Public Talks

Tuesday, September 22, 7:30 pm
(Yes Tuesday!)

TechBros Brew Bubbles:
Then and Now

Public Talk at 518 Valencia

A quarter century ago San Francisco was swamped by the first Dotcom boom and in 2001 it went ‘pop’. Two sharp writers were there and they each have books describing that era and providing vital information on how it shapes our world 25 years later. Paulina Borsook wrote Cyberselfish in 2000, with a newly reissued edition this September, and her prescience in describing the libertarian politics and dysfunctional personalities of the tech bro elite is stunning. Jonathan Weber's new book City on the Edge builds on his intimate knowledge of that tech boom and its investors, entrepreneurs, and the politicians who laid down the red carpets when he was editor of the Industry Standard, briefly one of the most successful magazines in history. Join them to plumb the depths of a cultural, economic, and political zeitgeist still reverberating through the streets of San Francisco today.

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Wednesday, October 14, 7:30 pm

AI and the Future of Academic Labor

Public Talk at 518 Valencia

Journalist Kari Lydersen in conversation with Robert Ovetz and Lindsay Weinberg, authors of the forthcoming book AI and the Future of Academic Labor.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are increasingly being integrated into higher education, putting the very mission and work of learning, research and teaching at risk of automation. Higher education unions are only beginning to address the impacts of AI on academic workers. This conversation will explore how academic labor struggles vs AI are connected to broader global struggles against digital labor exploitation along the global AI supply chain, from data workers, to data centers, to the campus.

Moderator Kari Lydersen is a Chicago-based journalist and author, and leads the Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago at Northwestern University’s journalism school. Robert Ovetz is Senior Lecturer in Political Science, teaches Labour Relations in the Master of Public Administration program at San José State University, and author and editor of six books on the global labor movement. Lindsay Weinberg is an Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, & Society at Farmingdale State College and the author of Smart University: Student Surveillance in the Digital Age.

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Wednesday, November 11, 7:30 pm

Central America Solidarity Revolts

Public Talk at 518 Valencia

Panelists Eddie Yuen and Josie Caroline Pike present archival documentation of the Bay Area's social movements during the 1980s Cold War revival, with a focus on the revolt against U.S. intervention in Central America, using selections of photographs, audio, and ephemera from the H.K. Yuen Archive.

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Wednesday, December 2, 7:30 pm

San Francisco: Capital of the Nerd Reich?

Public Talk at 518 Valencia

A few years ago Gil Durán launched his blog titled The Nerd Reich and now he has a popular book of the same title. He was once press spokesperson for Kamala Harris and other California politicians before he returned to his journalistic roots and became the scourge of the local billionaires and their nefarious plans for San Francisco. Mission Local editor Joe Eskenazi has been in the City Hall trenches for several years, and is perfectly perched to help explore the themes Durán has done so much to bring to the forefront.

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