The following audio files were selected from a larger group of 136 for the last week. The link to each podcast is at the highlighted topic and reached by double-clicking or ctrl-clicking the topic. All 17 podcasts converted to 1.5x speed can also be downloaded as a single 92 MB zip file here for four months (vs 370 MB, below). Accumulations of these are discussed at the end of this episode.
Avastin Price 32 mins – “This week on White Coat, Black Art with Dr. Brian Goldman: Putting a price on life. 54-year old Jamie McKinley is dying from a rare brain tumour. There is hope in a new drug called Avastin which seems to be helping others like him live longer. But there’s a catch. The cancer drug costs 10-thousand dollars a month, and the province where he lives — New Brunswick — doesn’t cover the cost. Jamie McKinley does not want to bankrupt his family to pay for it.” At the link locate the title, “The Price of Life,” right-click “whitecoat_20121027_87352.mp3” and select “Save File As” to download the file.
Spread Spectrum 26 mins – “Dewayne Hendricks is a serial entrepreneur, innovator, and wireless expert. Wired magazine labeled him a broadband cowboy back in 2001. And he is our guest on the 18th episode of Community Broadband Bits. Our discussion focuses on the promise of wireless technologies and how a few entrenched interests in DC (the big broadcasters and wireless telephone companies like AT&T) are preventing innovative approaches that would dramatically improve the capability of all our modern technologies. Hendricks is a prolific tweeter that comes highly recommended from us. And he has kindly recommended two papers readers may want to read following our conversation: David Weinberger’s “The myth of interference” and Paul Baran’s “False Scarcity” [PDF].” At the link you can listen on-line or download the program via the iTune link. It’s also included in the zipped file link at the top of this episode.
Facebookistan 52 mins – “An Austrian man who got Facebook to give him everything they had on him, a writer whose rapist friended her on Facebook, the value of a “Like.” Life in Facebookistan: Writer Rebecca MacKinnon has compared Facebook to a country, she calls it Facebookistan. Facebookistan has 1 billion people, and an economy that rivals many countries’. Brooke and Bob talk to Jillian York and Clay Shirky about the contours of Facebookistan, and how it affects life in the actual world we live in. Facebook v. Europe: Europe has long taken a harder line towards global internet companies who make privacy incursions against their users and Facebook is no exception. In the last few months, a couple of high-profile cases have seen European privacy fears realized. We asked Marketplace reporter Christopher Werth to talk to a few of the people in Europe who’ve run up against Facebook recently to see if their experiences might tell us something about Facebook’s prospective practices in the US. China’s Fake Facebooks: Facebook is blocked in China –but that hasn’t prevented homegrown Facebook knock-off sites from sprouting. And even on China’s fake Facebooks, real conversations about politics and culture are occurring every day. Jeremy Goldkorn, who monitors Chinese media at his website, talks to Bob about life on China’s fake Facebooks. That Little Thing Called “Like”: The Facebook “Like” button has ventured beyond the pages of Facebook. Now, not only can you tell your friends that you “Like” their comments, photos and status updates, you can also tell third-party site how much you “Like” a blog post or news article. Bob explores the meaning of a Facebook “Like.” Facebook versus the Epiphanator: As popular as Facebook is, it has its share of detractors, especially among public intellectuals. Novelist Jonathan Franzen spoke for many when he said that platforms like Facebook are “great allies and enablers of narcissism” and that “to friend a person is merely to include the person in our private hall of flattering mirrors.” Where’s this frustration coming from? Is it fair? Writer Paul Ford talks to Brooke about an essay he wrote last year that sought to answer that question.” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” to download the file.
Startup Concerns 66 mins – “Drawing on a decade of research and interviews with company founders, Harvard Business School Associate Professor Noam Wasserman explores many of the momentous early decisions and pitfalls faced by entrepreneurs and investors. Wasserman outlines paths and options for founders, with an emphasis on the frequently challenging people issues that can inhibit startup success.” At the link locate the title, “The Founder’s Dilemmas – Noam Wasserman,” right-click “Media files wasserman121031.mp3” and select “Save Link As” to download the file.
Health Policy Politics 27 mins – “U.S. health care suffers from three major problems: millions of people go without insurance, health care costs are rising at unaffordable rates, and the quality of care is not what it should be. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) primarily addresses the first — and easiest — of these problems by expanding coverage to a substantial number of the uninsured. Solutions to the other two remain aspirations and promises… When Mitt Romney campaigned in 2002 to become governor of Massachusetts, he offered no hint that he would lead the enactment of the most consequential state health care reform law in U.S. history. Yet as early as February 2003, Governor Romney began to intimate his intention to engineer the law promising near-universal health insurance coverage that was enacted in 2006. Though plans touted in campaign rhetoric often differ from subsequent policy actions, this gap is especially relevant in considering potential federal health policy under a President Romney.” At the link locate the “Audio Interview,” right-click “Download” and select “Save File As.”
Shirley Sherrod 17 mins – “Shirley Sherrod was forced out of the Department of Agriculture because of a misleading video. An edited clip appeared to show her saying she didn’t want to help white farmers save their land. But the entire speech made it clear that Sherrod was actually saying racism is wrong. She talks with host Michel Martin about her book The Courage To Hope.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As.”
Poverty Solution 10 mins – “With 46 million Americans living in poverty, many observers question whether there are new strategies to help the poor. MacArthur “genius” recipient Maurice Lim Miller is the founder of the Family Independence Initiative, an anti-poverty group. He talks with guest host Celeste Headlee about his innovative approach to the issue.” Another interview for 8 mins, here, adds more detail. At the links right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As.”
Native Americans 18 mins – “More than five million people in the U.S. claim some form of Native American identity, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. November is Native American Heritage Month and host Michel Martin kicks it off with the first in a series of conversations with author Anton Treuer. He talks about who is Native American and how that identity is determined.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As.”
Entrepreneurship and Innovation 60 mins – “This special presentation features a panel of Stanford alumni reflecting on their personal entrepreneurial experiences at Stanford and in the vibrant Silicon Valley ecosystem. This conversation follows a presentation of remarkable results from the Stanford Innovation Survey, measuring the economic impact of Stanford alumni engaged in entrepreneurial activity.” Seven panel members participate. At the link click on “Podcast” then right-click “Download MP3” and select “Save Link As.”
Mobile Entrepreneurship 84 mins – “Entrepreneurship is crucial for economic development around the world. In places such as Nigeria, Egypt, and Indonesia, micro-entrepreneurs generate 38 percent of the gross domestic product. Data studies show that small businesses create a disproportionate share of new jobs, generating innovative ideas, business models, and methods for selling goods and services. Mobile devices are invaluable tools for entrepreneurs to overcome the challenges of doing business. They help people communicate with one another, access market information, sell products across geographic areas, reach new consumers, access mobile payment systems, and empower women and the disadvantaged. ” At the link click the “Audio” tab, right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As.”
Henrietta Lacks Book 33 mins – “This week, the DoubleX Audio Book Club discusses The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which tells the amazing story of a Baltimore woman who died of cancer, but whose cells—which seemed to have some magical power to multiply—were used to power a host of medical advances. In the meantime, author Rebecca Skloot finds out, her own children do not have health insurance and barely understand what an amazing contribution their mother’s cells have made. DoubleX co-editor Hanna Rosin praises this book as a model work of nonfiction. Her fellow editor Emily Bazelon puzzles over whether people should have any right to be compensated when their cells are used in the service of science. New Yorker writer Margaret Talbot is moved by the final scene, in which Skloot takes the family into the lab to see their mother’s cells under a microscope.” At the link right-click “audio file here” and select “Save Link As.”
Web Programming 46 mins – “In this week’s episode, Sean and Randy from beAutomated.com and I chat about the keys to enjoy web programming. In order to be a successful programmer, you will have to enjoy your work, break it down into manageable pieces and write it so others can read it. Listen to the show to learn more! Here is the outline we discussed: The way to enjoy programming is to work in “bite sized chunks” of code, code that provides a single service…. Earlier on, the key to keeping code scalable was the use of objects, and object oriented programming techniques…. Object oriented programming led into standardized frameworks and model-viewcontroller frameworks…. WordPress provides what you might call “master objects”…. We always preach about the need to keep design/layout/style code within themes or child themes, and any functional/logical code within Plugins…. Developers prefer managing modules that they can easily comprehend the purpose and structure of, especially as multiple developers get involved.” More details are at the link where the audio file can be copies by clicking “Download” and selecting “Save Link As.”
Moonwalking with Einstein 36 mins- “In this week’s audio book club, Slate‘s Daniel Engber, David Plotz, and Hanna Rosin discuss Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein, about his quest to compete in the U.S. Memory Championships, and what he learned about the human brain along the way. The editors discuss whether Foer proves that these memory techniques are useful just for this freakish subculture or have wider applicability. They also discuss Foer’s impressive reporting on Daniel Tammett, who claims to be a savant. Engber recommends the book especially for older people who might think memory loss is inevitable.” At the link download the file by selecting “Save Link As.”
Hiroshima Survivor 19 mins – “In early August of 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi had a run of the worst luck imaginable. A double blast of radiation left his future, and the future of his descendants, in doubt. In this short: an utterly amazing survival story that spans … well, 4 billion years when you get down to it. On the morning of August 6th, 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a work trip. He was walking to the office when the first atomic bomb was dropped about a mile away. He survived, and eventually managed to get himself onto a train back to his hometown … Nagasaki. The very next morning, as he tried to convince his boss that a single bomb could destroy a whole city, the second bomb dropped. Sam Kean, whose latest book The Violinist’s Thumb scrutinizes the mysteries of our genetic code, tells Jad and Robert the incredible story of what happened to Tsutomu, explains how gamma rays shred DNA, and helps us understand how Tsutomu sidestepped a thousand year curse.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As.”
Boy Kings of Texas 51 mins – “Domingo Martinez is the only author without a Pulitzer Prize to be nominated for this year’s National Book Award. He joins Diane to discuss his memoir about growing up between two cultures on the border of Texas and Mexico.” You can listen online and view a transcript, but not download the program; however, it’s included with the zipped collection at the top of this edition.
Hyperinflation 66 mins – “Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins and the Cato Institute talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about hyperinflation and the U.S. fiscal situation. Hanke argues that despite the seemingly aggressive policies of the Federal Reserve over the last four years, there is currently little or no risk of serious inflation in the United States. His argument is that broad measures of the money supply lag well below their trend level. While high-powered reserves have indeed expanded dramatically, they have not increased sufficiently to offset reductions in bank money, in part because of requirements imposed by Basel III. So, the overall money supply, broadly defined, has fallen. Hanke does argue that the current fiscal path of the United States poses a serious threat to economic stability. The conversation closes with a discussion of hyperinflation in Iran–its causes and what might eventually happen as a result.” At the link locate the title,”Hanke on Hyperinflation, Monetary Policy, and Debt, right-click “Hankehyperinflation.mp3” and select “Save File As” to download.
Over 120 feeds used to prepare this weekly blog are harvested with Feedreader3. The feeds are available in this opm file. A PDF of feeds is also available. Free Commander is used each week to compare old with new downloads and remove any duplicates. MP3SpeedChanger is applied to podcast batches to change playback speed to 1.5x. A speed listening background article is here. Sixty-four podcasts for 2010 and earlier at 1.5x are listed alphabetically in this PDF and can be downloaded in two sections as zip files, Part 1 and Part 2, each holding about 350 MB. For 2011 an alphabetical PDF list of 184 podcasts at 1.5x is available, and can be downloaded in five segments. A similar list and downloads for 362 podcasts for Jan-Jun 2012 is here. Podcasts are grouped into zipped files for easier downloading and segmented due to a 300MB limit on file uploads. A similar group for the last half of 2012 will be available in Jan 2013. A commenter recommended this $1.99 iPhone/iPad app for mobile devices; leave a comment if you try it. Please comment on any problems with the links and downloads.
Media Mining Digest 
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