on you, to more secure biometric technologies that can protect us by identifying us by for example, our dance moves. Most famously, Zheng is one of the computer scientists behind Nightsha…

1
Maxim Loskutoff: “What Montana represents to me is an entire species-wide need to re-evaluate our relationship with the natural world” 29:00

3M ago29:00

29:00

By Lauren Korn

1
“The truth of the West is a constellation”: Betsy Gaines Quammen discusses ‘Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America’ 29:00

4M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with historian and author Betsy Gaines Quammen about ‘True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America’ (Torrey House Press).By Lauren Korn

1
Gamergate, Harassment, and Feminist Design with Caroline Sinders 35:59

4M ago35:59

35:59

In this episode we talk to Caroline Sinders, the human rights researcher, an artist, and the founder of convocation, design and research. We begin by talking about Gamergate, when women were harassed for being gamers. We also talk about what it's like doing high risk research about abusive misogynists online and experiences of doxing. Just to give …

1
TWQ Mini: NPR’s Rachel Martin attempts to “hold the light” and “lean into weird” in new podcast, ‘Wild Card’ 12:53

4M ago12:53

12:53

For this mini episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with NPR’s Rachel Martin about her new podcast, ‘Wild Card’—part-interview, part-existential game show.By Lauren Korn

1
“Grief was a safe space for me”: Victoria Chang on engaging with the work of abstract artist Agnes Martin 29:00

4M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with poet Victoria Chang, author of ‘With My Back to the World’ (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), a collection that engages with the paintings and writings of celebrated abstract artist Agnes Martin.By Lauren Korn

1
The possibility of a door left open: Leonard S. Marcus helps celebrate 50 years of children’s programming on MTPR 29:00

4M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ we’re celebrating 50 years of children’s programming on Montana Public Radio. During this episode, host Lauren Korn speaks with critic, biographer, and historian Leonard S. Marcus, one of the world’s leading writers and scholars on children’s books and the people who create them.…

1
The curse of online beauty culture with Ellen Atlanta 33:25

4M ago33:25

33:25

We’re expected to look amazing online, but also natural. We’re fighting against the gender pay gap, but also spend thousands on cosmetics. In this episode, Ellen Atlanta talks us through the paradoxes of feminism and beauty in the digital sphere.By Dr Kerry McInerney and Dr Eleanor Drage

1
TWQ Mini: Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series is coming to a close; the author is coming to the Helena Civic Center 13:44

4M ago13:44

13:44

On this mini episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Jacqueline Winspear, author of twenty novels, eighteen of which comprise the Maisie Dobbs series. The last installment in that series, ‘The Comfort of Ghosts,’ will be published June 4, 2024. Jacqueline is appearing in Helena, Montana, on Monday, May 13, 2024, at the Helena …

1
‘With Every Great Breath’: Rick Bass on beauty, writing beyond his “cone of light,” and interrogating metaphor 29:00

4M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with author and environmental activist Rick Bass, author of ‘With Every Great Breath’ (Counterpoint Press), a collection of new and selected essays spanning nearly thirty years: from 1995-2023.By Lauren Korn

1
Needlework and History's Hidden Technologies with Isabella Rosner 33:09

5M ago33:09

33:09

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Isabella Rosner, a curator at the Royal School of Needlework and a research consultant at Witney Antiques. Isabella tells us about the evolution of embroidery as a technology, and the complex relationship between needlework and feminism. We use this history to shed light on technology and feminism today.…

1
“What lifts your heart?”: Melissa Kwasny on “the big loss” and taking ‘The Cloud Path’ to healing 28:59

5M ago28:59

28:59

In this episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with poet Melissa Kwasny, author of ‘The Cloud Path’ (Milkweed Editions), a collection that reckons with grief and its subsequent healing.By Lauren Korn

1
TWQ Mini: The Moth Radio Hour’s Chloe Salmon on translating stage performances to the page and on the importance of storytelling, public radio 16:54

5M ago16:54

16:54

On this mini episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Chloe Salmon, a director and producer at ‘The Moth Radio Hour’ and part of the editorial team behind ‘The Moth Presents: A Point of Beauty: True Stories of Holding on and Letting Go’ (Crown Publishing Group).By Lauren Korn

1
Live! Pledge week episode: Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray on poetry, public radio, and ‘Becoming Little Shell’ 45:30

5M ago45:30

45:30

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray joins host Lauren Korn in Studio A for a live pledge week (and National Poetry Month!) episode.By Lauren Korn

1
TWQ Mini: Toni Jensen, UM’s James and Lois Welch Distinguished Visiting Native American Writer, to read at Missoula Art Museum 7:34

5M ago7:34

7:34

In this mini episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Métis author Toni Jensen, author of ‘Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land’ (Ballantine Books; Penguin Random House). Toni will be giving a reading in collaboration with the University of Montana’s Creative Writing Program on April 12, 2024, at the Missoula Art Museum.…

1
Learning to reconnect with banished softness: Tessa Hulls on feeding “the ghosts that stand between mothers and daughters” 29:00

5M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Tessa Hulls about her graphic memoir, ‘Feeding Ghosts’ (MCD; Farrar, Straus & Giroux), the story of three generations of women in her family: her grandmother, Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and Tessa herself.By Lauren Korn

1
Carmen Maria Machado on form & genre, fairy tales & urban legends, lineage & representation 29:00

6M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Carmen Maria Machado, the headlining author at the 2024 Get Lit! Festival in Spokane, Washington, which takes place April 11th-14th.By Lauren Korn

1
“It’s hard to make human beings believe in things”: Marie-Helene Bertino on belief, education, and the creative process in ‘Beautyland’ 29:00

6M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Marie-Helene Bertino, author of ‘Beautyland,’ a novel about the fragility and resilience of life on our Earth and in our universe.By Lauren Korn

1
How China surveils Uyghur Muslims with Darren Byler 26:39

6M ago26:39

26:39

In this episode, we talked to Darren Byler, author of Terror Capitalism and In the Camps, Life in China's High Tech Penal Colony. We discussed his in depth research on Uyghur Muslims in China and the role played by technology in their persecution. If you're just listening to this on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, you can now watch us on…

1
TWQ Mini: Min Jin Lee on late-blooming, spending money, creating communities of care, and more! 19:59

6M ago19:59

19:59

For this mini episode of ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with National Book Award Finalist Min Jin Lee, author of the novels ‘Pachinko’ and ‘Free Food for Millionaires.’ Min Jin is also the editor of ‘The Best American Short Stories’ anthology for 2023 and will be traveling to Kalispell, Montana, for the Wachholz College Center’s WCC …

1
Peddling bright colors: Michael Finkel investigates ‘A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession’ in ‘The Art Thief’ 29:00

6M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Michael Finkel, author of ‘The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession,’ a true crime narrative that centers Stéphane Breitwieser, who carried out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—and stole more tha…

1
The Racial History of Dermatology with Thuy Linh Tu 27:46

6M ago27:46

27:46

In this episode we talk to Thuy Linh Thu, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU. We talk about how good technology disperses power, while bad technology concentrates power, the racial history of dermatology, including the connections between the Vietnam War, medical experimentation on incarcerated men in the U. S., and retinol creams,. P…

1
Hot Take: The Good Robot BOOK! 29:15

7M ago29:15

29:15

In this very special Good Robot hot take we talk about our new book, The Good Robot: Why Technology Needs Feminism. It's a beautiful new illustrated book where the top scholars, activists, artists, writers, technologists, all come together to respond to the prompt: good technology is... Kerry and Eleanor chat about getting its illustrations as tatt…

1
The gold in them thar hills is a hush: Arnold “Smoke” Elser and Eva-Maria Maggi discuss Smoke’s ‘Lifetime in the Bob Marshall Wilderness’ 29:00

7M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with packers Arnold “Smoke” Elser and Eva-Maria Maggi, co-authors of ‘Hush of the Land: A Lifetime in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.’By Lauren Korn

1
TWQ Outtake: What did Smoke Elser teach Eva-Maria Maggi? “It’s the hush of the land, really” 4:45

7M ago4:45

4:45

In a cutting room floor excerpt from this week’s conversation with Arnold “Smoke” Elser and Eva-Maria Maggi, host Lauren Korn asks the two what they’ve learned from each other.By Lauren Korn

1
TWQ encores conversation with Bryce Andrews in anticipation of event at Ravalli County Museum, paperback release of ‘Holding Fire’ 29:01

7M ago29:01

29:01

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ we’re airing an encore: host Lauren Korn’s conversation with Bryce Andrews, author of ‘Holding Fire: A Reckoning with the American West’ (Mariner Books, HarperCollins), now out in paperback!By Lauren Korn

1
Feminist care ethics, techno-virtues and vices, and the 'AI Mirror' with Shannon Vallor 30:52

7M ago30:52

30:52

In this episode we chat to Shannon Vallor, the Bailey Gifford professor in the ethics and data of AI at the University of Edinburgh and the Director for the Centre for Technomoral Futures. We talk about feminist care ethics; technologies, vices and virtues; why Aristotle believed that the people who make technology should be excluded from citizensh…

1
Elise Atchison’s ‘Crazy Mountain’ explores community and commodity in a rapidly changing West 29:00

7M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Elise Atchison about her award-winning debut novel, ‘Crazy Mountain’ (Sowilo Press).By Lauren Korn

1
Kathleen McLaughlin’s ‘Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America’s Blood Industry’ 29:00

7M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Kathleen McLaughlin, author of ‘Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America’s Blood Industry’ (Atria/One Signal Publishers), out now in paperback!By Lauren Korn

1
Why You Shouldn't Believe the AI Hype with Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna 29:18

7M ago29:18

29:18

In this episode, we talk to Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna. AI ethics legends and now the co-hosts of the Mystery AI Hype Theatre 3000 podcast which is a new podcast where they dispel the hype storm around AI. Emily is a professor of linguistics at university of Washington and the co-author of that stochastic parrots paper that you may have heard o…

1
Poetry and property taxes, part 2: Josh Slotnick on growth in the West, resiliency, and the “Shakespearean Threshold” 29:00

8M ago29:00

29:00

In the second part of a two-part conversation, host Lauren Korn speaks with poet, farmer, and Missoula, Montana, county commissioner Josh Slotnick about his second book of poetry, ‘If Only’ (Sandyhouse Press).By Lauren Korn

1
Why the Stories We Tell About AI Matter with Melissa Heikkilä 27:05

8M ago27:05

27:05

This week we chat to Melissa Heikkilä, a senior tech reporter for MIT Tech review, about ChatGPT, image generation, porn, and the stories we tell about AI. We hope you enjoy the show.By Dr Kerry McInerney and Dr Eleanor Drage

1
Poetry and property taxes, part 1: Josh Slotnick on audience and the complexities of writing and “commissioner-ing” 29:00

8M ago29:00

29:00

In the first part of a two-part conversation, host Lauren Korn speaks with poet, farmer, and Missoula, Montana, county commissioner Josh Slotnick about his second book of poetry, ‘If Only’ (Sandyhouse Press).By Lauren Korn

1
Former TWQ host pens memoir about critters, careers, and capitalism in Yellowstone Country 29:01

8M ago29:01

29:01

This week, ‘The Write Question’ creator and former host, Chérie Newman, returns Montana Public Radio to talk with Lauren about her debut memoir, ‘Other People’s Pets: Critters, Careers, and Capitalism in Yellowstone Country.’By Lauren Korn, Chérie Newman

1
Large Language Models, Language and Meaning, and How Children Learn Languages with Rebecca Woods 45:15

8M ago45:15

45:15

In this episode, we talked to Rebecca Woods, a Senior Lecturer in Language and Cognition at Newcastle University. We have an amazing chat about language learning in AI, and she tells us how language is crucial to how ChatGPT functions. She's also an expert in how children learn languages, and she compares this to teaching AI how to process language…

1
“I want to listen to other people’s lifetimes; I want to listen to history”: Alexandra Teague’s ‘Spinning Tea Cups’ explores family, reality, and time 29:00

9M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with Alexandra Teague, author of ‘Spinning Tea Cups: A Mythical American Memoir’ (Oregon State University Press).By Lauren Korn

1
Hot Take: Happy Holidays & a new book from Eleanor! 31:19

9M ago31:19

31:19

Happy holidays from your favourite jingle belles at the Good Robot podcast! In this episode we celebrate both the holidays and Eleanor's new book, The Planetary Humanism of European Women's Science Fiction: An Experience of the Impossible, which is a history of women's utopian science fiction from 1666 to 2016. We talk about the ways that women hav…

1
On ancestors and exes: Plains Cree poet Emily Riddle explores kinship, the colonial project of Canada, and climate change in ‘The Big Melt’ 29:00

9M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ host Lauren Korn speaks with poet Emily Riddle, author of ‘The Big Melt’ (Nightwood Editions), a debut collection rooted in Nehiyaw (Cree) thought and urban millennial life events.By Lauren Korn

1
Kate Lebo’s ‘Pie School’ reunion: Washington’s favorite pie lady revises and expands her 2014 cookbook 29:00

10M ago29:00

29:00

This week on ‘The Write Question,’ just in time for the holidays, “piecast” host Lauren Korn speaks with “pie lady” Kate Lebo, author of the cookbook ‘Pie School: Lessons in Fruit, Flour & Butter’ (Sasquatch Books).By Lauren Korn

1
Rewriting Wikipedia with Jess Wade 35:05

9M ago35:05

35:05

In this episode we talk to British physicist Jess Wade about the 1923 Wikipedia pages (and counting) she’s created and edited in her aim to put more women and more people of colour onto the online encyclopaedia.By Dr Kerry McInerney and Dr Eleanor Drage

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