#8 Gemma Milne talks about her book, SMOKE AND MIRRORS, the STS1Book 2021-22 | WeAreSTS
Release Date: 10/19/2021
BONUS Scientific Research for Development, a seminar from Dr Michel Wahome | WeAreSTS
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Dr Michel Wahome presents a wide-ranging critique of the “research for development” (R4D) model in science and technology policy, with emphasis on its assumptions about innovation and progress. The deepest concerns we should have with this widely used model is its deep faith the science alone to solve social problems. The over-emphasis on science and technology alone is misguided. Alternatives - grounded in meaningful engagement, transdisciplinarity and decolonial practice - offer positive replacements.
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BONUS Pale, Male and Stale? Representation of Scientists on Netflix and Disney+, Chelsea Tripp reports | WeAreSTS
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The lack of representation on screen is a politic issue on everybody’s lips. I investigate how popular streaming platforms, Netflix and Disney+, portray scientists in terms of gender, race, sexuality, neurodivergency, and socio-economic background. Is representation of the scientist moving away from being presented as white, straight, and male? If not, why do big corporations like Netflix and Disney+ continue to present this image of scientists, and what can we do to improve representation as individuals?
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BONUS STS NewsRoom 2 Odile Lehnen investigates “What is STS”? | WeAreSTS
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“What is STS?” This is a question STS students are asked on a regular basis by fiends and family. I studied it at UCL. In this episode, I explore what Science and Technology Studies (STS) is really all about. I interview three of my tutors about three ordinary things: the fruit fly Drosophila, the car and the idea of standard time. Each tells fascinating stories. Each also displays STS as a research skill. When we ask the right questions, we get underneath the subjects and engage fundamental questions.
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#11 UCL’s Warning Research Centre and Disaster Preparedness with Dr Carina Fearnley | WeAreSTS
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Dr Carina Fearnley, Associate Professor of Science Communication, talks about warning research and disaster preparedness. Carina is an expert in disaster warning and public engagement. Her research focuses on ways to improve the effectiveness of warning systems. She’s contributed a lot to communication around warning in the pandemic. Her long-term research focuses on volcano and tsunami warning systems. This is real world, life-saving public engagement. She is Director of UCL’s Warning Research Centre.
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#10 CAREERS episode: Help From UCL Careers Service | WeAreSTS
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Today, we’re talking CAREERS. In STS, careers thinking is at the core of our degrees. To help us learn more, I talk with Catherine Casale, our Careers Counsellor in UCL Careers Service. Catherine has massive experience listening to students talk about how they see the future. She knows how to help people see the possibilities ahead, then start deciding on what needs to be done to reach those goals. This episode is part 1 of our conversation. We’ll have part 2 of our conversation in a few weeks.
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#9 Introducing UCL’s new Master’s in Science Communication (MSc) | WeAreSTS
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Dr. Melanie Smallman and Dr. Jean-Baptiste Gouyon about UCL’s new Master’s in Science Communication (MSc). They discuss the philosophy behind the degree, some of its key modules, and how it is designed to balance practical skill development with foundational theory in communications. There also is discussion about how they plan to give this degree global relevance, careers thinking, and how activities in the degree will tie into other activities around UCL and around London.
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BONUS STS NewsRoom 1 Jasmine Chakravarty investigates vaccine hesitancy | WeAreSTS
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As of November 2021, over 46.4m people in the UK have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Most of us rushed to book appointments, keen to protect ourselves. Not everyone has been quite so confident in the vaccine. In this episode, Jasmine Chakravarty investigates vaccine hesitancy and public engagement programmes around it. She wants to know what it is, which groups are hesitant and why, and how this hesitancy can best be approached. Part of the STS NewsRoom traineeship programme.
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#8 Gemma Milne talks about her book, SMOKE AND MIRRORS, the STS1Book 2021-22 | WeAreSTS
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Will robots steal my job? Will gene editing cure cancer? HYPE is a fundamental part of science communication, and the interface between business, investment, and new technology. How does hype work? Can it be used for good? Gemma Milne discusses her book, SMOKE AND MIRRORS and how hype shapes our understanding of the world. Gemma also discusses how she became interested in studying sociology of technology after beginning with her first degree in mathematics, then with jobs in finance and tech start-ups.
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Introduction to Series 2 | WeAreSTS
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Introduction to Series 2 | WeAreSTS. We’re back about a summer break. When we say “break,” we mean we’ve been working hard for most of the summer to create new episodes. Great fun. WeAreSTS is a podcast dedicated to showcasing research, teaching, and success in UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS).
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#7 Why Has Recycling Always Been Key to Research? Professor Simon Werrett Talks Thrifty Science | WeAreSTS
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#7 Professor Simon Werrett talks about his award-winning book, THRIFTY SCIENCE. In Britain of the 17th and 18th centuries, the practices of reuse, re-purpose, and recycle were core to the work of what became science. Follow the trails left by these activities and you’ll find ideas that reorganise how we should think about the way science was done, where it was done, and who did the work. Professor Werrett resurrects the old word “oeconomy,” putting it to work to understand why reuse was virtuous.
info_outlineWill robots steal my job? Will gene editing cure my cancer? HYPE is a fundamental part of science communication, the development of new technologies, and the crucially important interface between business, investment, and new technology. How does HYPE work? Can it be used for good?
In this interview, Gemma Milne discusses her book, SMOKE AND MIRRORS, and her interest in HYPE as an ever-present phenomenon in our society. Gemma also discusses how she became interested in studying sociology of technology and innovation research, beginning with her first degree in mathematics, and her later journey through the finance and tech start-up industries, then science journalism.
Gemma’s book:
Milne, Gemma. 2020. Smoke and Mirrors. How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It (London: Robinson). ISBN: 978-1-4721-4366-2.
SMOKE AND MIRRORS has been selected as the STS1Book for 2021-22. Each year, the Department asks all staff and students to read one book in common during the summer, then arrive for the new session ready to discuss both its substance and its broader value. Incoming students should read this prescribed book. It will be the subject of activities during induction week and will be used in Year 1 courses. Titles are selected for inclusion by the STS Undergraduate Programme Tutor from suggested offered by students and staff. For more information:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/about-sts/sts1book-programme
Gemma Milne also is co-host of the “Radical Science” podcast.
https://radicalsciencepodcast.com
And she is a PhD researcher in UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS).
She creates a newsletter, “Brain Reel” https://brainreel.substack.com
Website: gemmamilne.co.uk
https://gemmamilne.co.uk
Twitter: @gemmamilne
Featuring
Interviewee: Gemma Milne, Science and Technology Writer; also PhD student in UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies
Interviewer: Professor Joe Cain, Professor in History and Philosophy of Biology
Music credits
“Rollin At 5,” by Kevin MacLeod
https://filmmusic.io/song/5000-rollin-at-5
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Sweeter Vermouth," by Kevin MacLeod
https://filmmusic.io/song/4450-sweeter-vermouth
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Production information
Editing and post-production by Professor Joe Cain.
Podcast information
“WeAreSTS” is a production of the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at University College London (UCL). To find out more, and to leave feedback about the show, visit us online:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/podcast
STS Students and staff also can find on the website information about how to get involved with our programme.
“WeAreSTS” producer is Professor Joe Cain.
Twitter: @stsucl #WeAreSTS