Computer algorithms shape our lives and increasingly control our future. They have crept into virtually every aspect of modern life and are making life-changing choices on our behalf, often without us realising. But how much power should we give to them and have we let things go too far? Joanna Bale talks to Ken Benoit, Andrew Murray, Seeta Peña Gangaradhan, Alison Powell and Bernhard Von Stengel.
Research links: Hello World by Hannah Fry; 
Information Technology Law: The Law and Society by Andrew Murray; 
Explanations as Governance? Investigating practices of explanation in algorithmic system design by Alison Powell (forthcoming).

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Do algorithms have too much power?

To subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit apple.co/2r40QPA or on Andriod http://subscribeonandroid.com/www.lse.ac.uk/assets/richmedia/webFeeds/lseiqpodcast_iTunesStore.xml or search for 'LSE IQ' in your favourite podcast app or visit lse.ac.uk/iq

Welcome to LSE's award-winning podcast, LSE IQ, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society.

Citizenship. What does that word really signify? This episode of LSE IQ takes a look at the issue in all its complexities, uncovering how decisions made by a 19th century West African Gola ruler connect to today’s Liberian land ownership laws; why British citizenship became racialised in the decades following the second world war – legislation that led to the Windrush Scandal, devastating the lives of hundreds of black Britons; and how Bolivian migrants in the present day have struggled to create new lives in Chile.  

To understand more about the many ways citizenship can impact our lives, Jess Winterstein spoke to Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, Dr Ian Sanjay Patel and Dr Megan Ryburn
 
Speakers: Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, Dr Ian Sanjay Patel and Dr Megan Ryburn


Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, Department of Social Policy, LSE 
https://www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/people/academic-staff/dr-robtel-neajai-pailey

Dr Ian Sanjay Patel, Department of Sociology, LSE 
https://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/people/ian-patel

Dr Megan Ryburn, Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC), LSE
https://www.lse.ac.uk/lacc/people/megan-ryburn 

Research 
Development, (Dual) Citizenship and its Discontents in Africa: The political economy of belonging to Liberia by Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey (Cambridge University Press). To read the Introduction free of charge see https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/development-dual-citizenship-and-its-discontents-in-africa/B96CB2D100CFEC03EE476D103F46348B# The ebook is also available in the LSE library.

We’re Here Because You Were There: Immigration and the end of empire by Dr Ian Sanjay Patel (Verso) https://www.versobooks.com/books/3700-we-re-here-because-you-were-there    

Uncertain Citizenship: everyday practices of Bolivian migrants in Chile by Dr Megan Ryburn (University of California Press). https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520298774/uncertain-citizenship

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

LSE IQ podcast

What does it really mean to be a citizen?

As the coronavirus pandemic extends into its second year, digital literacy is more important now than ever. Misinformation and hoaxes are everywhere. Cultural and political contests on social media have also become more intense, and politicians are already beginning to position themselves ahead of the 2024 elections. 

Being digitally literate entails not only the ability to use digital devices and platforms but also the capacity to ethically engage with other online users. Digital safety and privacy are also important. As is, of course, the capacity to understand whether information is true and reliable. But just how digitally literate are Indonesians?

In this episode, Dr Annisa Beta talks to Dr Novi Kurnia, a lecturer at the Department of Communication Science at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, and the founder and coordinator of the Indonesia Digital Literacy Network or Japelidi.

Japelidi, along with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics and Siberkreasi, published four important modules on digital literacy in April 2021. The modules can be accessed on literasidigital.id

The Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Annisa Beta from the University of Melbourne’s School of Culture and Communication, Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, and Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University.

Photo credit: Harviyan Perdana Putra for Antara Foto

Dr Novi Kurnia - Digital Literacy

Conspiracy theories fomented by political division and a global pandemic have gained traction in the public consciousness in the last couple of years. For some people these ideas are just fun and entertaining, but for others their interest in them becomes much more consuming. Why do people become involved in this kind of conspiratorial thinking? That’s the question that LSE iQ tackles in this month’s episode. 

Concerns that 5G phone masts reduce our bodies’ defences against COVID-19 and that vaccines are being used to inject us with micro-chips - allowing us to be tracked and controlled - may seem extraordinary to many of us. But these beliefs have led to the vandalism of 5G phone masts and made some reluctant to be vaccinated.   

In this episode of LSE iQ, Sue Windebank finds out how left-wing anarchists got caught up in conspiratorial thinking and how Irish parents looking for support and community were accused of spreading a conspiracy. And is LSE unknowingly carrying out the wishes of the Illuminati?  Listen to hear how LSE became embroiled in a global conspiracy. 

Sue talks to: Dr Ela Drążkiewicz from the Institute for Sociology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences; Professor Bradley Franks from LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science; and Dr Erica Lagalisse from LSE’s Institute of Inequalities. 

 

Contributors 

Dr Ela Drazkiewicz-Grodzicka 

Professor Bradley Franks  

Dr Erica Lagalisse 

 

Research 

Taking vaccine regret and hesitancy seriously. The role of truth, conspiracy theories, gender relations and trust in the HPV immunisation programmes in Ireland (2021) by Elżbieta Drążkiewicz Grodzicka in  Journal for Cultural Research 

Beyond “Monologicality”? Exploring Conspiracist Worldviews (2017) by Bradley Franks, Adrian Bangerter, Martin W. Bauer, Matthew Hall and Mark C. Noort in Frontiers in Psychology 

Occult Features of Anarchism: With Attention to the Conspiracy of Kings and the Conspiracy of the Peoples (2019) by Erica Lagalisse

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

Racism in western, white-dominated countries can be considered when the dominant racial group benefits from and contributes to the oppression of other racial groups based on their race. 

But what makes internalised racism different? It turns out that racism in Australia is more complex than people telling you to go back to where you came from.

In this episode of Diversity Dissected I talked to Dr Adam Z. Seet who is a registered therapist who did his PhD in psychology with a focus on racism. 
He now offers support related to these issues at Coburg Clinical Psychology. 

https://www.coburgpsychology.com/our-team.html

Diversity Dissected - Episode 1: Internalised Racism

There are more than 160,000 Chinese students in Australian educational institutions. While their contributions to Australian society have been widely acknowledged, the media have recently focused on several incidents in which Chinese students have challenged or criticised lecturers on Australian university campuses, and have sometimes depicted Chinese students as being brainwashed by the Chinese Government. How do Chinese students react to this coverage? What are the different sources and expressions of nationalism and patriotism among Chinese students? What views are held within the Chinese student community and the Australian academic community about how cultural and political differences should be addressed? What strategies can universities implement to improve cross-cultural communication? Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Communication Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) joins James Laurenceson, Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at UTS to discuss the challenges faced by Chinese students and their instructors in Australian universities, and how these challenges may be addressed.

7. Chinese students in Australia - with Wanning Sun

Chinese students in Australia

For about a year now, there has been heated debate about Chinese international students on Australian university campuses. In 2017 media reported on four incidents involving Chinese students protesting lecture content. Some commentators have claimed that Chinese students are brainwashed prior to arrival, spy or protest on behalf of the Chinese Government while studying here and are generally kept loyal to the Communist Party during their time in Australia by being surrounded by Beijing-approved Chinese-language media. However, most of the time the voices of Chinese students themselves are not part of the discussion. What are Chinese students’ aspirations for their time in Australia? Do these accord with their actual experiences? Do Chinese students aim to immerse themselves in Australian life? What part do Chinese-language media play in their Australian experience?

Fran Martin, Associate Professor and Reader in Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne, joins James Laurenceson, Deputy Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney to discuss her Australian Research Council-funded project following more than 50 female students coming to Australian universities from China, from before their departure to after their graduation.

22. Expectations and experiences of Chinese university students in Australia - with Fran Martin

How do we reimagine higher education for a networked age? 

Prof. George Siemens (University of Texas at Arlington) is well-known for his work in the areas of e-learning and open education. 

We discuss George’s pioneering work with MOOCs, his current interest in ‘being’ skills, and ongoing ambitions to reimagine education systems to fit individual learners in an era when the technological systems around us are more intelligent than we are.

A full transcript of this interview is available: https://criticaledtech.com/2021/10/27/networked-learning-in-a-digital-age-interview-with-george-siemens-2018/

Networked learning in a digital age (George Siemens)

Alison Phipps joins PTO to talk about her new book, 'Me, Not You: The Trouble with Mainstream Feminism'. We chatted about the MeToo movement and what it reveals about the mainstream of feminist politics, how violence against women is necessary to the project of capitalist globalisation and how the image of the imperilled white woman has been central to the project of empire both formal and informal.

#106 The trouble with mainstream feminism w/ Alison Phipps

To subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit apple.co/2r40QPA or on Andriod subscribeonandroid.com/www.lse.ac.uk…unesStore.xml or search for 'LSE IQ' in your favourite podcast app or visit lse.ac.uk/iq

Welcome to LSE's award-winning podcast, LSE IQ, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society.


This episode is dedicated to social policy giant Professor Sir John Hills, who died in December 2020.

In this episode, John tackles the myth that the welfare state supports a feckless underclass who cost society huge amounts of money. Instead, he sets out a system where most of what we pay in, comes back to us. He describes a generational contract which we all benefit from, varying on our stage of life.
His words remain timely after a year of pandemic which has devastated many people’s livelihoods. Many of us have had to rely on state support in ways that we could not have anticipated, perhaps challenging our ideas about what type of person receives benefits in the UK.
This episode is based on an interview that John did with James Rattee for the LSE iQ podcast in 2017. It coincided with the LSE Festival which celebrated the anniversary of the publication of the ‘Beveridge Report’ in 1947 - a blueprint for a British universal care system by former LSE Director William Beveridge.
Professor Sir John Hills CBE, was Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at LSE and Chair of CASE. His influential work didn’t just critique government policy on poverty and inequality, it changed it. He advised on a wide range of issues including pensions reform, fuel poverty, council housing, income and wealth distribution.

Contributors
Professor John Hills

Research
Good Times Bad Times: the welfare myth of them and us. Bristol: Policy Press by John Hills (2015)

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Eric Fu