Half a century ago, South America was on the cutting edge of contesting the power of multinational companies in the sphere of telecommunications. More than that, a distinct blend of radical economics, cybernetics, and democratic politics led to the articulation of its own bold visions for how to use computing power in the name of non-corporate but people-centric development projects. As we confront the challenges presented by the Big Tech of today – from fake news to generative AI – it’s time to re-examine that experience. This is partly the task undertaken in the Santiago Boys podcast, which, in telling the story of Project Cybersyn and Stafford Beer’s involvement in it, aspires to recover some of those earlier experiences in order to inform our own present conundrums with Big Tech.
The Santiago Boys – Cybersyn’s Podcast
Content
A Panel with Evgeny Morozov,
Evgeny Morozov is the author of several award-winning books about technology and politics and, most recently, the producer and host of The Santiago Boys podcast. He is also the founder and publisher of The Syllabus, a knowledge discovery platform. Evgeny holds a PhD in History of Science from Harvard University and has previously been a visiting scholar at Georgetown and Stanford universities.
For participants in the webinar, you can find the (9 hours) podcast at:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6mhP2v4GZXzL2Zl6Ndmnne?si=26a01fc836554c38
You can also find an in-depth interview about the podcast (2 hours) at:
Recent Webinars
02.04.2025
Wicked problem related to climate change adaptation in Venice and its Lagoon and bio-cybernetic principles to address it.
Dr. Christiane Gebhardt
The critical literature review provides a framework for understanding the nature of the wicked problem of the threat of Sea Level Rise arising at the nexus of society and nature. It shows the scope of action for climate change adaptation employing a tentative governance model derived from synthesising literature.
05.03.2025
Exploring a critical organisational praxis – invoking cybernetic thinking, indigenous knowledge and decolonisation
Sujay Dinnalli & Ushma Desai
As India is poised to become the third largest economy, there is a pressing need to look at the state of organisations and people within them. That this constitutes a critical enquiry is evidenced from the low percentage of organised sector workers in the country’s workforce, the dearth of industrial innovation, and other alarming socio-economic indicators. Social research in organisations has looked at the cultural intricacies within organisations, and the challenges hence produced.
05.02.2025
Cybernetics and education: architecture for freedom
Prof. José dos Santos Cabral Filho
This talk will explore the intersection of cybernetics and education, with a specific focus on architectural education.