Tech Nation Podcast
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An IT Conversations Podcast
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Dr. Moira Gunn is the host of Public Radio's Tech
Nation, where she has conducted over 2,000 interviews with space pioneers
and cyber-novelists, venture capitalists and genetics researchers, teachers
and technophobes. A former NASA scientist and engineer, Dr. Gunn is a
Member of the Board of Directors of the Tech Museum of Innovation and
the Tech Awards' Global Leadership Council, and has served as a member
of the Awards Selection Committee for the Space Technology Hall of Fame.
The first woman to earn a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue
University, she also holds advanced degrees in Computer Science and a
software technical patent. Dr. Gunn is regularly asked to speak on the
Impact of Technology on Society, on the Current and Projected State of
Global Technology Penetration, and on her experience as a Woman in Technology,
Science and Engineering.
About Podcasting:
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Podcast Website:
http://www.itconversations.com/series/technation.html
Micah Sifry - The Sunlight Foundation
Tue, Oct 7, 2008
Micah Sifry discusses his work with the Sunlight Foundation, an organization using the power of the Internet to strengthen the relationship between citizens and their elected officials and to foster public trust in Congress. He talks about the technical details of the site, including its API and how it makes its data available. 
 Download File - 25.7 MB
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Steve Cousins - An Open Source Platform for Personal Robots
Mon, Oct 6, 2008
Steve Cousins, President and CEO of Willow Garage, wants to build an open source platform that will allow enthusiasts to get inside the code and experiment with robotic devices in the same way that early automobile enthusiasts were able to tinker with their cars. The goal is to provide more opportunity for individuals and groups to build practical robotic applications.
Download File - 6.2 MB
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Jeremy Kemper - Rails 2
Sun, Oct 5, 2008
Rails 2 has a lot of things to feel happy about. Jeremy Kemper, one of the earliest and one of the largest contributors to the Ruby on Rails framework, gives a detailed explanation of the new features in Rails 2.0 and 2.1.
Download File - 21.8 MB
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Amra Tareen - Geolocated Citizen Media
Sat, Oct 4, 2008
Allvoices bills itself as "the first open media site where anyone can report from anywhere," but two things that really set it apart are its geolocated citizen media posts from any device, and the zeal of its founder, Silicon Valley veteran Amra Tareen. Learn how her journey from computer scientist to venture capitalist to stereotyped Muslim woman to startup CEO shaped Allvoices.
Download File - 0.0 MB
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Howard Bloom - The Global Brain
Fri, Oct 3, 2008
Many of us feel that the Web is ushering in a new era of global consciousness. But Howard Bloom thinks life has been a collective mind from the very beginning. He made the case in his book "Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From the Big Bang To the 21st Century." Host Jon Udell speaks with Bloom who reviews the themes of that book -- group selectionism, complex adaptive systems, collective learning -- and considers what has, and hasn't, changed since the book was published in 2000.
Download File - 33.3 MB
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Tim Sanders - Saving the World at Work
Thu, Oct 2, 2008
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Tim Sanders, author of "Saving the World at Work," and asks how to combine doing good, with working.
Download File - 10.0 MB
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Mari Baker - A Lifetime of DNA
Thu, Oct 2, 2008
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Mari Baker, CEO of Navigenics, about their latest service: they take your DNA, examine it with current and future science, and inform you about any possible health risks for the rest of your life.
Download File - 12.8 MB
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Episode 24 - StackOverflow
Wed, Oct 1, 2008
Joel and Jeff conduct a special NYC roundtable discussion with every member of the Stack Overflow team present: Jarrod Dixon, Geoff Dalgas, and Michael Pryor.
Download File - 29.0 MB
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Bob Blakley - Relationships
Tue, Sep 30, 2008
Bob Blakley of Burton Group discusses relationships and how they are important to identity, privacy, and digital security. He gives an overview of how relationships and identity are related, as well as his belief that the primary purpose of a digital identity is to enable relationships.
Download File - 23.8 MB
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Anders Carlius - Ad-hoc Mesh Networking with GSM
Mon, Sep 29, 2008
TerraNet hopes to bring cell phones to villages in developing nations. CEO Anders Carlius describes TerraNet's ad hoc GSM mesh networking technology and business model. He envisions local entrepreneurs rolling the technology out one village at a time.
Download File - 7.8 MB
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Jim Lukaszewski Q&A - IEEE Spectrum Radio
Sun, Sep 28, 2008
Behind every successful boss there is a trusted advisor. The TV series "West Wing" illustrated just how important and exciting this role can be. At last, someone has written a book about it. Spectrum Radio's Susan Hassler interviews management guru Jim Lukaszewski about his new book "Why Should the Boss Listen to You: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor".
Download File - 11.5 MB
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Peter Norvig - The History and Future of Technological Change
Sat, Sep 27, 2008
The Singularity is near; it will arrive in 10, 50, or 100 years depending on whom you talk to. Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google, examines the value of expertise in predicting the future, and discusses his thoughts on artificial general intelligence, based on his past experiences at NASA and current work with Google.
Download File - 19.0 MB
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Mark Luckevich - Microelectromechanical Systems
Fri, Sep 26, 2008
One of the presentations at the DEMO fall 2008 conference was not like the others. Amidst a flock of Web 2.0 startups, Microstaq showed a MEMS (microelectromechanical system) device that controls the flow of coolant in air conditioners. On this edition of Interviews with Innovators, host Jon Udell speaks with, Microstaq's VP of Engineering Mark Luckevich, who explains how silicon-based MEMS valves can improve process efficiency and reduce cost in a wide range of flow control applications.
Download File - 9.2 MB
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Brian Greene - Icarus at the Edge of Time
Thu, Sep 25, 2008
Brian Greene is well known for writing about our universe. Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Greene about his latest book "Icarus at the Edge of Time," and asks him why it is an entirely different book than we are used to.
Download File - 9.7 MB
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Kevin Giese - Treating Multiple Sclerosis
Thu, Sep 25, 2008
BioMS is working on a number of ways to treat multiple sclerosis. Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with the President & CEO of BioMS Medical about two of the most promising ways of treating MS.
Download File - 4.6 MB
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Deborah Eppstein - What is Multiple Sclerosis?
Thu, Sep 25, 2008
Dr. Moira Gunn asks Deborah Eppstein, from Q Therapeutics, to explain what exactly having multiple sclerosis (MS) means for a patient.
Download File - 3.4 MB
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Episode 23 - StackOverflow
Wed, Sep 24, 2008
Joel and Jeff discuss the Stack Overflow team's expedition to NYC, the seven crucial mistakes we made during development, and how to bridge the skill spectrum between beginning and expert software developers.
Download File - 30.3 MB
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David Heinemeier Hansson - The Great Surplus
Mon, Sep 22, 2008
Other frameworks have cloned features of Rails. But according to its creator, David Heinemeier Hansson, the Rails philosophy of convention over configuration and abstracting the user from making choices, continues to give its developer community a competitive advantage. The only parallel that can compete will have to be something that is significantly better than Rails which, although it is a possibility, doesn't seem very likely.
Download File - 24.5 MB
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Clayton Christensen Q&A - An IEEE Spectrum Radio Special
Sun, Sep 21, 2008
Clayton Christensen tells all about his work at a semiconductor fabrication plant which was in a need of a rethink. On this edition of IEEE Spectrum Radio, the Harvard Business School Professor of Business Administration, and author of "The Innovator's Dilemma," outlines his principles for making the world more efficient.
Download File - 11.9 MB
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Paul Saffo - Machines of Loving Grace: Anticipating Advanced AI
Sat, Sep 20, 2008
Do you appreciate when someone brings a fresh perspective to a complex and daunting issue? Well can you imagine an issue more impenetrable or discouraging then the Singularity? From the "How Far are We from Advanced AI?" session of the 2007 Singularity Summit, Paul Saffo offers some new advice. He recommends that we find some poets and novelists and whisper in their ears about this stuff. Then hopefully they will help shape what the Singularity should be, rather than what we hope it will not be.
Download File - 6.0 MB
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Jock Gill - Part 2: On Energy, IT, Markets and Society
Fri, Sep 19, 2008
Jock Gill is an entrepreneur who's thinking broadly and acting decisively to help create a decentralized energy system that makes appropriate use of biomass. In part two of a two-part interview, he and host Jon Udell discuss zero-energy houses, micro combined heat and power, peer-to-peer resource sharing, and the relevance of Thomas Malthus, Benjamin Franklin, and John Nash -- among others -- to our current energy predicament.
Download File - 18.9 MB
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Jeff Howe - Crowdsourcing
Thu, Sep 18, 2008
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with the author of "Crowdsourcing," Jeff Howe, who explains the concept of sourcing work or requests out to a crowd on the internet.
Download File - 15.2 MB
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Dr. Patrick Casey - Growing New Tendons
Thu, Sep 18, 2008
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Dr. Patrick Casey, from Therapy Cell Limited, about the new technique of growing tendons from our own cells -- it's being done right now on horses.
Download File - 4.4 MB
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Episode 22 - StackOverflow
Wed, Sep 17, 2008
Joel and Jeff cover the launch of Stack Overflow, and have an extended discussion with Josh Millard of MetaFilter on how to design social software on the web.
Download File - 30.7 MB
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Peter Semmelhack - Personalizing the Device
Tue, Sep 16, 2008
The economic realities of hardware development often stifle innovation. Peter Semmelhack, CEO of Bug Labs, discusses a change in approach, similar to the open source software model, that will promote innovation in the hardware space. Based on the Lego model, Bug Labs is creating a set of tools they believe will eliminate some of the cost and creative prohibitions, and enable a community of users and developers to experiment with the creation of new gadgets.
Download File - 6.3 MB
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Crick Waters - Building the New Voiceware
Mon, Sep 15, 2008
Open the telephony network and create a platform accessible to a community of developers. Crick Waters, co-founder, SVP Strategy and Business Development for Ribbit, believes this vision will lead to a new generation of hybrid communication tools and high value applications, and deliver on the premise that voice has value.
Download File - 9.3 MB
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Nat Torkington - Open Source Therapy
Sat, Sep 13, 2008
Using a touch of black humor and irony to convey a noble idea, Nathan Torkington, the chair of OSCON, lightens up the mood as he wraps up the conference, frequently throwing his audience into fits of laughter. He rapidly weaves three keynote messages together into a refreshingly therapeutic open source tonic. Due to brief profanity, this program may not be appropriate for work or family listening.
Download File - 7.0 MB
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Jock Gill - Part 1: Residential Alternatives to Fossil Fuel
Fri, Sep 12, 2008
Jock Gill is an entrepreneur who's thinking broadly and acting decisively to help create an decentralized energy system that makes appropriate use of biomass. In part one of a two-part interview, he and host Jon Udell discuss alternatives to fossil fuel for residential heating in New England, including wood, wood pellets, and a new approach that uses compressed tablets made from grass.
Download File - 26.8 MB
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Greg Bear - The City at the End of Time
Thu, Sep 11, 2008
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with author Greg Bear, about his latest book, "The City at the End of Time."
Download File - 12.3 MB
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Brett Erickson - The Farm Bill
Thu, Sep 11, 2008
Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with the Industrial and Environment Technology VP of |