Hearsay Culture 1.0 Site (2006-2021)
Covering modern technology and Internet issues
Hosted by Dave Levine.

Tenth Anniversary Show, #254 with Prof. Lawrence Lessig, posted!

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For your Memorial Day weekend, I’m am amazed and humbled to post Hearsay Culture’s tenth anniversary show, # 254, recorded on April 26 and aired on KZSU on May 6, 2016, with Prof. Lawrence Lessig of Harvard University, reflecting on the past 10 years of Internet law and policy, and his current efforts to fix democracy. On a day when he was scheduled to fly to Washington, DC to pay a fine for having been arrested on Capitol Hill protesting the state of our campaign finance laws, Larry came to Elon Law and chatted with me for an hour in front of a live audience.

Larry and me before the interview!
Larry and me hamming it up before the interview. Photo credit: Eric Townsend

We discussed a range of topics, including Larry’s assessment of his role in the Eldred copyright duration decision, his current proposals for addressing the crippling effects of our campaign finance laws on policymaking, his Presidential run, the parallels between the fix democracy movement and civil rights movement, and whether he considers himself an idealist. Along the way, Larry also shared advice both for parents and for aspiring lawyers; advice that has stuck with me, as a law professor with two young sons, since. Suffice to say, I’m grateful for Larry’s return to the show, and for taking time out of an unusually busy day to celebrate Hearsay Culture’s tenth anniversary!

Moreover, I should note that I thank lots of folks and entities during the interview, without whom Hearsay Culture would not be what it is today (starting with my wonderful listeners). I am grateful for your support, encouragement and collegiality, and look forward to another 10 (!) years! Enjoy; I dedicate this show to you!

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Show # 253 — Prof. Pam Samuelson on the Authors Alliance — posted

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I’m pleased to post Show # 253, April 29, my interview with Prof. Pam Samuelson of UC Berkeley School of Law and School of Information, on the Authors Alliance. Pam needs little introduction to Hearsay Culture listeners given her position as one of the leading intellectual property law scholars of the last 30 years. In this interview, we focused on Pam’s work for the Authors Alliance, founded by Pam in 2014 to promote “authorship for the public good by supporting authors who write to be read.” Given the continued pitched battles around the contours of United States copyright law, the timing of our discussion could not have been better. In a candid and broad interview, we discussed the recent Google Book Search fair use decision, the Authors Alliance’s relationship with the Authors Guild, and the role for academics in policy debate, among other topics. I was thrilled to have Pam on the show, and look forward to her future return!

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Hearsay Culture now available in the Tunein app!

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I’ve been reticent to add Hearsay Culture to ad-based content providers (because they place advertisements in and around the show). Nonetheless, in the interest of reaching the widest possible audience under current budget circumstances (did I mention that the Hearsay Culture budget has always been zero dollars, and financed completely out-of-pocket?), Hearsay Culture is now available on Tunein. So, I hope that listeners find this useful (and no, I am not receiving any compensation from Tunein!)

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Show # 252 — Prof. Ben Peters on the history of the failed Soviet Internet — posted

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Get ready for one of my common (but not yet patented — too abstract?) barrages of new shows over the next few days. That’s what weekends are for — catching up on Hearsay Culture postings! So,to quote XTC — appropriately in this insane election cycle and as one bulwark against the ignorance enveloping our political process — let’s begin!

I’m pleased to post the first of the Spring 2016 shows, Show #252 from April 22, with Prof. Ben Peters of the University of Tulsa, author of How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet.

Ben has written a fascinating, exquisitely written and thoroughly researched and contextualized history of the repeated failures over 30+ years to create a Soviet Internet. Not merely a history, Ben’s analysis and writing shines when he places the ebbs and tides of its development in the broader socio-political environment in which a few brave pioneers were operating. That the Soviet Internet never developed reveals far more about the nature of a closed but competitive administrative state than it does about the genius underlying failed efforts. In our interview, we discussed both the intuitive and counter-intuitive modern insights borne from Ben’s meticulous writing and research.

Thanks to Hearsay Culture repeat guest Frank Pasquale for affording the opportunity to meet Ben at Yale Law’s extraordinary Unlocking the Black Box conference in April, and I hope that all of you enjoy the interview as much as I did!

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Show # 251 — Dave King, of The Bad Plus and Rational Funk — posted

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I’m posting this show on a Sunday night, with The Jazztet’s Another Git Together (Mercury SR-60737, 1962), playing on my turntable. This is an appropriate background — although, as my guest points out in this interview, music listening should be immersive, not merely serve as a backdrop — for posting Show # 251, March 11, my interview with Dave King, drummer for The Bad Plus and host of Rational Funk. While one could dismiss this interview as my effort to parlay Hearsay Culture into a fan exercise, as I’m a big Bad Plus (and an amateur drummer), Dave’s development of the video podcast Rational Funk is the clear Hearsay Culture hook.

Dave is one of the most successful and acclaimed jazz drummers of the past 20 years, but his work creating Rational Funk and the impact of technology on the jazz world was our focus. In this wide-ranging and candid interview, we discussed the paths to success for jazz musicians today, the production, development and impact of Rational Funk, and even some of Dave’s personal reflections on the film Whiplash‘s accuracy. It was a joy to chat with Dave, who took time out of a busy touring schedule to join us on the show, and I hope that you enjoy our discussion!

Show notes:

(a) Rational Funk Ep. 21, Lady Gaga/Laptops, excerpted in the introduction;

(b) My personal favorite Rational Funk episode, episode six, where Dave demonstrates how to use military drumming to full effect as a jazz drummer;

(c) The Dave King Trio, live at the Village Vanguard (my favorite jazz venue in the world), 2013. Thanks so much to NPR for recording and presenting live jazz!

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Show # 250(!) — Sam Brylawski on audio preservation — posted

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I’m honored to post Show # 250 (!), March 4, my interview with Sam Brylawski of the Library of Congress’ National Sound Preservation Board, co-author of the ARSC Guide to Audio Preservation. Sam is one of the pioneers of audio sound preservation, and one of its foremost experts, having been the President of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) and editor of the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings. Sam’s work focusing on preserving our collective sound history is extraordinarily important, as this history is at persistent risk of disappearing through degradation of obsolete sound preservation formats, like wax cylinders and metal plates. In our discussion, we focused on the challenges facing our world’s sound history, from funding to copyright law. I’ve known Sam for over 10 years, and this show was long overdue. I hope that you enjoy the show!

Show notes:

(a) ARSC Guide to Audio Preservation, 2015.

(b) The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age, Council on Library and Information Resources and The Library of Congress, 2010.

(c) Library of Congress Examines Copyright Issues in Digital Preservation of Commercial Sound Recordings, January 9, 2006.

Historical note: Speaking of history (that is also at long-term risk — how long will links last?), this is indeed show number 250 (!), corresponding with almost 10 years of programming. To honor these dual events, I’ll be interviewing Lawrence Lessig on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, “live” in Greensboro, NC at Elon Law. Grateful to have reached this point; more soon!

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Show # 249 — Lorelei Kelly on resilient government — posted

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I’m excited to post Show # 249, February 26, my interview with Lorelei Kelly of the New America Foundation on technology and legislative decision-making. Lorelei has done unique, critical and groundbreaking working focusing on the collapse of substantive expertise within Congress. More recently, Lorelei has been working on how governments can build resiliency into the legislative process in order to be able to operate effectively and proactively in our dynamic society. Thus, e-government, Congress’ current state, the challenges of policy-making in today’s DC, and her concept of “resilient government” was the focus of our discussion. Lorelei’s work deserves significant attention, I’m an unabashed fan, and she’s an engaging speaker, so I hope that you enjoy the show!

Show notes:

(a) The State of Our Union is Strong (in Oregon), Huffington Post, January 16, 2016.

(b) Civility Is a National Security Issue, Huffington Post, March 25, 2016.

(c) Congress’ Wicked Problem, Open Society Institute, documenting the destruction of expertise capacity within Congress.

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Spring 2016 schedule posted!

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I’m very excited about this quarter’s slate of terrific guests. Aside from the tenth anniversary interview with Larry Lessig, the range of guests spans areas including intellectual property, marketing, freedom of information, robotics, Internet governance and history, and Jewish history. In other words, its a typical Hearsay Culture lineup!

As always, the show is about the guests. I’m grateful for their willingness to come on the show and share their knowledge with all of you — who are the reason that I do the show. Look for the first show to air on April 15!

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Lawrence Lessig to return to celebrate Hearsay Culture’s tenth anniversary!

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In May 2006, I launched Hearsay Culture from my office at Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society, where I was then a resident fellow. When I walked over to KZSU’s studios across campus to record my first interview with “Dave,” the anonymous online poker player, I was nervous and wondering whether this would be my first and last KZSU interview. I did not envision that I’d wind up doing 250 shows over 10 years (and counting), or the next sentence.

I’m thrilled to announce that Lawrence Lessig will be back on the show on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 to celebrate Hearsay Culture’s tenth anniversary! Larry was guest number nine on August 16, 2006, and was instrumental in the show’s early success.

Larry will be joining me at Elon for a “live” recorded interview on Tuesday, April 26 from 12:30-2pm in Room 207 at Elon Law at 201 N. Greene Street in Greensboro, North Carolina. The public is invited to attend. No tickets are required. Q&A will follow the interview from about 1:40-2pm, and a reception follows at 2pm. I hope that you can make it if you’re anywhere near Greensboro!

If you’re wondering: we’ll be discussing Larry’s current work on campaign finance reform and fixing democracy, his Presidential run, as well as his reflections on the last 10 years of Internet law and policy. The show for air will remain one hour, with the Q&A as exclusive on-line content. The show will air on KZSU later during the week of April 25.

Thanks much to my employer, Elon University School of Law, as well as Elon University’s Turnage Family Faculty Innovation and Creativity Fund for the Study of Political Communication (and my wonderful colleague Laura Roselle) for support to bring Larry to Elon. Please contact me if you have questions, and I hope to see you on April 26!

Note: the full schedule of awesome Spring 2016 guests will be posted tomorrow, April 5, with three more winter shows to follow this week.

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Show # 248 — Prof. Ellen Goodman and Julia Powles on the “right to be forgotten” — posted

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I’m pleased to post Show # 248, January 29, my interview with The Guardian’s Julia Powles and Prof. Ellen Goodman of Rutgers Law School, on the “Right to Be Forgotten.” Julia and Ellen have been focusing on the right to be forgotten (“RtBF”) for several years, and have done laudable work seeking transparency from its foremost actor, Google [disclosure: I was one of the signatories to the referenced letter]. The RtBF is a prime example of the clash of privacy, information, information platforms and power in technology today, and getting one’s head around its complexity requires an interdisciplinary understanding of technology law and policy. In our wide-ranging discussion, we took at hard look at the RtBF, as well as what it teaches us about platforms like Google’s broad power to impact human knowledge.

Show notes:*

* This new feature is designed to allow listeners easier access to core references related to the interview. I plan to include them in all upcoming show posts. I hope that you find them useful!

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