Tag Archives: Computers and Internet

Scholars’ Circle – Understanding Disinformation in our time – October 8, 2023

When Elon Musk promised that Twitter ( re-branded as X ) will allow a wider range of content, including some that was previously banned as hate speech, disinformation, or conspiracy-centric, concerns over disinformation in political discourse heightened. But the challenge of democratic discourse in light of misinformation and disinformation is a historic challenge. Social media just speeds the process. Yet a significant concern is discerning who best to regulate what constitutes disinformation, in light of the political power of censorship.
We look at how disinformation has spread worldwide, shifting politics and challenging democracies. What are the most effective ways to counter disinformation? How might it be different for states, than for individuals? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Recorded May 2022.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Deep Listening to Sounds of Nature; Actual History in American Thanksgiving Story – November 27, 2022

How does deep listening to nature promote biodiversity and a deeper relationship with the natural world?

Book Cover of Civil War by Other Means has an red X on the title of the book

We discuss the book THE SOUNDS OF LIFE: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the World of Animals and Plants. [ dur: 34mins. ]

References to clips of nature sound recordings included in the interview with Karen Bakker :

The American Thanksgiving story is one of cooperation and coexistence between white European settlers and the native peoples. But the real story is much darker.
How does this Thanksgiving narrative get the history wrong?

We discuss the history, the memory, and the meaning of Thanksgiving in the contemporary relationship between the United States and Indigenous people. [ dur: 24mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Disinformation in our time – May 1, 2022

With the news that Elon Musk intends to purchase Twitter and with promises that the social media company will allow a wider range of content, including some that was previously banned as hate speech, disinformation, or conspiracy-centric, concerns over disinformation in political discourse have been heightened. But the challenge of democratic discourse in light of misinformation and disinformation is a historic challenge. Social media just speeds the process. Yet a significant concern is discerning who best to regulate what constitutes disinformation, in light of the political power of censorship.
We look at how disinformation has spread worldwide, shifting politics and challenging democracies. What are the most effective ways to counter disinformation? How might it be different for states, than for individuals? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Algorithms, how do they make biased decisions? – November 14, 2021

Algorithms reflect the biases of the society in which they exist and the programmers who create them. There has been a social and political reaction against their use. How do algorithms govern social and political interactions? What is the most proper use of algorithms? And what are the biases that persist in their use? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Challenges of discerning Facts from Fiction from modern media -/- Psychologist on Lockdown experience – April 19, 2020

The great promise of the internet to provide interconnectedness and the spread of great ideas has brought great challenges in discerning facts from fiction. Our guest discusses ways we can identify misinformation and disinformation. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

  • Damaso Reyes is a freelance journalist and a researcher, speaker and trainer in the field of media and information literacy.

What are the psychological states of Covic-19? How do we respond to fear and anxiety amid the threat and uncertainty. Lillian Ng, Senior Lecturer in Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, hosts. [ dur: 31 mins]

  • Rob Schieff is a psychiatrist. He is a specialist in cognitive behavioral therapy and has special interest in anxiety disorders.

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Side effects of google and facebook businesses -/- Teaching children civics and community – October 14, 2018

First, are Google and Facebook increasing income inequality, harming the arts and damaging democracy? Our guests says yes. [ dur: 44 mins. ]

Then, how one university professor is teaching children about community, civics, empathy and giving. [ dur: 14 mins. ]

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Sharing Economy and American Workers -/- Political Ethos of Anonymous Groups – Aug. 5th, 2018

First, the dark side of Uber, AirBnB and the rest of the so called “sharing economy.” We speak with Steven Hill. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Steven Hill is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and co-founder of Fair Vote: Center for Voting and Democracy. He’s the author of Raw Deal: How the Uber Economy and Naked Capitalism are Screwing American Workers.

Then, we explore Anonymous and the political ethos driving it with Luke Goode. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Luke Goode (profile page) is Senior Lecturer in Media, Film and Television at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His research interests focus primarily on the connections between media, technology and democracy. He is the author of Jurgen Habermas: Democracy and the Public Sphere (Modern European Thinkers) and has published on a range of topics including public service broadcasting, social media, citizen journalism and hacktivism.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Are Google and Facebook increasing income inequality and damaging democracy and art -/- Teaching Children about community, Giving and Empathy – December 3, 2017

First, are Google and Facebook increasing income inequality, harming the arts and damaging democracy? Our guests says yes. [ dur: 44 mins. ]

  • Jonathan Taplin was the founding director of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and an Oscar nominated filmmaker, a music manager and author. He is the author of Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy.

Then, how one university professor is teaching children about community, civics, empathy and giving. [ dur: 14 mins. ]

  • Ann Crigler is Professor of Political Science at USC. She is the co-author of Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning and Crosstalk: Citizens, Candidates and the Media in a Presidential Campaign, and the co-editor of Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Election Reform and The Affect Effect: Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle- Dark Side of Sharing Economy -/- Politics of Anonymous- December 6th, 2015

First, the dark side of Uber, AirBnB and the rest of the so called “sharing economy”. We speak with Steven Hill, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Steven Hill is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and co-founder of Fair Vote: Center for Voting and Democracy. He’s the author of “Raw Deal: How the Uber Economy and Naked Capitalism are Screwing American Workers“.

Then, in the wake of the attacks on Paris, Anonymous has turned its cyber-weapons onto the Islamic State, we explore the driving political ethos of Anonymous? [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Luke Goode (profile page) is Senior Lecturer in Media, Film and Television at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His research interests focus primarily on the connections between media, technology and democracy. He is the author of “Jurgen Habermas: Democracy and the Public Sphere (Modern European Thinkers)” and has published on a range of topics including public service broadcasting, social media, citizen journalism and hacktivism.

Find book/publication authored by our guest scholars Book Shelf .

Scholars’ Circle-New Media affects Politics-/-Science and Politics-October 25th, 2015

First, can new media change power relations? We speak with Rory O’Connor. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

  • Rory O’Connor is an author, filmmaker and journalist. He is the author of “Friends, Followers and the Future: How Social Media are Changing Politics, Threatening Big Brands, and Killing Traditional Media ” . He is the co-author of “Shock Jocks: Hate Speech and Talk Radio: America?s Ten Worst Hate Talkers and the Progressive Alternatives” and “Nukespeak: The Selling of Nuclear Power in America“.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle, in the face of looming public health and sustainability, we look at the intersection of science and politics. [ dur: 31mins. ]

  • Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. She is the co-author of “ Science and Technology in the Global Cold War“, “The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future“, and “Merchant of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
  • David H. Guston is Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University. He is Principal Investigator and Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University and author of “Between Politics and Science: Assuring the Integrity and Productivity of Research“, co-author of “Informed Legislatures: Coping with Science in a Democracy“, and he has co-edited “Shaping the Next Generation of Science and Technology Policy“.
  • Mark B. Brown is Professor in the Department of Government at California State University, Sacramento. He is the author of “Science in Democracy: Expertise, Institutions, and Representation“.

Find book/publication authored by our guest scholars Book Shelf .