The Algocracy and Transhumanism Podcast (Episodes 2016)

Guests in 2016. (Top row left to right: Aaron Wright; Laura Cabrera; Evan Selinger; Hannah Maslen; Karen Levy) (Middle row: James Hughes; Sabina Leonelli; Anders Sandberg; David Gunkel; Sven Nyholm; Brett Frischmann) (Bottom row: Tal Zarsky; Deborah Lupton; Nicole Vincent; Rachel O'Dwyer; Rick Searle)

I've been doing a podcast since April of this year (2016). It's part of a research project I am running at NUI Galway about algocracy and transhumanism. I think I've covered a broad range of interesting topics with my guests so far. Here's a list of all episodes to date. You can listen by clicking on the links or the player underneath the description. You can also subscribe to the podcast here and here.

#1 - Tal Zarsky on the Ethics of Big Data and Predictive Analytics: Covers basic definitions of big data and predictive analytics and then discusses issues surrounding the fairness and efficiency of such systems. Listen here or below.

#2 - James Hughes on the Transhumanist Political Project: Covers the history of transhumanist thought, its origins in the Enlightenment project, and its modern variations. Listen here or below.


#3 - Sven Nyholm on Love Drugs, Deep Brain Stimulation and Self Driving Cars: Covers the use of enhancement drugs to improve interpersonal relationships, the ways in which DBS can affect personal identity and why the trolley problem is a bad starting point for debates about self-driving cars. Listen here or below.

#4 - Evan Selinger on Algorithmic Outsourcing and the Value of Privacy: Covers the ethics of personal automation software and the critical question of whether privacy is dead in an age of mass surveillance. Listen here or below.

#5- Hannah Maslen on the Ethics of Neurointerventions: Covers attempts to directly interfere with the brain and their ethical implications. Particular attention is paid to how neurointerventions affect autonomy, responsibility and regret. Listen here or below.

#6 - Deborah Lupton on Understanding the Quantified Self: Covers the emergence of the Quantified Self movement, its manifestations and its social and ethical consequences. Listen here o below.

#7 - Brett Frischmann on Reverse Turing Tests and Machine-Like Humans: Covers the classic Turing test (when is a machine like a human?) and Frischmann's proposed inverse test (when is a human like a machine?). Listen here or below.

#8 - Karen Levy on the Rise of Intimate Surveillance: Covers self-tracking technologies that are directed at intimate behaviours (finding partners, quantifying sex, romance and fertility, and covert surveillance of partners). Listen here or below.

#9 - Rachel O'Dwyer on Bitcoin, Blockchain and the Digital Commons: Covers the concept of the digital commons, the nature of money, the tracking of transactional data, and the potential for blockchain-based currencies. Listen here or below.


#10 - David Gunkel on Robots and Cyborgs: Covers robot personhood, responsibility and patiency, as well as the cyborgification of humans. Listen here or below.


#11 - Sabina Leonelli on Big Data and Science: Covers the ways in which big data systems are being used in scientific inquiry and challenges the claim that they are revolutionising the process. Listen here or below.

#12 - Rick Searle on the Dark Side of Transhumanism: Covers the political-philosophical musings of Zoltan Istvan, Steve Fuller and the neo-reactionary movements. Listen here or below.


#13 - Laura Cabrera on Enhancement, Communication and Human Values: Covers the potential impact of enhancement technologies on interpersonal communication and important human values. Listen here or below.

#14 - Aaron Wright on Blockchains and the Law: Covers the nature of blockchain technologies, its potential uses and its social and legal implications. Listen here or below.

#15 - Nicole Vincent on Neurointerventions and Happiness: Covers the philosophical definition of happiness, the role of scientific advice in the pursuit of happiness and the possibility of radical personal transformation. Listen here or below.

#16 - Anders Sandberg on the Ethics of Time Compression in Computing: Covers the increase in computing speed and the consequences of the widening speed mismatch between computers and humans. Listen here or below.