Exercise your ears: the 81 podcasts shown below present the best ideas, information and stories from a larger group of 767 for the week, to hear while your hands and eyes are busy. Get all the files as a group for the next four months here, or double (ctrl-click) individual titles to get single podcasts and explore the source. A collection of (25,388) podcasts, listed alphabetically and grouped by topic, can be downloaded piecemeal, with files A-E at this link, and the remainder here. You’ll be limited to a 4GB maximum per download at the last place, so multiple group downloads will be needed to get all files, totaling over 160GB and may take a few hours. The first entry in the collection is a text file with just titles for quicker reference. A collection of abstracts for all the podcasts is available at this link and updated quarterly. Get the discarded material, too, using a podcast aggregator loaded with this opml file of the 503 sources. And try PodcastRE from the University of Wisconsin with over 150,000 titles. Exercise your ears and relax the rest.
African Immigrant 8 mins – “Michael Rain is on a mission to tell the stories of first-generation immigrants, who have strong ties both to the countries they grew up in and their countries of origin. In a personal talk, he breaks down the mischaracterizations and limited narratives of immigrants and shares the stories of the worlds they belong to. “We’re walking melting pots of culture,” Rain says. “If something in that pot smells new or different to you, don’t turn up your nose. Ask us to share.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
AI Assistants – “Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and big data, voice assistants like Siri and Alexa touch more of our lives than ever before. But what happens when these relationships become personal? And could a smart speaker be used to outsmart us?” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
AI Controls 21 mins – “Amy Webb calls herself a quantitative futurist. A professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, she uses her knowledge of game theory, sociology, programming and economics to imagine what’s next. And she’s deeply concerned about the lack of controls around artificial intelligence.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
AI Impact 11 mins – “Roy Bahat was worried. His company invests in new technology like AI to make businesses more efficient — but, he wondered, what was AI doing to the people whose jobs might change, go away or become less fulfilling? The question sent him on a two-year research odyssey to discover what motivates people, and why we work. In this conversation with curator Bryn Freedman, he shares what he learned, including some surprising insights that will shape the conversation about the future of our jobs.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
AI Impact by Garry Kasparov 24 mins – “Twenty years after losing to Deep Blue, the former world chess champion says that intelligent machines will promote their human makers to management rather than replace them.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
AI Impact on Jobs 23 mins – “Artificial intelligence will change all of our jobs, according to IBM’s Chief Executive. But will the technology augment workers or replace them? Ms. Rometty spoke with WSJ Editor in Chief Matt Murray at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
AI Impact on Life 21 mins – “Ask a layman about artificial intelligence and they might point to sci-fi villains such as HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey or the Terminator. But the co-founders of the AI Now Institute, Meredith Whittaker and Kate Crawford, want to change the conversation. Instead of talking about far-flung super-intelligent AI, they argued on the latest episode of Recode Decode, we should be talking about the ways AI is affecting people right now, in everything from education to policing to hiring. Rather than killer robots, you should be concerned about what happens to your résumé when it hits a program like the one Amazon tried to build. “They took two years to design, essentially, an AI automatic résumé scanner,” Crawford said. “And they found that it was so biased against any female applicant that if you even had the word ‘woman’ on your résumé that it went to the bottom of the pile.” That’s a classic example of what Crawford calls “dirty data.” Even though people think of algorithms as being fair and free of human bias, Whittaker explained, biased humans are the ones who create the data sets and the code that decides how that data should be evaluated; that doesn’t mean AI is useless, but she and Crawford said we need to be interrogating how it is being made and deployed in the real world. “The harms are not evenly distributed, but this is in our lives, right?” Whittaker asked. “There are license-plate profiling AIs that are sort of tracking people as they go over different bridges in New York. You have systems that are determining which school your child gets enrolled in. You have automated essay scoring systems that are determining whether it’s written well enough. Whose version of written English is that? And what is it rewarding or not? What kind of creativity can get through that?” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
AI in Daily Lives 21 mins – “Amy Webb calls herself a quantitative futurist. A professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, she uses her knowledge of game theory, sociology, programming and economics to imagine what’s next. And she’s deeply concerned about the lack of controls around artificial intelligence.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Algorithm Ethics 12 mins – “AI algorithms make important decisions about you all the time — like how much you should pay for car insurance or whether or not you get that job interview. But what happens when these machines are built with human bias coded into their systems? Technologist Kriti Sharma explores how the lack of diversity in tech is creeping into our AI, offering three ways we can start making more ethical algorithms.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Allen Ginsburg 54 mins – “Allen Ginsberg’s landmark poem “Howl” is one of the 20th Century’s most important poems, one that would jolt a society and awaken a generation. We encounter it and often wrestle with it in school. We hear lines of it quoted in speeches. We sometimes hear it recited on solemn or momentous occasions. Some of us might even read some from time to time just for pleasure. But for most of us, most of the time, poetry plays a marginal role in our lives. So marginal that it’s easy to forget that many of the oldest, most enduring and most influential cultural artifacts in the world are poetry: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad and The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Beowulf, the poetry of Rumi and on and on. Those are poems upon which entire cultures have substantially been built. But poetry has done much more than built national myths and defined cultures. It has the capacity to inspire and enthrall, to befuddle and infuriate. It can electrify a society, make you see the world with fresh eyes, or simply leave you mystified.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Altruism Gold Coat Program 54 mins – “Helping others feels good, but why do some go farther than others? This hour, TED speakers explore ideas about altruism — what motivates us to be altruistic, what limits us and do we ever go too far.” At the link you can listen, but multiple downloads are required for the entire program; however, all of it is in one file in this blog archive.
Benazir Bhutto Assassination 52 mins – “It is one of the world’s great unsolved murders. Ten years ago, Pakistan’s most prominent politician, a woman people would form human chains to protect from assassins, died in a suicide blast. The intervening years have brought allegations, arrests and a UN inquiry – but not one murder conviction. The victim was Benazir Bhutto. The Bhuttos are to Pakistan what the Kennedys are to the US: a powerful political dynasty, a family that inspire love and hate; a name that carries glamour and intrigue – Benazir was just the latest in a long line of Bhuttos to be murdered. With exclusive inside access to the official investigation and a shelf load of leaked, secret documents, The Assassination looks at what happened and why; what we know and what we don’t. The story spans the globe, from Pakistan to the US, to the Gulf and the UK, and hears from the victim, her family and the accused. The series was first released as a podcast. It won gold at the 2018 British Podcast Awards. It made the iTunes charts in seven countries, reaching number one in the UK. Listeners have left hundreds of glowing online reviews: “brilliant” … “fascinating” … “gripping.” Through the mystery of this murder we reveal a little of how Pakistan works. The Assassination is a portrait of a woman and the country she would rule by a man who knows both as well as any British journalist, Owen Bennett Jones.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Blackface History 34 mins – “Nathan talks with historian Rhae Lynn Barnes about Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s 1984 yearbook page and its link to a long and disturbing history of blackface minstrelsy. They discuss how white civic organizations used minstrel shows for fundraising, why the era known as Jim Crow is named after a minstrel character, and what must happen to prevent people from donning blackface going forward. THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SOME LANGUAGE THAT PEOPLE MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE.” At the link right-click “Download” and select ‘Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Blind Wearable Tech 8 mins – “Keith Kirkland is developing wearable tech that communicates information using only the sense of touch. He’s trying to figure out: What gestures and vibration patterns could intuitively communicate ideas like “stop” or “go”? Check out his team’s first product, a navigation device for the blind and visually impaired, and learn more about the entirely new “haptic language” he’s creating to power it.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Blockchain Book 16 mins – “What if the next big thing turned out to be the next everything? It would need to be a technology so powerful yet so pliable that it could find a place in every industry, any activity, and all manner of creativity. Blockchain is “The Next Everything” asserts Stephen P. Williams. His latest book offers an explanation in layman’s terms of how the technology works and even suggests reasons why so many people struggle to understand it. “What I find most exciting is that blockchain is a distributed technology, which is a new way of looking at the world,” Williams tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “We generally respond very well to top-down, hierarchical systems– president, father, mother, teacher, each telling us what to do,” he explains. “Blockchain technology allows for a distributed system where everyone who participates in the system has an equal say in how that system works. This presents huge potential for designing new ways of doing business, of creating, of communicating.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Blockchain in Business 11 mins – “From big banks to diamond dealers, companies are experimenting with blockchain, an open and distributed ledger, to make transactions more transparent and trustworthy. Could this technology mean the end of cooked books?” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Brexit and Facebook 15 mins – “In an unmissable talk, journalist Carole Cadwalladr digs into one of the most perplexing events in recent times: the UK’s super-close 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Tracking the result to a barrage of misleading Facebook ads targeted at vulnerable Brexit swing voters — and linking the same players and tactics to the 2016 US presidential election — Cadwalladr calls out the “gods of Silicon Valley” for being on the wrong side of history and asks: Are free and fair elections a thing of the past?” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Brexit Dilemma 28 mins – “Adrian Goldberg is a BBC reporter. His father was German and came to the UK on Kindertransport just before the start of the Second World War. For Adrian, Brexit has raised a dilemma: should he get a German passport?” At the link right-click “Download” and select ”Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Brexit Discussion 39 mins – “On April 12th, Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. But right now, there is no plan in place for the departure. Parliament has rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposal – three times. And attempts to address Brexit with other options have also been shot down by lawmakers. How did Britain get to this place and why can’t the country can’t get out?” At the link you can listen, but not download the podcast; however, a copy is included in the blog archive.
Brexit Publishing Impact 39 mins – “If the nature and even timing of Brexit remain unclear, one may yet predict that Brexit will mean important changes for the UK’s scholarly publishing community. However, whenever, and possibly even if ever – those are questions confronting Parliament throughout this week as the United Kingdom moves ever closer to March 29, 2019, the scheduled date for Brexit, when the country will exit from membership in the European Union. At the London Book Fair on Tuesday, Copyright Clearance Center presented “Scholarly Publishing Through the Brexit Lens,” to explore the many possible directions Brexit may lead publishing in 2019 and after.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Bullet Trains in U.S. 47 mins – “California’s governor spiked the state’s high-speed rail project. “Let’s get real,” he said, “it would cost too much and take too long.” Why can’t the U.S. get high-speed rail right?” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Canadian Indians 55 mins – “On the CBC Massey Lectures tour, each lecture concluded in an audience discussion with Tanya Talaga — most of which was never broadcast. In the original broadcast of the Massey Lectures, we invited you — the radio audience — to send in your questions for Tanya Talaga. In this episode, Tanya Talaga talks with Greg Kelly about her experience of delivering the CBC Massey Lectures, and responds to some of the questions sent to her, plus some of the best of those audience discussions from the tour.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in the blog archive.
Climate Change Child 13 mins – “In this passionate call to action, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg explains why, in August 2018, she walked out of school and organized a strike to raise awareness of global warming, protesting outside the Swedish parliament and grabbing the world’s attention. “The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions,” Thunberg says. “All we have to do is to wake up and change.” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
Conduction Story 76 mins – “Ta-Nehisi Coates reads his story from the June 10 & 17, 2019, issue of the magazine. Coates is the author of the nonfiction books “The Beautiful Struggle,” “We Were Eight Years in Power,” and “Between the World and Me,” which won the National Book Award in 2015. His first novel, “The Water Dancer,” from which this story is adapted, will be published in September.” At the link right-click “MP3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Controversial Actions 11 mins – “We get stronger, not weaker, by engaging with ideas and people we disagree with, says Zachary R. Wood. In an important talk about finding common ground, Wood makes the case that we can build empathy and gain understanding by engaging tactfully and thoughtfully with controversial ideas and unfamiliar perspectives. “Tuning out opposing viewpoints doesn’t make them go away,” Wood says. “To achieve progress in the face of adversity, we need a genuine commitment to gaining a deeper understanding of humanity.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Crypto Currency Missing 36 mins – “Missing crypto-currency mystery deepens $137m worth of crypto-cash is missing, despite the efforts of auditors to find the virtual currency. The mysterious case of Gerald Cotton, founder of the QuadrigaCX exchange, who died in India last December, has taken a new turn as auditors have found his e-wallets empty. Media censorship in Thailand – In the run up to the country’s general election later this month, Thailand’s military-appointed parliament has been accused of clamping down on internet freedoms and even tv stations with a controversial cybersecurity law and a temporary ban of the opposition TC channel. Off grid fr5idges -Researchers have been evaluating off-grid fridges in Uganda to see what difference they’d make to business owners like shopkeepers in areas lacking reliable electricity supplies. The fridges can also be used to store medicines and vaccines that need to kept cool. Those behind the Global LEAP Off-Grid Refrigerator Competition reckon they’re the first to field test these solar powered appliances and have just released their findings. Women’s health apps – how safe and secure are they?. – In the past three years, 3 billion of investment has gone into women’s health technology and there has been a huge growth in health tracking apps. There have been major concerns surrounding the sharing of this intimate data when it comes to commercial menstrual apps for women. But could scientists use this data in research into diseases like endometriosis?” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in the blog archive.
Crypto Currency Theft 26 mins – “You can’t take money with you when you die…. or can you? In this episode of Assignment the stranger than fiction story that’s the latest cryptocurrency scandal to leave tens of thousands of people out of pocket. The news about QuadrigaCX broke almost to the day that crypto-currencies celebrated a decade in existence. On this anniversary, we investigate the current state of the market and uncover how these sometimes tragic events have unfolded both here in the UK and across the world. With the UK government and other countries now considering attempting to regulate the market, we ask if these scandals could have been prevented and could now be avoided in the future.” At the link left-click “Download,” select file type, then select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Cryptocurrency Guide for Criminals 16 mins – “Crime involving digital currencies has skyrocketed in lockstep with their valuations. From bitcoin stickups to global money laundering, tech-savvy criminals are becoming increasingly anonymous. And law enforcement is scrambling to keep up.” At he link you can listen, but can’t download; however a copy of the podcast is included in the bis blog archive.
Dead Zones and Nitrogen 12 mins – “Ocean expert Nancy Rabalais tracks the ominously named “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico — where there isn’t enough oxygen in the water to support life. The Gulf has the second largest dead zone in the world; on top of killing fish and crustaceans, it’s also killing fisheries in these waters. Rabalais tells us about what’s causing it — and how we can reverse its harmful effects and restore one of America’s natural treasures.” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
Dementia Village 11 mins – “How would you prefer to spend the last years of your life: in a sterile, hospital-like institution or in a village with a supermarket, pub, theater and park within easy walking distance? The answer seems obvious now, but when Yvonne van Amerongen helped develop the groundbreaking Hogeweyk dementia care center in Amsterdam 25 years ago, it was seen as a risky break from tradition. Journey with van Amerongen to Hogeweyk and get a glimpse at what a reimagined nursing home based on freedom, meaning and social life could look like.” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
Democracy and Theater 13 mins – “Truth comes from the collision of different ideas, and theater plays an essential role in showing us that truth, says legendary artistic director Oskar Eustis. In this powerful talk, Eustis outlines his plan to reach (and listen to) people in places across the US where the theater, like many other institutions, has turned its back — like the deindustrialized Rust Belt. “Our job is to try to hold up a vision to America that shows not only who all of us are individually, but that welds us back into the commonality that we need to be,” Eustis says. “That’s what the theater is supposed to do.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Disease Detection from Breath 14 mins – “There’s no better way to stop a disease than to catch and treat it early, before symptoms occur. That’s the whole point of medical screening techniques like radiography, MRIs and blood tests. But there’s one medium with overlooked potential for medical analysis: your breath. Technologist Julian Burschka shares the latest in the science of breath analysis — the screening of the volatile organic compounds in your exhaled breath — and how it could be used as a powerful tool to detect, predict and ultimately prevent disease.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Emmett Till Ballad 53 mins – “Emmett Till, fourteen and black, was put on the train from Chicago by his mother Mamie in August 1955. She got his corpse back, mutilated and stinking. Emmett had been beaten, shot and dumped in the Tallahatchie River for supposedly whistling at a white woman. His killers would forever escape justice. What Mamie did next helped galvanise the Civil Rights Movement and make Emmett the sacrificial lamb of the movement. From the very first Till’s death was both a call to political action and the subject of songs, poetry and prose. Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and many more have been drawn to tell his tale – his is the never ending ballad of the first black life that mattered. His disfigured image in the legendary photograph in Jet magazine is seared into the memories of generations of Black Americans. And now Till has returned to haunt America. Taken up by the mothers and fathers of the slain in the Black Lives Matter movement, the subject of new documentaries, a trio of forthcoming Hollywood films and a new FBI investigation as the search for justice continues. His coffin lies at the heart of the Washington’s new museum of African American history – a secular shrine and symbol of the enduring pain of American racism. Maria Margaronis travels through landscape and memory across Mississippi and Chicago to reveal the many layers of meaning and the many ways Emmett’s story has been told and retold. These are the Ballads of Emmett Till.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Fascism versus Nationalism 18 mins – “In a profound talk about technology and power, author and historian Yuval Noah Harari explains the important difference between fascism and nationalism — and what the consolidation of our data means for the future of democracy. Appearing as a hologram live from Tel Aviv, Harari warns that the greatest danger that now faces liberal democracy is that the revolution in information technology will make dictatorships more efficient and capable of control. “The enemies of liberal democracy hack our feelings of fear and hate and vanity, and then use these feelings to polarize and destroy,” Harari says. “It is the responsibility of all of us to get to know our weaknesses and make sure they don’t become weapons.” (Followed by a brief conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson)” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Free File Tax Program 16 mins – “Tax Day is behind us, but the Taxpayer First Act is not. The bipartisan proposal passed the House last week and is now under consideration in the Senate — and one of the provisions is exactly what the for-profit tax preparation industry has been pushing for. Through an agreement with the IRS, companies like H&R Block and Intuit currently offer free tax filing services to taxpayers making less than $66,000 dollars a year. But only 1.6 percent of taxpayers actually use Free File, and critics say that the companies engage in aggressive up-selling through the portal. A provision in the Taxpayer First Act would bar the IRS from developing their own free system. Dennis Ventry is a tax scholar at the University of California, Davis. He has written about the shortcomings of the Free File program, and explains to Bob why he thinks the IRS isn’t doing enough to protect taxpayers who try to use it. He wrote an opinion piece last year titled “Free File providers scam taxpayers; Congress shouldn’t be fooled” — which made him the target of a public records request from an industry group.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Freedom and Equality 47 mins – “Are freedom and equality always at odds? Philosopher Elizabeth Anderson makes the case that we’re thinking about this wrong, and lays out how to have more of both.” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Genocide in Rwanda 13 mins – “Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when the Rwandan Civil War forced her and her sister to flee their home in Kigali, leaving their parents and everything they knew behind. In this deeply personal talk, she tells the story of how she became a refugee, living in camps in seven countries over the next six years — and how she’s tried to make sense of what came after.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
German-American Bund 19 mins – “Founded in 1936, the German-American Bund had approximately 25,000 members and 70 chapters around the country. While the Nazis were building concentration camps, the Bund held pro-Hitler retreats and summer camps. February 20th marks the 80th anniversary of the Bund’s most notorious event when 20,000 of its members gathered at Madison Square Garden for a “Pro-American Rally” featuring speeches and performances, staged in front of a 30-foot-high portrait of George Washington. The rally is the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary short “A Night at The Garden” by filmmaker Marshall Curry. In this On the Media podcast extra, Brooke talks with Curry about how the film’s themes resonate today and how a 30-second broadcast spot has had a media moment of its own.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
GMO Trends 14 mins – “Vegetables engineered with the gene-editing technology Crispr are moving closer to supermarket shelves. But will these genetically altered foods carry labels to alert consumers? Or is gene editing, as some scientists argue, just a way to speed up evolution?” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Goal Achivement 12 mins – “Our leaders and institutions are failing us, but it’s not always because they’re bad or unethical, says venture capitalist John Doerr — often, it’s simply because they’re leading us toward the wrong objectives. In this practical talk, Doerr shows us how we can get back on track with “Objectives and Key Results,” or OKRs — a goal-setting system that’s been employed by the likes of Google, Intel and Bono to set and execute on audacious goals. Learn more about how setting the right goals can mean the difference between success and failure — and how we can use OKRs to hold our leaders and ourselves accountable.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Guatemalan Refugee Crisis 48 mins – “The majority of undocumented migrants crossing the southwest border are now from Guatemala. We look at the root causes behind the mass exodus.” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Health Care Costs 7 min – “In the US, the very same blood test can cost $19 at one clinic and $522 at another clinic just blocks away — and nobody knows the difference until they get a bill weeks later. Journalist Jeanne Pinder says it doesn’t have to be this way. She’s built a platform that crowdsources the true costs of medical procedures and makes the data public, revealing the secrets of health care pricing. Learn how knowing what stuff costs in advance could make us healthier, save us money — and help fix a broken system.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Hope Hospital 7 mins – “Local humanitarians are beacons of light in the darkness of war, says humanitarian aid entrepreneur and TED Fellow Rola Hallam. She’s working to help responders on the ground in devastated communities like Syria, where the destruction of health care is being used as a weapon of war. One of her campaigns achieved a global first: a crowdfunded hospital. Since it opened in 2017, the aptly named Hope Hospital has treated thousands of children. “Local humanitarians have the courage to persist, to dust themselves off from the wreckage and to start again, risking their lives to save others,” Hallam says. “We can match their courage by not looking away or turning our backs.” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
Hospital Food 27 mins – “It’s not uncommon for people to complain about bland, unappetizing hospital food. But a growing number of hospitals in Canada are pushing back against this stereotype, overhauling menus to be locally sourced and delicious. Patients in hospital need to eat nutritious food to heal. Yet research suggests that 51 per cent of young children admitted to hospital in one study lost weight, as did nearly 45 per cent of adult patients. Some are too sick to eat. Many others leave the food tray untouched, leading to about 1.3 kilograms of food per bed to be thrown out each day. By one Canadian estimate, about half of the food placed at patients’ bedsides went At the link find the title, “Why bringing room service to hospitals helps patients convalesce ,” right-click “Download Why bringing room service to hospitals helps patients convalesce” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Housing Costs 47 mins – “Housing prices are through the roof across the country. We take up the affordable housing crisis in Part 1 of our series, “Where We Call Home.” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Insects As Food 19 mins – “Billions of people around the world include protein-rich bugs in their diet. But are crickets really a sustainable alternative to chicken? This episode, we talk to the scientists and startup founders looking to put bugs in everything we eat.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Investment Performance 33 mins – “Whether you are saving for retirement or already retired, establishing a reasonable expectation for future returns is one of the most difficult planning decisions. What can investors learn from the past? Are the next 10 years likely to be similar to the last 10, 20, 50 or 80 years? Can we count on the value and small-cap premiums of the past? What can we count on and what should we plan for? This podcast includes important historical information about the returns of large cap, small cap, growth, value, U.S., international, emerging markets, REITs, commodities and inflation. The goal of this podcast is to help investors build a financial plan that is based on reasonable expectations rather than on “hope.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
IRS Cuts Impact 47 mins – “After years and years of budget cuts, the IRS is leaner and meaner. A ProPublica investigation reveals who wins and who loses when a feared but crucial agency is slashed to the bone.” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Jack the Ripper Victims 46 mins – “For hundreds of years, people have been fascinated by true crime and death, but the blurred line between real stories and entertainment can uncomfortably inflect our knowledge of the truth – and our empathy for people in the past. Two historians are doing their bit to make us reappraise what we know about such histories. Hallie Rubenhold is the author of The Five, tracing the lives of the five women killed by Jack the Ripper. And Lindsey Fitzharris’s The Butchering Art is a history of Victorian medicine and the life of pioneering surgeon Joseph Lister, which includes details of riveting medical cases and shows the reality behind the gory details.” At the link right-click”Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Jack the Ripper Victims 52 mins – “…we’re talking about the five women brutally killed by Jack the Ripper. The historian Hallie Rubenhold says the women often come to us as empty shells, but in her new book, she’s fixing that. You know the name “Jack the Ripper,” but do you know who Polly Nichols was? Or Anne Eliza Chapman? Elizabeth Stride? What about Catherine Eddowes or Mary Jane Kelly? While the serial killer is the stuff of legend, historian Hallie Rubenhold says the women he murdered are “just corpses” to most people. Rubenhold is joining us to tell their stories, and they weren’t all prostitutes by the way. They were poor, desperate and had the cards stacked against them from the beginning.” At the link right-click the play button and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Kavanaugh Impact 50 mins – “The Kavanaugh-Ford hearings this week felt like a watershed moment — but it’s not yet clear what long-term impact they’ll have. This week, we examine some of the policies that could be affected by the Supreme Court if Kavanaugh is confirmed, including dark money disclosure and voting rights. Plus, a moment of zen during trying times.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Library in a Drug Zone 11 mins – “Public libraries have always been about more than just books — and their mission of community support has taken on new urgency during the current opioid epidemic. After witnessing overdoses at her library in Philadelphia, Chera Kowalski learned how to administer naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of narcotics, and she’s put it to use to save patrons’ lives. In this personal talk, she shares the day-to-day reality of life on the frontline of the opioid crisis and advocates for each of us to find new ways to keep our communities safe and healthy.” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
Marijuana Opposition 45 mins – “In a controversial new book, Alex Berenson aims to torpedo a lot of what we think we know about marijuana. He says it isn’t the panacea we’ve been led to believe it is, and that it causes psychosis, which leads to violence. Recreational marijuana is now legal in nine states. Medicinally, it’s legal in 33 states, including Utah. Advocates say cannabis can treat a host of ailments, and there’s some evidence to support their claims. But the writer Alex Berenson says not so fast. In a controversial new book, he aims to torpedo a lot of what we think we know about marijuana. He says it isn’t the panacea we’ve been led to believe it is, and that it causes psychosis, which leads to violence. He joins us Thursday to make his case.” At the link left-click the play button and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Mass Shooting Suicides 47 mins – “Deaths by suicide by Parkland and Newtown survivors are sparking a conversation about how to support people long-term after violent trauma. We’re listening.” At the link left-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Measles Outbreak in NYC 27 mins – “New research from Poland has found that women take longer than men to ask for help when they have had a heart attack, and ambulance staff are slower to suspect that women might have had a heart attack in the first place. Young women in particular were delayed in getting treatment. Dr Marek Gierlotka, head of the Cardiology Department at the University of Opole in Poland, was lead author of the research, which was presented this week at the Acute Cardiovascular Care 2019, a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) conference. New York City is experiencing the biggest measles outbreak it has had in decades. Fears about vaccine safety, has caused vaccination rates across the United States to drop; the city joins places like Washington State that are seeing measles rates surge. Since last October, 121 people, the vast majority of which are children under 18, have been infected with measles in NYC. Normally that number would be just five or six. The epicentre of the outbreak is in the Orthodox Jewish communities of Brooklyn. While most children are vaccinated by the time they go to school, there are much lower rates of vaccination among very young children, making them vulnerable to the virus and allowing measles to spread. To combat it, the city and the community are mobilising, as the BBC’s Kizzy Cox reports. New research has found that the number of press-ups a man can do is a better indicator of his risk of cardiovascular disease than a running test on a treadmill. But why should press ups be a good test of someone’s risk of developing heart disease? For his study Stefanos Kales, who is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, tested more than a thousand male firefighters over a period of ten years, and the results were not quite what he expected. They have just been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy is included in this blog archive.
Mueller Report Impact 50 mins – “With the Mueller investigation complete, talking heads have given the short public summary their usual spin. This week, On the Media looks at why the framing of the report produced so much misunderstanding. Plus, how historical amnesia and old ideas about limitless growth have influenced American psychology and foreign policy.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Opioid Withdrawal Advice 14 mins – “The United States accounts for five percent of the world’s population but consumes almost 70 percent of the total global opioid supply, creating an epidemic that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths each year. How did we get here, and what can we do about it? In this personal talk, Travis Rieder recounts the painful, often-hidden struggle of opioid withdrawal and reveals how doctors who are quick to prescribe (and overprescribe) opioids aren’t equipped with the tools to eventually get people off the meds.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Politicians Randomly Selected 10 mins – “If you think democracy is broken, here’s an idea: let’s replace politicians with randomly selected people. Author and activist Brett Hennig presents a compelling case for sortition democracy, or random selection of government officials — a system with roots in ancient Athens that taps into the wisdom of the crowd and entrusts ordinary people with making balanced decisions for the greater good of everyone. Sound crazy? Learn more about how it could work to create a world free of partisan politics.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
PTSD Treatment 24 mins – “Millions of people suffering from mental health issues are left untreated and undiagnosed. In this episode, we meet the psychologists and scientists studying how artificial intelligence can help.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Racial Literacy 12 mins – “Over the last year, Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo traveled to all 50 US states, collecting personal stories about race and intersectionality. Now they’re on a mission to equip every American with the tools to understand, navigate and improve a world structured by racial division. In a dynamic talk, Vulchi and Guo pair the personal stories they’ve collected with research and statistics to reveal two fundamental gaps in our racial literacy — and how we can overcome them.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Racism Confrontation 52 mins – “Racism isn’t always obvious, but it can be found almost everywhere. This hour, TED speakers explore the effects of everyday and systemic racism in America—and how we can work to defeat it.” At the link you can listen, but multiple downloads are required for the entire program; however, all of it is in one file in this blog archive.
Racism Question 46 mins – “On this week’s show, Richard sits down with academic Robin DiAngelo to discuss her book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. A bestseller in the US, DiAngelo explains why white people need to listen more and stop avoiding conversations about racism due to their own discomfort, and how living in a racist society insidiously affects unconscious thinking. And legendary publisher Margaret Busby joins Claire in the studio to discuss New Daughters of Africa, her follow-up anthology to her groundbreaking collection Daughters of Africa, which established many black female writers as names almost three decades ago.” At the link right-click “Download” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Racism Symbols 7 mins – “Multidisciplinary artist and TED Fellow Paul Rucker is unstitching the legacy of systemic racism in the United States. A collector of artifacts connected to the history of slavery — from branding irons and shackles to postcards depicting lynchings — Rucker couldn’t find an undamaged Ku Klux Klan robe for his collection, so he began making his own. The result: striking garments in non-traditional fabrics like kente cloth, camouflage and silk that confront the normalization of systemic racism in the US. “If we as a people collectively look at these objects and realize that they are part of our history, we can find a way to where they have no more power over us,” Rucker says. (This talk contains graphic images.)” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
Refugee Help 6 mins – “Every minute, 20 people are newly displaced by climate change, economic crisis and political instability, according to the UNHCR. How can we help them overcome the barriers to starting new lives? TED Resident Muhammed Idris is leading a team of technologists, researchers and refugees to develop Atar, the first-ever AI-powered virtual advocate that guides displaced people through resettlement, helping restore their rights and dignity. “Getting access to the right resources and information can be the difference between life and death,” Idris says.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Refugee Mental Health Support 5 mins – “The global refugee crisis is a mental health catastrophe, leaving millions in need of psychological support to overcome the traumas of dislocation and conflict. To undo the damage, child psychiatrist and TED Fellow Essam Daod has been working in camps, rescue boats and the shorelines of Greece and the Mediterranean Sea to help refugees (a quarter of which are children) reframe their experiences through short, powerful psychological interventions. “We can all do something to prevent this mental health catastrophe,” Daod says. “We need to acknowledge that first aid is not just needed for the body, but it has also to include the mind, the soul.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Refugee Motivation 6 mins – “In the ongoing debate over refugees, we hear from everyone — from politicians who pledge border controls to citizens who fear they’ll lose their jobs — everyone, that is, except migrants themselves. Why are they coming? Journalist and TED Fellow Yasin Kakande explains what compelled him and many others to flee their homelands, urging a more open discussion and a new perspective. Because humanity’s story, he reminds us, is a story of migration: “There are no restrictions that could ever be so rigorous to stop the wave of migration that has determined our human history,” he says.” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu
Sharing Economy 9 mins – “From rides to homes and beyond, we’re sharing everything these days, with the help of digital tools. But as modern and high-tech as the sharing economy seems, it’s been alive in Africa for centuries, according to author Robert Neuwirth. He shares fascinating examples — like apprenticeships that work like locally generated venture capital and systems for allocating scarce water — and says that if we can propagate and scale these models, they could help communities thrive from the bottom up. ” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Smart Cities 18 mins – “Urban areas around the world are increasingly equipped with sensors to track-and control-everything from traffic patterns to wastewater. But this increased connectivity and data collection opens us up to devastating hacks and unwanted surveillance.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Stay at Home Dad 11 mins – “Glen Henry got his superpowers through fatherhood. After leaving behind a job he hated and a manager he didn’t get along with, he went to work for an equally demanding boss: his kids. He shares how he went from thinking he knew it all about being a stay-at-home parent to realizing he knew nothing at all — and how he’s now documenting what he’s learned.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Suicide Conversation 12 mins – “Is there someone in your life dealing with anxiety, depression or thoughts of suicide — but is too ashamed to talk about it? Jeremy Forbes saw this happening around him, and now he’s on a mission to teach people how to start a conversation about it. In this deeply personal talk, Forbes shares his approach to helping a group of traditionally silent men in his community open up about their struggles. “We can all be life preservers,” he says.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Suicides 50 mins – “Why we do we kill ourselves? It’s a tough question, but the science writer Jesse Bering says that if we can answer it, we stand a better chance of thwarting a tragic act.” At the link right-click “MP3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Talking AI’s 27 mins – “The duo behind Alexa and Amazon’s in-home devices explain what’s coming in the next wave of voice technology and machine learning that will power connected homes, search and shopping.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Teen Interrogations 15 mins – “Why do juveniles falsely confess to crimes? What makes them more vulnerable than adults to this shocking, counterintuitive phenomenon? Through the lens of Brendan Dassey’s interrogation and confession (as featured in Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” documentary), developmental psychology professor and researcher Lindsay Malloy breaks down the science underlying false confessions and calls for change in the way kids are treated by a legal system designed for adults.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Trachoma Eradication 10 mins – “Thousands of years ago, ancient Nubians drew pictures on tomb walls of a terrible disease that turns the eyelids inside out and causes blindness. This disease, trachoma, is still a scourge in many parts of the world today — but it’s also completely preventable, says Caroline Harper. Armed with data from a global mapping project, Harper’s organization Sightsavers has a plan: to focus on countries where funding gaps stand in the way of eliminating the disease and ramp up efforts where the need is most severe. Learn more about their goal of consigning trachoma to the history books — and how you can help. (This ambitious idea is part of the Audacious Project, TED’s initiative to inspire and fund global change.)” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Transgender Dad 14 mins – “LB Hannahs candidly shares the experience of parenting as a genderqueer individual — and what it can teach us about authenticity and advocacy. “Authenticity doesn’t mean ‘comfortable.’ It means managing and negotiating the discomfort of everyday life,” Hannahs says.” At the link left-click “Share,” then right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Twilight Zone 10 mins – “What will we find in the twilight zone: the vast, mysterious, virtually unexplored realm hundreds of meters below the ocean’s surface? Heidi M. Sosik of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution wants to find out. In this wonder-filled talk, she shares her plan to investigate these uncharted waters, which may hold a million new species and 90 percent of the world’s fish biomass, using submersible technology. What we discover there won’t just astound us, Sosik says — it will help us be better stewards of the world’s oceans. (This ambitious idea is part of The Audacious Project, TED’s initiative to inspire and fund global change.)” At the link left-click “Share,” right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link as” from the pop-up menu.
Warfare in Megacities 20 mins – “The wars of the future will be fought in megacities around the world by soldiers connected – and possibly even augmented – by neural implants and AI. In this episode, we examine how military leaders are preparing for a radical shift in combat.” At the link you can listen, but not download; however, a copy of the podcast is included in this blog archive.
Washington Press Club Foundation Congressional Dinner 82 mins – “Representatives Cheri Bustos (D-IL) and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) were among those who addressed a group of journalists gathered for the Washington Press Club Foundation’s 75th annual congressional dinner. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) also made remarks.” At the link you can purchase a podcast; however, a copy of it is included in the blog archive.
Weaponizd Social Media 52 mins – …”we’re talking about how the Russians tried to influence the 2016 presidential election. Researcher Renee DiResta joins us to explore the techniques of weaponizing social media and why we take the bait. Wednesday, we’re talking about how the Russians tried to influence the American presidential election in 2016. We’re going to focus on their attempts to amplify conspiracy theories, spread disinformation, and get Americans to fight and argue with each other. The researcher Renee DiResta is our guest. She and her team created one of the independent reports for the Senate Intelligence Committee. We’ll talk about the techniques of weaponizing social media and why we’re primed to take the bait. Renee DiResta is director of research for New Knowledge, a cybersecurity company. She’s also head of policy at the nonprofit Data for Democracy. New Knowledge produced the independent Disinformation Report for the Senate Select Committee on Inteligence.” At the link right-click the play button and select “Save Link As’ from the pop-up menu.
Whoopi Goldberg 33 mins – “Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Tony-winning actress, TV host and stand-up comic Whoopi Goldberg talks candidly about her childhood in New York City, her most valuable life lessons and her defining screen roles. Whoopi explains how she landed her two most iconic roles: Celie in “The Color Purple” and Oda Mae Brown in “Ghost.” She shares how she learned to accept success and open up doors of opportunity in her life. Whoopi also describes the moment she made peace with her mother’s death.” At the link right-click “MP3” and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Working Remotely 47 mins – “Part 2 of our special series “Where We Call Home.” Cities and states are offering up cash to attract would-be residents. That catch is you need to be employed full-time somewhere else.” At the link right-click the down-pointing arrow and select “Save Link As” from the pop-up menu.
Media Mining Digest 