MIT Open Aggregated Podcast Feed

MIT Open Aggregated Podcast Feed

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MIT Open Aggregated Podcast Feed episodes

  • Christos Lynteris, "Visual Plague: The Emergence of Epidemic Photography" (MIT Press, 2022)
    How epidemic photography during a global pandemic of bubonic plague contributed to the development of modern epidemiology and our concept of the “pandemic.”
    In Visual Plague: The Emergence of Epidemic Photography (MIT Press, 2022), Christos Lynteris examines the emergence of epidemic photography during the third plague pandemic (1894–1959), a global pandemic of bubonic plague that led to over twelve million deaths. Unlike medical photography, epidemic photography was not exclusively, or even primarily, concerned with exposing the patient's body or medical examinations and operations. Instead, it played a key role in reconceptualizing infectious diseases by visualizing the “pandemic” as a new concept and structure of experience—one that frames and responds to the smallest local outbreak of an infectious disease as an event of global importance and consequence.
    As the third plague pandemic struck more and more countries, the international circulation of plague photographs in the press generated an unprecedented spectacle of imminent global threat. Nothing contributed to this sense of global interconnectedness, anticipation, and fear more than photography. Exploring the impact of epidemic photography at the time of its emergence, Lynteris highlights its entanglement with colonial politics, epistemologies, and aesthetics, as well as with major shifts in epidemiological thinking and public health practice. He explores the characteristics, uses, and impact of epidemic photography and how it differs from the general corpus of medical photography. The new photography was used not simply to visualize or illustrate a pandemic, but to articulate, respond to, and unsettle key questions of epidemiology and epidemic control, as well as to foster the notion of the “pandemic,” which continues to affect our lives today.
    Christos Lynteris is Professor of Medical Anthropology at the University of St Andrews. His research focuses on the anthropological and historical examination of epidemics with a particular focus on zoonotic diseases, epidemiological epistemology, visual medical culture, and colonial medicine. His regional expertise includes China and Inner Asia.
    Professor Lynteris holds the first chair in medical anthropology at the University of St Andrews. Focusing on diseases that spread between animals and humans, his research has been foundational in the establishment of the anthropological study of zoonosis. Combining archival and ethnographic research together with visual methods and critical approaches to medical and epidemiological epistemologies, Professor Lynteris's research seeks to understand how specific zoonotic diseases (SARS, COVID-19, plague) and the broader question of zoonosis shape social and multispecies worlds and are in turn shaped by them.
    1 hr 13 min
  • Jeff Yoshimi, "Gaming Cancer: How Building and Playing Video Games Can Accelerate Scientific Discovery" (MIT Press, 2025)
    Can experimenting with game design increase our chances of finding a cure for cancer? Cancer is crafty, forcing us to be just as clever in our efforts to outfox it—and we’ve made excellent progress, but is it time for a new play in the playbook? 
    In Gaming Cancer: How Building and Playing Video Games Can Accelerate Scientific Discovery (MIT Press, 2025), Jeff Yoshimi proposes a new approach to fighting an increasingly exhausting war. By putting the work of cancer research into the hands of nonspecialists, Yoshimi believes, we can accelerate the process of outgaming the disease once and for all. Gamers have already used “serious games” to discover new galaxies, digitize ancient texts, decode viruses, and solve theoretical problems in neuroscience. Cancer is a multilayered threat, and our best bet at overcoming it is via more minds working in concert. Gaming Cancer is an instruction manual for engineering games that motivate users to strain and sweat to find cancer cures. It integrates game design with research in cancer biology, data visualization techniques, and developments in cognitive science and AI while remaining sensitive to the limitations of citizen science and ethical concerns. Yoshimi sees in cutting-edge game technology the potential to educate and empower people to outwit cancer, an indirect route to richer science literacy that draws on the boundless resources of the mind. This book offers anyone invested in beating this seemingly intractable disease a concrete playbook that combines real science with creative vision in an effort to defeat the boss monster, cancer.
    Rudolf Thomas Inderst (*1978) enjoys video games since 1985. He received a master’s degree in political science, American cultural studies as well as contemporary and recent history from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich and holds two PhDs in game studies (LMU & University of Passau). Currently, he's teaching as a professor for game design at the IU International University for Applied Science, has submitted his third dissertation at the University of Vechta, holds the position as lead editor at the online journal Titel kulturmagazin for the game section, hosts the German local radio show Replay Value and is editor of the weekly game research newsletter DiGRA D-A-CH Game Studies Watchlist.
    22 min
  • Putting a glacier in its place — Brent Minchew

    Brent Minchew is an Associate Professor of Geophysics in the department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT. He studies the behavior of glaciers in respect to environmental factors and is dedicated to understanding sea level rise and exploring viable interventions to stabilize ice sheets.

    Show notes and transcript:

    https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-14-putting-glacier-its-place

    Join our mailing list and send us feedback:

    https://eepurl.com/ixPQPA

    30 min
  • Aure Schrock on Politics Recoded: The Infrastructural Organizing of Code for America
    Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Aure Schrock, an interdisciplinary technology scholar and writing coach and editor at Indelible Voice, about their book, Politics Recoded: The Infrastructural Organizing of Code for America (MIT Press, 2024)
    Politics Recoded examines the history and culture of Code for America, an organization that, as one of its leaders put it, aimed “to promote ‘civic hacking,’ and to bring 21st century technology to government.” The book describes how the organization has changed over time from a “tech-forward” vision rooted in techno-libertarianism to an organization that provides something like digital consulting services to governments. The pair also talk about Aure’s writing and editing company, the Indelible Voice, and what it’s like helping scholars refine their vision and voice in academic writing.
    1 hr 33 min
  • The Importance of Colon Cancer Screening

    In this episode of Conversations with MIT Health, we discuss the importance of colorectal cancer screening with Nicole Napier, Population Health Manager at MIT Health. Nicole shares why early detection is critical, explains the different screening options available, and addresses common concerns that may cause hesitation. We also explore why screening guidelines have changed, when to start testing, and how MIT Health supports prevention efforts. Tune in to learn how you can take proactive steps toward better health and early detection.

    10 min
  • AI's Language Leap: MIT CSAIL Associate Professor Jacob Andreas Explores NLP and LLMs
    For a full, uncut video version of this show (shot in Professor Andreas' MIT CSAIL office!), watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBV5Bj_NnbA
    MIT CSAIL Associate Professor Jacob Andreas walks listeners through how LLMs like ChatGPT evolved from academic curiosities to industry-disrupting technologies.
    Reflecting on the transformations he has observed in AI research, Professor Andreas discusses how some ideas—like linking NLP research to cognitive science—have taken a backseat, while others—like the importance of large-scale training data—remain central.
    He offers insights on AI use cases, the emergence of models like DeepSeek, and the critical role of human oversight in AI deployment. Acknowledging both the excitement and concerns surrounding AI, Professor Andreas believes that educators and industry alike face a challenge in keeping pace with the ‘moving target’ of AI progress.
    Plus: learn how AI can be used to decode the language of sperm whales!
    About the guest: Professor Andreas is an MIT EECS Associate Professor and CSAIL PI. Before joining MIT, he earned his PhD at Berkeley. His group's research focuses on three themes: building machine learning models that learn language in human-like ways, enabling the use of language as a general-purpose tool for building intelligent systems, and developing techniques for understanding machine learning models using language. His group envisions a future built around training, explaining, and interacting with intelligent systems for users of all the world's languages.
    Learn more about Professor Jacob Andreas and his research here: https://www.mit.edu/~jda/
    Want to know more about Professor Andreas' work on the language of sperm whales? Read here: https://news.mit.edu/2024/csail-ceti-explores-sperm-whale-alphabet-0507
    MIT's CSAIL Alliances Podcast is your guide to how AI & computer science research impact how we live, work, play, and learn. Listener discounts, meet the host, and more: csail.mit.edu/podcast
    28 min
  • Community, Excellence, & Service: The CEO for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Janeen Uzzell, comes to MIT - EP 17

    The CEO of the National Society of Black Engineers, Janeen Uzzell, heads to the lab at MIT to chat about her early years at NC A&T, the NSBE mission, programs, leadership, and family. We also hear about the upcoming NSBE 50th celebration in Chicago and check-in with a few students and alumni. 

    Janeen is awesome - she also lectured for our 2.009 students and MIT community about boots-on-the-ground field work in product development and delivery, and the importance of diverse development teams. 

    Thank you Janeen! 

    https://nsbe.org/

    https://convention.nsbe.org/


    Podcast specific:
    Podcast Instagram: @lockthequill
    Comments or questions: [email protected]

    The Lab at MIT:
    Pappalardo Lab Instagram: @pappalardolab
    Comments or questions: [email protected]
    Pappalardo Lab website

    0 min
  • Farm to table, with a side of fossil fuels

    The way we grow and distribute food today is deeply dependent on fossil fuels, yet that dependence can feel invisible. Sustainable food systems researcher Prof. Jennifer Clapp joins the show to walk us through all the ways fossil fuels are used to produce one simple food item: a tortilla chip. Along the way, we’ll explore the hard work being done to eliminate climate pollution from the food we eat.

    For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e1-farm-table-side-fossil-fuels

    For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu. 

    Credits
    Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor
    Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer
    David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
    Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant
    Michelle Harris, Fact Checker
    Music by Blue Dot Sessions
    Artwork by Aaron Krol

    16 min
  • Maximizing Returns from Data Monetization Strategies
    Barb Wixom reads MIT CISR's February 2025 research briefing, which she co-authored with Nick van der Meulen and Cynthia Beath. See the text version and related content at https://cisr.mit.edu/publication/2025_0201_DataMonetizationImpact_vanderMeulenWixomBeath.
    Abstract: While organizations generally recognize data’s potential to drive business value, many still struggle to realize substantial financial returns from their data monetization strategies. Beyond selecting a strategy, we identified a more critical differentiator for success: data monetization impact. This briefing explores the strategy-specific practices that enable organizations to achieve this impact on strategic business outcomes, providing guidance for leaders seeking to maximize the return on their investments in data initiatives.
    17 min
  • Monetizing Data With AI: MIT CISR's Barb Wixom
    Barbara Wixom, principal research scientist at MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR), draws on 30 years of research in this bonus episode of the Me, Myself, and AI podcast. She believes data monetization is the key to enterprise success with AI and breaks down why.
    With hosts Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh, Barb details case examples to highlight best practices for AI implementation and how to measure value, as well as how data governance and ethics play a critical role in successful AI projects. They also talk about what companies get wrong and the challenges and rewards of AI research. Read the episode transcript here.
    Guest bio:
    Barbara Wixom is a principal research scientist at the MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR). Her academic research explores how organizations generate business value from data assets. She is the author of the award-winning book, Data Is Everybody’s Business: The Fundamentals of Data Monetization, which she wrote to inspire workers to engage in data monetization.
    Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Alanna Hooper.
    Stay in touch with us by joining our LinkedIn group, AI for Leaders at mitsmr.com/AIforLeaders or by following Me, Myself, and AI on LinkedIn.
    We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.
    35 min

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