My new Podcast “Demystify Technology” is out!

One of the most beautiful books I have ever held in my hands is “Lo–TEK” by Julia Watson, an architect, designer, and activist who has been researching the technologies of indigenous peoples for 20 years. In it, she writes:

While scientific knowledge is considered an essential truth, it is actually a constantly growing mythology.

Julia Watson

Today’s technologies, the hardware and software we use every day, are covered by a thick layer of myths and ideologies. The marketing, PR, and design from the tech giants tell us big tales of progress and growth. But behind these myths lie some really important questions: How much technology is actually appropriate? What does ‘real technological simplicity’ mean? How can technology be in the hands of people rather than companies (as is the case with ‘Open Source’)? How can we design new, sovereign relationships with tech?

Creative Coding

There is a direct and interesting connection with Creative Coding: through my own teaching, I eventually realized that students who come into contact with code kind of look through the front end and see the bare technology. Coding reveals the hidden and genuine structures of software. This encounter can even trigger fears. It is the collapse of an illusion.

Those who go through this process can reach a threshold where the patterns of code suddenly make sense. That way, so to speak, they shake off several layers of myths and pave their way to develop a mature relationship with technology. In other words: Creative Coding is a lense to demystify technology. It is an act of digital empowerment.

The new Podcast

Demystify Technology. These two words became a guiding principle for me in recent years. I tend to say that they answer the question of why I do what I do: to demystify technology. Now I have launched a brand new podcast where this demystification will be the main topic. With it, I want to create a new repository for conversations in the periphery of what I mainly do in my work (teaching to code).

Episode 1: Kris de Decker

I couldn’t have imagined a more fitting guest for the first episode than Kris de Decker, a researcher, journalist, activist, and blogger from whom I have learned so much recently. Kris lives in Barcelona and has been writing about Low Tech for almost 20 years. He runs lowtechmagazine.com, a platform where he shares his learnings and insights on how a life beyond high tech could be like. Kris is maybe the most pominent voice in the Low Tech universe. He turns his own life into a laboratory and a medium, achieving an astonishing degree of integrity.

Our conversation revolves around the question of what an internet free of tech giants might look like, what challenges we face as content creators and bloggers within the current infosphere, and what ways exist to counter information capitalism, at least to some extent.

I hope you enjoy the first episode and I’m really looking forward to your feedback. Do you have any ideas, comments or suggestions? Which guests would you recommend? Feel free to write to me at feedback@timrodenbroeker.de.

Links

• https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/
• LOW←TECH MAGAZINE on Patreon
• Demystify Technology at Apple Podcasts
• The website of Julia Watson

Demystify Technology

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