Best Alina Utrata Podcasts (2024)

1
Engineering Territory: Silicon Valley in Space 1:06:34

9M ago1:06:34

1:06:34

On this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, your usual host is in the hot seat! Guest host Benjamin Tan, PhD Candidate at Cambridge, asks Alina Utrata about her recent publication in the American Political Science Review about Silicon Valley's outer space colonization projects. They discuss what Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are up to in space, why terrestr…

1
Digital Misogynoir 55:40

11M ago55:40

55:40

In this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Alina Utrata speaks with Julia Slupska, Olivia Andrews and Hilary Watson about a recent report by Glitch UK entitled "Digital Misogynoir: Ending the dehumanising of Black women on social media." They discuss why Black women are uniquely targeted and harmed online, the importance of centering intersectionality…

1
Political Economy, AI and the Politics of Knowledge 48:56

12M ago48:56

48:56

For this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Alina Utrata spoke with Catriona Gray, a PhD at the University of Bath working at the intersection of sociology, politics, and law on the adoption of AI technologies. They discussed the political economy of data and whether frameworks like ‘data is the new oil’ are helpful to understanding these relationship…

1
"Automating Apartheid": Facial Recognition Tech in Palestine 1:03:55

12M ago1:03:55

1:03:55

For this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Alina Utrata talks to Dr Matt Mahmoudi, the lead researcher on the Amnesty International report "Automating Apartheid" examining the deployment of facial recognition technology in Palestine. They discuss the report's findings, including how this facial recognition technology is being deployed against Palesti…

1
Data colonialism and its discontents 1:01:03

1+ y ago1:01:03

1:01:03

On this week’s episode of The Anti-Dystopians, Alina Utrata spoke to Paola Ricurate, an associate professor in the Department of Media and Digital Culture at Tecnológico de Monterrey and faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the co-founder of the Tierra Comun Network, and Sebastián Leheude, a…

1
Feminism, Reproductive Rights and Tech 56:10

1+ y ago56:10

56:10

On this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Maha Atal is back to discuss feminism, reproductive rights and technology. Host Alina Utrata asks her: how has the legal landscape of abortion and reproductive rights changed since the overturning of Roe v Wade, and what are technology companies doing about it? Does your GP know who their cloud computing prov…

1
Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race 1:00:14

1+ y ago1:00:14

1:00:14

In this episode, Alina Utrata talks Mary-Jane Rubenstein, a professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University and the author of the new book Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. They discuss whether Elon Musk acts like a religious leader, how imperial Christianity set the stage for capitalism, the ways s…

1
A History of Libertarian Exit 1:14:45

1+ y ago1:14:45

1:14:45

In this episode, Alina Utrata talks to Raymond Craib, professor of American History and a Latin Americanist at Cornell University, about his most recent book Adventure Capitalism, A History of Libertarian Exit from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital Age.They discuss the history of libertarian exit and the case of Michael Oliver's Republic of …

1
Elon Musk’s favorite philosophy: the perils of longtermism 1:09:55

2y ago1:09:55

1:09:55

On this episode of the podcast, Alina Utrata speaks with Emile Torres, a PhD candidate at Leibniz University Hannover and the author of the forthcoming book Human Extinction: A history of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. They discuss their research into Elon Musk’s favorite philosophy, longtermism, and answer all your questions about the phi…

1
Period-Tracking Post-Roe: Reproductive Justice, Eugenics & Feminist Cybersecurity 1:02:19

2y ago1:02:19

1:02:19

In this episode, Alina Utrata talks to Julia Slupska, a DPhil Candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute researching feminist approaches to cybersecurity, and Stefanie Felsberger, a PhD Candidate in Gender Studies at Cambridge University studying surveillance, data capitalism and period tracking apps. They discuss whether you should be worried abou…

1
The Anti-Fascist Approach to AI 1:01:13

2y ago1:01:13

1:01:13

The Anti-Dystopians is back from its summer hiatus! In this episode, Alina Utrata talks to Dan McQuillan, a Lecturer in Creative & Social Computing in the Department of Computing at Goldsmiths University of London, about his new book “Resisting AI: An Anti-Fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence.” They discuss how the dangers of automated burea…

1
Social media and political publics in Kenya 52:23

2y ago52:23

52:23

On this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Alina Utrata talks to Steph Diepeveen, a senior research associate at Cambridge University, research fellow in digitalization at ODI and the author of the book “Searching for a New Kenya: Politics and Social Media on the Streets of Mombasa.” They discuss the way social media use operates in Kenya, the differe…

1
Platform Socialism 1:06:00

2y ago1:06:00

1:06:00

Alina Utrata talks to James Muldoon, a senior lecturer at Exeter University and the author of “Platform Socialism: How to Reclaim Our Digital Future from Big Tech.” They discuss how GDH Cole’s guild socialism can be applied to tech corporations, what platforms mean for the future of capitalism, whether we should implement local and democratic contr…

1
The Road to Nowhere: Paris Marx on the automobile, Silicon Valley and the future of transportation 1:06:16

2y ago1:06:16

1:06:16

On this episode, Alina Utrata talks to Paris Marx, host of the podcast Tech Won’t Save Us, about their upcoming book “Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.” They discuss the history of the automobile industry, how Tesla is not a “green company,” why Silicon Valley is lying to you about the self-driving …

1
Time, Space and Social Media: The Politics of Technology and Temporality 50:03

2y ago50:03

50:03

Alina Utrata chats with Nanna Saeten, a PhD candidate in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge about her research on time, temporality and technology. They discuss how technologies of time have been used as tools of nation-building, why high-frequency trading and blockchain depend on human understandings of time as well …

1
How (Not) To Regulate Big Tech (Europe’s version) 57:30

2y ago57:30

57:30

On this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Alina Utrata talks to Jennifer Cobbe, a senior research associate in the computer science department at Cambridge University. They discuss everything that’s wrong with surveillance capitalism, what the Tesco club card has to do with the surveillance state, the incoherent approach of the EU to regulating tech,…

1
Elon Musk, Twitter and the ‘Great Men’ of Social Media 56:59

2+ y ago56:59

56:59

Alina Utrata sits down with John Naughton, a technology columnist at the Observer, senior research fellow in CRASSH and co-founder of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at Cambridge, and Josh Simmons, a postdoc in technology and democracy at Harvard University. They discuss Elon Musk’s recent bid for Twitter, what it shows about the p…

1
‘Corporations are Robots’: David Runciman on AI, states and the first singularity 54:54

2+ y ago54:54

54:54

David Runciman is a professor of Politics at Cambridge University and the host of the critically acclaimed podcast Talking Politics. In this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, he speaks to Alina Utrata about why corporations are robots, how singularity might have already come about, why we should think seriously about the political philosophy of Silic…

1
The Return of (Amazon) Ring 53:58

2+ y ago53:58

53:58

Alina Utrata speaks with Lauren Bridges, a PhD candidate at the the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania who studies big data infrastructures and surveillance regimes. They talk all about Amazon Ring: Why does Amazon want footage of your front door anyways? How is this surveillance shared with law enforcement agencie…

1
The Feminine Meme: Geeks, memes, incels and toxic masculinity at tech hackathons 58:43

2+ y ago58:43

58:43

Alina Utrata talks to Dr Siân Brooke, a Leverhulme Fellow in the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics and an associate at the Oxford Internet Institute and the Alan Turing Institute. They discuss gender, memes and hackathons: What exactly is a meme? Do geeks have toxic masculinity? How does gender and femininity get marginali…

1
The eye of the tiger: conservation technology, rural surveillance and the patriarchy in Indian wildlife reserves 48:31

2+ y ago48:31

48:31

In this episode, Alina Utrata talks to Dr Trishant Simlai, a conservation researcher studying the politics and geographies of wildlife conservation in India, who just received his PhD in the Department of Geography at Cambridge. They discuss wildlife surveillance in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, as well as conservation’s colonial origins, how camera t…

1
Who is Amazon? 55:36

2+ y ago55:36

55:36

In this episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Rowena Squires, an ancient historian, asks Alina Utrata everything you ever wanted to know about Amazon. How did Amazon go from online bookstore to commercial empire? Is Amazon Alexa really recording everything you say? How was AWS cloud computing invented? And why is the Library of Alexandria such a good ori…

1
Grab ‘em by the data: gender, technology and systems of oppression 52:55

2+ y ago52:55

52:55

On this week’s episode, Alina Utrata talks to Stefanie Felsberger, a PhD in Gender Studies at Cambridge University, and Muskan Shafat, an MS in Data and Society at the London School of Economics, about gender and technology. They discuss the myth of neutral tech, how technology is embedded in systems of oppression, why using a dishwasher isn’t cons…

1
(Tech) Company Rule 56:00

2+ y ago56:00

56:00

Alina Utrata talks to Dr Maha Atal, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow who studies the political economy of corporate power and was previously an award-winning journalist reporting on the tech industry. They discuss how the history of company-rule and colonization relates to the tech industry, how tech companies exert power in the Global South…

1
Human rights and internet infrastructure 41:54

2+ y ago41:54

41:54

Alina Utrata talks to Dr Corinne Cath-Speth, a recent graduate from the doctoral program at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and a cultural anthropologist whose research focuses on Internet infrastructure politics, engineering cultures, and technology policy and governance. They discuss the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF): What is it? Wha…

1
Snake oil or substance? Tech companies talk climate at COP26 44:17

3y ago44:17

44:17

This week Josh Lappen, an environmental historian studying at Oxford University, returns to discuss the climate crisis and tech companies ahead of COP26. Are tech companies’ promises of technological innovation really going to save Earth? Do we need AI for the environment? What does the German government have to do with the adoption of solar panels…

1
Financial imperialism on the blockchain: Bitcoin in El Salvador 38:11

3y ago38:11

38:11

This week, Alina Utrata is joined by Mallika Balakrishnan to talk about the protests over the adoption of bitcoin in El Salvador. What exactly is bitcoin (and what's the difference between Bitcoin and other digital currencies)? Why has President Nayib Bukele implemented it as legal tender in El Salvador? And, most importantly, how will this impact …

1
The Digital Landscape of Southeast Asia: From Fake News to 5G 54:47

3y ago54:47

54:47

We’re back from our summer holiday! To kick off season 2 of the Anti-Dystopians, we’re zeroing in on some of the global aspects of technology—this time in Southeast Asia. Alina Utrata talks to Kyra Jasper and Andreyka Natalegawa about the digital landscape of the region, from Facebook’s relationship with the junta in Myanmar, from fake news laws in…

1
Lost in Space: Audio Reading 33:41

3y ago33:41

33:41

In this special episode, an audio recording of Alina Utrata's recent article in the Boston Review "Lost in Space" about the tech billionaires attempting to colonize space. https://bostonreview.net/science-nature/alina-utrata-lost-space Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4148-nowhere-land License: http://creati…

1
Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Colonization of Outer Space 50:34

3+ y ago50:34

50:34

To kick off the new season of the podcast, Alina Utrata and Shikha Srinivas discuss space colonization and the tech billionaires in outer space. Why are Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk obsessed with getting to the moon and Mars? How are climate change and the quest to become an interplanetary species related? Who will unaccountable private corporations in…

1
Can your computer see you?: A history of the screen, from radar to AR. 53:06

3+ y ago53:06

53:06

This week, the Anti-Dystopians hosts Louisa Shen, a PhD candidate at Cambridge University who has written about the history of the screen. Louisa explains how the screen began as military technology in WWII, how the Cold War overlapped with the mass production of screens (and spying), and how interactive screens now make it seem as if we can see ou…

1
State, corporation, people: the global dimensions of tech regulation 57:33

3+ y ago57:33

57:33

Kyra Jasper, Josh Simons and Alina Utrata discuss the global dimensions of tech regulation. In this episode, they examine three case studies: Google and Facebook’s reaction to Australia’s new media law, and whether these tech corporations really “faced down a nation-state”. Facebook’s role in Myanmar, where the platform is the de facto internet, an…

1
Nationalize Gmail!: Climate Change, Critical Infrastructure, and the USPS 57:30

3+ y ago57:30

57:30

Alina Utrata talks with Josh Lappen, a fellow Californian and environmental historian researching at Oxford University, who studies some of the most important technology there is: critical infrastructure. They discuss why hundreds of Elon Musks can’t (and won’t) solve climate change, the government funding and politics behind many technology entrep…

1
Is Facebook (and Google) a Public Utility? 59:22

3+ y ago59:22

59:22

For this week’s episode, Alina Utrata talks to Josh Simons, a PhD candidate in Government at Harvard University and a Labour candidate for local office in the UK. They discuss Josh’s research — what is machine learning and why is it (always) political? As critical information infrastructure, should Google and Facebook be regulated as democratic uti…

1
The Digital Periphery: Technology, Migration and Racial Capitalism 1:01:59

3+ y ago1:01:59

1:01:59

On this week’s episode, Alina Utrata talks to Dr. Matt Mahmoudi, who just completed his PhD in Development Studies at Cambridge University as a Jo Cox scholar of Refugee and Migration Studies. They talked about Matt’s research about how technology is affecting migrant and refugee communities in New York City and Berlin, how seemingly innocuous tech…

1
Social Media and Social Movements: The Rise of the European Far-Right 53:29

3+ y ago53:29

53:29

For this week’s episode, Alina Utrata talked to Julia Rone, a post-doc at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at Cambridge University. They discussed the rise of the European far-right online—what's the relationship between online disinformation and political mobilization? Why is the far-right so much better at mobilizing online than t…

1
Corporations, Content Moderation and Community-Centered Tech 55:45

3+ y ago55:45

55:45

2020 was one hell of a year (literally). Alina Utrata, Mallika Balakrishnan and Kyra Jasper break down some of the things that happened in 2020’s technology politics—from the Trump Twitter ban, to content moderation, contact tracing and conspiracy theories, to how we design digital spaces that empower communities and bottom-up approaches to digital…

1
No Tech for Tyrants 48:38

3+ y ago48:38

48:38

Alina Utrata talks to Mallika Balakrishnan, one of the original founders of the collective No Tech for Tyrants. They discuss tech activism, problems with Palantir and how centering the conversation around the people and communities that tech and policies impact can help us frame discussions of technology and politics. Tweet at Alina Tweet at Mallik…

1
Biden and Big Tech 52:55

3+ y ago52:55

52:55

Anjali Katta and Alina Utrata talk about the Big Tech issues a Biden Administration will inherit, from the FTC and DOJ anti-monopoly cases against Facebook and Google to the DoD’s cloud computing contract JEDI. They also discuss links between many Biden Administration officials and the tech industry. To sign up for the email newsletter of the Anti-…

1
Data flows: gender, colonization and the limits of surveillance capitalism 57:58

3+ y ago57:58

57:58

Alina Utrata talks to Stefanie Felsberger, a PhD candidate at Cambridge University, about her research on surveillance, data flows and mensuration tracking apps. They discuss how colonization impacted the development of surveillance technologies, why we think (or shouldn’t think) about data as a commodity instead of labor, and how the ownership of …

1
The Philosopher King of Silicon Valley 53:45

4y ago53:45

53:45

Alina Utrata talks with Andrew Granato about the so-called Philosopher King of Silicon Valley: Peter Thiel. Thiel is one of the original co-founders of Paypal, nicknamed the Paypal mafia, a co-founder of the data analytics firm Palantir, one of the first outside investors in Facebook, and the first high-level tech executive to come out in support o…

1
The Politics of Tech Monopolies 1:03:24

4y ago1:03:24

1:03:24

For the first episode of the Anti-Dystopians, Kyra Jasper and Alina Utrata discuss the politics of anti-monopoly in tackling technology companies, focusing on the United States. October turned out to be a very significant month for Big Tech in the US. First, the US House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee released a report on Apple, Amazon, Fa…

1
Trailer 1:08

4y ago1:08

1:08

The Anti-Dystopians is the politics podcast about tech. We'll be discussing questions, like: is social media really destroying democracy? Should Facebook be considered a public utility? How does crytpocurrency affect state sovereignty? And what exactly is surveillance capitalism? For all your political questions about tech, mark your calendars for …

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Alina Utrata Podcasts

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