How do infrastructures shape our environment and condition our behavior? How can power be embedded into infrastructures? What is the role of interfaces, protocols, and standards in the exercise of power? This podcast is part of the course "Comparative Public Policy" of the Master's in Political Science at the University of Salamanca. This podcast was created using my class notes, selected bibliographical references, and Google Gemini for the podcast script and the voices.
What if the bridges, apps, and city grids we use every day weren't just neutral tools, but silent participants in violence? In the series finale of Infrastructural Power, Rick and Rachael tackle the darkest side of the built world: Infrastructural Violence.
Drawing on the works of Giorgio Agamben, Achille Mbembe, and Eyal Weizman, we explore how systems can embody harm by design, implementation, or strategic neglect. We dive into the chilling concepts of "bare life" and "death worlds," examine how borders act as dynamic technopolitical filters, and reveal why logistics is the secret supply chain behind every mass atrocity. We also bring the conversation into the 21st century to discuss "digital transnational repression" and the rise of "algorithms of inequality." Finally, we look at Forensic Architecture—a revolutionary method of using the physical world to testify against those in power.
How do we challenge power when it is woven into the very fabric of our lives? Join us for this sobering and vital conclusion to the series.
25 Jan 2026
Digital Bureaucratic Infrastructures
We were promised that the digital revolution would kill red tape, but the truth is far more complex. In this episode of Infrastructural Power, Rick and Rachael peel back the "user-friendly" curtain to reveal the rise of Digital Administrative Infrastructures.
We explore how Big Data and bureaucracy have converged to create a "seamless" world where control is hidden in the code. From James C. Scott’s concept of "state legibility" to modern "Digital Taylorism" in the gig economy, we discuss how algorithms have become the new bureaucrats. We’ll dive into the three mechanisms of digital control—automation, coercive formatting, and algorithmic normalization—and examine the chilling implications of China’s Social Credit System.
Are we losing our "unique individual spark" to the pursuit of perfect algorithmic order? Join us as we discuss how to reclaim "technical citizenship" and start seeing like a citizen in an age of invisible infrastructure.
25 Jan 2026
Interfaces and Power
Think your phone is just a neutral tool? Think again. In this episode of Infrastructural Power, Rick and Rachael go beneath the glass to explore the interface as a dynamic, invisible force that shapes our habits, our language, and our very sense of self.
Moving beyond "buttons and screens," we dive into the "Hook Model" of digital habit formation and the chilling "Addiction by Design" strategies used in the gambling industry to keep users in "the zone." We also discuss the philosophy of digital boredom, the rise of the "data proxy," and how the "Meta-interface" of the cloud is effectively scripting our physical reality. Join us as we ask the ultimate question: In the co-evolution of humans and machines, who is really designing whom?
10 Jul 2025
Infrastructurally Dense Environments
What if infrastructures weren't just support systems, but tools of control? In this episode, we explore how infrastructures—from urban layouts to virtual worlds—become so embedded in our lives that we stop noticing them. We look at how they shape and govern our environments, subtly directing our behavior. We also examine megacities as extreme cases of infrastructural saturation, with the cyberpunk city as their most vivid fictional representation.
🎧 A journey into the hidden architecture of everyday life, where the artificial becomes natural.
30 Jun 2025
Infrastructural Legibility
This episode examines how maps, censuses, standards, and protocols create legibility for governance and control through invisible infrastructures.
17 Jun 2025
The Aesthetics of Infrastructures
This episode explores how design choices and narratives shape our daily experiences with infrastructures, revealing how they are presented and concealed to influence perceptions of progress or dystopia.
30 May 2025
Power Enabling Architectures
This episode introduces the concept of infrastructures as "power enabling architectures," exploring how sociotechnical structures manifest power and control behavior through technology and organizational design; this is not an interview.
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