“Migration issues in Europe are a hot topic right now - it's not news that they have been used in the last 50 years as a way to steer public opinion into right wing positions...they are mobilised as elements in a narration of invasion, losing cultural specificities - not only individuals are mobilised in discursive terms, but there are also infrastructures that create people as migrants - not having access to proper work, or being put into certain infrastructures from which it’s virtually impossible to get out, creates people as migrants, as outsiders to society.” In Episode 7 of our STS Interview Series, Jodie is interviewing Annalisa Pelizza, Professor in Technology Studies of Communication at the University of Bologna in Italy about how migrants shape Europe and are shaped by European infrastructures.
Podcast
Ep. #43: Deepfakes, words vs actions, hatred in anthropology and social dissociation: This month on TFS (Re-Release)
On this month's panel episode, digital anthropologist Dr Stephanie Betz (5:50) discusses “deepfakes”. It's been possible to doctor images to a very high degree of believability for a long time - Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, was fooled by fake images of two young girls playing in their garden with a community of fairies back in 1917! But deepfake technologies are now making it possible to create fake video footage so realistic that it's almost impossible to detect with the naked eye, and so easy to create that all you need is a smart phone. How will society adapt to these changes?
Ep. #42: Economies of Openness: Ros Attenborough on cultures of trust, exclusion & generosity in STS
"All of these questions deserve...just that little bit extra thought about what would openness look like for my study and in my discipline? What would it achieve? What effects would it have? And you know that when you have research interview data it's never going to be as simple as just 'publishing it on the internet'. There … Continue reading Ep. #42: Economies of Openness: Ros Attenborough on cultures of trust, exclusion & generosity in STS
Ep. #41: Mediocrity, Confusing Cake, Public Accountability & Gift Reciprocity: This month on TFS
Simon (0:48) kicks off this panel by asking us about mediocrity. He reflects on his fieldwork in Iran, where he observed – particularly in the education sphere - that there was a very small difference between being ‘perfect’ and being a ‘failure’. “In Australia we…have this kind of uncomfortable-ness, I think, with excellence and the … Continue reading Ep. #41: Mediocrity, Confusing Cake, Public Accountability & Gift Reciprocity: This month on TFS
Ep. #40 Robot Reflections: Inger Mewburn on researching researchers & welcoming our robot overlords
“Machine learning is a broad area of study, and that’s one thing you don’t see from a distance, is how broad it is. We like to do what we call human-in-the-loop type of machine learning, which is a co-creation of something. So, what we’re using is the machine to, sort of, both capture our knowledge … Continue reading Ep. #40 Robot Reflections: Inger Mewburn on researching researchers & welcoming our robot overlords
BONUS EPISODE: ‘The scariest word in the English language: a public lecture on schizophrenia’
In this public lecture, Gabrielle Carey and Julia Brown hope to achieve at least two things. First, to humanise and reduce fear around the condition of schizophrenia (a heavily neglected social issue in Australia). Second, to show how two disciplines (literature and anthropology) can complement each other in the name of better communicating lived experiences of difficult subject matter.
Ep. #39 Heartless Foundation, Stories, Reconciliation & Failed Election Prophecies: This month on TFS
On this month’s panel, we welcome Will Grant from The Wholesome Show onto the podcast and introduce Kylie Wong Dolan, one of TFS' Editorial Board members who is making her podcast debut! Dr Will Grant is a senior lecturer, researcher and Graduate Studies convenor at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science … Continue reading Ep. #39 Heartless Foundation, Stories, Reconciliation & Failed Election Prophecies: This month on TFS
Ep. #38 When good intention isn’t enough: Jacqui Hoepner on morally repulsive public health research & academic freedom
“I went into this thinking that objectivity and neutrality were the Name of the Game. That you couldn’t do good research if you were in any way biased or if you had your own opinions or experiences or values that might influence the research.” In episode number 4 of our STS Series, Dr Jacqui Hoepner, … Continue reading Ep. #38 When good intention isn’t enough: Jacqui Hoepner on morally repulsive public health research & academic freedom
Ep. #37: Democracy sausage, fan identity, mental health policy & being anthro-diplomats: This month on TFS
This month, we’d like to welcome and thank special guests Dr Jill Sheppard and Martyn Pearce from Policy Forum Pod for joining our semi-themed panel discussion, inspired by the upcoming Australian Federal Election. Dr Jill Sheppard is a lecturer and political scientist at the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University, … Continue reading Ep. #37: Democracy sausage, fan identity, mental health policy & being anthro-diplomats: This month on TFS
Ep. #36 If machines talked: Lucy Suchman on drone warfare, stubborn photocopiers & human-robot relations
“The claim was 'isn’t this wonderful that remote controls keep humans safe'. Now, all you have to do is recognise that this is referring only to certain humans. The assumption is the humans that matter are those who are involved in US military operations. And it completely dehumanises the humans who are of course the … Continue reading Ep. #36 If machines talked: Lucy Suchman on drone warfare, stubborn photocopiers & human-robot relations
The Familiar Strange 