Clark Boyd Has GOT to be a trekkie
This is probably unsurprising, but I’m a big Star Trek fan. As many have pointed out before, a big reason for the enormous popularity of the franchise is its devotion to the idea that technology will solve many of humanity’s problems. I know its extremely naive, but I just can’t help but buy into Star Trek’s utopian future. This is why I love Clark Boyd’s PRI’s The World: Technology Podcast. This (usually) weekly podcast is filled with stories from PRI’s The World (many of which reported by Boyd himself) about how technology positively affects the world as a whole, regardless or income or social standing.
Its terrific coverage of the Twitter #iranelection continued long after the major news sources stopped caring. Its coverage of Internet censorship in China and the ingenious ways Chinese citizens fight back has also been great. And then there are the surprisingly engrossing stories about new products being created to serve the bottom of the pyramid market. A few of my MBA classes have touched upon this concept, and this podcast gives proof that there is money to be made from developing products for large numbers of low-income people. Check out the podcasts about the Eco-Cooker, bamboo bicycles, and the WE CARE Solar Suitcase.