May 24, 2017: Skeptech One

Skeptech is a new event discussing digital technology and its effects on our day-to-day lives - not in Luddite opposition to tech, but rather raising awareness about the challenges raised by digital technology today. Online apps and services can be addictive, they can threaten privacy, and they often manipulate users without their knowledge or consent.

To dive deeper, Skeptech will feature tech experts who will speak about "the dark side of tech" that they have witnessed in their own fields. Between the speaker presentations and audience participation, Skeptech's goal is to "gel" some diverse perspectives while offering some ideas and inspiration for next steps: how to choose better tools, and perhaps even how to create better tech in the future.

WFMU Benefit: 100% of Skeptech ticket sales will go to WFMU to benefit the station and its free-form programming.

Speakers will feature...

DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF, writer, documentarian, and lecturer whose work focuses on human autonomy in a digital age. He's the author of 15 bestselling books on media, technology, and society - most recently, "Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus" - and is the creator and host of the Team Human podcast http://teamhuman.fm/. Rushkoff is Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at CUNY/Queens and technology and media commentator for CNN. Online: @rushkoff https://twitter.com/rushkoff

NATASHA DOW SCHÜLL is a cultural anthropologist and associate professor in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. Her recent book, "Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas," draws on research among compulsive gamblers and the designers of slot machines to explore the relationship between technology design and the experience of addiction. Her next book, "Keeping Track" (expected late 2018) concerns the rise of digital self-tracking technologies. Online: http://www.natashadowschull.org/

VICKI BOYKIS is a data scientist examining the intersection of technology and the humanities, particularly with regards to data privacy and content creation. She writes on the impact of data and technology on the human condition and has been published in Offscreen Magazine, the Forward, and Lilith. She's also currently working on Ironed Curtains, a project chronicling the experience of former Soviet immigrants in the United States. Online: @vboykis https://twitter.com/vboykis or http://vickiboykis.com

KEN FREEDMAN is the Station Manager of WFMU (wfmu.org), the longest running and most renowned freeform radio station in the United States. Freedman also developed WFMU's internet presence: WFMU was the first radio station to offer full on-demand listening, podcasts, and a working iPhone stream. He recently founded Congera PBC which is developing the Audience Engine, an open source platform for small and medium sized broadcasters and journalists. Online: @stationmgrken https://twitter.com/stationmgrken

LIZ BERG is the Assistant General Manager at WFMU (wfmu.org). In addition to hosting a weekly radio show and podcast, Liz oversees the station's operations, web development projects, and more. Alongside WFMU Station Manager Ken Freedman, Liz has recently been hard at work as a Product Manager for Audience Engine, a suite of open-source software tools to help media makers build community and crowdfund online.

MARK HURST (host of Skeptech) has spent his career consulting, writing, and speaking about how to create digital tech that benefits users more. Hurst is the founder and host of the Gel conference, which featured the first stage presentations of Khan Academy and Wikipedia, and is the creator of the Good Todo mobile productivity platform. His books "Bit Literacy" and "Customers Included" introduced the world to the empty inbox method (now known as Inbox Zero), and made the case for companies to treat customers better. Online: @markhurst https://twitter.com/markhurst

...more speakers to be announced soon - watch this space!

$20 - includes event admission and limited-edition Skeptech T-shirt

Artwork Made by ABVH​