The Technically Human Podcast

Welcome back to part 2 of our 3-episode series on Changing Minds. In this series, we’re doing something a little bit different. The three episodes of the series focus on the theme of changing minds: what it means to engage in dialogue with people with whom we disagree, sometimes deeply, and the importance of civil discourse, particularly in this deeply polarized national moment. In the first episode, I spoke with Daryl Davis about racism, and how he envisions the possibility of changing the minds of those who believe, and participate in, white supremacist and separatist movements. He talked to me about his work and his views on navigating this particularly fraught moment.

Daryl Davis is a Black singer and author who has facilitated over 200 members of the KKK to leave the organization, simply by befriending them and letting them know who he is. He's big on simply reaching out rather than censorship and has created a deradicalization movement at change.minds.com to help people connect in a civil way online.    

In thinking about the ethics of technology, and in particular, its relationship to our moment of political, cultural, and ideological polarization, the ethics of technology extend far beyond how we use tech. Social media offers the potential for new connections, or new levels of disconnect and partisanship. The ethics and intentions we bring to social media matter, and our approach starts far before we ever sit down at our computer to respond to a Facebook post, or broadcast our views on Twitter. They start with how we imagine, and practice, civil discourse, how we think about meeting other folks where they are, considering the journey that led them to believe as they do.

In my conversations with Daryl, we explore what those ethics can look like, and how they can come to transform our approach to engaging in dialogue with distant others. Distant others can mean geographical distance. It can also mean political distance, ideological distance, or cultural difference. Daryl’s work, and his activism, shows an important alternative to the discord that dominates our current conversation and points us to the possibility of ethical engagement across that distance.

Next week, I sit down with Bill Ottman, the CEO of Minds.com, a social media platform that provides an alternative to Facebook, and that seeks to prioritize privacy, transparency, and open exchange. Building on my conversations with Daryl in the first two episodes, Bill and I explore the relationship between tech and civil discourse, and ways that we all can be part of creating a healthier and more vibrant national conversation—not in spite of our differences and distances, but because of them. 

Here's part 2 of my conversation with Daryl.

Produced by Matt Perry

Artwork by Desi Aleman

For the next few weeks, we’re going to be doing something a little bit different. The next three episodes of the series focus on the theme of changing minds: what it means to engage in dialogue with people with whom we disagree, sometimes deeply, and the importance of civil discourse, particularly in this deeply polarized national moment. In the first two episodes, I speak with Daryl Davis about racism, and how he envisions the possibility of changing the minds of those who believe, and participate in, white supremacist and separatist movements.

Daryl Davis is an Black singer and author who has facilitated over 200 members of the KKK to leave the organization, simply by befriending them and letting them know who he is. He's big on simply reaching out rather than censorship and has created a deradicalization movement at change.minds.com to help people connect in a civil way online.    

Across these two episodes, I talk to Daryl about his work and his views on navigating this particularly fraught moment. In thinking about the ethics of technology, and in particular, its relationship to our moment of political, cultural, and ideological polarization, the ethics of technology extend far beyond how we use tech. Those ethics start far before we ever sit down at our computer to respond to a Facebook post, or broadcast our views on Twitter. They start with how we imagine, and practice, civil discourse. In my conversations with Daryl, we explore what those ethics can look like, and how they can come to transform our approach to engaging in dialogue with distant others. Distant others can mean geographical distance. It can also mean political distance, ideological distance, or cultural difference. Daryl’s work, and his activism, shows an important alternative to the discord that dominates our current conversation, and points us to the possibility of ethical engagement across that distance.

In the third of these episodes, I speak to Bill Otman, the CEO of Minds.com, a social media platform that provides an alternative to Facebook, and that seeks to prioritize privacy, transparency, and open exchange. Between these conversations, and across these 3 episodes, we explore the relationship between tech and civil discourse, and ways that we all can be part of creating a healthier and more vibrant national conversation—not in spite of our differences and distances, but because of them.

Produced by Matt Perry

Artwork by Desi Aleman

In this episode of "Technically Human," I sit down with Dr. Bruce DeBruhl to talk about cybersecurity and the ethics of privacy in our digitally connected world. We discuss the changing concept of privacy as our tech becomes increasingly integrated into the most intimate reaches of our lives, Bruce narrates the history of cybersecurity, and we consider how our colleges are preparing the next generation of tech workers to think about protecting our data and the intimate information we generate each and every day.

Produced by Matt Perry

In this episode of Technically Human, I sit down with Dr. Julie Albright to talk about her new book: Left to Their Own Devices: How Digital Natives Are Reshaping the American Dream. We talk about the way that digital culture is changing the American Dream for the next generation, we discuss how the internet is changing political culture, and Julie explains how our connections to our devices are changing the way we seek partnerships, form relationships, and how romance has been gamified in our world of online dating.

Dr. Julie Albright is a Sociologist specializing in digital culture and communications. She has a Masters Degree in Social and Systemic Studies and a Dual Doctorate in Sociology and Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Southern California. Dr. Albright is currently a Lecturer in the departments of Applied Psychology and Engineering at USC, where She teaches master’s level courses on the Psychology of Interactive Technologies and Sustainable Infrastructure. 

Dr. Albright’s research has focused on the growing intersection of technology and social / behavioral systems.

She is also a sought after keynote speaker, and has given talks for major data center and energy conferences including SAP for Utilities, IBM Global, Data Center Dynamics and the Dept. of Defense. She has appeared as an expert on national media including the Today Show, CNN, NBC Nightly News, CBS, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, NPR Radio and many others. 

Her new book, Left to Their Own Devices: How Digital Natives Are Reshaping the American Dream (Random House/ Prometheus press), investigates the impacts of mobile - social- – digital technologies on society. 

To kick off the 4th season of Technically Human, I sit down with Mohamed Abubakr, the president of the African and Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL), to talk about the present and the future state of democracy worldwide.

We discuss the role of social media in mobilizing democratic movements, including anti-autocratic movements in the Middle East and Africa, and its simultaneous role in the collapse of democratic norms in the United States. We talk about the future of both democracy and online networks, what it means to know of the lives of others virtually, and how global connection creates new possibilities for revolution.

In 2017, Brad Taylor founded "Tech Stands Up," bringing together thousands of technologists to call for change, social activism, and socially responsible leadership in the tech industry, staging a rally on Pi Day (March 14) in the wake of the election of Donald Trump.

In this episode of "Technically Human,' I speak to Brad about what motivated his decision to stand up. We talk about how technologists can leverage their position to demand social change, we discuss the challenges of speaking up, and Brad talks about how he envisions the world that he hopes his kids, and the next generation, will inherit.

Brad Taylor is the founder of the "Tech Stands Up" movement. He is an engineer, founder, and father who has worked in Silicon Valley for the last 15 years building digital marketing tools for some of the world's largest brands.

Brad hosts the Tech Stands Up Podcast, a series dedicated to the intersection of technology and civic engagement at the local, state, and federal levels. He discusses the extraordinary impact new technologies have on our society and how we can solve some of the most challenging problems we face today.

This episode was produced by Matthew Perry.

Malka Older moves between the practice of on-the-ground disaster relief work and the practice of in-the-mind science fiction writing. She converges her experience with real-life dystopias with the imagined dystopias of science-fiction.

In the episode, I ask Malka about how these areas of her work blend together, how she understands the boundaries and the interplay between the real and the imaginary, and the role that science fiction plays in our understanding of tech—its promises and its perils.

We talk about use of science fiction in helping us avoid disasters, the relationship between tech, science fiction, and democracy, and Malka shares her predictions about the future of tech, democracy, and human rights as we move into the future of the 21st century.

Malka Older is a writer, academic, and aid worker. She is currently a Faculty Associate at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society and an Associate Researcher at the Centre de Sociologie des Organisations. Her  science-fiction political thriller Infomocracy was named one of the best books of 2016 by Kirkus, Book Riot, and the Washington Post. She has written opinion pieces for the New York Times, The Nation, Foreign Policy, and NBC Think.

She has more a decade of experience in humanitarian aid and development, ranging from field level experience as a Head of Office in Darfur to supporting global programs and agency-wide strategy as a disaster risk reduction technical specialist. Her doctoral work on the sociology of organizations at the Institut d’Études Politques de Paris (Sciences Po), completed in 2019, explored the dynamics of multi-level governance and disaster response using the cases of Hurricane Katrina and the Japan tsunami of 2011. As part of this work she has been selected as a visiting scholar at Columbia University, on an Alliance Grant, and at the Fletcher School of International Affairs at Tufts University. She has an undergraduate degree in literature from Harvard and a Masters in international relations and economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Johns Hopkins University.

She was named Senior Fellow for Technology and Risk at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs for 2015, and has conducted research for the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) on the human and organizational factors involved in the Fukushima Dai-Ichi crisis. Her research interests include intra-governmental relations in crises; the paradox of well-funded disaster responses; measurement and evaluation of disaster responses; and the effects of competition among actors in humanitarian aid.

This episode was produced by Matthew Perry.

As the counting continues, it becomes clear that the 2020 election may be decided by a handful of voters in a few key states. In the months leading up to the election, Block Power, a nonprofit focused on uplifting Black voices by engaging new and infrequent Black voters in the electoral process, mobilized over 200,000 voters through a grassroots organizing campaign that took place almost exclusively online.

Block Power is a nonprofit focused on uplifting Black voices by engaging new and infrequent Black voters in the electoral process. Their strategy enlists tech-based strategies, including a software platform that makes grassroots get-out-the-vote efforts more efficient, effective, and data-driven.

What is the relationship between technological production and the United States military? What can career technologists learn from service careers? And how can entrepreneurs stay the course of their vision of “doing good,” and also “do well?”

In this episode, I sit down with Ret. Col. Rob Gordon III, now the Chief Growth Officer of SBG Solutions to talk about what the tech sphere can learn from the culture and values of national service.

Robert L. Gordon III has extensive senior management and cross-sector experience in the military, government, high tech, and nonprofit sectors. He is currently the Chief Growth Officer of SBG Technology Solutions, leading SBG's growth and strategy portfolio to expand capabilities in national security and health among SBG’s government clientele.

In 2010 Rob was appointed the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy in the Obama Administration, where Rob was responsible for defense-wide policy, program execution and oversight of more than $20 billion of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) worldwide community and family programs and initiatives affecting over four million military active duty service and family members, and two million retirees. Rob also led the effort to revitalize 160 public schools on US based military installations – a $900 million initiative. For his Pentagon service Rob was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

He is an advisor to several technology startups, and is on the advisory council of Princeton University’s School for Public and International Affairs. Among Rob’s awards and recognitions, he is the recipient of the Bernard Gill Urban Service-Learning Leadership Award from the National Youth Leadership Council; Princeton University's Edward P. Bullard Distinguished Alumnus Award; two awards of the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara; and the Franklin Award by the National Conference on Citizenship.

In this episode of "Technically Human," I talk to Todd Johnson about socially responsible and impact investing. Todd explains why investment is a critical point in the ecosystem of tech production and culture, and he argues that socially responsible investing is not just a growing dimension of the investment market: it is, rather, the future of investing.

We talk about how entrepreneurs can stay ethically motivated while growing, we discuss the challenges of mission drift, and we ask what it means to invest in the future.

R. Todd Johnson us a leader, counselor, advisor, lawyer and mentor. iPar, built by the CAPROCK Group, is a multi-family office that deploys more than $1 billion for impact. During his 29 years as a lawyer, partner and leader at Jones Day, Todd founded the Firm’s Northern California presence and served as the founder and Global Head for its Renewable Energy and Sustainability practice, where he served companies, funds, family offices, multi-family offices and nonprofits focused on renewable energy, sustainability, and models designed to help our planet and its people to flourish. 

Todd serves on the Boards of Directors of Activate Global (a nonprofit working to activate the world’s innovators to redefine how science serves society and sustains the planet, offering fellowships with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Lincoln Labs at MIT) and ImpactAlpha (providing investment news for a sustainable edge).