Why are they using more electric cars in Norway than in the US? What are the underlying mechanisms that drive technological change, and how can we influence them? What is ‘soft technology’ and what role can it play in lowering carbon emissions? In the season 2 finale of Data Nation, IDSS professor Jessika Trancik explains how her lab attempts to measure and model a technology’s real or potential impact, beneficial or harmful, on people, the environment, society — and on critical outcomes like...

When Maxwell Frost was elected to Congress, he struggled to find housing in DC. Today he advocates for stronger consumer protections and authors legislation to level the playing field between renters and landlords. Frost joins Data Nation along with Catherine D’Ignazio, an Urban Science and Planning professor at MIT, to talk about the challenges renters and home buyers face, how algorithmic technology perpetuates discrimination, and the importance of understanding where data comes from and...

As an MIT professor and tech entrepreneur, Devavrat Shah has seen firsthand how AI tools can impact research, business, and careers. While some have dire warnings about the scale of harm AI can cause, Shah is optimistic. He joins the Data Nation podcast to dispel some doom and gloom, unpack ways that people are already using AI to make change for the better, and to examine how future benefits can emerge with regulation and education.

Facing the tough decisions of a serious health threat brings the need for information and analysis into a sharp and personal focus. Computer scientist Regina Barzilay was an expert in natural language processing when she joined MIT; her cancer diagnosis led her to collaborations in healthcare, where she has advanced imaging, prediction, drug discovery, and clinical AI. She joins Munther Dahleh and Liberty Vittert to talk about issues from data collection and privacy to bias and...

The term “election fraud” is on the verge of making a comeback with the approach of the 2024 presidential election. Liberty Vittert and Munther Dahleh speak to MIT political scientist and MIT Election Lab director Charles Stewart to get to the bottom of modern-day election fraud. When are voting errors significant? How has voting evolved throughout American history? What effect did the COVID pandemic have on our elections? What do you need to know to be an informed voter in America?

Liberty Vittert and Munther Dahleh dive into the world of augmented and virtual reality this month with Professor Fox Harrell.  Harrell is Professor of Digital Media & AI in both the Comparative Media Studies Program and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.  Is the world ready for what’s coming? Will augmented reality and virtual reality be a force for good or for evil, and what can you do to prepare yourself? You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram...

Ford Professor in the MIT Department of Economics David Autor joins Data Nation to explore how AI automation can replace, augment, and unpredictably change how we work.

In this episode of Data Nation, we’re talking all about anesthesia and sleep with Dr. Emery Brown. Dr. Brown is a Professor in IDSS and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, as well as Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Data Nation is hosted by Professor Liberty Vittert and Dr. Munther Dahleh, the head of MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. Data Nation is a production of MIT's Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. 

When it comes to racial profiling, data both hurts and helps. Liberty and Scott investigate the damage policing data can do to communities and how data can also be used to solve the problem.

Who’s more reliable in deciding our medical fate, a human doctor or an algorithm? Liberty and Scott are getting the truth on AI’s role in healthcare to find out if it’s something we can trust.

When someone brings it up, you either get really excited, or you have no clue what they’re talking about. Or both! Liberty and Scott discover what the metaverse is, what it’s not, and if it will help society flourish.

Your data is being tracked. But, where is it going, what are they doing with it, and how are they getting it? Liberty and Scott are investigating just how dangerous the data economy really is.

It’s a killer that’s been swept under the rug ー opioid overdose. Deaths are only increasing, so Liberty and Scott investigate why this decades-old epidemic is still a problem and what can be done to end it.

Credit scores may be more sinister than we realized. Liberty and Scott are finding out just how antagonistic they are and what alternatives could revolutionize the current system.

Do the 2016 and 2020 elections come to mind? Liberty and Scott investigate if misinformation actually swayed the elections, if it’s a weapon we need to be worried about, or if it’s the new norm.

Fans argue that analytics are ruining sports. Professional teams say they aren’t. And sports bettors are finding that data may be their new secret weapon. Liberty and Scott investigate if sports analytics will ruin the game.

We face a lot of overwhelming challenges today in America–systemic racism, data privacy, misinformation. These are big problems, and there are a lot of opinions and ideas on how to fix them. Scholars and industry experts often disagree on how to find solutions. So, how can we find the right way to move forward? We let the data speak for itself.