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Podcast: Making outrage addictive

Podcast: Making outrage addictive

Social media has become a part of our daily lives, as we scroll endlessly through curated feeds. But it’s clear that these platforms are having a negative impact on our lives and our society in ways we never imagined.

Platforms that were once a way to connect people have become a place where disinformation flows freely, controversy and division turns a profit, and people are pushed into echo chambers where everyone believes the same things and get fed disinformation that amps up their views.


In episode 39, Weston unpacks social media’s psychological and cultural ramifications, but also its impact on our democracy and politics — looking at where we can go from here and discussing the need for increased transparency and accountability.

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Proposed Illinois Data Center Regulations Latest in Nationwide Fight for Facility Oversight

Digital Realty is a real estate investment trust that builds and operates over 300 data centers worldwide. In 2023, Digital Realty, alongside GI Partners, invested in two hyperscale data centers in the Chicago metro area.

(Emma Henry/Medill)

Proposed Illinois Data Center Regulations Latest in Nationwide Fight for Facility Oversight

Illinois has joined a growing number of states drafting legislation to regulate data centers. The proposed POWER Act, introduced on Feb. 6, aims to regulate the growth of data centers by forcing operators to pay any energy-related costs and disclose water use.

The bill, introduced by State Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Ill., 8th District) and co-sponsored by State Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Ill., 18th District), ensures minimal impact of data center development on Illinois residents.

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We're Failing Gen Alpha
a computer chip with the letter a on top of it
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

We're Failing Gen Alpha

Just about around 2035, we’ll be celebrating the first Gen Alpha graduates from college. Hallmark is going to need to work on some new cards before then.

A few recommendations:

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AI, Reality, and the Pygmalion Effect: Why Human Judgment Still Matters
Woman typing on laptop at wooden table with breakfast.

AI, Reality, and the Pygmalion Effect: Why Human Judgment Still Matters

When the World goes Mad, one must accept Madness as Sanity, since Sanity is, in the last analysis, nothing but the Madness on which the Whole World happens to agree. (George Bernard Shaw)

Among the most prolific and famous playwrights of the 20th century, Shaw wrote “Pygmalion,” the play upon which “My Fair Lady” was based. Pygmalion was a Greek mythological figure, a sculptor from Cyprus, who fell in love with the statue he created. Aphrodite turned his sculpture into a real woman, promoting the idea that the “created” is greater than the “creator.”

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