Digital Village Radio 2021: Recent Episodes
Ric Allan & Leilani Albano
Thanks for joining us for Part 2 of this show on President Joe Biden and the environment.
In the last segment, we focused on Biden’s environmental accomplishments, including passage of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act. Through the act, Biden reversed many of Trump’s anti-environment policies and introduced measures that make it achievable to reach net-zero.
In this program, we will examine the effects of Biden’s presidency on the environment, recent Supreme court decisions and what it will mean for climate change if Trump wins in November.
News of Biden’s exit from the presidential race has been met with sighs of relief among Democratic legislators and activist groups, who fear a Republican win at the polls.
Environmental organizations have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as president, who cast the tie-breaking vote to pass Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. However, some say her climate change record as a California prosecutor has been a mixed bag.
While “ChatGPT” and Generative AI have been making headlines over widespread fears that Artificial Intelligence will lead to massive layoffs across industries, one report debunks that theory. A recent UN study shows that AI is more likely to augment rather than eliminate most jobs. Despite this, there are lingering fears that AI could have a large impact on employment. A recent article by Business Insider on the topic, takes a look at 10 jobs most vulnerable to AI displacement. A major concern is the (as of this airing) ongoing Hollywood Writers and Actors Strike. Government and community leaders are looking to job re-training, legislation and union involvement to combat the harmful effects of Artificial Intelligence on job markets. With us today to discuss the issue is Bill Swartout, Chief Technology Officer with the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies. He spoke with Digital Village’s Leilani Albano.
Many Americans could start paying for Covid-19 treatment and testing, thanks to plans by the Biden administration to end public emergency declarations by the month of May.
The White House announced the move in response to two Republican-backed measures to end the Covid-19 declarations. And it further extends the national emergency and public health emergency declarations to May 11.
Once the covid emergency measures end, people on Medicare, Medicaid and private plans will have to start paying for things that were once free, depending on the health programs.
That could include testing, treatment as well as vaccinations.
With the end of the emergency declarations, states will also start processing Medicaid redeterminations and disenrolling residents who no longer qualify. That could leave millions without medical coverage.
President Biden’s plans to end the declarations, even though Covid-19 rates in the country are soaring. Today the US leads the world with about 103,799,118 cases and 1,134,021 deaths, as of March 21 of this year.
With us to talk about the issue is Jeffrey Klausner, USC professor of Clinical, Population and Public Health Sciences. He spoke to Digital Village co-host, Leilani Albano.
As thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, Iranian officials have repeatedly shut down internet services and disrupted social media sites including Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp. The country’s Virtual Private Networks or VPN’s are also getting shut down.
To quell dissent, the Iranian government has also been developing its own local internet services to replace international online sites. The protests, which erupted in mid-September, have centered around the killing of Amini, after she was arrested by morality police for improperly wearing a hijab. The rallies have been led primarily by young women who refuse to accept the Islamic Republic’s restrictive laws and have sparked demonstrations throughout the globe.
With us to talk about the issue is Benjamin Radd, Associate Professor of Politics at Pomona College. He spoke to Digital Village co-host, Leilani Albano.
Vanessa Valdez, host of Transforming Consciousness, shares with us her interview with Latina Festival founder Bell Hernandez to tell us about this year’s festival which begins on October 22 at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes on 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles ,CA 90012.
From lawsuits against Uber and Tesla to cyber currency failures influence on climate change to our data being unwillingly collected at US borders, Digital Village recaps the details of the last few months.
President Biden declared Monkeypox a public emergency earlier last month in efforts to combat the rising numbers of those infected by the viral disease.
Today the infection rates have climbed to 20,000 known cases in the United States, and 50,000 cases worldwide.
The outbreak has primarily been concentrated in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. However, health officials say anyone -- regardless of sexual orientation -- is at risk if they have been in close or personal contact with an infected person. Symptoms can include a rash, fever and swollen lymph nodes.
While Monkeypox has existed in Africa for decades, outbreaks of human to human transmission outside of the continent were first reported in mid-May. Experts say that environmental factors, including climate change, are continuing its spread.
With us today to talk about the issue is Saahir Khan, Assistant Clinical Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
He spoke to Digital Village co-host, Leilani Albano.
Ric Allan chats with Green News Report's Desi Doyen about the ins and outs and pluses and minuses of the climate change measures included in the restructured, recently-signed Inflation Reduction Act. Plus, bonus coverage of "big flood" predictions that haunt California and the rest of the country, as well.
Three California rideshare drivers filed a class-action suit in the state's Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges that Uber and Lyft engage in unlawful price-fixing, violates anti-trust rules and results in drivers earning less.
The lawsuit comes almost two years after passage of Proposition 22, which classifies rideshare drivers in California as "independent workers" and not employees.
With us to talk about the issue is Rideshare Drivers United president, Nicole Moore. She spoke to Digital Village co-host, Leilani Albano.
Last month Digital Village featured an interview with Dan Mirvish, director of the dramatic comedy about Nixon’s Watergate Hearings called 18 & ½. Because this week is the 50th anniversary of that time in history and because America is in a similar situation while watching the Jan. 6 insurrection hearings, we are re-airing the segment. Enjoy…
(This week on Digital Village) Ric interviews Slamdance Film Fest founder and director of the award winning historical comic drama, 18 1/2: A film using cutting edge pandemic era technology to return us to those analogue days of 1974's Watergate tapes ... and the gap within that got then president Nixon impeached.
The Return of Episode #3: How to Digital Detox & Better Protect Your Passwords(We're presenting this still-very-relevant "throwback" show originally hosted by Brittney Gallagher and Ric Allan.)Brittney interviews Roy Natian from "Nothing Is Secure" who teaches us how to better protect our passwords with two-factor authentication.Then Ric speaks with Filmmaker and Webby Awards founder, Tiffany Shlain, on how to liberate ourselves from our addiction to phones and devices.
Ric catches up with Rideshare Drivers United California Rep, Tyler Sandness to discuss the state of the still hotly-debated anti-gig workers Proposition.
For years, civilizations have engaged in kelp cultivation for a myriad of reasons, including food production, the development of health supplements, the production of renewable sources and as a way to protect ocean habitats and biodiversity. But as concerns over climate disasters grow, researchers and companies around the world are now looking to seaweed as a way to fight climate change.
While kelp has proven to remove carbon from the atmosphere, scientists say seaweed farming would not make enough of a contribution to lowering worldwide emission levels.
With us to discuss the issue is Robert Eagle, UCLA Assistant Professor, with the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.
The CDC's decision to cut the number of days a person infected with Covid-19 must quarantine to 5, down from 10 days, has befuddled many, as US hospitals continue to struggle with the rush of Covid-19 patients seeking treatment.
Many of those hospitalized have shown to be infected by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which took over as the dominant strain just months ago.
Slamdance Film Fest founder and Award-winning Writer/Director Dan Mirvish explains how the Pandemic has altered--and should-- change how film festivals do business in the future. (Slamdance 2022 runs from Jan 27 - Feb 6, streamed via Slamdance.com).
In the first part of the show Dr. Addison Killean Stark of the Bipartisan Policy Center is back to talk about the Crescent Dunes Solar Plant filing for bankruptcy and how we need space for failure to tackle climate change.
In the last part of the show I am joined by author Gemma Milne to talk about her book, Smoke & Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It.
Facebook announced it is ending its facial recognition program, resulting in the removal of a billion users’ face prints from its social media platform. The move comes during a period of intensifying backlash against the technology, which critics say invades users' privacy and is used as a tool of mass surveillance.
Digital Village co-host Leilani Albano speaks to Electronic Frontier Foundation Deputy Managing Director Nathan Sheard on the issue. –L. Albano.
Episode #43: Facebook ends its facial recognition program
Ric Allan Co-Producer / Host Digital Village Radio / Pacifica Network Broadcast: KPFK, 90.7 FM Los
Green News Reporter Desi Doyen breaks down both successes and failures of the “COP26” Climate Pact.
The U.S. economy slowed down significantly this late summer and fall, as the Delta variant spread and supply chain problems caused disruptions to growth.
Despite these dramatic shifts to the economy and supply chain, experts say the country should be looking forward to brighter days ahead.
Leilani Albano first speaks to Electronic Frontier Foundation policy activist Joe Mullin about Apple’s announcement it will delay plans to install photo-scanning capabilities onto its devices.
Then Ric Allan talks to Desi Doyen with BradBlog.com and KPFK’s Bradcast about the WHO’s latest report on climate change.
California activists won a decisive victory in the courts after a federal judge struck down Proposition 22, calling it "unconstitutional" and "unenforceable." Ride-share companies are vowing to appeal the ruling.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to implement a first-ever mandate requiring all state workers to show proof of vaccination or be tested weekly.
Ric Allan
Co-Producer / Host
Digital Village Radio / Pacifica Network
Broadcast: KPFK, 90.7 FM Los Angeles, CA
Streamed & Archived: https://www.kpfk.org
Archived & Podcast: https://www.digitalvillage.org
Leilani speaks with Rita Burke of the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine about how the latest Center of Disease Control and Prevention mask-wearing guidelines are actually merely “suggestions.”
Leilani Albano speaks with Jillian York, Electronic Frontier Foundation Director of International Freedom of Expression about the merits of Facebook's content moderator program.
Ric and Leilani speak with Rideshare Drivers United union spokespeople Nicole Moore and Tyler Sandness about what they are doing to counter Uber and Lyft's $200 million proposition and bring back employee status, equity pay, and employment insurance payments for independent contract rideshare drivers.
Leilani interviews a group of nurses working with COVID-19 patients to find how they are coping with heartwarming as well as heart-breaking situations.
Leilani Albano first speaks with UCLA professor, clinical psychologist and sex therapist, Gail Wyatt about sex during the pandemic.
Then The Intercept’s Micah Lee brings us up to date on the saga of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange.
In the first part of the show, Leilani Albano interviews Krist Azizian, the Chief Pharmacy Officer at USC about the COVID vaccine.
(18:25) In the middle, Brittney is joined by Sophia Brueckner, she’s an assistant professor at the University of Michigan's Stamps School of Art & Design. Sophia recently wrote a piece called, Sharing Isn’t Broadcasting, about how the word “sharing” has been co-opted by social media companies.
(39:11) To close out the show, Ric Allen is back with Brad Friedman to iron out election 2020.
On this week's episode of Digital Village, Leilani Albano interviews USC Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Dr. Paula Cannon to talk about concerns with herd immunity as a primary strategy for tackling the coronavirus pandemic
First, it’s not just the presidential election that matters, here in California, we have quite a few propositions on the ballot - a lot of which are pretty confusing. I am joined by AI and privacy policy researcher Peter Eckersley to talk about Prop 24, which makes some amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act, and Prop 25, which is a referendum on law that replaced money bail with system based on public safety and flight risk.
Episode 29: CA Prop 24 & 25 - Herd Immunity
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In the first part of the show Ric is joined by KPFK's own Brad Friedman to talk Election 2020. Then we talk to Jenny Gottstein an experience and play designer about making voting an experience we can enjoy with her work at ballot.party and Game Save America.
Additional Resources: State of California Other States and More
On this week's episode of Digital Village, Dr. Addison Killean Stark is back to talk about science literacy in Congress and what happened to the Office of Technology Assessment. In the last part of the show Leilani Albano is joined by the Union of Concerned Scientists Shana Udvardy to talk about FEMA and Unemployment Benefits.
But first, COVID-19 impacts have been far reaching, especially for government. I am joined by LADOT’s Colin Sweeney and CityGrows CEO and co-founder Catherine Geanuracos. To talk about how CityGrows’ technology has helped LADOT (and other governments) adapt quickly during COVID times.
On this week's episode of Digital Village, Joanna Miller gives us A View From the Outsideon Experience Design with Jenny Sauer-Klein.
Then, Leilani Albano is joined by the EFF's Alexis Hancock, to talk about immunity passports for COVID-10.
In the last part of the show, Ric is joined by Hayley Tsukayama to talk about how California’s Assembly killed the effort to expand broadband for all Californians and what we can do about it.
In the first part of the show Dr. Addison Killean Stark of the Bipartisan Policy Center is back to talk about the Crescent Dunes Solar Plant filing for bankruptcy and how we need space for failure to tackle climate change.
In the last part of the show I am joined by author Gemma Milne to talk about her book, Smoke & Mirrors: How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It.
On this weeks episode Ric interviews the LA Times' Ryan Faughnder about Trump vs. Tik Tok.
In the second part of the show, Digital Village reporter Leilani Albano interviews Carol Moon Goldberg the President of The League of Women Voters of California about the USPS and how we can vote safely this November.
Some Resources: California Ballot Status and Voters Edge
In the first part of the show, Brittney interviews Dr. Tim Tangherlini, a professor in the Scandanavian Department at UC Berkeley. He was formerly at UCLA where he collaborated with colleagues in the engineering and computer science department on a paper called, An automated pipeline for the discovery of conspiracy and conspiracy theory narrative frameworks. In our conversation we talk about the difference between conspiracies and conspiracy theories, how conspiracy theory narratives fall apart computationally, and how we can slow the spread of conspiracy theories.
In the second part of the show, Digital Village reporter Leilani Albano talks to the EFF’s Danny O’Brien about the NSA’s surveillance of people in the EU.
In the first part of the show, we talk to Shawn Shan, a PhD student at University of Chicago, who works in privacy and security. Shawn is one of the researchers behind Fawkes, which is software that makes subtle changes to images to make it harder for machines to recognize images as the same, even if to the human eye they appear identical.
In the second half of the show, Dr. Peter Eckersley is back to talk about Language Models. Back in July, Open AI, the AI research and deployment company based in San Francisco, released the 3rd generation of their language model, GPT-3. This version has garnered a lot of excitement. There’s been people who have used it to generate conversations between computing pioneers Claude Shannon and Alan Turing or having it generate entire stories with just a one sentence prompt.
(00:40) We’ve already seen the launch of The Emirates Mars Mission and China’s Tianwen, but of course the veterans of Mars, NASA are set to launch their Perseverance Rover on July 30th. I am joined by Jim Bell, a professor at ASU, President of the Planetary Society. He is the principal investigator on the Mastcam-Z instrument on Perseverance about what's new on this mission (think helicopters, sample collection, and sounds) and why the technology on the rover is more advanced than it seems.
(08:50) Joanna Miller is back with a new episode of A View from the Outside. Joanna interviews Liza Gurtin about notifications.
(21:02) Digital Village reporter Leilani Albano interviews Sandy Fulton, Free Press' Government Relations Director about the FBI's surveillance of Black activists.
(1:26) Ric interviews Jessica González co-CEO of freepress.net about Stop Hate For Profit's meeting with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg last week.
(15:18) From Facebook to Twitter, in the second part of the show, Roy Natian is here to talk about bots. Back in May, Researchers at Carnegie Mellon estimated that half of the Twitter accounts tweeting about the coronavirus were likely bots and a lot of these accounts are posting/retweeting misinformation.
Social Media is ingrained in our lives. It takes a lot more of energy to debunk a lie, but it’s worth it. Look at your sources, if something seems off, research it. Be skeptical and verify.
(01:19) In the first part of the show, Dr. Jun Axup is back to give us a COVID-19 best practices update - hint - wear. a. mask.
(5:26) On Digital Village, we love to highlight people who are doing amazing work in technology. One of those people is Jaleesa Trapp, a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab in the Lifelong Kindergarten group. We talk about her hero's journey and what she's doing to make her STEM more equitable.
(20:44) In the last part of the show, Dr. Peter Eckersley is here to talk about the incident in Detroit where Robert Williams, a Black man, was wrongfully arrested due to a mistaken identity from facial recognition software used by the police department and what we need to do to make sure this stops happening.
2020 has been an eventful year - COVID-19, worldwide protests against police brutality, and of course, climate change has not gone away. I'm joined by The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Dr. Addison Killean Stark to talk about direct air capture, a technology that could play an important part in helping humanity meet the climate goals set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In the second half of the show, Leilani Albano interviews Emory University epidemiologist Zachary Binney about how and when we will see live sports again.
In the first part of the show, A View from the Outside'sJoanna Miller interviews Casper ter Kuile on his book, The Power of Ritual.
The Nothing is Secure'sRoy Natian reminds us what social media is really for and some tips for fact checking the Internet.
In the last part of the show, Leilani Albano interviews Hayley Tsukayama a legislative activist for the EFF about The California Consumer Privacy Act and efforts to implement mass testing and contact tracing for the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
It takes an army to throw a live event, A View from the Outside’s Joanna Miller interviews Alyssa Solomon a tour manager for artists like FKA Twigs about how COVID-19 has changed things.
In the second part of the show, Brittney interviews Stage Presence (Ellis Briery, Corinne Oplinger, and Mischa Steiner), they’re friends who started a company in response to live events drying up due to COVID-19. Stage Presence helps musicians, aerialists, magicians, and more get gigs... over Zoom.
In the first part of the show, Digital Village reporter Leilani Albano interviews Free Press Senior Director of Strategy and Communications, Tim Karr about structural barriers to getting online for students and low-income workers, especially in the time of COVID-19.
Then Dr. Addison Killean Stark is back to talk about carbon capture and sequestration technology and how that can help us reach our climate goals.
In the last part of the show, we talk art. Eyebeam's creative director, Roderick Schrock, is here to tell us about their new initiative, Rapid Response For A Better Digital Future, which asks artists to generate ideas around rebuilding digital systems.
The New Modality’s Lydia Laurenson is back. The New Modality, is a new publication on experiments in culture, Lydia is in conversation with Senongo Akpem talking about the culture and his book, Cross-Cultural Design.
Then we have two stories about entertainment in quarantine. Mandie Roman is here to talk to us about the craze that is Animal Crossing, from art from the Met and Getty to conferences, it has taken the world by storm.
In the last part of the show, Leila Sales is here to talk about her interactive scavenger hunt story, #AdaAndTheLostHorizon, the perfect game for quarantine.
Ric Allen interviews Tyler Sandness of Rideshare Drivers United about their work and how COVID-19 has affected Rideshare drivers.
Nothing is Secure's Roy Natian is here to talk about phishing scams in age of COVID-19, how to recognize them and how to avoid them.
Dr. Casey Handmer is here to talk about how isolation may help prepare us for longterm space travel.
Leilani Albano is back and interviews journalist for The Intercept Micah Lee about Zoom security flaws.
Dr. Peretz Partensky is here talking about his piece for Wired, "To Beat the Coronavirus, Raise an Army of the Recovered" where he coins the CoronaCorps, "civilian army that may be able to fill in gaps in public services, insulate the vulnerable from infection, help map the spread of the virus, and give our medical system room to breathe."
In the last part of the show, Dr. Cosmo Mielke is here to talk about his efforts with Quarantine@Home a project that lets you donate your spare compute power to find drugs that target SARS-CoV-2.
Episode 12: Zoom Security - The CoronaCorps - Quarantine@Home
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Dr. Peter Eckersley is back. He’s an AI, ethics, and privacy researcher, who is the convener of the stop-covid.tech group to talk to us about contact tracing and how important it is in slowing down the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
Loretta Whitesides, about her citizen volunteer work with Mirakind who are working to test essential workers in Los Angeles for COVID-19.
In the last part of the show, Brittney is joined by Dr. Addison Killean Stark to talk about his op-ed for Scientific American where he makes the case for investing in innovation to help with pandemic recovery.
Nothing is Secure's Roy Natian is here for advice on how to keep your phone and phone case clean.
Leilani Albano is back with Spillover author David Quammen to talk about zoonosis and the origin of the novel corona virus and how he hopes this will help us prepare for the next one.
In the last part of the show Brittney is joined by Dr. Addison Killean Stark to talk about the American Energy Innovation Councils latest report on supporting the energy innovation life cycle.
As the coronavirus and its effects continue to spread, we're finding community in isolation.
Dr. Jun Axup, the scientific director and partner at IndieBio, answers our questions about what is being done to tackle the novel coronavirus.
Ric Allen talks with KPFK’s own Brad Friedman, about the fallout from Super Tuesday, LA's new voting machines and what the coronavirus means for Election 2020.
Then gamer Mandie Roman shares what she's playing during isolation, and shares her thoughts on if e-sports will take off.
COVID-19 is uprooting our routine way of life. Lydia Laurenson of The New Modality talks with economist Tyler Cowen, writer of MARGINAL Revolution, about potential cultural shifts due to COVID-19.
Then Leilani Albano speaks with Aaron Mackey, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, about the unethical practice of wireless companies selling our location data and what we can do about it.
Finally, we dive into election season with Jessica Alter, the co-founder and board chair of Tech for Campaigns. Jessica talks about the technology they're providing political campaigns, volunteer opportunities and more.
Episode 08 - NewMo: COVID-19 + Culture - Ethics of Wireless Location Data - Tech for Campaign
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Wash your hands. Seriously. Dr. Jun Axup, the Scientific Director and Partner at Indie Bio, shares how to protect yourself from the spread of COVID-19.
We speak with Dr. David Brown, a former fellow at the U.S Department of Energy's ARPA-E, under the Obama Administration about another problem humanity has to face: the climate crisis. Brown lays out the differences in Bernie Sanders' and Joe Biden's climate plans and explains how they compare to Trump's. For more details on Dr. Brown's Analysis.
Later on in the episode, Roy Natian of Nothing is Secure gives practical advice on how to keep your phone secure.
Ric Allan talks LA's new voting machines with Brad Friedman. These machines will be in use in the March 3rd primary.
Joanna Miller is back with, A View from the Outside. She's joined by Pandorabots CEO Lauren Kunze to talk about what they've learned from their 75 billion logs of humans interacting with chatbots.
Our climate change correspondent, Dr. Addison Killean Stark, is back to talk about Microsoft’s decarbonization pledge and what this means for fighting climate change.
Ric Allan talks the awesome Slamdance Film Festival with Paul Rachman.
Leilani Albano is joined by Danny O’Brien of the EFF, about security concerns around 5G - particularly around Chinese tech giant Huawei and US concerns that they are undermining national security.
AI expert Peter Eckersley is back to talk about AI Risk Assessment Tools and how they may be in use in California and around the country before they have been adequately tested. We also touch on issues with California's SB-10.
Dr. Addison Killean Stark of the Bipartisan Policy Center discusses how and why some Congressional Republicans may be shifting gears on climate change.
Dr. Casey Handmer talks Space X's Starship and how it may be the way we get back to the moon and even Mars.
Dr. Jun Axup, the scientific director and partner at biotech incubator IndieBio, goes beyond Beyond Meat.
New Year, Smarter You
Roy Natian teaches you how to better protect your passwords with two-factor authentication (it's easy!)
Tiffany Shlain talks digital detox with Ric Allan
Starlink, Yes, It’s a Big Deal with Dr. Casey Handmer
Space X’s Starlink promises to bring high-speed Internet access to all corners of the globe. But are there concerns?
Dr. Casey Handmer breaks down the new Elon Musk project. Follow him on Twitter at @CJHandmer
Lydia Laurenson of The New Modality is joined by Danielle Baskin, Known Art Provocateur
Danielle Baskin has camped out at Dreamforce and pranked Oracle. The New Modality's Lydia Laurenson gets inside her head. We dare you to try not to laugh. Follow them on Twitter at @LydiaLaurenson and @djbaskin.
The Renewable Energy Boom in the Heartland with Dr. Addison K Stark
We constantly hear about how California is an environmental leader — but are they really ahead of the game on renewable energy? Bipartisan Policy Center's Addison Stark talks about the surprising states spearheading renewable initiatives. Follow him on Twitter at @AddisonKStark.