9.28.14: Enchanted Objects, Regulating Robots, & Prison Gang Origins

In Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001 A Space Odyssey, fear of future technologies takes center stage in the form of Hal 9000, the sentient, yet sinister, computer in charge of spacecraft Discovery One.

On today’s show, an instructor at the MIT Media Lab envisions a brighter future, in which the interaction between humans and technology will be useful, and even playful.

Plus, we’ll take a closer look at prison gangs, their ability to maintain order behind bars and how they influence life on the outside.

Listen to the full show and Read more for individual segments.

Enchanted Objects

• David Rose is an entrepreneur and instructor at the MIT Media Lab specializing in how digital information interfaces with the physical environment. His new book is called: “Enchanted Objects: Design, Human Desire, and the Internet of Things.”

•   Here's a video from the NY Times that shows off some of these enchanted objects.

Hillbilly Treasure Trove

• You know the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, but for Nathan Salsberg, curator of the Alan Lomax archive, that statement became a literal truth.
• This story was produced by Matt Frassica for The Organist. You can listen to it at PRX.org.

Robotics Commission

• Ryan Calo is assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Law, and a former research director at Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society. He recently authored a paper titled “The Case for a Federal Robotics Commission”, which was published by the Brookings Institution.

A Robotic Cure For Pesky Ticks

• There’s a new robot that could help you clear your yard of nearly all the ticks. Invented by three professors at Virginia Military Institute, this device could help reduce the risk of tick-borne illness. Kelley Libbey has the story.
• You can listen to the story at PRX.org.

Prison Gangs

• Graeme Wood is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. We spoke to him about his recent article: "How Gangs Took Over Prisons"