shows 138-141 — profs. pamela long, mario biagioli, kevin werbach, andy haile and scott gaylord — posted

I am pleased to post the last four shows of the spring quarter.

The first, Show # 138, May 10, is my interview with Pamela Long, co-author of Obelisk: A History. Obelisks are not a common topic on Hearsay Culture — in fact, they had never been mentioned before. But Pam’s book is right up Hearsay Culture’s alley, as we discussed the engineering and technology surrounding these ancient Egyptian monuments. From a technological standpoint, these objects are a fascinating symbol of human ingenuity, and the discussion allowed for an insightful analysis of their import and meaning, technologically, politically and spritually.

The second show, Show #139, May 17, is my interview with Prof. Mario Biagioli of UC-Davis School of Law, Director of the Center for Innovation Studies. Mario is a historian who has spent much time studying the role of secrecy in innovation, along with other varying topics, in a long and distinguished career. In this discussion, we focused on his work examining the role of the patent specification (descriptions of the proposed patentable invention in a patent application) in the political and social history of the United States. Mario’s work is critical in the burgeoning field of secrecy studies and I very much enjoyed our discussion.

Third is Show #140, May 24, my interview with Prof. Kevin Werbach of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In this interview, we focused on Kevin’s article The Network Utility. This article, drawing on Kevin’s background with and knowledge of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), examines some forgotten early technology caselaw that treated computers and computer communications as utilities. We discussed this caselaw, as well as the role of the FCC in regulating the Internet and the “cloud.” I greatly enjoyed our chat.

Finally, Show #141, May 31, is my interview with Profs. Andy Haile and Scott Gaylord, my colleagues at Elon University School of Law. Andy and Scott have written a comprehensive analysis of the problems facing state taxation authorities in collecting owed revenue from e-commerce entities like Amazon. In their article, they examine this issue and propose solutions. In the course of our discussion, which was the first in-studio recording that I’ve done since I left Stanford (physically) in 2007, we discussed the speech and privacy concerns attendant with this issue, as well as their proposed solutions. I enjoyed the talk!

The next quarter on KZSU will begin at the end of June. I’m looking forward to an exciting schedule of guests! Thanks, as always, for listening, and enjoy the month!

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