The Intersection of Things

How is our culture informed by war? How has tech changed its myths and stories? We talk about the real-timeness of war footage, and military funding of Hollywood from Top Gun to the Avengers. Plus, can Google’s employee walkouts stop its defense contracts? What are our own roles in conflict? What happens when war looks inward and police are militarised? We speak to Scott Timcke, lecturer in political economy, about all this and more.

For full footnotes visit: https://www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep18-warfare

Rural places are often presented as “left behind”, especially when it comes to technology. But is that really the case? We speak to rural innovator Ashleigh Weeden for her incredible insights about the intersections of the rural and the digital.

What is rural data, and can it be a matter of national security? What are the tech innovations that cities are copying from rural places? What can robotics in agriculture tell us about privacy? Are people more ‘free’ outside urban places? Plus, what do Queer Eye and Taylor Swift tell us about rural representation, and when sunflowers need to hide from social media.

For full footnotes visit: https://www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep17-rural

Who was Henrietta Lacks? Are DNA tests the new astrology? What’s really happening with all the data genealogy companies are gathering? And why are they so popular? A lot of debunked “science” from the 1800s about our faces and our families is being treated as though this time it could be right, rather than racist, because “the tech is better.” We discuss the facial recognition ‘gaydar’ study aka 21st century physiognomy, forensic genetics, and the scammers claiming your genes can predict income.

Find the full footnotes at: www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep16-ancestry

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Intersection of Things: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch

What is fanfiction? Who is making it? What’s the tumblr apocalypse and how has it changed fan community?  And what on earth is a "tag-wrangler"? We talk with scholar and writer Milena Popova about all of these questions, and their research on fanfic and consent, the nature of trusting authors, and who owns stories. We also discuss the digital project and fan-owned Archive of Our Own, which is successfully doing incredible things with its tech, as well as with its culture.

Find the full footnotes at: www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep15-fanfiction

FIND US!

Intersection of Things: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch

Find more from Milena PopovaTwitter: @elmyraPatreon account: patreon.com/elmyra

What is a smart city? What is digital gentrification? Did apps kill the gay bar? And what do bats have in common with this whole conversation? In this episode we take a look at cities and how technology is shaping the spaces we inhabit... and shaping us. First episode of 2019!

Find the full footnotes at: www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep14-cities

FIND US!

Intersection of Things: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch

The 'twentygayteen' year in review. We talk about our episodes from the last year, what we thought about differently, what we learnt more about since then. Plus thank a bunch of people who made this possible, including you.

Find us: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch

How do novels predicting the future influence the tech we’re making right now? Who are the writers creating science fiction novels for the military, and why? Whose future does sci-fi imagine? Why is space always being “colonised” in literature? We interview author of “Nigerians in Space” and “After the Flare” Deji Bryce Olukotun for his insights on these questions and more.

Footnotes: www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep12-scifi

Find us: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Deji Bryce Olukotun @dejiridoo

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch

How did Peppa Pig videos get controversial? Can you control photos of your kids on Facebook? How is technology loved by stalkers being marketed to parents? We also talk about Elf on the Shelf, adult content filters in the UK, how we are all in the business of parenting, and if we can please just avoid falling into moral panic.

Full footnotes: https://www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep11-parenting

Find us: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch

Is the “death of cash” a good thing? What happens when we use algorithms to decide how much things cost? What exactly is the deal with Bitcoin, and how are bros using it to profit from the hurricane in Puerto Rico? In our episode on Money we also chat about the "illusion" that is designer clothes, the theatre of branding, and the brilliant economic theory found in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.

Footnotes: www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep10-money

FIND US!

Intersection of Things: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch

Who do we put up on our 'rockstar' pedestals? How does genius status and disruption ideology in the tech sector create the conditions for workplace harassment and abuse? "Move fast, and break things" was Facebook's motto - does the attitude include people too? We interview whistleblower, security expert and all-round badass Leigh Honeywell for her wisdom on these challenging questions, and talk about our experiences with power dynamics in the tech sector.

Content warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual abuse and bullying.

Footnotes: www.theintersectionofthings.com/episodes/ep9-rockstars

FIND US!

Intersection of Things: @thingsintersect

www.theintersectionofthings.com

Ruth Coustick-Deal: @nesient

Marianela Ramos Capelo: @undazedandsuch