Latest from Nora Young
This TikTok account pumped out fake war footage with AI — until CBC News investigated
A TikTok account sharing AI-generated videos of explosions and burning cities has disappeared from the platform. But the type of content it hosted — what experts call “AI slop” — is still going strong.
Giveaway: Minecraft for Parents
Minecraft, the wildly popular game for adults and children, lets users construct things out of virtual objects. It has earned praise for its potential as a fun, creative, and educational game for kids. Sounds great, right? It also has a bit of a reputation as a source of frustration for parents who are trying to customize the game the way...
Black Code: Interview and Contest
When Spark interviewed Ron Deibert back in late May, about his book, Black Code we talked about espionage, and the growing role of governments in shaping the future of the internet. Little did we know, though, that about a week after we talked, the first of many sensational news stories would come out about spying, based on leaks by Edward...
Recreating the Sounds of the Roaring Twenties
I just interviewed Emily Thompson, a history professor at Princeton University. Emily researches the cultural history of sound, and how our acoustic environment has changed over time, particularly in the early part of the 20th century. Now, she and collaborator Scott Mahoy have created a fabulous website called The Roaring Twenties (as part of the online journal, Vectors). It brings...
Religion, Spirituality, Magic...and Technology
Recently, I talked to Jeremy Stolow. He is a media historian at Concordia University, and editor of the book, Deus In Machina: Religion, Technology, and the Things in Between. He takes on the conventional idea of religion and technology as separate, contradictory spheres, and shows instead how they're connected. Contributors to the book look at a wide range of examples,...
Breaking Bad...Technology
Hi there. Nora here. The other day, I was putting away my pasta machine. It's a manual device that's probably about 15 years old by now. It has a C clamp that lets you attach the machine to the kitchen table. You insert the handle into the side of it, feed your pasta dough in, and turn the crank to...
Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined
Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive psychologist at New York University. His new book is called Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined. In it, he critiques the idea of intelligence (or even multiple intelligences) as a fixed 'thing'. Instead, he describes a personalized, more fluid idea of intelligence. He marshals a compelling body of research to suggest that there are multiple paths to...
Changing Our Podcast Format
As we gear up for season six(!) of Spark, we're thinking it's time to move away from two podcasts (Spark and Spark Plus) and switch to one podcast. We'd love your feedback. ...