Tech Refactored

On this episode Gus is joined by Joshua Tucker, Professor of Politics and co-Director of the Center for Social Media and Politics at New York University. Joshua joined our center earlier in the month for a guest discussion on his recent book with our faculty fellows. That conversation is explored more broadly today as we focus on his work on the effects of social media on democracy, and his recently published book, co-edited with Stanford’s Nathaniel Persily, Social Media and Democracy: The State of the Field. Join us as we travel through Russia, Facebook, and state of our democracy.

We’re discussing spectrum: what it is, how the government decides who can use it, and why maybe that process needs to change - from the battle for spectrum between 5G and satellites, to forecasting the policies of the new administration. Spectrum refers to the invisible radio frequencies that signals travel over. Those signals are what enable us to use our mobile devices, but wireless uses are only a portion of what spectrum is used for. Our guest is Jennifer Manner, the senior vice president of regulatory affairs at Echostar Hughes and this episode is co-hosted by the founding Director of the Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law program at Nebraska Law and one of the center’s faculty fellows, Matt Schaefer.

On this episode we discuss the recent Texas power grid failure during the record cold temperatures in mid-February. We’ll be talking to Lynne Kiesling, who has been studying energy regulation for two decades about what happened and where to go from here. This is the latest in the “just-in-time” series of episodes on recent news, we call TR/∂T. Shout out to the math fans who appreciate our fleeting calculus humor. Everyone else, happy googling.

Facial recognition software is now widely used and available, from schools, to our workplaces, to our personal devices. It is so pervasive that many states, including Nebraska, have or are working on legislation to try to guide its usage, including in some cases banning its use outright. This episode was prompted by a question from a listener, Danielle Conrad, the executive director of the Nebraska ACLU who joins us to introduce the this topic. We also welcome Elana Zeide and Woody Hartzog back to the show.

In this episode we’re discussing CRISPR, which is a gene editing tool that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA. CRISPR technology is a simple but extremely powerful tool for editing genomes. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. It should go without saying, this is equal parts very cool and very scary. The episode is cohosted by Christal Sheppard, distinguished fellow at the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center, and inaugural director of the Midwest Regional Office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and guests, Jacob S. Sherkow, Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, and Samantha Zyontz, Fellow at the Center for Law and the Biosciences and Research Fellow of Intellectual Property at Stanford Law School.

Even if you’re not a very “online” type of person, you’ve probably heard about Robinhood, GameStop, and cryptocurrencies in the news. On that extremely hot topic, we have a special episode of Tech Refactored today, which we’re calling a TR/∂T episode. Shout out to the math fans who understand derivatives, and for the finance folks who will get the triple entendre. Everyone else, happy googling. These episodes are informal explorations into current hot issues - so what else could we be talking about today? That’s right, we’re talking stonks, with Nebraska Law Professor James Tierney.

Multi-year water deficits and compound events leading to unexpected water surpluses have led to multi-billion-dollar losses in states around the U.S., and this is becoming the norm worldwide. Those losses highlight the vulnerability of our infrastructure to extreme climate events. Historic approaches to regulation are not easy to change and as more and more weather events occur due to climate change, some advocates are suggesting that laws need to be more flexible and adaptable. In this episode we ask "what the heck is water law" and how it is changing as our world does? This episode is hosted by Gus Hurwitz (Nebraska Governance and Technology Center) and Peter McCornick (Daugherty Water for Food Institute). Guests include Rob Cifelli, Felicia Marcus, Francisco Muñoz-Arriola, and Anthony Schutz.

The ongoing pandemic brought many technical challenges into the spotlight, perhaps none more than educational technology and student privacy. The shift from traditional school to remote learning and teaching is riddled with digital privacy concerns, and the intersections of race, class, and technology-access amplify these issues. Elana Zeide, Anisha Reddy, Jim Siegl, Chris Gilliard, and Bill Fitzgerald join us for a dive into student privacy and online proctoring in the era of 'Zoom School.'

Our Center studies the intersection of law and technology, but what does that really mean? Over two episodes of Tech Refactored we asked six scholars writing in this area to give us their take. In the first episode in this two-part series we asked, ‘What is Law?’ and ‘What is Technology?’ This, our second episode on the subject, builds on that discussion to ask what we are doing when we are studying law and technology. Does the field stand alone as its own discipline? Does it have its own methodologies?” Guests include BJ Ard, Rebecca Crootof, Ryan Calo, Joshua Fairfield, Meg Leta Jones, and Woodrow Hartzog. Be sure to check out all the guest's posts on The Record.

We study the intersection of law and technology, but that begs the question - what do we mean when we say law and technology? Over the next two episodes of Tech Refactored we’ve asked six scholars writing in this area to give us their take. The first episode in this two-part series asks ‘What is Law? What is Technology? ZOMG What is Law and Technology?’ and if that sounds like it’s going to get esoteric, it’s because it is. Note, the acronym STS used frequently in this episode refers to "Science and Technology Studies." Guests include BJ Ard, Rebecca Crootof, Ryan Calo, Joshua Fairfield, Meg Leta Jones, and Woodrow Hartzog. Be sure to check out all the guest's posts on The Record.