Critical Technology
17 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingThe Critical Technology podcast explores cutting edge research on the social, cultural, and political implications of new technological developments. For our second season, we're focusing on game changing scholarship and theories about children, youth, and digital technology -- in recognition of the adoption of General Comment 25: Children's Rights in the Digital Environment by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, in early 2021. The Critical Technology podcast is an initiative of the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) at the University of Toronto. Produced, edited and hosted by Dr. Sara Grimes (KMDI Director/Professor at the Faculty of Information). Audio mix and sound design by Mika Sustar. Music by Nicholas Manalo. Theme song by Taekun Park. Illustrations by Kenji Toyooka. Podcast logo by JP King. You can find additional info and materials for each episode on our website: http://kmdi.utoronto.ca/the-critical-technology-podcast/
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Episodes
Reactionary Digital Politics Part 2
July 18, 2023 03:00 - 35 minutes - 48.9 MBGames, memes, and parodies are increasingly used by extremist groups to spread misinformation and to lower the barriers to entry into extreme ideologies. But is there a deeper strategy at work? And if so, what's the end game? In Part 2 of this special two part interview, Dr. Sara Grimes chats with three researchers from the Reactionary Digital Politics Research Group, a multi-disciplinary collaboration based in the UK that has spent the past five years tracking the rise and spread of extremi...
Reactionary Digital Politics Part 1
May 08, 2023 04:00 - 42 minutes - 57.8 MBDigital technologies are increasingly used as ideological weapons of misinformation, manipulation, propaganda, and radicalization. But how exactly are social media platforms and memes used by ideological extremists? And what are they trying to achieve? In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with three researchers from the Reactionary Digital Politics Research Group, a multi-disciplinary collaboration based in the UK that has spent the past five years tracking the rise ...
The Artist and the Automaton
February 06, 2023 16:00 - 36 minutes - 50.7 MBWhile Dall-E, Stable Diffusion, and other popular AI-image systems have rekindled the debate about the future of creative work in the digital age, many cultural industries are already heavily reliant on machine learning and automation to produce content traditionally created by artists and designers. A key example is the digital games industry, where game engines, procedural content generation, and AI systems play an increasingly prominent role. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of ...
Land-Based Relations in/and Digital Technology
December 21, 2022 05:00 - 39 minutes - 54.1 MBMany of us are thinking more deeply about our relationships with the land these days. Through land acknowledgements inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. In response to the growing urgency, and immediacy, of climate change and its impacts. But what about our digital technologies and online cultures? How does the concept of Indigenous land-based relations help us to better understand the information society, its politics, and its processes? In this episod...
Debugging by Design
April 11, 2022 04:00 - 37 minutes - 52.2 MBAlthough computing technologies are now ubiquitous in much of the West and other parts of the world, there are still significant inequalities when it comes to who has access to computer science education. Powerful cultural stereotypes about who is or can become a coder persist, leading to the underrepresentation of girls and children of colour from a crucial form of digital literacy. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. Deborah Fields, Associate Research Pro...
The Digital (Neighbour)hood
March 14, 2022 04:00 - 38 minutes - 52.5 MBHow, where, and what kids and teens learn about safe sex, substance use, and other health-related topics is incredibly important. Especially for young people who are already dealing with higher risk factors, such as neighbourhood poverty and violence--a disproportionate number of whom are young people of colour, specifically Black, Latinx or Indigenous youth. In this episode, Dr. Sara M. Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. Robin Stevens, Associate Professor at University of Southe...
Kids and Emotional AI
February 14, 2022 05:00 - 36 minutes - 49.5 MBAs smart toys, virtual assistants, and machine learning apps spread across our homes and schools, an increasing number of children are now living, learning, and growing up around artificial intelligence or “AI”. Yet, we still know very little about children’s relationship with AI, how they feel about the seemingly knowledgeable voices coming out of their electronic devices, or how AI responds to children’s feelings. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. Andre...
Black Girls Swim
January 24, 2022 05:00 - 37 minutes - 51.4 MBOngoing debates about how digital technologies impact children’s health and well-being often frame sports as the opposite or even antidote to sedentary screen time. For centuries, children’s sports have served as a symbol of a “good” childhood -- one that privileges some children while historically excluding many others, especially girls, Black children, and children of colour. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. Samantha White, Assistant Professor of Spor...
Child Data Citizen
December 20, 2021 05:00 - 36 minutes - 50.7 MBWe all know that the global data economy relies on the ongoing collection, exchange and use of massive amounts of our data – from personal information, to what we do online, to algorithmic forecasts about what we might to do in the future. But what about children’s data? Although there are special laws in place to protect children’s privacy in many regions around the world, huge amounts of their data are still being collected by a growing of devices and applications. In this episode, Dr. Sar...
Kids Across the Spectrums
December 06, 2021 05:00 - 34 minutes - 47.2 MBThere is incredible diversity in children’s relationships with digital technologies, which introduce a range of opportunities and challenges for their rights, learning, and wellbeing. Kids on the spectrum, however, must also contend with popular stereotypes and misinformation about autism and technology, which impact them in complex ways. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. Meryl Alper, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at North...
Creativity Everything
March 22, 2021 04:00 - 35 minutes - 49.3 MBFrom sourdough starters and "covid gardens," to homemade face masks and Sea Shanty TikToks, the pandemic has inspired a boom in crafting, making, artistic expression, and everyday creativity. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. David Gauntlett, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Creativity in the School of Creative Industries at Ryerson University (Toronto, ON) and founder of the Creativity Everything Lab, about his research on the creative process, the...
Transgressive/Toxic Play
March 15, 2021 04:00 - 35 minutes - 48.2 MBDigital gaming is a vital source of fun, relaxation, learning and social connection for kids and adults alike. But people don’t always “play nice” and games can also become the sites of interpersonal conflict, trolling, and seriously harmful behaviours. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. Kelly Boudreau, a professor at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, about her fascinating and timely research on problematic and toxic gameplay; the roles ...
Distributed Blackness
March 08, 2021 05:00 - 37 minutes - 51.2 MBIn his critically acclaimed new book, Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures (2020, New York University Press), Dr. Andre Brock Jr, professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, positions Blackness at the very centre of Internet culture. In so doing, Brock uncovers the complex ways that race and racism, but also joy and humour, have always shaped how digital technologies are designed, used, depicted, and envisioned. In this episode, Sara chats with Dr. Brock about his impo...
The City as Platform
December 14, 2020 05:00 - 36 minutes - 49.7 MBThe integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across our devices, information systems, and built environments is reshaping the design and function of the technologies that surround us. From AI-generated designer chairs to smart cities, this shift introduces a range of new relationships, possibilities, and risks into our lives. In this episode, Sara chats with Dr. Beth Coleman, a professor at the University of Toronto and the lead investigator of the City as Platform project: an interdiscip...
Educational Technologies in Refugee Camps
December 07, 2020 05:00 - 28 minutes - 39.6 MBEducational technologies and online learning have received a lot of attention lately, as schools worldwide shifted to remote delivery. But for children and youth in refugee camps, access to education has long been embedded in digital technologies, presenting unique opportunities, and big challenges, for teaching and learning. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. Negin Dahya, a professor at the University of Toronto, and the lead investigator on the Portrait...
Platforms and Cultural Production
November 30, 2020 17:00 - 36 minutes - 50.2 MBAs the media and cultural industries have shifted to digital platforms (like Facebook, Apple, and Amazon), massive changes in how cultural content is made, distributed, and consumed have unfolded. In this episode, Dr. Sara Grimes (Director of the KMDI) chats with Dr. David Nieborg, a professor at the University of Toronto, and one of the lead investigators on the Platforms and Cultural Production project: a multi-year, international research initiative that examines how the rise and spread o...
Introducing the Critical Technology podcast
November 09, 2020 05:00 - 1 minute - 2.48 MBA new series from the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) and Director/Professor Sara Grimes, featuring interviews with Prof. David Nieborg, Prof. Negin Dahya, Prof. Beth Coleman and other experts on the intersections of digital technology and society. Premieres Fall 2020.