Cyborg Goddess: Recent Episodes
Feminist Tech Studies Podcast with Jennifer Jill Fellows
A show where we apply feminist theories and concepts to everyday technologies. We aren't luddites here, but it is complicated!
Chatbots purporting to help us with our mental health are nothing new, and have been around since the 1960’s. But they are growing in prevalence. In this episode Jill interviews Rachel Katz on her research into AI facilitated psychotherapy bots. Jill and Rachel examine what a therapy chatbot can and cannot do, and what some […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Dr. Iqra Cheema about her edited collection The Other MeToo’s. The MeToo movement is a massive feminist phenomenon that swept around the globe and across many different social media platforms. But it took different forms, and carried different connotations depending on the social locations of the people participating. Dr. Cheema […]
Hi everyone. Just a quick announcement that we are rebranding here for Season 3. If you tend to get this podcast directly from the website, here is the new URL for Cyborg Goddess! https://cyborggoddess.opened.ca/ And we because X(Twitter) is getting a bit too dystopian for my taste, you can now find us at : CyborgGoddess.bsky.social […]
“Gender, Sex and Tech: Continuing the Conversation” has become “Cyborg Goddess”. We publish 6 episodes a year. We hope you’ll join us!
Hi everyone. Happy 2024! Just an update that Season 3 will begin in the summer of 2024. We’ve got a lot of exciting guests lined up, and I can’t wait to share their work with you! Until then, have a great Winter!!
In this episode, Jill interviews Dr. Jovian Radheshwar to learn about the technologies behind the production and (more importantly) distribution of grass roots hip hop songs. We also explore some of the connections between hip hop music, politics, revolu
In this episode, Jill interviews Dr. Alex Ketchum about her open-access book Engage in Public Scholarship! We investigate what public scholarship is and the various digital tools and platforms that exist for public scholarship. We examine some of the pro
In this episode, Jill Interviews Dr. Sreela Sarkar about her ethnographic research in the neighbourhood of Seelampur in New Dehli India. The Indian government, like many governments globally right now, has been encouraging citizens to take IT skills trai
In this episode, Jill Interviews Dr. Sreela Sarkar about her ethnographic research in the neighbourhood of Seelampur in New Dehli India. The Indian government, like many governments globally right now, has been encouraging citizens to take IT skills trai
In this episode, Jill shares some of her own thoughts, hopes and fears during this “AI moment” we all seem to be in. Relying on work by philosopher Hilde Lindemann, Jill works through some of the ethical and existential questions that have be
Ever wanted to know more about me? Why not ask Chat-GPT? Actually, let me save you the trouble. Here’s what it has to say: It is possible that Jennifer Jill Fellows is a private individual with no public profile or notable achievements. Ouch! I mean, Accurate, but still! Kinda bluntly put, there, ChatGPT. But of […]
In this episode, Jill shares some of her own thoughts, hopes and fears during this “AI moment” we all seem to be in. Relying on work by philosopher Hilde Lindemann, Jill works through some of the ethical and existential questions that have been occupying her mind as more and more people form relationships with chatbots. […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Chloe Locatelli about her research on sex tech, sex robots and relationships with technologies. Chloe’s research prompts us to consider the personification and gamification of sex tech specifically marketed at heterosexual men. Gender Sex and Tech is excited to be a part of the Harbinger Media Network. Please check out […]
In this episode, Amber-Lee Varadi unpacks her research on the Pick-Me Girl, explaining what this trope is, and how it has changed from the mid-2010’s on Black Twitter to the modern iterations found most commonly on TikTok POV videos. Transcripts for this episode can be found here: https://gendersextech.opened.ca/?p=250 If you liked this episode and would […]
Content Warning: This episode discusses eating disorders. In this episode, Natasha Crawford and Sarak Kulewska share their research on fitness tracking apps and wearables. They examine the ways in which these devices can be ableist and also the dangers that these devices might carry for people with complicated relationships with food and/or exercise. Transcripts for […]
Hi Everyone. I just wanted to give you a quick update on Season Two of Gender Sex and Tech: Continuing the Conversation. Season Two will begin on June 2nd 2023 and we will release new episodes of the podcast on the first Friday of every month from June 2023 until November 2023. We’ve got a […]
In this final episode of the first season of Gender, Sex and Tech: Continuing the Conversation, Jill interview Brenna Clark Gray about how we might do podcasting as feminist praxis. Thanks to The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival 2022 for including this episode in their carnival line-up! That’s it for Season One. I’ll see you all […]
Hi everyone. Just a quick update that we won’t be releasing the final episode of Season One of Gender, Sex and Tech: Continuing the Conversation today. Instead, the episode is delayed until Monday August 22nd 2022, so that we can participate in The Big Rhetorical Podcast Carnival this year. So, look for Episode 16 on […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Heather Barnick on her research examining intimate images, so-called revenge pornography, and sexual violence online. Heather explains what sexual violence online is, how it functions, and how current Canadian law deals with these crimes. She lays out what some of the challenges are, and how it is that victims can […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Jaime Yard about her experience making ezines in the classroom, and about the history and significance of zines and ezines as DIY holistic technologies in general. Jaime explores the way in which the zine and ezine, as DIY holistic technologies, hold the potential for transnational feminist expression in the classroom […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Kira Tomsons who examines ethical (and unethical) practices in online teaching. Beginning in the classroom, and moving to digital space, Kira investigates how the tools we use for teaching have the protentional to affect the teacher-student relationship. Kira explains how feminist ethics of care can guide educators’ course design and […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Amber Brown and Angela Knowles about the role that social media increasingly plays in Indigenous Activism. Amber and Angela discuss how social media can be a powerful space to raise awareness, build community, and grow Indigenous movements, while recognizing the risks that come with using these digital tools. Transcript can […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Tamara Banbury and Kelly Fritsch about their research into CyberPunk 2077‘s SciFi depiction of cyborg-y-ness, and the complex relationship between popular conceptions of cyborgs, and disability. Examining Cyberpunk 2077’s disturbing, but hardly unique, narrative of the (lack of) place of disabled people in the future, Tamara and Kelly use Critical […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Jennifer Hites-Thomas about her research regarding the ways technologies of discourse are employed to gatekeep access to surgical technologies for trans folk, while enabling access for cis folk. Examining the role discourse of authenticity plays, as well as pre-conceived notions of naturalness, Jennifer discusses how this gatekeeping is maintained, and […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Sahar Raza about her research examining the ways technology is used to support surveillance capitalism and the justice and prison system. Sahar introduces the sociotechnical lens and guides us through how to use it, and what it can reveal about surveillance in the digital age. Transcripts can be found here: […]
In this epsiode, Jill interviews Jessica Polzer about her research with Anna Sui, Kelly gen and Laura Cayen on menstrual and fertility tracking apps (also known as MFTA’s). What do we gain by the datification of embodied experiences, and what might we lose? How apps marketed and promoted, and what might we learn from these […]
In this episode, Jill invites Lisa Smith to step into the host’s chair and interview Jill about her research on the gendering of virtual assistants. Siri, Alexa, Cortana and Google Assistant were all released with female voices originally, and many of them still have female voices and mannerisms. We will examine why this is, and […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Noorin Manji about her research on Smartphone use among heterosexual couples. Noorin examines the ways in which long-term relationships have changed as a result of widespread use of Smartphones. She explains how intimacy, trust, and relationship maintenance are navigated in the age of the Smartphone. Transcripts can be found here: […]
In this episode, Jill interviews Christopher Dietzel about his research into sexual racism and racial fetishization on dating apps that cater to men who have sex with men (MSM). Transcript for this episode can be found here: https://gendersextech.opened.ca/2022/04/27/transcript-for-episode-four/ References: Kimberlé W. Crenshaw: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf IMPACTS collaboration to address sexual violence: https://www.mcgill.ca/definetheline/impacts Judith Butler: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203948682/excitable-speech-judith-butler Kim Chi’s “Fat, Femme, […]
In this episode, Jill explores older female sexuality in the digital age by interviewing Treena Orchard about her auto-ethnographic research into age-hypogamus relationships and dating apps. Age-hypogamus relationships are there where one partner (in this case, the woman in a heterosexual relationship) is significantly older than the other. Transcripts can be found here: https://gendersextech.opened.ca/2022/05/27/transcript-for-episode-four-2/ References: […]
This episode comes with a content warning: We will be discussing sexual exploitation, sexual violence, “revenge pornography,” and suicide. In this episode, Jill interviews Shaina McHardy about Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSA), and the Canadian post-secondary response to TFSA. Where does the campus end in digital space, what are colleges and universities responsible for, when it […]
In this episode, Jennifer Jill Fellows interviews Ana Brito and Lauren Friesen about menstrual tech. We discuss why menstrual supplies are not commonly considered forms of technology, why we should consider them to be forms of technology, and what we can learn about period poverty by thinking about tech equity. A Transcript for this episode […]
In this episode of Gender, Sex and Tech: Continuing the Conversation, Jennifer Jill Fellows interview Dr. Lisa Smith about the material technologies of Bikes, Birth Control and Baby Bottles. Lisa examines the modernist notion of technology, and whether these three material technologies fulfill the modernist promise of freedom and progress. Transcripts found here: https://gendersextech.opened.ca/2022/04/25/transcripts-episode-one/ References: […]