50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - Slot machines

First developed by a toy company in the 1890s, slot machines have become one of the most profitable tools of the gambling trade - but many who play them say winning isn't the point. So why can't people pull themselves away? Tim Harford looks under the spinning wheels and flashing lights to see what these devices reveal about the business of addiction.

Unexpected Elements - Monitoring Covid-19, harvests and space junk

Roland Pease reports from the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in Seattle. At the UK Research and Innovation’s stand in the exhibition hall, he’s joined by three scientists to discuss monitoring the Coronavirus outbreak, the locusts devastating crops in East Africa and the ever increasing amount of space junk orbiting the Earth.

Professor Jeffrey Shaman of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University talks about how he is modelling the movement of Covid-19 around China and beyond.

Dr Catherine Nakalembe, of the University of Maryland and East Africa Lead for NASA Harvest explains how she uses data collected by satellites to find out where crops are thriving and where they are not. She also talks about how this technology can alert countries to approaching locust swarms.

And Professor Moriba Jah of University of Texas at Austin, tells Roland why he’s concerned about the amount of space junk that’s orbiting the earth and why so little is being done about controlling satellite launch and disposal.

A lovely day out in the countryside can be blighted when swarms of midges or mosquitos invite themselves to the party. A CrowdScience listener in New Zealand has noticed that, when sand-flies come a-biting, she and her daughter are targeted, while her husband and other daughter escape unharmed. She wants to know why some, but not all of her family become bait for insect bites. CrowdScience delves into a world of smells, called semiochemistry, which explores the aromas one animal uses to attract or repel another. Does our attractiveness as a blood meal to insects come down to what we wear, what we’ve eaten or is it all in our genes? Host Marnie Chesterton discards the DEET and bravely offers herself up as a meal for mozzies, in a quest for answers.

(Image: Artist response to NASA Harvest discussion at AAAS Credit: Lorenzo Palloni)

CoinDesk Podcast Network - LTB!: Decentralization Philosophy Part 2 – Does Crypto Still Need Catalysts?

The best Sundays are for long reads and deep conversations. Earlier this week the Let's Talk Bitcoin! Show gathered to discuss catalysts and CEOS in the world of blockchain projects, the organizational and organic structures of decentralization and to wonder whether crypto even needs Satoshi-like catalysts now that the fire of blockchain burns bright.

On today's podcast we continue the discussion, applying concepts and stories from "The Spider and the Starfish: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations", a formational book on pre-blockchain decentralization written in the early 2000's, as the centralized US military struggled to effectively dispatch a much smaller decentralized force in Afghanistan. While the battlefield is different, the insight is perhaps even more relevant to the world of blockchain projects, their decentralized origins and ambitions.

Want more? Catch up on 7 years of Let's Talk Bitcoin!

This episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin! is sponsored by Brave.com and eToro.com.

Original Photo by Krzysztof Niewolny on Unsplash

This episode featured Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Jonathan Mohan

Music for today's episode was provided by Jared Rubens, From Ether Music and general fuzz, with editing by Jonas. 

Would you like to Sponsor a future episode of the Let's Talk Bitcoin! show? Do you have any questions or comments? Email adam@ltbshow.com

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Artificial (not so) Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence ? or AI for short ? is often depicted in films in the shape of helpful droids, all-knowing computers or even malevolent ?death bots?. In real life, we?re making leaps and bounds in this technology?s capabilities with satnavs, and voice assistants like Alexa and Siri making frequent appearances in our daily lives. So, should we look forward to a future of AI best friends or fear the technology becoming too intelligent. Tim Harford talks to Janelle Shane, author of the book ?You Look Like a Thing and I Love you? about her experiments with AI and why the technology is really more akin to an earthworm than a high-functioning ?death bot?.

CoinDesk Podcast Network - LEIGH: ‘Pandora’s Box, but for Freedom’: Author Isaiah Jackson on Bitcoin’s Impact

Coindesk reporter Leigh Cuen is joined by Isaiah Jackson, author of “Bitcoin and Black America '' and co-founder of KRBE Digital Assets group, to talk about financial discrimination in the United States and the unique value bitcoin can offer minority communities.

According to a survey of 5,126 Americans conducted by Coinbase and Qriously, “twice as many Black Americans have been negatively impacted by the current financial system” compared to their white peers. As such, the survey suggested, they are much more likely to be curious about bitcoin.

This finding is supported by broader evidence. For example, The National Bureau of Economic Research also found in 2019 that black mortgage borrowers were charged higher interest rates than white borrowers and were denied mortgages that would have been approved for white applicants.

Later, we'll discuss the cultural aspects of bitcoin and how someone’s background impacts his unique experience in the bitcoin community.

Want more? Leigh also has an article about how black entrepreneurs use cryptocurrency to fundraise.

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Election Meltdown, Part 5

In the fifth and final part of this special series of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined live on stage in Washington by former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, MacArthur fellow Professor Danielle Citron of Boston University law school, director of the ACLU’s voting-rights initiative Dale Ho, and election law professor Rick Hasen of the University of California, Irvine. Together, they pick themselves up from the rug of despair with a pile of can-do fixes for the stress points threatening the integrity of U.S. elections. 


Rick Hasen’s new book Election Meltdown forms the basis for this special series of Amicus. 


Podcast production by Sara Burningham.


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