Technically Biased

Listen to Krystyn Gutu, M.S. introduce award-winning journalist and author, Vince Beiser, who has had his work featured in Wired, Time, The Los Angeles Times, Harpers, and National Geographic, among others. His first book was "The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How it Transformed Civilization," which highlights how sand is the most important solid substance on earth - and what that means for the environment and its people.

As we have started to run out of sand, and organized crime is starting to increase, it is important we understand the downsides of the energy transition and digital revolution. Beiser is now working on his next book "Power Metal" about the rare metals and renewable energy that might come at the expense of the environment, and its people. Metals like lithium cobalt, rare earth metals, and nickel are needed to build machines like solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars. What's the trade-off?

In this episode, we discuss:

~ The importance of sand – for roads, buildings, glass, and technology

~ The exploitation of the environment for technological needs

~ The exploitation of people for the mining of rare metals

~ Illegal sand mining and organized crime

~ If we should turn to the ocean and outer space for our tech needs

~ Minimizing harm to the environment - on an individual and societal level

Tune into this episode of Technically Biased to learn more!

You can find it on our website at https://gakovii.com/podcast/

Technically Biased is also available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and RSS, among others.

If you like what you hear, feel free to visit our ⁠website⁠⁠ and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

https://gakovii.com/

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In honor of Flag Day today, June 14th, today’s episode will be discussing different holidays this week, and tie in the history of those holidays, as well as their corresponding country’s flags.

Some of the holidays discussed include:

• King Kamehameha Day (June 11)

• Philippines Independence Day (June 12)

• Russia Day (June 12)

• America’s Flag Day (June 14)

• Valdemar Day (June 15)

• Youth Day (June 16)

• Iceland’s Independence Day (June 17)

You might not realize how interconnected our history is with vexillology (the study of flags) and vice versa - but I most certainly think you should check out this episode in commemoration of Flag Day and learn a fun fact or two!!

You can find our episodes at Podcast - Gakovii.

Technically Biased is also available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, and RSS, among others.

#algorithmicbias⁠⁠ #predatorytech⁠⁠ #TechnicallyBiasedPodcast #Gakovii

In honor of World Environment Day Monday, June 5th, this episode will be discussing Corporate Colonization Through the Exploitation of the Environment and Its People. Through this discussion, our goal is to understand how those who most destroyed our physical environment are now moving into the digital space, which just like the physical one, is again being monopolized by big corporations and billionaires.

Tune in to learn:

~ How technology contributes to climate change

~ About some of the companies which have contributed significantly to increased emissions, and how they have done so

~ How corporations are transitioning from a physical presence to a digital one

~ How countries, like Tuvalu, are rapidly eroding due to climate change and has thus also transitioned from a physical presence to a digital one

You can find our episodes at Podcast - Gakovii.

Technically Biased is also available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, and RSS, among others.

#algorithmicbias⁠⁠ #predatorytech⁠⁠ #TechnicallyBiasedPodcast #Gakovii

This episode, which discusses Liza Mundy’s book, Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II, delves into the history of American women cryptanalysts and code breakers.Tune into this episode to learn:

• How science used pseudoscientific gender biases to justify the exclusion of women

• How Darwin influenced societal gender expectations and beliefs

• The difference between an American housewife and an American woman code breaker

• How education was seen as a bad thing for women to attain

• How educated women saved American troops during WWII

• How the 1950s narrative suggested women want to marry young and the evidence that showed they’d rather work

• How women contributed to a combined ¾ of all code breakers in the American Navy and US Army, during WWII

• How the return of men from war meant women being slowly pushed back into the domestic role

Books referenced:

• Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy

• The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule by Angela Saini

Technically Biased is available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and RSS, among others.You can also check it out on our site at Podcast - Gakovii.You can check out our ⁠website⁠⁠⁠ for more book suggestions.If you like what you hear, feel free to visit our ⁠website⁠⁠ and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠⁠.⁠#algorithmicbias⁠⁠ #predatorytech⁠⁠ #TechnicallyBiasedPodcast #Gakovii

Listen to author and science journalist, Angela Saini, discuss the myth of “The Patriarchy.” Rather than there being only one, there are and always have been many patriarchies. Her research illustrates how some societies used to be more egalitarian than they are today but have been influenced by the strict gender roles of more recent generations. By understanding the below, we may better understand how our perspective on gender influences sexist biases being codified in tech.In this episode, we discuss:

• How “we’re constrained by our own experiences and beliefs” (The Patriarchs, 7)

• How “subservience does not, on the whole, come naturally to people,” and how religion has been used to enforce women’s subservience in society (The Patriarchs, 27, 66)

• Çatalhöyük, one of the oldest settlements in ancient civilization, and their more egalitarian gender roles

• Marija Gimbutas’ theory that patriarchy in Old Europe dates back to around 3000 - 6000 years ago and comes from the Russian steppes

• How Greek history saw its goddesses gradually pushed into the background, while Greek gods came to the frontlines and started displaying more violent tendencies

• How the concept of the American woman was reimagined in the 1950s, to adhere to a more specific housewife trope that had been absent in the previous decades

• How the Native American woman had more rights than American women, and how American civilization took those rights away

• How Iran views transgender people and subsidizes sexual reassignment operations

• Ways that women maintain sexist patriarchal forces

• What it means to “resign ourselves to the systems and institutions we have, even when we know they’re not working,” and the blurry “boundary between choice and coercion” (The Patriarchs, 202)

• How Kyrgyzstan still faces high rates of bride kidnappings - both real and traditional

• Women’s timeless refusal to give into patriarchal oppression

Unfortunately, not enough time could be allotted to cover everything, so do check out Angela Saini’s new book, The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule.Books referenced:

• The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule by Angela Saini

Technically Biased is available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and RSS, among others. You can also check it out on our site at Podcast - Gakovii.You can check out our ⁠website⁠⁠⁠ for more book suggestions.If you like what you hear, feel free to visit our ⁠website⁠⁠ and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠⁠.⁠#algorithmicbias⁠⁠#predatorytech⁠⁠#TechnicallyBiasedPodcast

Second episode of Technically Biased is out now!

Listen to expert ⁠Meredith Broussard⁠ share her knowledge regarding how biases are codified in tech. She will answer all the crazy questions, including:

• What is technochauvinism?

• Why shouldn't we use Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) in policing or EdTech?

• Do the algorithms used to predict recidivism rates ensure that they do not use data on wrongful arrests?

• Why is Google's skin cancer AI racist?

• How do algorithms perpetuate systemic biases, using centuries-old data?

• How did the NFL use bogus race science to perpetuate racism?

• Why do Black people have to be significantly sicker than any other group of people to receive a kidney transplant?

• How do algorithms use student's grades to calculate imaginary scores and the likeliness for said students to commit a crime? How are these predictions racist and classist?

• What is Y2K and Y2GAY?

Unfortunately, not enough time could be allotted to cover all her wisdom, so do check out her new book, More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech!

Check out this episode to find out the answers to the above!

Books referenced:

• More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech by Meredith Broussard

You can check out our ⁠website⁠⁠⁠ for more book suggestions.

If you like what you hear, feel free to visit our ⁠website⁠⁠ and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

Tune in next week for an interview with Angela Saini, who discusses her latest book - The Patriarchs.

⁠#algorithmicbias⁠ ⁠#predatorytech⁠ ⁠#TechnicallyBiasedPodcast

• What is ethical tech vs predatory tech?

• What is algorithmic oppression?

• Can training data be biased?

• Is bias present when mal intent is absent?

• Is it okay if there is no mal intent?

• How does language and history impact the code we write?

• How does perspective influence the technology we build and the people we build technology for?

• Are all people represented in the data equally?

• Is Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) biased / safe to use for all people alike?

• Why does it matter if training data doesn't represent intersectional identities?

• Are the big tech companies perpetuating these biases?

• Should tech companies be held accountable?

Check out this episode to find out the answers to the above!

Books referenced:

• Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell

• More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech by Meredith Broussard

• Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight for Justice at Uber by Susan Fowler

You can check out our ⁠website⁠⁠⁠ for more book suggestions.

If you like what you hear, feel free to visit our ⁠website⁠⁠ and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

Tune in next week for an interview with Meredith Broussard, who discusses her latest book - More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech.

#algorithmicbias⁠ ⁠#predatorytech⁠ ⁠#TechnicallyBiasedPodcast