Reimagining the Internet
Reimagining the Internet is a production of the Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure at UMass Amherst, asking scholars, activists, journalists, and artists what is broken on the internet and how to fix it.
Latest episodes
Jul 10, 2024 • 1h 1min
104. MetaFilter turns 25 this month, a shining beacon of the Good Web. Reluctant owner Jessamyn West tells us how rusty tech and vibrant community keeps it vital.
Metafilter contains the seeds for everything from Twitter to Reddit to comments sections on blogs, and it’s older than podcasts, the blog boom, Facebook, and well, basically everything online. Owner Jessamyn West sat down for a deep conversation with Mike about how MetaFilter’s reliance on community-focusd governance and person-scale moderation has helped it achieve its […]
Jun 26, 2024 • 1h 4min
103. How did Vermont’s favorite civic social network turn into a climate disaster response network overnight? Michael Wood-Lewis Tells Us About His Local Good Web
Michael Wood-Lewis from Front Porch Forum joins us for this second (maybe third?) appearance to help us kick off our Good Web series, where we’re highlighting the successful people building a better, smaller Internet. Michael was gracious enough to have producer Mike Sugarman up to the FPF offices in Burlington, VT to give us an […]
Jun 12, 2024 • 41min
102. Cory Doctorow Coined “Enshittification.” He Sees 4 Ways to End It.
To kick off our Good Web series, Cory Doctorow joined us for a deep dive into his enshittification theory, and how regulation, labor power, competition, and user self-help will make it a thing of the past. We also got him to tell us a little bit about his new novel The Bezzle. Cory first joined […]
May 29, 2024 • 37min
101. Reframing Digital Safety with Diana Freed: For Survivors and Youth, The Biggest Threats Come From Everyday Tech
CW/TW: Intimate partner violence, child exploitation Diana Freed has spent the past several years radically reframing the threat model in cybersecurity with groundbreaking research into how domestic abusers utilize everyday technology like smart phones and tracking apps. Diana sits down with us to talk about digital safety for survivors of intimate partner violence and youth, […]
5 snips
May 15, 2024 • 39min
100. A Better Internet for Humans with Ethan Zuckerman and Mike Sugarman
Ethan Zuckerman and Mike Sugarman discuss a human-scale Internet, the threat of an LLM ouroboros, and urban planning. They explore challenges like Bitcoin, advertising, and restructuring the internet, advocating for diverse search engine alternatives and improved web content quality.
May 1, 2024 • 42min
99. Do You Want to Use Data to Fight for Justice? Catherine D’Ignazio Wrote the Book For You
Catherine D'Ignazio, writer of a book on using data in fights for justice, discusses data feminism, femicide in South America, intersection of feminism and data science, reimagining AI through feminist lens, and exploring data science for healing and transformation in an innovative data activism campaign.
Feb 28, 2024 • 1h 7min
98. UMass’s very own Brian Levine is one of the foremost cybersecurity experts on CSAM. Here’s how he thinks we can make the Internet safer for children.
Cybersecurity expert Brian Levine discusses combating online child exploitation, ethical challenges, Whisper app investigation, strategies against CSAM, balancing privacy and safety online, limitations in detecting harmful content, and shared responsibility in protecting children online.
Feb 21, 2024 • 40min
Rewind: Timnit Gebru Looks at Corporate AI and Sees a Lot of Bad Science
Rerun of episode 85 from August, 16 2023 Timnit Gebru is not just a pioneering critic of dangerous AI datasets who calls bullshit on bad science pushed by the likes of OpenAI, or a tireless champion of racial, gender, and climate justice in computing. She’s also someone who wants to build something different. This week […]
Feb 7, 2024 • 43min
Rewind: Ted Lasso’s Dylan Marron wants to redeem Jar Jar Binks
This is a rerun of episode 84. Jar Jar Binks, the human side of online harassment, restorative justice, the Friends writers room, solidarity with UPS, what life looks like in the creative gig economy after your show has won an Emmy. Dylan Marron (Ted Lasso, Welcome to Nightvale) joins us for a sprawling, poignant conversation […]
Jan 31, 2024 • 45min
97. There are 14 billion videos on YouTube. Mr. Beast, we hereby challenge you to watch them all.
Our lab’s Ryan McGrady and Kevin Zheng are taking a victory lap around some amazing work they’re doing here at the lab. Ryan just published an article in The Atlantic about the research he’s leading to understand how big YouTube is and what exactly is on it, and Kevin recently debuted his amazing tool to […]
