ioRadio - The Technology and Ethics Podcast

ioRadio.org

ioRadio is a podcast that talks about tech and other social issues from a scientific/ethical perspective. We routinely address important social/tech issues and interview thought leaders in the space, as well as random shows on various interesting and entertaining topics. There's a dash of humor and cynicism, but always with the emphasis on science, logic, reason and ethics. read less
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Episodes

IO Radio #21: Trapped on Planet Crypto-Bro!
Dec 15 2023
IO Radio #21: Trapped on Planet Crypto-Bro!
In this special extended episode of ioRadio, Adam and Sal, in an effort to establish peace and solidarity with a strange new alien race, unknowingly travel to the planet... CRYPTO BRO... Originally thought to be residents of planet Earth, the real world, they discover they are not in the same place. Follow us on this strange journey, where the "specific" is strangely "abstract." Where "permanence" and "reliability" manifest into "utility" and "value" despite not actually being qualified. We attempt to find some kind of common ground with a bona fide crypto enthusiast who proves to be as evasive and slithery as the fearsom Dianoga, changing the subject with incredible speed, moving laterally as soon as they sense they're near a corner, hiding behind huge abstractions that nobody completely understands. In order to make sense of this strange alien encounter we had to fabricate a special new technology, the "Vague Abstraction Meter" which tracked our guest's nimble verbal moves in real time so we could attempt to gain some common ground. Watch the video and our new (potentially disruptive technology), the "Vague Abstraction Meter." Warning: Listening to his podcast may possibly be in violation of OSHA standards of intellectual stability. We apologize. Watch: https://youtu.be/flhXtiLJhTw Visit our web site for more: https://ioRadio.org Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube at: https://youtube.com/americanscreamvideo?sub_confirmation=1
IO Radio #19: Peter Howson, Researcher and Author of "Let Them Eat Crypto"
Nov 7 2023
IO Radio #19: Peter Howson, Researcher and Author of "Let Them Eat Crypto"
Dr. Peter Howson is a professor of International Development and a researcher who's worked around the world on projects related to environmental sustainability in the global south. We recently sat down with him to discuss his new book, "Let Them Eat Crypto." When he first heard about blockchain through his NGO partners, he bought into the hype that the technology could help solve some of the problems he was seeing in his field. He soon discovered that instead of a solution, blockchain based crypto projects offer a vehicle through which the ultra-wealthy exploit the poor and enrich themselves at the expense of the most vulnerable. Peter wrote the book, in part, to make amends for his initial enthusiasm about blockchain, and the conclusions he presents are a scathing indictment of the industry who promotes its spread. Howson disassembles crypto's core narratives by putting their greed, flagrant hypocrisy, and utter contempt for other humans on display, and demonstrates that from green washing fraudulent carbon credits, to crypto colonizers displacing indigenous populations, to recruiting impoverished children into financial schemes, all of blockchain's "solutions" are ultimately "Scammydocious." Get the book: https://www.peterhowson.org/book Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk21ySBLhM4 Visit our web site for more: https://ioRadio.org Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube at: https://youtube.com/americanscreamvideo?sub_confirmation=1