I’ve mentioned IT Conversations here a few times before in the context of other subjects, but I recently recommended a bunch of my favorite episodes to a friend for a trip he was leaving on and he suggested I reproduce the list here. Some of these talks played a big part in getting me excited about some of things I’ve written about here, so I thought that made some sense. Here goes (it’s in approximate order of “favorite-ness”):
- George Dyson
- the son of Freeman Dyson, on John Von Neumann and the origin of “hacker” culture.
- Philip Greenspun
- a web publishing pioneer and creator of Photo.net, one of the first online communities.
- Neil Gershenfeld
- chief of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms on the future of desktop fabrication: the coming ability of anyone to design, make, and build anything. Mind blowing.
- Paul Graham
- founder of Viaweb and excellent tech-essayist, about genius generally, and great hackers, in particular.
- Bruce Schneier
- a web and computer security expert. Sounds dry, but is actually filled with some rare rational insight on the post 9/11 security world.
- Larry Lessig
- creator of the Creative Commons. The material may be familiar but it’s interesting to hear how much of a firebrand Lessig is, and how convincing.
- Steve Wozniak
- brilliant, nutty inventor of the Mac on his whole life story and interests.
- Malcolm Gladwell
- New Yorker reporter and author who investigates the surprising ways we think and make decisions
- Cory Doctorow
- sci-fi author, BoingBoing-creator, and EFF advocate on the problems of controlling complex systems and the threat to IT from Hollywood.
- Clay Shirky
- insightful stuff on new uses of cell phones. Short.
- Doc Searls
- One of the original bloggers talking about DIY IT.
This is only just a sample, click around on the site and you’ll find a bunch more interesting things on any of a number of tech topics. Lots of good stuff to fill your iPod with.
Tagged: IT Conversations, podcast, tech, lectures