In this riveting episode of The Tech Humanist Show, Kate O’Neill sits down with Aimee’ Killeen and Chuck Greely, two pivotal figures in the water sector, to explore the confluence of technology, environmental science, and water management. Aimee’ Killeen, President of the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and COO of Providence Engineering and Envi…

In this episode of The Tech Humanist Show, we welcome Yanis Varoufakis, an economist, politician, author, and former Minister of Finance in Greece. Known for his insightful critique on the state of capitalism, Yanis opens up important dialogues that challenge our contemporary understanding of the economy. Our discussion centers around his new book,…

Cities are like test beds for how data and tech can empower citizen experience. So it’s interesting to consider leading a growing city as someone with a background in technology. In this episode, Kate talks with her old friend Freddie O’Connell about his run for mayor of Nashville, and about how data and technology figures into the way he thinks ab…

Dive deep with us into the world of mining, sustainability, and the delicate balance between economic needs, environmental responsibility, and future potential. Our interview with Dana Bennett, president of the Nevada Mining Association, sheds light on the complex landscape of the mining industry, in Nevada but also globally, and its implications f…

Women figure heavily into the tech humanist story. So for International Women’s Day — and to kick off our new season, Season 3! — we’re celebrating with an episode highlighting just a few of the brilliant women tech and futurist thinkers who’ve been guests on our show: Vanessa Mason, Dr. Safiya Noble, Giselle Mota, and Dr. Oluwakemi Olurinola. They…

It’s the end of the year, which means we’re all starting to wrap up our work years and turn our attention to other things… like Spotify Unwrapped! As fun as Spotify Unwrapped is (and it is—I share some of my own Spotify data in the episode), it speaks to the fact that we’re all slowly willing to accept more and more tech companies gathering huge am…

Algorithmic bias has been a major topic over the last few years, but for many decision makers, the problem seems remote, confusing, or not a top concern. Even if you’ve been working at removing the bias from your business or technology, decades of bias in the data that got us here means we still have a ways to go, and we’re going to need everyone o…

“Supply chain issues” has become a catch-all term for a lot of frustrations these past few years, but it doesn’t paint a full picture of the situation, leaving out a key element: the humans who make it function. In this episode, my guests and I explore exactly how interconnected we all are, who the people keeping the supply chain running are, and h…

This week, we’re exploring why it behooves businesses and business leaders to look at their users, consumers, customers, etc., as humans first. Slightly shifting perspective to consider the humanity behind purchasing decisions can lead to greater loyalty, more frequent use, and genuinely happier users, all of which add up to more business success a…

This week, we look at a few of the macro trends shaping both the labor market today and the future of work — such as the Great Resignation and collective bargaining — and examine how tech-driven business has both brought them about and potentially given workers more freedom and leverage. We also consider what all of that means for you if you’re the…

Hello humans! Today we look at a global crisis that’s affecting us all on a near-daily basis—the Global Mental Health Crisis.By Kate O'Neill

By almost any reckoning, the climate emergency is the most urgent and existential challenge facing humanity for the foreseeable future. All of the other issues we face pale in comparison to the need to arrest and reverse carbon emissions, reduce global average temperatures, and begin the work of rebuilding sustainable models for all of us to be abl…

Hello and welcome to The Tech Humanist Show! In this introductory episode, host Kate O’Neill explains what a tech humanist is and what you can expect from future episodes. Guests on this episode includue Emma Bedor Hiland, Oluwakemi Olurinola, Dorothea Baur, Rumman Chowdhury, Chris Gilliard, and Rahaf Harfoush. The Tech Humanist Show is a multi-med…

On this week’s episode, we’re rethinking education to bring about a brighter future for humanity. I speak with guests about the ways technology has changed the way we think about what’s possible for education, as well as how we can challenge our assumptions to make the system work better for all humans. Which technologies can […]…

About this episode’s guest: Art Chang is a mayoral candidate for the city of New York. The son of Korean immigrants and father of 2 boys, Art Chang has spent the last 35 years working as a professional problem solver in NYC. He’s built a dozen startups in the city, all focused on using technology […]…

About this episode’s guest: Futurist, speaker, and author Cathy Hackl is a globally recognized augmented reality, virtual reality and spatial computing thought leader. She’s been named one of the top 10 Tech Voices on Linkedin for two years in a row, the highest honor on the platform. She currently works as part of the Enterprise […]…

About this episode’s guest: Caleb Gardner, who in his more than a decade of experience in digital leadership, entrepreneurship, and social impact, has worked for a variety of organizations in the public and private sectors, including at prestigious professional service firms like Bain & Company and Edelman. During the second Obama Administration, h…

About this episode’s guest: Yaël is a thought leader, democracy activist and strategist working with governments, tech companies, and investors focused on the intersection of ethics, tech, democracy, and policy. She has spent 20 years working around the globe as a CIA officer, a White House advisor, the Global Head of Elections Integrity Operations…

About this episode’s guest: Abhishek Gupta is the founder of Montreal AI Ethics Institute (https://montrealethics.ai ) and a Machine Learning Engineer at Microsoft where he serves on the CSE Responsible AI Board. He represents Canada for the International Visitor Leaders Program (IVLP) administered by the US State Department as an expert on the fut…

About this episode’s guest: Neil Redding is Founder and CEO of Redding Futures—a boutique consultancy that enables brands and businesses to engage powerfully with the Near Future. His rare multidisciplinary perspective draws on the craft of software engineering, the art of brand narrative and expression, and the practice of digital-physical experie…

About this episode’s guest: Ana Milicevic is an entrepreneur, media executive, and digital technology innovator. She is the co-founder and principal of Sparrow Advisers, a strategic consultancy helping marketers and C-suite executives navigate the data-driven adtech and martech waters. A pioneer of digital data management in advertising, Ana was re…

About this episode’s guest: Sarah T. Roberts is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Studies, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, at UCLA. She holds a Ph.D. from the iSchool at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining UCLA in 2016, she was an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of […]…

About this episode’s guest: Marcus Whitney is Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative, healthcare companies with a portfolio of over 100 companies. He is also co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club. Marcus is the author of the bes…

By Kate O'Neill

About this episode’s guest: Rahaf Harfoush is a Strategist, Digital Anthropologist, and Best-Selling Author who focuses on the intersections between emerging technology, innovation, and digital culture. She is the Executive Director of the Red Thread Institute of Digital Culture and teaches “Innovation & Emerging Business Models” at Sciences Politi…

About this episode’s guest: John C. Havens is Executive Director of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems. He is also executive director of the Council on Extended Intelligence (CXI). He previously served as an EVP at a top-ten global PR firm, where he counseled clients like Gillette, HP, and Merck […]…

About this episode’s guest: Dorothea Baur is a leading expert & advisor in Europe on ethics, responsibility, and sustainability across industries such as finance, technology, and beyond. Her PhD is in NGO-business partnerships, and she’s been active in research and projects around sustainable investment, corporate social responsibility, and increas…

About this episode’s guest: Kaitlin Ugolik Phillips is the author of The Future of Feeling: Building Empathy in a Tech-Obsessed World. She is a journalist and editor whose writing on law, finance, health, and technology has appeared in the Establishment, VICE, Quartz, Institutional Investor magazine, Law360, Columbia Journalism Review, Lithub, Scie…

About this episode’s guest: Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Information Studies where she serves as the Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry. She is the author of a best-selling book on racist and sexist algorithmic bias in […]…

About this episode’s guest: David Ryan Polgar is a leading voice in the areas of tech ethics, digital citizenship, and what it means to be human in the digital age. David is a global speaker, a regular media commentator for national & international press, and a frequent advisor & consultant on building a better tech […]…

About this episode’s guest: Calli Schroeder is an attorney in privacy/data security, as well as a privacy advocate and self-described “die-hard nerd.” Her brief stint as a wedding singer led her to wonder if she had violated copyright law, an interest which transitioned to tech law broadly and privacy law specifically. While in law school, […]…

About this episode’s guest: Rumman Chowdhury’s passion lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence and humanity. She holds degrees in quantitative social science and has been a practicing data scientist and AI developer since 2013. She is currently the Global Lead for Responsible AI at Accenture Applied Intelligence, where she works with C-…

About this episode’s guest: Dr. Chris Gilliard is a writer, professor and speaker. His scholarship concentrates on digital privacy, and the intersections of race, class, and technology. He is an advocate for critical and equity-focused approaches to tech in education. His work has been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Ed, EDUCAUSE Review, Fast C…