The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

Wendy H. Wong, political science professor and author focused on data governance and human rights, joins to unpack how everyday data collection shapes autonomy and dignity. Short takes touch on why so-called raw data is not neutral, how mundane behaviors become monetized, big tech acting like de facto governors, sticky data that follows us, and who should be accountable for digital rulemaking.

Olivia Guest, a scholar of AI history and critique, Iris van Rooij, a computational cognitive scientist focused on research integrity, and Andrea Reyes Elizondo, a humanities researcher on book history and colonial reading practices, discuss resisting uncritical AI adoption in academia. They explore research integrity, humanities labor harms, university industry ties, hollowing out institutions, and building critical literacies and collective resistance.

In this episode, Daisy Maldonado, Annie Ersinghaus, Gilberto Manzanarez and I discuss on-the-ground opposition to two data centers being built against the will of local residents: Project Jupiter (Oracle/Open AI) in New Mexico, and the largest data center in California -- in Imperial Valley. This conversation was part of: Powering AI from the Borderlands: Organizing Against Data Centers, facilitated by Dustin Edwards. Recorded Feb 24, 2026. Released Monday March 2, 2026.Powering AI from the Borderlands: Organizing Against Data Centershttps://cal.sdsu.edu/humtech/eventsGilberto Manzanarez on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/valleimperialresiste/Resistance to data centers rises on the borderhttps://www.hcn.org/articles/resistance-to-data-centers-rises-on-the-border/"Jupiter Watch" videos on Project Jupiter in New Mexicohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi_phIsUpRg&t=5sThe Water Is Coming ¡Ya Viene La Agua!Annie Ersinghaus’s short doc on the politics of the Rio Grande (Project Jupiter is pulling from underground water along the Rio Grande)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgab5ICoWJI&t=430s  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Adam Becker and I talk about our AI overlords and their “philosophical” influences — mostly eugenics-based pseudoscience and bad readings of sci-fi that make tech billionaires feel like they’ve earned their billions by being the smartest people on the planet… while ruining the planet. Recorded Feb 13, 2026. Released Feb 16, 2026.More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity (2025) https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9781541619593 BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172zsskmkss5ll (start at 39:15)Rolling Stone Q&A: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/tech-billionaires-adam-becker-1235381649/Dreaming Against the Machinehttp://dreamingagainstthemachine.com/Forthcoming: Adam Becker’s new podcast website (bookmark this now for later!) Mentioned in our conversation:I Am An AI Hater by Anthony Moserhttps://anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/haterdom/2025/08/26/i-am-an-ai-hater.html  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ingrid Richardson, RMIT professor of digital media who studies materiality and mobile media, and Zoë Sofoulis, retired academic known for feminist work on container technologies, rethink containers and containment as feminist strategies. They trace container histories, debate material agency, porosity, leaks, and the politics of data centres. The chat spans metaphors, pandemic bubbles, and creative follow-ups.

In this first episode of 2026, I speak with Am Johal and Matt Stern, authors of the "O My Friends, There Is No Friend: The Politics of Friendship at the End of Ecology" (2025) to better understand what friendship means these days... at the "end of ecology". Is friendship political? Can an AI chatbot be a friend? Recorded Jan 16, 2026. Released Jan 19, 2026. Matt Hern, Am Johal O My Friends, There is No Friend (pdf)https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/022e1f6f-f14a-4c11-a94c-c95610919f8c/9783839470268.pdfBelow the Radar podcast:https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast.html***New Cover art by Oona Ode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

José Marichal, a professor of political science and author, dives into the transformative influence of algorithms on public discourse and personal identity. He explores how the 2016 election unveiled the deep impact of recommendation systems, making us more predictable as we optimize for algorithmic engagement. Their discussion touches on the dangers of algorithmic clustering, the shift from explanation to prediction, and the relationship between AI and democratic processes. José emphasizes the need for a socio-technical contract, urging us to reclaim our agency in a data-driven world.

In this episode I speak with friends-neighbours-advocates Meg Rintoul and Kathryn Barnwell about current plans in place to build an AI data center in Nanaimo, B-C. -- and allowing ourselves to write a new story about the future. Recorded Nov 27. Released Dec 8, 2025.'Very scary': Nanaimo neighbours have water worries about new data centrehttps://www.reddit.com/r/nanaimo/comments/1oo24s3/very_scary_nanaimo_neighbours_have_water_worries/'An Island concern': Nanaimo water advocates want new data centre stoppedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OQzc2bhtXwCBC: AI-related data centres use vast amounts of water. But gauging how much is a murky businesshttps://www.cbc.ca/news/ai-data-centre-canada-water-use-9.6939684 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I got to walk through a recent report called “the high stakes of tracking menstruation” with its author, Stefanie Felsberger, a sociologist of tech & gender. I cannot express enough how much there is to learn from this topic that can help us understand the bigger landscape of tech promises and harms. Recorded Oct 23, 2025. Released Nov 24, 2025.The High Stakes of Tracking Menstruation - MCTD Cambridgehttps://www.mctd.ac.uk/femtech-high-stakes-tracking-menstruation/ https://www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/The-High-Stakes-of-Tracking-Menstruation_Accessible.html Menstrual apps harvest data that ‘puts women’s safety at risk’https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/menstrual-apps-harvest-data-that-puts-womens-safety-at-risk-bd0srb8mt? Period: The Real Story of Menstruation (by Kate Clancy)https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691191317/period? Websitehttps://www.stefaniefelsberger.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I speak with Justin Hendrix, the CEO and Editor of Tech Policy Press, a nonprofit media venture concerned with the intersection of technology and democracy. We talk about ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement), surveillance, and AI. Recorded Oct 21, 2025. Released Nov 10, 2025. Republican Budget Bill Signals New Era in Federal SurveillanceDEAN JACKSON, JUSTIN HENDRIX / JUL 2, 2025https://www.techpolicy.press/republican-budget-bill-signals-new-era-in-federal-surveillance/Amidst Violent Immigration Raids, DHS Turns to Big Tech to Silence DissentJENNA RUDDOCK / OCT 3, 2025https://www.techpolicy.press/amidst-violent-immigration-raids-dhs-turns-to-big-tech-to-silence-dissent/ AI Surveillance on the Rise in US, but Tactics of Repression Not NewDIA KAYYALI / MAR 26, 2025https://www.techpolicy.press/ai-surveillance-on-the-rise-in-us-but-tactics-of-repression-not-new/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.