Half of all US Citizens have their faces in a database that can be searched by facial-tracking software, and the slow creep of surveillance technology means more of us are being watched and analyzed by AI face-detection cameras, often without us knowing, and almost always without our consent. So what are some of the ways companies and governments deploy these technologies today? What are the limits and blind spots to these systems? More importantly, what can and does go wrong when we choose to outsource human recognition to automated computers?

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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This week we're trying a new format for periodic updates. Daniel, David, and Moriah King all sit down together to discuss a handful of important articles and texts they selected covering everything from dolphins to tragedies. We go over the key points of each piece and spend a little time discussing the ramifications of what these (typically dark) pieces of news means for us and the entire world. Hopefully we take away some valuable lessons that allow us to build better things.

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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The world is garbage and we're talking trash in this week's episode. What really happens when you throw something away? Is recycling as green as we think it is? Just how much garbage are we making anyway? All this answered and so much more as we find ourself waist deep in the world of waste.

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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Two-thirds of Spain is at risk of permanent desertification. The cold and wet country of Iceland holds half of all Europe's deserts. China's Gobi Desert is expanding rapidly, swallowing thousands of villages and threatening to envelop the capital city Beijing. In just 40 years a third of the plant's arable land has eroded, and each year desertification destroys the potential to grow 20 million tons of grain.

Once again, a show all about sand, but this time we're not building with it; we're running from it. What are some of the long-term systems that lead to desertification? What are some of the simple causes? And in what ways does human and economic development play a role in this process?

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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CC BY-SA 4.0

It's natural, it's delicious, it's everywhere, and it may be killing us. For years, sugar has been overlooked as a serious detriment to our health because of the manipulations of the sugar industry in both science and politics, but the lies are coming to light as the diseases caused by that deadly white powder threaten to overwhelm the health systems of the world.

Can we wake in time up to the danger that this major health risk is posing? Or are we too addicted to the sweet release? Join us this week as we explore the how and why of sugar.

This episode originally published March, 2018, and we have a few up to date comments to make before and after.

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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Some 37% of workers believe their jobs are pointless, and if we include the jobs that exist to serve those pointless jobs in some way, it's possible that half of the jobs in our economy today (mostly residing in the informational sectors of white-collar work) could disappear with no ill-consequences. In this episode we read and hear from listener-submitted examples of pointless jobs, explore the nature and causes of this phenomenon as outlined in David Graeber's book on the subject, and imagine a world where such pointless assaults on our soul can't happen.

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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A global epedimic of loneliness is spreading rapidly. 20% of the UK population claims to be always or often lonely, 3 out of 4 people fin the US are affected by loneliness, a quarter of Japanese men over 60 don't have a single friend or family member they can talk to, and there is an alarming rise of youth across borders who are feeling joyless, useless, and alien in their own homelands. This is a growing health disaster: loneliness has been shown to significantly increase the risk of early death, heart disease, stroke, and much more. Medicine and the high tech industry are working on "loneliness pills" and other high tech software fixes, but we're increasingly afraid that they've missed the point and are wasting time chasing symptoms. This week we explore the systemic causes of why we all feel so alone and look towards a world where we make the dramatic shifts to our social insitutions, governments, economic relationships, and very culture so we can begin to repair the frayed seams of our great big collective family.

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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In an age of global disparity and inequity, billionaire philanthropists (dead and alive) are stepping up to the plate with powerful foundations and acts of charitable giving to solve some of the world's greatest challenges. But how much faith should we place in the hands of individuals with concentrated wealth and power? And if we take a step back to examine the broader system in which these individual philanthrocapitalists function, do we find any contradictions between wealth doled out and the process of accumulating it? Further, despite some of the good that we perceive directly stemming from philanthropic efforts, what are some of the hidden motivations behind these efforts that ultimately seek to deepen the same structures that produced the problems in the first place which philanthropy purports to solve?

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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Invisible, but they define our world. Borders are the lines that limit us as we live our lives and as we increasingly feel the frictions they cause, it brought us to wonder: where did these things comes from anyway? A look back through history shows that what we take for granted may in fact be ridiculous, that lines on a map can be a world changing invention, and that things that feel as old as civilization may have surprisingly recent origins. Join us this week as we draw a line in the sand and begin working towards tearing down the myths, preconceptions, and assumptions we share about the lines that divide us.

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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After the US government shutdown of 2018-2019 witheld two paychecks from 800,000 federal workers and countless more contractors and businesses, and with US officials encouraging furloughed employees to simply take out loans, we've got debt on the mind again. Citizens of the US and UK are experiencing record high levels of debt concurrent with falling wages, and higher costs of living. But the financial systems that enable these vicious debt spirals play out on the world stage, as private companies and wealthy governments alike employ innovative strategies for ensnaring vulnerable countries, companies, and individuals in inescapable economic webs. Vulture funds play an important role here, but we also want to understand how the opportunities for vulture funds open in the first place. Will we finally solve the global debt crisis, or will the hole get deeper and deeper?

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

Find more information along with relevant news and links on your favorite social network @ashesashescast.

CC BY-SA 4.0