Data Nation

Oct 24 2024 19 ep. 27 mins 10

Data Nation Podcast artwork

We face many overwhelming challenges in America today: systemic racism, data privacy, and political 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. Join hosts Liberty Vittert and Munther Dahleh as they gather data and get the facts about today’s most pressing problems to find out: are solutions even possible? They’ll investigate with MIT professors dedicated to researching these issues, and talk with the people on the ground encountering these problems every day so that we can find the best solutions that triumph over these challenges and solve America’s biggest problems. Data Nation is a production of MIT's Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.

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What is going to happen on Nov 5, 2024?

Oct 24 2024 31 mins

Today on Data Nation, guests John Della Volpe and Scott Tranter join us to discuss the approaching 2024 U.S. presidential election. Together, we’ll explore the many factors at play in the 2024 election from discussing the role of Gen Z voters and the use of social media in campaigning to the importance of swing state voters. Our guests bring fascinating insights with John Della V

The D in Democracy stands for Data

Sep 25 2024 38 mins

With Election Day nearing, this episode explores the relationships between polling and election digitalization with experts Andrew Gelman, a statistician and political scientist at Columbia University, and Brendan Lind, the founder of Human Agency - a company specializing in creating digital footprints for companies and individuals. Co-hosts Liberty Vittert and Munther Dahleh le

Driving technology change

Feb 29 2024 38 mins

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�

Profit and profiteering in the housing market

Dec 12 2023 28 mins

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

The case for AI optimism

Oct 24 2023 28 mins

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 futu

Data Dilemmas in Health

Sep 06 2023 35 mins

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 Mu

Can you steal an election?

Jun 07 2023 31 mins

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

AI, Avatars, and Augmented Reality

May 02 2023 37 mins

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 fo

The inflection point: AI and the future of work

Apr 04 2023 36 mins

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.

Counting ZZZs: What Brain Data Tells Us about Anesthesia and Sleep

Mar 07 2023 25 mins

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 Dat