Data & Society

Episodes

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  Power and Resistance in the Age of Tech Oligarchy ('Against Tech Oligarchy' and 'Muskism') | Book Talk 08.10.2026 1h 6m

  On October 7, Clarissa Redwine and JS Tan, authors of 'Against Tech Oligarchy', and Quinn Slobodian, co-author of 'Muskism', joined Aiha Nguyen, director of Data & Society’s Labor Futures program, in conversation with to discuss the structural forces shaping tech and state power, and what lessons we might draw from the tech worker movement for building a different future.
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  How Data Center Fights are Renewing Local Power Across the US | Climate Week NYC | Data & Society with the Pulitzer Center (Retro Report) 05.10.2026 1h 27m

  On September 22 in a discussion moderated by Kit R. Roane, senior producer at Retro Report, Maia Woluchem, program director of Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program; Alejandra Martinez, The Texas Tribune environmental reporter and Pulitzer Center grantee; Brian Crawford, Texas resident with the non-profit Protect the Paluxy Valley; and Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, Pennsylvania resident and Senior Organizer, Food & Water Watch, discussed what the facts on the ground might mean for the future. This panel is co-organized by Data & Society, Retro Report, and The Pulitzer Center.
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  Protecting Democracy's Data ('Data Are Made, Not Found' by danah boyd) | Book Talk 28.09.2026 1h 2m

  On September 23, professor, researcher, and Data & Society founder danah boyd delved into her research and its implications with historian and author Dan Bouk, in a conversation moderated by Data & Society Executive Director Janet Haven.
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  The Limits of Human Oversight in the Age of AI Agents | Primer Launch 28.09.2026 1h 3m

  On August 20, 2026, the primer’s authors, Ranjit Singh and Samir Passi, joined Margaret Mitchell, chief ethics scientist at Hugging Face, and Madeleine Claire Elish, head of evaluations, responsible development, and innovation at Google Deepmind, to discuss why putting a human in the loop is insufficient and what builders and deployers must do to make oversight meaningful.
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  The Craft of Science with AI: Evidence, Judgment, and Practice | Public Panel 20.03.2026 1h

  On March 19, 2026 in a conversation moderated by D&S AI on the Ground program director Ranjit Singh, Kristin M. Branson, Lisa Messeri, and Nicole C. Nelson discussed the impact of machine learning tools on the nature of proof, inference, uncertainty, and error in scientific workflows today.
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  Mental Health, Chatbots, and the Future of Care | Databite No. 165 03.03.2026 58m

  In a conversation moderated by researchers Livia Garofalo and Briana Vecchione, Luca Belli, AI safety lead at Spring Health; Miranda Bogen, founding director of the AI Governance Lab at the Center for Democracy & Technology; and psychiatrist and psychotherapist Marlynn Wei, discussed the profound shifts in how people seek help and support, and how mental health professionals, policymakers, and tech designers are navigating these shifts now.
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  (404) Job Not Found: The AI Literacy Trap at Work | Databite No. 164 20.02.2026 1h

  On February 17, Akanegbu, TechEquity Senior Vice President of Labor Programs Tim Newman, and Bard Computer Science Professor Annabel Rothschild held a critical conversation on the policy stakes of AI-focused workforce development at the state and national level. This conversation was moderated by D&S Policy Manager Serena Oduro.
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  One Year Later: What We’ve Learned About Trump’s AI Agenda | Databite No. 163 25.01.2026 1h 5m

  After a turbulent first year, this discussion featured experts — academic and policy advisor Alondra Nelson, independent writer and editor Edward Ongweso Jr., and WIRED reporter Vittoria Elliott — who have been closely monitoring and making sense of the Trump administration’s policies on AI and digital technologies. This conversation was moderated by Data & Society policy director Brian Chen.
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  Standing Up for Human Value in the AI Economy | 'Understanding AI' — NYPL x D&S Event Series [4] 16.01.2026 1h 8m

  In this closing session of 'Understanding AI', The City Executive Director and journalist Nic Dawes discussed with D&S Labor Futures Program Director Aiha Nguyen, AI Now Institute Co-Executive Director Amba Kak, Michelle Miller, Director of Innovation at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy, and Writers Guild of America East Executive Director Sam Wheeler about the value of human labor in increasingly automated workplaces.
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  Reorienting AI for the Public Interest | 'Understanding AI' — NYPL x D&S Event Series [3] 16.01.2026 1h 8m

  For the third event of the 'Understanding AI' series, Data & Society Executive Director Janet Haven hosted a critical discussion about AI accountability and the public interest, featuring professor Charlton McIlwain, journalist Julia Angwin, and civic technologist Catherine Bracy.
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  The Environmental Costs of AI Are Surging – What Now? | 'Understanding AI' — NYPL x D&S Event Series [2] 16.01.2026 57m

  For the second installment of the 'Understanding AI' series, researcher Tamara Kneese spoke with environmental justice researcher Sanjana Paul and critical social scientist Jasmine McNealy about the environmental toll AI development is taking on local water supplies, energy systems, and communities around the world.
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  Understanding AI: What the Public Needs to Know | 'Understanding AI' — NYPL x D&S Event Series [1] 16.01.2026 59m

  In this opening session of the 'Understanding AI' series, social scientist Alice E. Marwick hosted a grounding conversation about how AI technologies are reshaping daily life with artist Mimi Ọnụọha, journalist Meredith Broussard, and computer science professor Suresh Venkatasubramanian.
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  Climate-Conscious Tech Workers: Turning the Tide from Within | Databite 162 12.12.2025 1h 4m

  On December 11, Climate, Technology, and Justice Program Director Kneese discussed the findings of her report with Eliza Pan, co-director of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, in a conversation moderated by Khari Johnson, technology reporter at CalMatters. Together, they explored the stakes of tech-focused climate work — and how it gets done.
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  A Roadmap for Rewiring Democracy in the Age of AI | Book Talk 25.11.2025 59m

  On October 23, in a book talk moderated by Data & Society Director of Research Alice Marwick, cybersecurity technologist Bruce Schneier and data scientist Nathan E. Sanders unpacked their book 'Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship.' Together, they discussing the ways AI is changing every aspect of democracy while making the case that we can harness the technology to support and strengthen these systems.
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  Challenging AI Hype and Tech Industry Power | Book Talk 11.06.2025 1h

  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not magic or sentient; it does not even describe one coherent set of technologies. In two new books, Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna, and Karen Hao explore how AI instead serves as a powerful marketing tool for tech giants who have a product to sell and profits to rake in. On June 6 — in a conversation moderated by Tamara Kneese, director of Data & Society’s Climate, Technology, and Justice program — these authors explored AI’s impact on our environment and society, and the motivations of the tech elite that build and shape it.
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  What is Work Worth? Exploring What Generative AI Means for Workers’ Lives and Labor | Keynote Event 20.05.2025 1h

  On May 6, 2025 at The Greene Space in New York City, Dr. Julián Posada and Aiha Nguyen set the stage for Data & Society’s online workshop “What is Work Worth? Exploring What Generative AI Means for Workers’ Lives and Labor.” Drawing on interviews with Venezuelan data workers as well as peer research and accounts from the field, Dr. Posada’s keynote highlighted three stories that illustrate the socioeconomic conditions enabling generative AI’s development and deployment.
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  [Live] The Cloud is Dead: Living with Legacies of Resource Extraction 05.05.2025 59m

  This live fireside chat was co-organized by Data & Society and Tech Workers Coalition during SF Climate Week 2025 at Tamarack, a community space located in Oakland, California. The live discussion features Tamara Kneese in dialogue with tech journalist, Alexis Madrigal, and internet researcher, Xiaowei R. Wang. The speakers reflect on the relationship between current discourses around the environmental impacts and histories of resource extraction across the AI supply chain. How are communities grappling with the material, environmental impacts of digital technologies from an international, historical perspective? How do we build solidarities of understanding between knowledge workers and directly impacted communities?
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  Resisting Predatory Data | Book Talk 18.04.2025 1h 2m

  On April 10th, Anita Say Chan, author of Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future (UCP 2025 and open access), joined Émile P. Torres and Timnit Gebru for a discussion of the 21st century eugenics revival in big tech and how to resist it in a conversation moderated by Trustworthy Infrastructures Program Director Maia Woluchem.
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  AI Assistant or AI Boss? w/ Data & Society 31.03.2025 43m

  In this episode of Computer Says Maybe, host Alix Dunn speaks with Data & Society Labor Futures researchers Aiha Nguyen and Alexandra Mateescu, who recently authored Generative AI and Labor: Power, Hype, and Value at Work. They discuss how automation is now being used as a threat against workers, and how certain types of labor are being devalued by AI — especially (shocking) traditionally feminised work, such as caregiving.
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  Connective (t)Issues: Stories of Digitality, Infrastructures, and Resistance | Public Panel 27.03.2025 1h 2m

  Physical and digital infrastructures have raised tensions around the world, seeding land disputes, climate effects, and disrupting social fabrics. Yet they are also intertwined with myths of progress, transformation, and speculation. What does this friction reveal? How can the stories we tell about infrastructures illuminate problems and lead us toward solutions? What do these stories say about where power lies and how it shifts? How might they help surface connections across nations, communities, and cultures?