Web Science is the interdisciplinary study of the World Wide Web, drawing on science, social science, law, and the humanities.
Today, Web Science is needed more than ever. As the Web evolves, it is clear that we need in-depth and sustained interdisciplinary research to describe, analyze, and intervene in its future.
Untangling the Web is a podcast of the Web Science Trust, a charity promoting the understanding of the Web, through education and research in the discipline of Web Science.
On this podcast, we bring thought leaders from around the world to explore how the Web is shaping society and how society in turn is shaping the Web. We hope to improve our understanding of the Web, promote the Web’s positive impact on society – and change the Web for the better. The podcast is hosted by the SONIC Research Group.
Our guest for this episode is Brewster Kahle, a digital librarian who has spent his career intent on providing universal access to all knowledge. Kahle created the Internet’s first publishing system, Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) and two sites that help catalog the web by collecting data of books, web pages, music, television, and software: Alexa Internet and the Internet Archive. He also implemented the Wayback Machine, a digital archive of the World Wide Web.
In this episode, Brewster talks about expanding access to the published works of humankind through creating these systems. He emphasizes the importance of archives and elucidates how his systems work on a technical level. Lastly, Brewster reflects on the evolution of the Internet and his goal to help Internet users gain more control of their privacy and what they have access to online.
Click here (https://webscience.northwestern.edu/2021/02/09/episode-34-transcript/) for this episode’s transcript, and here (https://webscience.northwestern.edu/2022/02/04/episode-34-show-notes/) for this episode’s show notes.
21 Jan 2022
Howard Rheingold on Predicting Technology’s Future
Our guest for this episode is Howard Rheingold, a critic, writer, and teacher who specializes in the cultural, social, and political implications of modern communication media. Howard wrote about the earliest personal computers at Xerox PARC, and he was also one of the early users of the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link or The WELL, an influential early online community. In 1994, he was hired as the founding executive director of HotWired. He is the author of several books, including The Virtual Community, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, and Net Smart: How to Thrive Online.
In this conversation, Howard talks about transitioning from typewriters to computers and the potentials of virtual communities – to both serve as think tanks and form personal connections. He talks about recognizing “signals” of what was to come with telephones and computers and the early collective action that the smartphone encouraged. Finally, he describes five media literacies that everyone should master if they want to use social media well.
Click here (https://sites.northwestern.edu/websciencepodcast/2022/01/21/episode-33-transcript/) for this episode’s transcript, and here (https://sites.northwestern.edu/websciencepodcast/2022/01/21/episode-33-show-notes/) (https://sites.northwestern.edu/websciencepodcast/2022/01/21/episode-33-show-notes/)for this episode’s show notes.
7 Jan 2022
Safiya Noble on Algorithms of Oppression
Our guest for this episode is Safiya Noble, an associate professor of gender studies and African American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Safiya is the co-founder and faculty director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, an interdisciplinary research center focused on the intersection of human rights, social justice, democracy, and technology. She is also the author of the best-selling book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. Her nonprofit community work to foster civil and human rights, the expansion of democracy and intersectional racial justice is developing at the Equity Engine.
In this conversation, Safiya debunks the idea that social media and search engine algorithms are purely mathematical and neutral, explaining how they’re biased and can be discriminatory toward Black girls and Asian Americans in particular. She speaks about the dangers of tech companies conducting experiments on the public and the concerning lack of regulatory frameworks for technology. Finally, she explains her shift toward seeing herself as an abolitionist – who wants to abolish predictive technologies.
Click here (https://sites.northwestern.edu/websciencepodcast/2022/01/07/episode-32-transcript/) for this episode’s transcript, and here (https://sites.northwestern.edu/websciencepodcast/2022/01/07/episode-32-show-notes/) for this episode’s show notes.
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