SCIENCE FOR PEOPLE WHO GIVE A SHIT
March 22, 2021

#105: Your Smart Fridge Just Overturned Democracy

#105: Your Smart Fridge Just Overturned Democracy

In Episode 105, Quinn & Brian ask: How safe is your data (and can your wine fridge take down democracy)?

Our guest is: Dr. Carissa Véliz, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and the Institute for Ethics in AI, and a Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy at Hertford College at Oxford University. 

If she sounds kind of awesome, that’s because she is.

So, what role does your phone, computer, wine fridge, smart toothbrush, and fun color-changing ceiling lights have to play in taking down — or saving — democracy, and maybe the planet too? Well, Dr. Véliz recently published “Privacy is Power,” in which she argues that the data economy is too dangerous to sustain. And although we may not be paying money for some of the incredible services that are built on top of our data, like Google Maps or Facebook, we are going to pay in the long run if we keep opting into the surveillance state.

Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.com

Important, Not Important Book Club:

 

Links:

 

Connect with us:

 

 

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media

Featured Episodes

May 8, 2023

Fighting Food Waste With The iPhone of Trash Cans

How much food do you throw away every week? And do you have to? That's today's big question, and my guest is Matt Rogers . Matt is a former Apple iPod and iPhone engineer . The Co-Founder of Nest thermostats …

Listen to the Episode
July 10, 2023

How To Live A Happy Life

How can we live happier lives? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Marc Schulz, the co-author with Dr. Robert Waldinger of “The Good Life: Lessons From the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness” They're t...

Listen to the Episode
April 24, 2023

Every Climate Action Matters

What can I do? The simple question is the underlying premise of everything we do here. It's often the easiest one to help people answer for themselves, but from the outside, it's often the most imposing. All of which is …

Listen to the Episode
Feb. 20, 2023

Clean Air Is An Inside Job

Imagine you’re in a sci-fi movie. The one where everything’s on the line . And while dinosaurs or aliens or a virus takes over down on the ground, you’re the scientist unexpectedly riding in the helicopter with the actual pre...

Listen to the Episode
Oct. 30, 2023

What Causes Depression?

Content Warning We're going to be talking about stress and anxiety, depression, suicide, and more today. If any of this could be triggering to you in any way, please feel free to just skip over this one. Nothing in this …

Listen to the Episode
Nov. 6, 2023

Can Your Gut Predict Alzheimer's?

Can your gut composition predict Alzheimer's? That's today's big question and my returning guest is Gautam Dantas. Gautam heads up the Dantas Lab at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis . His lab works at...

Listen to the Episode
Nov. 13, 2023

The Female Origin of Species

How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution? And why the hell are we just finding out about it now? That's today's big question, and my guest is Cat Bohannon . Cat is the author of …

Listen to the Episode
Dec. 4, 2023

How To Make Ethical Decisions

Has there ever been a more important time, a more consequential time, to lead with ethics? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Susan Liautaud . Susan is the author of The Power of Ethics and of the …

Listen to the Episode