Actor George Takei’s Firsthand Account of His Childhood in an Internment Camp for Japanese Americans (0:32)

Guest: George Takei, Actor/Activist/Author of “They Called Us Enemy” 

George Takei shot to fame aboard the Starship Enterprise – even taking the captain’s chair on occasion. Before Takei was Star Trek’s Sulu, he was a child, imprisoned with his family because of their Japanese heritage. By the time Takei left the World War II internment camps, he was 9 years old and had spent nearly half his life behind barbed-wire. Takei’s story was the basis of a hit Broadway musical in which he co-starred with Lea Salonga called Allegiance. Now Takei has written a memoir about his childhood in the “relocation camps.” It’s a graphic novel titled “They Called Us Enemy.” (Originally aired 7/16/19)

 

How Emojis Are Impacting the Law (20:23)

Guest: Eric Goldman Is a Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law, Co-Director, High Tech Law Institute

Now that we’re all using emojis as a regular part of communication, they’re starting to pop up lawsuits. A judge or jury might have to decide if somebody’s thumbs-up emoji at the end of a text exchange was a firm commitment or just a way to end the conversation. If you give a thumbs up emoji is that the same as signing your name to a document? (Originally aired 11/4/2019)

 

Proprioception: Our Sixth Sense (32:31)

Guest: Alexander Chesler, Principal Investigator at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH

Try this: Close your eyes and touch your finger to your nose. Pretty easy, right? You just engaged your sixth sense. It’s called proprioception and it’s what makes it possible for professional ice skaters to do triple axels, helps basketball players dunk a ball, and helps us all maintain that six-foot distance between each other right now. Surprisingly, researchers have only recently started to understand how it works. (Originally aired 1/16/20 at 2:40 PM)

 

Speedgate: New Sport Created by AI (50:43)

Guest: Whitney Jenkins, Creative Director, AKQA

Artificial intelligence created a new sport called "Speedgate," and it's catching on around the world. The game is a mix between rugby, croquet, soccer, and ultimate frisbee. The sport's motto? "Face the ball to be the ball to be above the ball" - definitely sounds like something written by a computer. (Originally aired 9/9/19)

 

Fashion That Is Always Digital, Never Physical (1:09:21)

Guest: Kerry Murphy, Founder and CEO of the Fabricant

With so many people working from home, there’s debate about what kind of attire is appropriate for video conference meetings. There’s a Dutch digital design firm called The Fabricant that practically anticipated this conundrum months ago. They’re developing clothes that exist only in the digital world. You’ll one day be able to buy a custom suit or designer gown. It’s just a digital file, so you can’t wear it in real life. But who cares when you get credit for looking great on Instagram or Zoom, while still wearing your sweats. (Originally aired 1/13/20)

 

Remembering the Overlooked Figures in History Through Obituaries (1:23:44)

Guest: Amy Padnani Is an Editor on the Obituaries Desk at the New York Time and the Creator of Overlooked

Notable deaths due to the coronavirus dominate the obituary page of the New York Times right now. Now, normally the cause of death wouldn’t be so important in getting an obit in the Times. Mainly you’d just need to be a white man who did something interesting. When Amy Padnani became an obituaries editor at the New York Times she looked through the archives and wondered, “Where are all the women?” Then she launched a new project called “Overlooked” to set the record straight. For two years, the obituaries staff has been writing tributes to people the paper missed: Computer programmer Ada Lovelace. Journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells.  Poet Sylvia Plath. “Jane Eyre” author Charlotte Bronte. Plus, lots of names you wouldn’t recognize but should. (Originally aired 11/6/2019)