Things Of Interest

You all saw this coming, right? We couldn't have one of our hosts be a genetics PhD and not geek out about the new mRNA vaccines.

We're easing back into it with a chat about how this pandemic has affected our brains and general functioning.

What does it mean to be a good ally? How can better support each other without drawing unwanted attention to ourseleves? What does allyship mean in a world obsessed with individual personality, and how do we normalise and advocate for different styles of allyship?

Today: scams. Sophia talks about the wild ride that is Elizabeth Holmes's Theranos. How are we scammed? What do they target? How can we protect ourselves, without losing trust and goodwill?

I can only describe this episode as catharsis. We start with a mini-therapy session as we discuss our feelings and the different ways we manage them. Then, as we feel stronger and more capable, we move on to discussing the real change that we can influence to make the world a better place for everyone. This episode uplifted me and placated my worst anxieties. I hope you enjoy it too.

Two topics today: First, we revisit artificial intelligence, and its uses (and dangers) in healthcare. Second, we talk about climate and societal anxiety — how to do better in an increasingly scary world, while taking care of ourselves and our mental health.

Why do we procrastinate? How do we overcome our perfectionist tendancies, without sacrificing quality and pride? Today we have a nice, lowkey, casual chat about our personal approaches to perfectionism and procrastination, and riff of what works and doesn't work for us.

How do we ensure our privacy in an increasingly digitised world? How does trust work in this space and how is it different from what we understand? What is informed consent when we cannot be informed, when it is impossible to be informed? And if we cannot consent, who should manage that consent? Governments? Corporations? Neither or both? And what does this mean for our genetic information?

This is not a happy episode. This is not a light episode. We spend some time processing the tactics, groups and propaganda that lures people into white supremacist online groups. We are a country still in mourning, so please skip this episode if needed. Take care of yourselves. Arohanui.

Today's episode is a bit of a two-for-one: listen to the first part to learn about the ins and outs of how to send secret messages (and how your information is privately stored online!). Here's the thing that you probably can't hear in the audio though: there was a heat wave when we were recording, and it got so hot we could barely think. And cryptography is a subject that requires a lot of thinking! So, listen to the second part (starting at 29:29) to hear us lament about global warming, and the things we can do to alleviate and hopefully avoid the worst possible future. Throw in a classic Sophia rant™ about mental health, and you've got yourself a classic Things of Interest episode! Enjoy.

Today we grapple with multinational corporations endorsing social justice messages as a part of their marketing. How does this empower rising social movements? How does this dilute their civil rights messages? And how might we approach this with the right balance of support and skepticism? We then chat about the gamer identity, and how that niche has become a hotbed for hate. And how we can offer different aesthetics for gaming culture that's pastel and soft and nice.

Have you ever wanted to know how quantum computers work? Brace yourself for this episode, because we're going to go deep down into the weeds of the strange world of quantum mechanics, and learn how a new class of computers emerges from this weird and wacky world.

Happy 2019! Science's funding model is fundamentally broken! Meanwhile, someone used CRISPR to edit germ line genes and we potentially have no idea how it might manifest! Listen to two former scientists wail about science. Happy 2019!

How has technology changed what it means to be human? How we view our identities? How have machine learning algorithms conditioned our brains and who is to blame? How do we make technological leaps without doing harm? How does technology affect how we talk about ethics and morality? We also chat about the cultural and linguistic changes that comes with technology: our increased awareness of mental health issues, our ability to communicate through memes. And finally, how we can spend time with friends irl when everyone is extrememly on the internet.

How do we deal with the inevitable rejections and failures we'll experience in life? Today we talk about how we've dealt with rejection in our lives, and what we've learned from it all.

How do we overcome stress, pain, and trauma? Today we talk about resilience: how it manifests personally, interpersonally, and at companies and in communities. How did we learn acts of resilience? What is the interplay between resilience and health? Answers (almost) to that and more.

This is a very personal episode for both of us. Today we talk about our own histories — childhood memories, experiences, and how the communities around which we grew up have shaped our own culture. We talk about how we relate to our parents, our families. How Sophia's time growing up in Lebanon shaped her view of the world and how she reacted to events like 9/11. How Serena's journey back to China wasn't quite what she had hoped for. But most of all, we find that these concepts of culture, community and home are things that we can build for ourselves. In this episode, we're a little more vulnerable than usual. We enjoyed it, and we hope you do too.

Today, Serena and Sophia pick apart the ins and outs of free speech. What is free speech? Does absolute free speech exist at all? How does it relate to the Overton window? How does access affect the impact and effectiveness of free speech? What kind of speech is inventivised in a world where The Algorithm controls what we see? Also: racial sentiment, code of conducts, and why everyone should learn a new language.

In part two: academia, science, and the shortcomings of our education system. Being a role model for others, discrimmination and the flexibilities in life, working with people, being the smart kid, and more. Enjoy!