Raw Data

How are algorithms and data science making their way into the American criminal justice system? The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, and it’s clear from the statistics that minorities – most notably, black Americans – are locked up at disproportionate rates. So there are good reasons to take a close look at how new technologies are creeping into police departments and courts. Perhaps we can "code" for more equality and fairness by taking some decision making power away from humans and giving it to algorithms...but given this country’s inescapable history of discrimination, do we run the risk of ossifying a system that some describe as “the new Jim Crow?" Thank you so much for listening to this season of Raw Data. This episode is our season finale! We’ll be back in a few months. Please get in touch with feedback and episode ideas anytime at rawdatapodcast@gmail.com. Peace – Leslie & Mike

There are A LOT of unanswered questions right now about Russia’s role in the 2016 election. Whether it’s actually hacking into the DNC servers or more subtly spreading misinformation online, there’s widespread meddling afoot. Online information was weaponized in a targeted way, and this is new. In today’s episode, we think critically about what cybersecurity means and how Russia’s recent history brought us to this moment.

It's been a minute since we've checked in on the world's favorite cryptocurrency – Bitcoin! And man oh man is there a lot of upheaval in Bitcoin-land. The price is soaring, the SEC is debating, and other crypto-coins are on the move. Will Bitcoin and other blockchains pave the way for a new financial system, a global computer, a new and better “Internet of value,” or all of the above? Hard to know what happens next, but keep an eye out. Bitcoin is lurking...

Let’s face it – there’s a lot of bulls**t flying around on the Internet. But where is it all coming from? This week, we tackle fake news, propaganda, and misinformation from a few different angles. We talk to BuzzFeed’s Craig Silverman, who was one of the first reporters to break the story about a cottage industry of fake news run out of Macedonia. Then we meet Stanford Communication Professor Jennifer Pan, who is pioneering new ways of probing the censorship and propaganda machine in China. Throughout the episode, Jeff Hancock, a Stanford expert on trust and technology, helps us understand how all of us are being shaped by the new information economy. Craig Silverman's BuzzFeed article: http://bzfd.it/2lisq7J Jennifer Pan's website: http://jenpan.com/ Jeff Hancock's website: http://jeff-hancock.com/ Learn more about Worldview Stanford's Science of Decision Making course: http://stanford.io/2mfYxJE

There are massive changes underway in Hollywood – and a lot of the disruption is being driven by big data. In this week’s episode, we’re taking a deep dive into the ways companies like Netflix and Amazon are mounting a threat to the traditional studio powerhouses (think Disney, Sony, etc.) We meet Michael Smith, a professor at Carnegie Mellon who tells us about the “perfect storm” of tech forces hitting Hollywood. For more insight on how exactly Netflix is using customer data, we talk to their director of content science and algorithms, Todd Holloway. We take a peek into the inner workings of this new entertainment industry and how it’s creating the current golden age of binge-worthy entertainment.

On the Internet there’s a never-ending, epic battle to catch – and keep – your attention. We don't really think about it much, but attention is a precious and personal resource, and these days the name of the game is to monetize your attention through clicks and shares. Today on the show, we talk to Tim Wu, author of "The Attention Merchants." He explains how attention is the essential currency of the Internet, and that the stakes are not merely an ad-filled online experience, but in fact our very ability to preserve and independently determine our own mental spaces. We also chat with Byron Reeves, a Stanford professor whose research involves taking a screenshot of participants’ laptops every – five – seconds. This unprecedented view into where we go when we go online, and how we move around, will make you wonder how we ever get anything done.

It’s nearly impossible to know if you're having a truly private, unmonitored conversation today. Big data and online communications open the door for widespread surveillance. But even if you feel like you personally have nothing to hide, surveillance is about much more than individual privacy – it’s about the necessary conditions of a free and just society, and protecting a space to criticize the status quo and the powers that be. Today on the show, we hear three perspectives about how privacy is fundamental to free speech and freedom of the press, and how those foundations of democracy are being shaken and pushed by government surveillance programs.

Welcome to Season 2 of Raw Data! There's been a lot of buzz about big data in the past few years. The success of companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon has helped fuel the growth of second generation data companies seeking insights in data like miners hoping to strike gold. But is all this data we’re collecting really that valuable? What will our daily lives be like if the big data promise is fulfilled – or for that matter, if it fails? Music: “From the Outset,” (Raw Data theme) Nick Carlozzi “Gentle Whispering (radio edit)”, Lee Rosevere “White Lotus,” Kevin MacLeod

We’ve reached the end of Season 1 of Raw Data! (Don’t worry, there’s a second season coming soon.) In this episode, producers Mike and Leslie break from the usual format, and sit down in studio for a conversation with Worldview Director Brie Linkenhoker. They reflect on the big ideas, issues, and questions that cut across Season 1, especially as it relates to how our everyday decisions – both big and small – are increasingly being shaped by data and algorithms.

Language is a window into our minds. So with all the digital text trails we're creating these days, what can we learn about our inner psychology, mental health, and well-being? In this episode: how Twitter language correlates with heart disease, what insights can be captured in crisis counseling text conversations, and a glimpse of the future of therapy.

LOVE!! Why is it so hard to find?! The seemingly endless options of online dating should make it easy, right? Is there data that can predict lasting love? Argh!! Maybe we just haven’t digitized the right information yet? Who knows. So many questions.

What happens to our data when we die? Digital estate planning is becoming an increasingly important topic, though many of our laws have not yet caught up. These days, we leave behind entire histories of our lives online, which can hold both monetary and sentimental value for our family and friends. Through the lens of death, we can also begin to appreciate the value of our digital histories for civil society more broadly.

How do you get your news – and how do you think your news gets to you? The pathway of information flow involves layers of decisions that in many ways are opaque. So are we achieving the universal access to all knowledge that the early Internet idealists had hoped for, or are we increasingly seeing the world through filters that we're not even aware of?

As we hear over and over again, environmental issues are mounting, and the stakes are huge. So how might big data be used to tackle the issues of sustainability, climate change, habitat loss, and species extinction? And even more than that, can it offer us new ways of engaging in a relationship with nature?

Are we addicted to the Internet? Is it even appropriate to use the language of addiction about smartphones and other digital devices? After all, tech companies intentionally appeal to human nature – our desire to connect with others, our boredom, our love of surprise, our loneliness – to hook us onto their products. So how much responsibility do they hold in all this?