Moral Repair: A Black Exploration of Tech

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Latest episode

Aug 2024

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EN-US

About the show

Two-time AMBIE-nominated podcast Moral Repair: A Black Exploration of Tech is a series about the innovations that make our world, disrupt our societies, and how we can repair the damage. Hosts Annanda Barclay and Keisha McKenzie talk with tech experts, philosophers and spiritual leaders. They explore technological innovation and moral concerns while showcasing empowering, practical wisdom from the African continent and diaspora to nurture wellbeing for all. New episodes drop every other Wednesday—wherever you listen to podcasts. Moral Repair is part of PRX’s Big Questions Project, which supports new podcasts exploring discourse with exemplary thinkers focused on humanity's most profound questions. This second season is supported by the John Templeton Foundation and produced by PRX Productions. ]]>

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22 recent

August 21, 202434 min

Tech Boom Or Bust? A Syracuse Story

Tech Companies and American Manufacturing have a history of booming and busting towns. The Big Question for this last episode of the season is, will this AI chip factory scheduled to open in a suburb just north of Syracuse, NY actually provide reasonable, sustainable increased quality of life, or will it be the latest iteration of the boom and bust cycle? Annanda and Keisha ask key Syracusans to find out. SHOW NOTESTalk to us at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/ Syracuse Syracuse Poverty info From 2003 History of the Syracuse area’s Decline of manufacturing jobs – Brookings Institution Carrier Corporation – why it left Episode about Haudenosaunee Bob Searing's Article https://www.syracuse.com/living/2022/10/back-to-the-future-cny-is-poised-to-return-to-a-familiar-role-as-a-hub-of-leading-edge-american-manufacturing.html Onondaga Historical Association cnyhistory.org Micron https://www.cnycec.org/ – Melanie Littlejohn is co-chair of the Central New York Community Engagement Committee for NY State’s Micron investment Melanie Littlejohn also is the CEO of the CNY Community Foundation. Here’s a video Environmental impact w/ map Inside Micron Taiwan’s Semiconductor Factory | Taiwan’s Mega Factories EP1 What will Micron Technology mega computer chip fab look like in Central New York?

July 31, 202439 min

AI & the African Diaspora

This week, Keisha and Annanda explore AI and tech from the perspectives of the African diaspora in North America, in Europe, and continental Africa. We ask: Where’s Africa in the story of AI? What does the diaspora have to say about inclusion in tech? Our featured guest is Mutale Nkonde (AI For the People), and we get into inclusion, colonialism, and what we can all learn from the Maori.SHOW NOTES Talk to us at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/ Follow Mutale Nkonde at AI for the People. MIT Technology Review: “Africa’s push to regulate AI starts now.” (March 2024) African Union: “African Ministers Adopt Landmark Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy, African Digital Compact to drive Africa’s Development and Inclusive Growth” (June 2024) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Anna Julia Cooper Combahee River Collective statement (1977) https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/combahee-river-collective-statement-1977/ China and African infrastructure projects: https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/26/china/china-african-loans-development-belt-and-road-intl-hnk/index.html

July 17, 202435 min

Life on Spaceships and Mars

This Episode Annanda and Keisha Explore The Big Question of, is it worth the expense to go to Mars given the needs on Earth? And what would it be like to live on Mars or in space? They interview Kai Staats, Director of Research for SAM at the University of Arizona to get the space tea.

July 3, 202428 min

Magic in the United States: Ancient Technopagans

This week we’re sharing an episode with you from Heather Freeman at Magic in the US. Magic in the US is a PRX show that explores America’s magical communities. In this episode, we hear how pagans in the 1980s used the early internet to find each other. Enjoy the episode! Follow Magic in the US wherever you listen.

June 19, 202434 min

Tech & Public Safety: Activism and Community

Keisha and Annanda talk to Sarah Nahar of Community Peacemaker Teams and Buddhist Peace Fellowship about technologies of public safety and conflict in the United States and how communities can organize themselves to repair the harms of oppression and policing. We look at the history and values of public safety in the USA, specific policing tech, and ways communities in and out of tech are responding.

June 5, 202438 min

How Tech Impacts American Farmland

How do the profits from Big Tech impact family farmers, food-ways and the environment in the United States? Annanda & Keisha talk to Jamie Fanous, Director of Policy for Community Alliance with Family Partners and Dr. Amina Darwish, the Associate Dean and Advisor for Muslim Life at The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life at Stanford University.SHOW NOTESWe’re excited to be live in Oakland on June 11 for a live in-person show at Kinfolx in the East Bay. Join us in person @4pm PST or online at, Making It: A Night of Big Questions! Sign up at Eventbrite Community Alliance with Family Farmers The Center for Biological Diversity’s take on California Forever Zakat Calculator Talk to us on Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn.

May 22, 202438 min

Sabbaths and Light Phones: Technologies for Rest

Always-on technology has amplified distraction and overwhelm, disconnection, and cultural polarization. What ancient and emerging tools can help us put tech in its rightful place? Keisha and Annanda talk to Judith Shulevitz and Joe Hollier about what can we learn from Sabbath traditions about community, connection, and thriving. SHOW NOTES Talk to us online: at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/ We’ll be in Oakland, CA, for a live event on June 11. Stay tuned for details! Zomorodi’s TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/manoush_zomorodi_how_boredom_can_lead_to_your_most_brilliant_ideas Research on “technoference,” relationships, and quality of life: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-52280-001; tips from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201501/how-cellphone-use-can-disconnect-your-relationship Learn about the Light Phone: https://www.thelightphone.com/ Try a Tech Shabbat! Tiffany Shlain explains the principles in WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/everything-you-need-to-enjoy-one-tech-free-day-a-week/ Tell us: What are the community spaces where you find rest with others?

May 8, 202437 min

Political Strategies & AI

It’s a major election year in American politics. This episode explores the big question, how is AI used in American political decision-making? What are the tools out there? How do they impact the political process? While this episode will not be political, it will touch on the evolution of political culture via AI and the impact it has the everyday person. Our episode features special guest, Cyber Security expert Bruce Schneier of the Harvard Kennedy School. Talk to us on Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn. SHOW NOTES The whole cup of tea… The Guardian Interview with Christopher Wylie They are still going y’all! Chicago Festival for the Humanities Check Out Bruce’s Corner of the Internet! Bruce Schneier

April 24, 202448 min

Government Regulation: Afrofuturism and Equity in Tech

What do we need to know about recent regulatory guidelines on AI trust and safety? What does one recent federal regulator think still needs attention? How could critical Black digital perspectives reshape the conversation? Annanda and Keisha talk Afrofuturism and equity with Dr. Alondra Nelson, deputy director for science and society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2021-2023. SHOW NOTES Talk to us online: at Instagram (@moralrepairpodcast), on X (@moralrepair), and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moral-repair-podcast/ The Social Text Afrofuturism issue: https://www.dukeupress.edu/afrofuturism-1 About the Black Panther’s clinics: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/institutions-african-american-history/black-panther-partys-free-medical-clinics-1969-1975/“ “No Justice, No Health”: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12111-019-09450-w Nelson + Lander explain the AI Bill of Rights (WIRED) https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-bill-of-rights-artificial-intelligence/ How many medical tech advances came from HIV-AIDS research: https://www.princeton.edu/\~ota/disk2/1990/9026/902612.PDF

April 17, 20242 min

Moral Repair Season 2 Trailer

On Moral Repair: A Black Exploration of Tech, hosts Annanda Barclay and Keisha McKenzie talk with tech and wisdom leaders. Their conversations inspire curiosity about tech while showcasing practical wisdom from the African continent and diaspora to nurture wellbeing for all. Moral Repair expands mainstream tech narratives, celebrates profound insight from Black philosophy and culture, and promotes technology when it serves the common good. Listeners leave each episode with new ways to think about tech’s impacts and apply practical wisdom in their own lives.