For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
Episode 032: Curation vs Algorithms: Who Is Writing Our History? with Amy Unger
Amy Unger: @cdwort | Heroku
00:16 – Welcome to “JIRA Card Catalogs and The People Who Love Them” …we mean, “Greater Than Code!”
01:05 – Superpower Origin Story, Growing Up with a Computer in the Family, and Being a Teenager
Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher
08:30 – Humanities and History
10:39 – Access to and Preservation of Literacy (Who is writing our history?)
15:03 – Categorizing Information and Making it Accessible…But, Also Privacy?
17:21 – Reliance on Google as the “Defacto Archive”?
19:49 – Digital Records (Algorithms) vs Human Curation
24:10 – What can librarians and library science offer a company?: Information Architecture
27:32 – Algorithm Manipulation, Social Engineering, and Information Security
32:24 – Whose stories are we collecting, archiving, and making available to the public?
41:09 – “Meme Hacking”, Getting Involved, and Owning Your Own Story
Reflections:
Rein: Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media
Sam: How economics and politics rear their ugly heads unexpectedly.
Coraline: Who is responsible for our history?
Jessica: The vast amounts of data we have and what we choose to preserve.
Amy: Consider the possibility of working in the public sector.
This episode was brought to you by @therubyrep of DevReps, LLC. To pledge your support and to join our awesome Slack community, visit patreon.com/greaterthancode.
To make a one-time donation so that we can continue to bring you more content and transcripts like this, please do so at paypal.me/devreps. You will also get an invitation to our Slack community this way as well.
Amazon links may be affiliate links, which means you’re supporting the show when you purchase our recommendations. Thanks!
Special Guest: Amy Unger.