Reimagining the Internet
at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure
Show overview
Reimagining the Internet has been publishing since 2020, and across the 5 years since has built a catalogue of 129 episodes. That works out to roughly 75 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 29 min and 40 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Technology show.
There hasn’t been a new episode in the last ninety days; the most recent episode landed 10 months ago. The busiest year was 2021, with 40 episodes published. Published by Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure.
From the publisher
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
View all 129 episodes
117. Alondra Nelson, Biden’s Head of Science and Technology Policy, talks AI, Trump’s research funding cuts, and how memes replaced Happy Days
Alondra Nelson is arguably the most important sociologist of science in America. She isn’t just a brilliant researcher of how race and racism has shaped public health in America, nor just a thoughtful, savvy tech policy maker. She is also someone with a gift for communicating research and ideas on these huge, important matters in […]
116. How should governments use technology? To build trust, says Eric Gordon
Eric Gordon has spent his career as an social scientists trying to understand how city governments can use technology to better engage their citizens. But he’s learned that technology doesn’t matter if governments aren’t willing to listen and citizens don’t feel listened to. Add to surveillance technology to the mix, and technology doesn’t seem to […]
113. Deleting Everything with Dan Saltman
Dan Saltman is the founder of Redact, one of the very few tools that lets you delete data across many of your social media accounts. So why are there so few projects that put users in control of their data, like Dan’s? This week on Reimagining, we talk about the legal, technical, and market obstacles […]
112. Governing the Fediverse: Erin Kissane talks her groundbreaking study into how Mastodon is run (Part 2)
Part two of our interview with Erin Kissane is a deep dive into her work on the Fediverse. Why do people use it, how do they govern, and how can you, dear listener, get your own healthy Fediverse community going? Plus Erin talks about Blue Sky a lot. Erin Kissane runs wreckage/salvage, helmed the COVID […]
111. How Facebook Stoked Civil War in Myanmar, with Erin Kissane
In part one of our interview with researcher, designer and, in her own words, “ancient Internet person” Erin Kissane, we look at what happens when a platform swallows a whole society’s media landscape but abdicates all responsibility to the people using it. In this case, we’re talking about Myanmar but it’s understandable if your mind […]
110. Is there hope for democracy in a social media-driven world? Nathan Schneider sees it every day.
Nathan Schneider has spent roughly 15 years as a journalist and academic trying to understand democracy in the 21st century through Occupy Wall Street, cooperatives, the blockchain, and currently, federated social media. This week on Reimagining, Nathan explains how poor democracy on major social media platforms has eroded our actual democratic governance, and how practicing […]
109. Evelyn Douek, please tell us what is going on with the First Amendment and social media
The TikTok ban decision passed down by the Supreme Court late last year is a clear violation of First Amendment precedent, but President Trump’s refusal to enact it as law is a constitutional crisis in the making. We brought Stanford Law professor, rising First Amendment star scholar, and Moderated Content host Evelyn Douek on the […]
108. Internet of Gifts: The 5th Annual Reimagining Holiday Special
Ho ho ho, five years of Reimagining the Internet holiday specials! For this year’s edition we’re spreading holiday cheer by showering our dear listeners with gifts. From good Wikipedia rabbit holes to the gift of network effects, everyone here at iDPI is offering something from the heart. Links to some gifts mentioned in this episode: […]
107. How could a PBS of the Internet cultivate a more human web? Laurel Schwulst on a lighter weight Internet (Good Web)
For the final episode of our Good Web series, artist, designer, and educator Laurel Schwulst joins Mike to talk through her proposal for a PBS of the Internet. She describes how a PBS-like body that intentionally crafts the spaces, software, and information for a public good could crucial for creating an environment that rewards curisoity […]
106. What You Need to Know About Web Accessibility with Lola Odelola (Good Web)
Building a Good Web doesn’t just mean making the current Internet a nicer place, but making an Internet that everyone can use. This week Lola Odelola (Lola’s Lab, formerly of Bocoup) joins the Good Web series to talk about the fundamentals of web accessibility and the fascinating process the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) uses […]
105. Slow and steady: how Are.na became the Good Web for artists, designers, and researchers who love unusual connections.
At 13 years old, Are.na boasts a healthy, creative community and stable finances while rejecting many of the hallmarks of popular social media platforms such as a focus on video, endless push notifications, or surveillant advertising. For this week’s edition of our Good Web series, founder Charles Broskoski sits with Mike to walk through what […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
100. A Better Internet for Humans with Ethan Zuckerman and Mike Sugarman
For the 100th episode of Reimagining the Internet, Ethan and Mike sit down for a conversation about a human-scale Internet, the threat of an LLM ouroboros destroying our online commons, and Ethan’s fantasies of swithing to urban planning. We want to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been listening to Reimagining the […]
99. Do You Want to Use Data to Fight for Justice? Catherine D’Ignazio Wrote the Book For You
A fearsome feminist movemnet has sprung up in response to an epidemic of feminicide in South America, achieving change thanks in large part to an innovative data activism campaign. Cathering D'Ignazio of the Data + Feminism Lab at MIT wrote a wonerful book that doesn't just chronicle the movement, but acts as a handbook for using data in fights for justice.
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.
Trigger/content warning: child sexual abuse materials, sexual exploitation of children, and trauma stemming from sexual abuse. Brian Levine has a storied career as a computer scientist working in cybersecurity. Earler, pivotal work in privacy has given way to his current all-hands-on-deck fight against the spread of CSAM (child sexual abuse material) online. Ethan and Brian […]
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 […]
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 […]