Best Emily M Bender Podcasts (2024)

1
Romancing the Dragon, with Moniquill Blackgoose 47:18

2d ago47:18

47:18

We’re obsessed with dragons, and for good reason. These gigantic creatures soar through many cultures and genres — and they feel more relevant than ever today. We talk to author Moniquill Blackgoose about why, and discuss her Nebula-award winning novel To Shape A Dragon’s Breath. Then we have a completely non-awkward conversation about dragons and …

1
Poisoning AI and Silencing Alexa with Heather Zheng 28:28

3d ago28:28

28:28

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
Episode 33: Much Ado About 'AI' 'Deception', May 20 2024 1:00:30

2d ago1:00:30

1:00:30

Will the LLMs somehow become so advanced that they learn to lie to us in order to achieve their own ends? It's the stuff of science fiction, and in science fiction these claims should remain. Emily and guest host Margaret Mitchell, machine learning researcher and chief ethics scientist at HuggingFace, break down why 'AI deception' is firmly a featu…

1
Summer Entertainment Guide: What to Watch and Read this Summer! 55:18

9d ago55:18

55:18

The summer entertainment season is upon us! Many of our favorite TV shows are back, and there are a few movies we're excited about as well. Not to mention a flood of truly incredible books by many of our favorite authors. Here's our select guide to the stuff we're most pumped about this summer, and all the latest trends in entertainment.…

1
Gamergate, Harassment, and Feminist Design with Caroline Sinders 36:30

9d ago36:30

36:30

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
Episode 32: A Flood of AI Hell, April 29 2024 57:48

15d ago57:48

57:48

AI Hell froze over this winter and now a flood of meltwater threatens to drown Alex and Emily. Armed with raincoats and a hastily-written sea shanty*, they tour the realms, from spills of synthetic information, to the special corner reserved for ShotSpotter. **Lyrics & video on Peertube. *Surveillance:* Public kiosks slurp phone data Workplace surv…

1
Episode 57 - Lang in the News and Johanna Gerwin on MLE 57:08

16d ago57:08

57:08

Show notes for Episode 57 Here are the show notes for Episode 57, in which Lisa, Jacky and Dan talk about some recent Lang in the News, including: Apostrophes and why their disappearance has signalled the end of civilisation Johanna Gerwin’s new paper on how MLE and ‘Jafaican’ have been ‘enregistered’ in the UK press Some articles about MLE A reall…

1
How Surveillance Dystopias Came True (with Wole Talabi) 1:05:15

1M ago1:05:15

1:05:15

You are being watched. Pop culture used to be full of vivid warnings about Big Brother watching you. What does it mean that we're now under constant surveillance for real? Plus we talk to Wole Talabi about his new story collection Convergence Problems.

1
The curse of online beauty culture with Ellen Atlanta 33:57

24d ago33:57

33:57

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. This episode includes an ad for the What Next|TBD podcast.…

1
Episode 31: Science Is a Human Endeavor (feat. Molly Crockett and Lisa Messeri), April 15 2024 1:02:57

1M ago1:02:57

1:02:57

Will AI someday do all our scientific research for us? Not likely. Drs. Molly Crockett and Lisa Messeri join for a takedown of the hype of "self-driving labs" and why such misrepresentations also harm the humans who are vital to scientific research. Dr. Molly Crockett is an associate professor of psychology at Princeton University. Dr. Lisa Messeri…

1
Episode 56 - Danielle Turton and dialect study 35:39

1M ago35:39

35:39

Here are the show notes for Episode 56, in which Raj and Dan talk to Dr Danielle Turton, Senior Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at Lancaster University and Principal Investigator for a Leverhulme funded project on Lancashire rhoticity. We talk about: Dialect levelling and why it’s a complicated picture Why researching UK dialects is so interesting Wha…

1
How to turn a story into a deadly weapon 53:34

1M ago53:34

53:34

Psyops are used by the military against foreign enemies, but now these dangerous weapons of demoralization and chaos are being used in culture wars between Americans. In this episode, Annalee tells us about their new book Stories Are Weapons, a history of psychological warfare in the U.S. (yes, it includes scifi!) -- and an exploration of the ways …

1
Episode 55 - Christian Ilbury and online language 38:40

1M ago38:40

38:40

Here are the show notes for Episode 55, in which Jacky and Dan talk to Dr Christian Ilbury, Lecturer in Linguistics and English Language in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at The University of Edinburgh about: Being an online linguist Social media and language change - why it’s complicated Why ‘slang’ is an unhelpful word…

1
Needlework and History's Hidden Technologies with Isabella Rosner 33:40

1M ago33:40

33:40

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. This episode…

1
Episode 54 - Florent Moncomble 48:57

2M ago48:57

48:57

Here are the show notes for Episode 54, in which Raj and Dan talk to Dr Florent Moncomble, Senior Lecturer in English Linguistics at University of Artois, France about what English and French have in common and all the discourses swirling around French that are also relevant to English, including: The role of L’Académie Française Prescriptivism in …

1
Episode 30: Marc's Miserable Manifesto, April 1 2024 1:00:45

2M ago1:00:45

1:00:45

Dr. Timnit Gebru guest-hosts with Alex in a deep dive into Marc Andreessen's 2023 manifesto, which argues, loftily, in favor of maximizing the use of 'AI' in all possible spheres of life. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR). Prior to that she was fired by Google, wh…

1
Fascism and Book Bans (with Maggie Tokuda-Hall) 56:59

2M ago56:59

56:59

Science fiction has been warning us about fascism for decades — so why haven't we listened? How did Nazis become just another monster in our stories, like werewolves or cyborgs? Plus we talk about the new wave of book censorship with Maggie Tokuda-Hall, co-founder of the new organization Authors Against Book Bans. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorr…

1
Episode 53 - Language Awareness at School with Tim Marr & Steve Collins 39:14

2M ago39:14

39:14

Show notes for Episode 53 Here are the show notes for Episode 53, an episode aimed primarily at teachers, in which Jacky and Dan talk to Steve Collins (Head of English at Bishop Luffa School, Chichester) and Tim Marr (Visiting Professor at Icesi University, Cali, Colombia) about the ideas in their book, Language Awareness at School: A Practical Gui…

1
The Turing Test is bullsh*t (w/Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender) 48:21

2M ago48:21

48:21

We're talking about the Turing Test, the grandmother of all tests for AI sentience. Joining us are AI researchers Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender, hosts of the Mystery AI Hype 3000 podcast. We discuss why the Turing Test is so influential in both fiction and reality – and why it is completely wrong. Later in the episode, we’ll talk about another thi…

1
Episode 29: How LLMs Are Breaking the News (feat. Karen Hao), March 25 2024 1:02:30

2M ago1:02:30

1:02:30

Award-winning AI journalist Karen Hao joins Alex and Emily to talk about why LLMs can't possibly replace the work of reporters -- and why the hype is damaging to already-struggling and necessary publications. References: Adweek: Google Is Paying Publishers to Test an Unreleased Gen AI Platform The Quint: AI Invents Quote From Real Person in Article…

1
Episode 52 - Migration discourses with Charlotte Taylor & Ana Gavalas 1:11:01

3M ago1:11:01

1:11:01

Show notes for Episode 52 Here are the show notes for Episode 52, a migration discourses bumper episode, in which we feature two interviews. First off, Dan and Raj talk to Professor Charlotte Taylor of the University of Sussex about: Why corpus linguistics can refresh the parts other approaches cannot reach Discourses around migration and the metap…

1
How China surveils Uyghur Muslims with Darren Byler 27:11

3M ago27:11

27:11

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
Queer Horror! (with Dr. Chuck Tingle) 50:48

3M ago50:48

50:48

It's a scary time for LGBTQIA+ folks — and many of us are turning to horror stories that take our real-life terrors and make them even more monstrous. To find out why, we talk to Dr. Chuck Tingle, the author of Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, and we geek out about why queers love to be scared. Also, we talk about horror movie soundtracks — and th…

1
Episode 51 - Emily M. Bender and 'AI' hype 33:07

3M ago33:07

33:07

Show notes for Episode 51 Here are the show notes for Episode 51, in which Dan and (new Lexis team member) Raj talk to Professor Emily M. Bender of the University of Washington about: Why ‘Artificial Intelligence’ is not really the right term at all How Large Language Models work and why we should be sceptical of many of the claims made for them Th…

1
Episode 28: LLMs Are Not Human Subjects, March 4 2024 1:00:57

3M ago1:00:57

1:00:57

Alex and Emily put on their social scientist hats and take on the churn of research papers suggesting that LLMs could be used to replace human labor in social science research -- or even human subjects. Why these writings are essentially calls to fabricate data. References: PNAS: ChatGPT outperforms crowd workers for text-annotation tasks Beware th…

1
The Racial History of Dermatology with Thuy Linh Tu 28:18

3M ago28:18

28:18

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
Videogame movies are officially better than comic book movies 52:36

3M ago52:36

52:36

At last, videogame movies have defeated comic book movies. We learn about why from Evan Narcisse, who writes for comic books and videogames, as well as being a journalist and critic. Then we rant about why so many people are obsessed with psychoanalyzing villains, and are flocking to stories that reveal the innermost traumas of bad guys. Why do we …

1
Hot Take: The Good Robot BOOK! 29:46

3M ago29:46

29:46

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
Encore Episode: Let's Obsess Over the Politics of Dune! 44:33

3M ago44:33

44:33

The long-awaited Dune sequel is in theaters now — and it's a huge hit. To celebrate, we're resurfacing one of our favorite episodes from the past. Is Dune a white savior fantasy? A subversive eco-parable? To find out, we talk to Haris Durrani, author of an influential essay about Dune.

1
Episode 27: Asimov's Laws vs. 'AI' Death-Making (w/ Annalee Newitz & Charlie Jane Anders), February 19 2024 1:04:42

3M ago1:04:42

1:04:42

Science fiction authors and all-around tech thinkers Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders join this week to talk about Isaac Asimov's oft-cited and equally often misunderstood laws of robotics, as debuted in his short story collection, 'I, Robot.' Meanwhile, both global and US military institutions are declaring interest in 'ethical' frameworks f…

1
We Don't Give a F*ck About Canon 45:48

4M ago45:48

45:48

Science fiction and fantasy fans love to argue about canon — both meanings of the word. Which stories in a fictional universe really "happened"? Which stories deserve to be enshrined as the best of the genre? We don't think either of those things is worth yelling about! Also, did you know that tsunamis can happen in lakes, rivers and even creeks? W…

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Emily M Bender Podcasts

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