The Human Show
Innovation through Social Science
Have you ever wondered whether technology and/or the people that engage and/or work with it are “evil”? Or pondered how social scientists study human behaviour and how they can – through their applied work – enhance design and/or innovation?
In the following podcasts we ask social scientists and practitioners from all over the world to consider the same question:
“What is the nature of people’s relationship to communicative and interactive technology? What is the role ethics, power, agency and trust play in the making and performance of that relationship?”
Through industry perspective pieces, we also explore the businesses that influence that relationship through product design and/or innovation and consider the role social science plays in supporting their work.
Mireille Hildebrandt, a lawyer, philosopher and professor at Radboud Universiteit & Vrije Universiteit Brussels explores the functioning of the law and ethics within cyberspace – The Human Show Podcast 63
Mireille Hildebrandt, a Professor of ‘Interfacing Law and Technology’ at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, of ‘ICT and the Rule of Law’ at Radboud University (the Netherlands), is a lawyer and philosopher whose main research is concerned with the...
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Simon Roberts, anthropologist and Partner at Stripe Partners: embodiment and the role our bodies play in the technological world – The Human Show Podcast 62
Simon is widely regarded as a pioneer in the field of business anthropology and the use of ethnography in corporate research, design and innovation activities. His career began with a PhD on the satellite TV revolution in mid 1990s India. He...
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Capsule Episode Conference: Geke van Dijk, GOOD19 (Great Outdoors of Design) on Considerate Transformation – The Human Show Podcast 61
This conference brings together design researchers from various backgrounds (including anthropology) from around the world to explore how best to contribute to real and meaningful change in organisations, in economies and within societies. The...
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Mike Youngblood: Design Ethnographer and Cultural Strategist: applied anthropologist finding new ways to address social problems & prevent negative consequences of design – The Human Show 60
Mike Youngblood is a cultural anthropologist working at the nexus of social science and human-centered design. He is the chief conspirator behind The Youngblood Group, an innovation consultancy focused on reimagining critical products, services, and systems to...
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Sarah Pink, Professor of Design & Emerging Technologies: ethnographies on human futures; the concept of trust and its relevance to multidisciplinary collaboration – The Human Show Podcast 59
Sarah Pink is a design anthropologist, researcher, consultant and thought leader, whose work focuses on scholarship and intervention in the fields of technology design, digital technologies in everyday life and design for wellbeing. She is...
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Capsule Episode Conference: Anna Berza, Anthropologist and Co-Organizer Why Romania Needs Anthropologists: On Mental Health – The Human Show Podcast 58
This conference is a satellite event of the well-known annual international symposium “Why The World Needs Anthropologists”, organized by EASA-Applied Anthropology Network. Having similar structure and values to the main event, this conference...
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Jeffrey Greger, UX Researcher Varo Money Inc.: from architecture to (industrial) design to applied anthropology & back again – The Human Show Podcast 57
Jeffrey Greger, UX Researcher at banking startup Varo Money, has a background in both design and anthropology with a BA in Industrial Design and recently completing an MA in Applied Anthropology at San Jose State University. His...
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Julien Cornebise, Director of Research, AI for Good at Element AI: the ethics, scarcity & drive for purpose of AI & the humans that build it; working alongside social scientists – The Human Show 56
Julien Cornebise is a Director of Research, AI for Good at Element AI and head of the London Office. He is also an honorary researcher at University College London. Prior to Element AI, Julien was at DeepMind (later acquired by...
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Fumiko Ichikawa, Co-founder, Managing Director at Re:public; from researcher to facilitator of urban innovation; citizenship, cities, identity and craftmanship in Japan – The Human Show Podcast 55
Fumiko Ichikawa is Co-Founder and Managing Director at Re:public, think and do tank. She has studied human-computer interaction, and she has been the practitioner of ethnographic research in Japan and around the world. After the financial crisis...
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Capsule Episode Conference: Dr. Stephanie Herold, Fieldwork School in Business Anthropology – The Human Show Podcast 54
This field school aims to provide participants with an intensive, boot-camp style learning experience that includes academic grounding in business anthropology, opportunities to practice skills in the fields of international...
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Capsule Episode: Dawn Walter, Anthropology + Technology Conference 2019
The conference aims to bring together technologists working in tech companies on emerging technology projects and applied anthropologists under the theme of championing socially-responsible AI. The specific objective is to show why anthropologists are needed and how...
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Laith Ulaby: On moving between academia & business; from knowledge creator to facilitator; from researcher to builder – The Human Show Podcast 52
Laith Ulaby is Director of Research at Udemy, Lecturer in the MIMS (Master of Information Management and Systems) program at the UC Berkeley School of Information and teaches UX Research Methods as part of the UC Berkeley Extension UX Program. After...
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Manuka Henare: A look into New Zealand anthropology & the concept of technology in Maori Culture – The Human Show Podcast 51
Mānuka Henare works at the University of Auckland within New Zealand and is a professor in Maori Business development. Manuka is foundation director of the Mira Szaszy Research Centre for Maori and Pacific Economic Development. He...
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Greg Bennett: Linguist and Lead User Researcher at Salesforce – The Human Show Podcast 50
Greg Bennett is a Linguist and Lead User Researcher at Salesforce with extensive experience in the technology sector having previously worked for companies such as Yahoo! and Microsoft. He believes the core of user experience lies in the intersection of...
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Steve Fadden: Research Lead, Google & Lecturer for UC Berkeley; on his blended experience in technology & academia; learning, positionality, ethics – The Human Show Podcast 49
Steve Fadden is a Research Lead at Google, where he serves as manager for the Measurement UX Research team. He is also on the faculty as a Lecturer for the School of Information, University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches User Experience...
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Jan Chipchase: director of international research & design projects, writer, photographer & co-founder of Studio D Radiodurans, SDR Traveller & The Fixer List – The Human Show Podcast 48
Jan Chipchase is a director of international research and design projects, writer, photographer and co-founder of Studio D Radiodurans, SDR Traveller and The Fixer List. He has over 15 years’ experience in running international projects, has authored three books,...
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Capsule Episode Conference: Dara Hallinan, Program Director CPDP 2019: Data Protection and Democracy, 30th January – 1st February, Brussels, Belgium
CPDP (Computers, Privacy and Data Protection) is a non-profit platform originally founded in 2007 by research groups from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Université de Namur and Tilburg University. The platform was joined in the following years by the Institut...
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Alexis Walker: An anthropologist working in technology and business, developments in technology and people’s relationships to technologies – The Human Show Podcast 46
Alexis Walker has over ten years of experience within research design and applying her skills as a social scientist and ethnographer in projects of both academic and business relevance (having worked for companies such as American Airlines, Mars, and Root etc.). She...
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Dr. Anupam Das, Linguist & Assistant Professor at IIMK India: on politeness & trolling on social media -The Human Show Podcast 45
Dr. Anupam Das is a linguist and an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, (IIMK) Kerala, India in the area of Humanities & Liberal Arts in Management. Dr Anupram has a Ph.D. in Linguistics with a minor in Information...
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Samantha Rosenthal: An anthropologist in technology & business, developments in technology & people’s relationships to technologies – The Human Show Podcast 44
Samantha Rosenthal is a digital anthropologist and User Experience Researcher who studies the ways in which digital technologies permeate our daily lives and experiences. She has applied anthropology within companies that create and...
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Susan Wardell: A conversation about Holidays, Rituals and Religion – The Human Show Podcast 43
Today we are back again with the intelligent Susan Wardell who talks to us about her recent work on religion, ethics and care practices in Uganda and New Zealand. In this very special episode we also have a conversation about Christmas, the...
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Nazima Kadir: Design Anthropologist, Corporate vs Academia; Anthropologists in Research; Ethics in the applied sector – The Human Show Podcast 42
Nazima Kadir is an anthropologist with a PhD from Yale and an author. She has a wide ranging practice, from directing insight teams in design and innovation, presenting and publishing in academic contexts, to working collaboratively with artists. Nazima...
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Stine Louring Nielsen, Design Anthropologist: On healing architecture & how to happily swim in the blended waters of anthropology/architecture/design – The Human Show Podcast 41
Stine Louring Nielsen is a trained anthropologist, specialised in the intersection of space, health and atmosphere and currently a PhD Fellow at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, investigating the ambiance potential of coloured...
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Ari Nave: Design Anthropology, User Research, Corporate Culture & Culture Change – The Human Show Podcast 40
Ari Nave is a design anthropologist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Trained as an anthropologist at UCLA, he is the founder of The King’s Indian - a strategic consulting firm sitting at the intersection of design and brand strategy. Focused...
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Kerry Gibson: researching youth (16-21), suicide & social technology in NZ; technology, stigma & empowerment; the role of family elders; grief & loss; ethics & responsibility of building products in this space
Kerry Gibson is a clinical psychologist and her research interests are in the areas of child and family psychology, trauma and psychotherapy. She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand where she is...
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Part 2 – Duncan Hay: The (many) definitions of IoT; security, trust & IoT in public urban spaces
We have split our conversation with Duncan into 2 separate episodes. Last week we released part 1 of this interview where we talked to Duncan about his work with the Survey of London, the White Chapel Initiative, a technological experiment in the...
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Part 1 – Duncan Hay: Survey of London and the White Chapel Initiative; technology, access and urban history – The Human Show Podcast 37
Dr. Duncan Hay, currently a Research Associate at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, UCL, London, has an extensive experience at the intersection of linguistics and technology. He received his PhD in 2012 in in English Literature...
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Susan Wardell: Sociality, anonymity & power dynamics on social media; self-care, mental health & social technology; ethics and intervention in anthropology; precarity and mental health in academia – The Human Show Podcast 36
Dr. Susan Wardell is a Professional Practice Fellow at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand). She is a medical/social anthropologist, with an interest in digital media technologies, particularly in relation to mental health. Her...
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Anna Kirah, Design Anthropologist: on transdisciplinarity (anthropology /psychology/design) and building the new; 3 techniques to practice empathy – The Human Show Podcast 35
Anna Kirah is an internationally respected design anthropologist and psychologist known for pioneering the people-centric approach to innovation and change management. Her passions are co-creation and working with “transdisciplinary” teams. Anna...
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Jamer Hunt, Vice Provost for Transdisciplinary Initiatives at The New School: how to blend social science with design; interventions and multidisciplinarity – The Human Show Podcast 34
Jamer Hunt is the Vice Provost for Transdisciplinary Initiatives at The New School, where he was a founding director (2009-2015) of the graduate program in Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons School of Design. He is also Visiting Design Researcher...
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Steph Creasy: Talking about research within the New Zealand tech/business sector and working with social scientists – The Human Show Podcast 33
Steph Creasy is the Managing Director of Digital Arts which is based in Auckland. Digital Arts is one of New Zealand’s preeminent human-centered Digital Agency and has designed and delivered exceptional digital experiences for New...
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Angèle Christin, Assistant Professor, Stanford University: risk assessment tools, algorithms and the US justice system; anxiety and moral panic about AI algorithms – The Human Show Podcast 32
Angèle Christin has a PhD in Sociology from Princeton University and the EHESS (Paris). She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and affiliated faculty in the Sociology...
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Matt May, Head of Inclusive Design, Adobe: how to build inclusive technologies; ethics & trust; privilege & allyship – The Human Show Podcast 31
Matt May has had an extensive career in technology design, access and inclusivity. He is currently Head of Inclusive Design for Adobe where his work includes integrating inclusive design practices across every aspect of the...
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Thomas Malaby, Professor/Chair of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin: inclusive avatars; chance and patterns in games – The Human Show Podcast 30
Thomas Malaby has a PhD in Anthropology from Harvard University and is Professor and Chair of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interest is in the ever-changing relationships among...
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Saswati (Sas) Saha Mitra, Head of Global Research, Uber: research methods; ethics, governance, policy; gender & tech – The Human Show Podcast 29
Saswati (Sas) Saha Mitra has both a diverse background (Literature, Political Science and Business) as well as an extensive career in research having worked for companies such as Google, Vodafone, Intel, Nokia, Whirlpool, United...
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Mizuko (Mimi) Ito, University of California, Irvine: bridging boundaries between the applied and academic fields; youth and digital cultures; access, trust, ethics and privacy – The Human Show Podcast 28
Mizuko (Mimi) Ito is a cultural anthropologist and learning scientist studying children and youth's new media use. She has 2 PhDs from Stanford University, one in Anthropology with the Dissertation "Engineering Play:...
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Mrudula Sreekanth, Peepal Design India: doing research in India for international companies; the value of a (social science) researcher and how to onboard one – The Human Show Podcast 27
Mrudula Sreekanth has an MICT from the International University in Germany and over 13 years of experience in User Experience Research and Interaction Design in the technology space in India having worked with companies...
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Ann Hsieh: UX Research Leader, Facebook Groups: exploration & creativity in research; stakeholder management; researching groups – The Human Show Podcast 26
Ann Hsieh is a mixed-methods research leader and loves adapting or creating new methods to build greater impact with stakeholders. She currently leads research for group teams at Facebook and has 13 years of industry...
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Dr. Henrique Z. M. Parra, Professor Social Sciences, UNIFESP, Brazil: working & teaching at the intersection between technology, open data, transparency and social activism in the public space – The Human Show Podcast 25
Dr. Henrique Z. M. Parra has an MsC in Sociology (USP), a PhD in Political Science (UNICAMP) and is currently a permanent Professor of Social Sciences at the Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP). He worked as a professor, researcher...
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Jacqueline Krones: Principal for Ethics in the AI Perceptions & MR Group, Microsoft: how to transition from high level ethical principles to day to day product work; AI, trust, governance & ethics – The Human Show Podcast 24
Jacquelyn Krones has a MA in Social Psychology with an academic focus on in-group bias, tokenism and heterosexual attraction. She also has over 20 years of experience in technology companies from startups to large enterprises...
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Scott Matter: Ethnography and Co-Design in the Media Sector; ethics & effects of measuring engagement; trust, reputation & “fake news” – The Human Show Podcast 23
Scott Matter is a sociocultural anthropologist and a political ecologist with experience both in the strategic design sector as well as in the academic sector. He has run projects in four countries on three continents, in a range of...
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Matt Bernius, Lead UX Research, Measures for Justice: researching (digital) cameras; mistaking chatbots for humans; 3 “how to’s” to transition to the applied sector – The Human Show Podcast 22
Matt Bernius has had an extensive career working at the intersection of design and anthropology. Matt holds a MA in the social sciences from the University of Chicago and was a visiting professor at the Rochester...
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Jessica Outlaw: How to bootstrap your Applied Research Career; researching people in AR/VR; the value of a Social Scientist in Design – The Human Show Podcast 21
We talk to Jessica about what it’s like to bootstrap your own applied research career and her past and current work with research in VR and the gaming sector. She shares how she builds and executes a research project, what is - for...
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Sibel Kusimba: Mobile money and how it impacts peoples practices, relationships and perception of money in Kenya – The Human Show Podcast 20
Sibel Kusimba is an Anthropologist who does both archaeological and anthropological fieldwork within Kenya. Throughout the years 2012 to 2018 she has been doing research into mobile money such as M-Pesa in Kenya, looking into...
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Shriram Venkatraman, IIIT-Delhi: Why We Post Project: social media and culture in India; forming/performing sociality; applied anthropology field in India – The Human Show Podcast 19
Shriram Venkatraman has academic and industry career tracks that both sit at the intersection of big and thick data. He has a background in Diversity and People Analytics with Walmart Stores, Inc., USA and a PhD in Digital...
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José Manuel dos Santos, Head of Design & User Experience – Americas at Signify: articulating the value of social science to design; working alongside anthropologists – The Human Show Podcast 18
José Manuel dos Santos has an MA In Industrial Design from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design/UK, an Executive MA in Product Design and Development from the Northwestern University/USA and over 20 years of experience in...
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Dr. Grant Jun Otsuki: Intuitive design & robots; service, ethics, class, power dynamics & technology in Japan- The Human Show Podcast 17
Dr. Grant Jun Otsuki is currently a lecturer in cultural anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He received his Ph.D. in Social-cultural Anthropology at the University of Toronto in 2015 and from...
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Kathy Baxter, Research Architect Salesforce: definition of AI & types of intelligence for bots; enculturation & training data; fairness, ethics & research methodologies to build a neutral system – The Human Show Podcast 16
Kathy Baxter has an MS in Engineering Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology and has been on the “Silicon Valley tour” working for companies such as Google, eBay, Oracle and (now) Salesforce. She is currently a Research...
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Andy Goodman, BCG Digital Ventures: methods and practices on how to move from an insight to good design; the secret sauce of a good researcher; the case for the new design of iPhone 10 – The Human Show Podcast 15
Andy Goodman, VP Experience Design at BCG Digital Ventures is an artist turned service designer with a wealth of experience in the design space having worked (amongst others) as a VP of Consumer Products for...
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Jamie Sherman, Intel: on how (human life) it’s complicated yet actionable; why (in VR) everybody talks to the robot dog; user hacking in design; working in business as an anthropologist – The Human Show Podcast 14
Jamie Sherman holds a PHD from Princeton in Cultural Anthropology and is a Senior User Experience Researcher with the Intel Corporation most recently focused on AR, VR content creation and gaming....
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Dan Podjed: Working to grow a vibrant community of applied anthropologists in Europe; (applied) events, projects, symposiums; re-thinking (business) ethnography; barriers and opportunities for the applied sector – The Human Show Podcast 13
Dan Podjed is an applied anthropologist with 15+ years' experience in ethnographic research, project management, and university teaching. He is a founder of EASA Applied Anthropology Network and Why the World Needs Anthropologists event,...
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Stephen Rea & Taylor Nelms: An Anthropological Conversation about Mobile Money & Financial Technologies – The Human Show Podcast 12
Stephen C. Rea is a cultural anthropologist whose research focuses on how digital and mobile technologies intersect with issues of community, labour, and health. He has done extensive ethnographic fieldwork on digital gaming culture in...
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Betsy DiSalvo: More than just play, or the significance of ethnicity, race, gender & sociality in how young people engage with video games, education & technology – The Human Show Podcast Podcast 11
Dr. Betsy DiSalvo is an Assistant Professor at the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. There she leads the Culture and Technology Lab, where they research how cultural values impact the use and production of...
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Erin B. Taylor: Researching mobile money in Haiti & The Netherlands; the ethics & methods for asking people about money; regulation and financial design – The Human Show Podcast 10
Erin B. Taylor is an economic anthropologist with experience both in the applied financial sector and in the academic sector. She holds a PhD in Socio Cultural Anthropology from Sydney University and was a postdoctoral researcher on financial...
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Amy Sheppard, Xero: What is an insight, how to build great design teams & what she looks for in a researcher role – The Human Show Podcast 9
Amy Sheppard has an extensive experience in the design space, having been in leadership positions in design across companies such as Deloitte Digital, Australia Post and Johnson & Johnson. She is currently the Head of Design for Xero...
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Susanna Helen Trnka: The many ways in which people make medical technologies work for them; how to approach building multifaceted medical apps; what’s next for a student of anthropology – The Human Show Podcast 8
Susanna Helena Trnka holds a PhD from Princeton University in social anthropology and has studied the body, citizenship and subjectivity. Her specific interests include (amongst others) illness experience; new medical technologies and...
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Nimmi Rangaswamy: Stories from India on mobile internet & Facebook use of slum youth; technology as a force for good; the access & (corporate) ethics of technology – The Human Show Podcast 7
Nimmi Rangaswamy has an extensive experience in the technology space that spans both academia and the business sector. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Kohli Centre on Intelligent Systems, Indian Institute of...
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Kevin Lee: Working with insight across organisational silos and on being human inside a company role – The Human Show Podcast 6
Kevin Lee is a design executive with an extensive experience in Design & Brand Strategy, UX, Product Design and Co-Creation and an MsC in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon. He has held global design positions with top 500...
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Crystal Abidin: Influencers, Youth Online and the Intersections of Social Media and Traditional Media – The Human Show Podcast 5
Crystal Abidin has a PhD in Anthropology & Sociology, and Media & Communications and done extensive research into the practices of internet celebrity. She studies the online practices of youth on various social media platforms and also...
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Shikha Desai, Microsoft: Learning about Product Design, AI and working with social scientists – The Human Show Podcast 4
Perspective Industry Piece Shikha Desai is a Principal Designer for intelligent experiences across Office apps for Microsoft Seattle HQ, with an extensive experience of understanding both user and business needs. She leads design teams within Microsoft...
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Nick Seaver: Understanding Taste, Algorithms and Context in Music Recommender Systems – The Human Show Podcast 3
Nick Seaver is a cultural anthropologist who works as an assistant professor at Tufts University where he also teaches in the Science, Technology, and Society program. He is a co-chair of the American Anthropological Association’s Committee for...
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Sam Ladner: On the emotional bonds we build with Software, Hardware and each other – The Human Show Podcast 2
Sam Ladner holds a PhD in sociology and has studied work, technology, and organisations in both academic and applied settings. She worked as a Senior UX Researcher both for Microsoft and Amazon, wrote extensively about applying ethnographic research methods in...
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Danya Glabau: From patients to users and the fears and hopes of managing ones health – The Human Show Podcast 1
Danya Glabau is a medical anthropologist and the founder of Implosion Labs, an ethnography-driven research and consulting group focused on health and technology. She teaches as an Adjunct Instructor at NYU Tandon School of...
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