In this episode of International Horizons, host John Torpey sits with Pepper Culpepper, Blavatnik Professor of Government and Public Policy at the University of Oxford, to explore the core thesis of his recent book, Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How It Could Save Democracy (co-authored with Taeku Lee).
Sep 7
Violaine Roussel, "Data-Driven Hollywood: The New Data Professionals in the Age of Streaming" (Princeton UP, 2026)
In Hollywood today, thousands of data specialists work for streaming video platforms, playing a role not just in distribution and marketing but also in decisions about content and production. In Data-Driven Hollywood: The New Data Professionals in the Age of Streaming (Princeto ... Show More
1h 15m
Sep 3
Marnie Hughes-Warrington, "Artificial Historians" (Routledge, 2025)
I spoke with Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington about her 2026 book Artificial Historians, co-authored with Anne Martin and Lewis Yarlupurka O’Brien. A distinguished historian, philosopher, academic leader, and Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) based at the University of Ade ... Show More
59m 13s
Mar 2023
Two books warn about the privacy implications of AI and neurotechnology
Today's episode is all about tech. First, Paul Scharre of the Center for a New American Security speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about his new book, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and the ways autocratic governments can rely on AI for repressive su ... Show More
18m 15s
May 2025
Decolonizing the Future: Karen Hao on Resisting the Empire of AI
In his New York Times review of the book, Columbia Law School professor and former White House official Tim Wu calls journalist Karen Hao’s new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, “a corrective to tech journalism that rarely leaves Silicon Valley.” H ... Show More
44m 32s
Nov 2023
How does a computer discriminate?
OK, not exactly a computer — more like, the wild array of technologies that inform what we consume on our computers and phones. Because on this episode, we're looking at how AI and race bias intersect. Safiya Noble, a professor at UCLA and the author of the book Algorithms of Opp ... Show More
33m 53s