PODCAST · society
Virtual Sentiments
by Mercatus Center at George Mason University
In Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with the most pressing problems in political economy today with an eye to the past.
Episodes
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Why Americans Still Argue About the Founding with Thomas Merrill
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins speaks with Thomas Merrill about the historical tensions within the American founding and their significance for contemporary political life. They discuss the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s views on natural rights and…
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Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding with Osita Nwanevu
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins talks with Osita Nwanevu, author of The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding, about the history, meaning, and future of American democracy. They discuss the distinction between republicanism and democracy…
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Demystifying AI with Katharine Jarmul
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins talks with Katharine Jarmul about how transparency, open-source AI, and privacy intersect in today's debates over artificial intelligence. Together they unpack the differences between proprietary, open-weight, and truly open-source AI models....
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Laura K. Field on the Making of the MAGA New Right
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins talks with Laura K. Field about the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and her recent book, Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right. The conversation traces how Field came to chronicle the intellectual architecture...
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Glory Liu on Adam Smith's America
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins speaks with Glory Liu about the 250th anniversary of both Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations and the Declaration of Independence. Together, they unpack the message of The Wealth of Nations as a critique of Britain's mercantile system rather...
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Henry Farrell on AI as a Social Technology
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins speaks with Henry Farrell about AI, democracy, and political economy. Farrell argues that large language models are best understood not as emerging individual intelligences, but as “social technologies” that process and reorganize vast stores...
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State Capture and the Meaning of Democracy with Samuel Bagg
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins speaks with political theorist Samuel Bagg about his recent book The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2024). Instead of understanding democracy as an idealized process of collective...
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Maria Pia Paganelli on 250 Years of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins speaks with Maria Pia Paganelli about Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations on the occasion of its 250th anniversary. Their conversation situates Smith as a sharp moral and political critic of monopoly and empire. Paganelli situates the book in the...
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Amit Ron and Abraham Singer on What Companies Owe Democracy
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins speaks with Amit Ron and Abraham Singer, co-authors of Everyone’s Business:What Companies Owe Society (The University of Chicago Press, 2024). Together, Ron and Singer argue that businesses should move beyond profit and stakeholder…
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Susan Brison on the Aftermath of Sexual Violence and the Remaking of the Self
**Content Warning** This episode includes discussions of sexual assault and attempted murder, which may be distressing for some listeners. Please listen with care. On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins speaks with Susan Brison, author of Aftermath: Violence and the Remaking…
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Deva Woodly on Civil Society and the Politics of Care
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins chats with Deva Woodly on her book, Reckoning: Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Necessity of Social Movements (Oxford University Press, 2021), which draw from on-the-ground interviews with leaders in the Black Lives Matter Movement…
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Alice Siu on Deliberative Polling and the Future of Democratic Dialogue
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins chats with Alice Siu on how deliberative polling fosters informed, respectful public dialogue. They discuss the method’s use in both in-person and on AI-assisted virtual forums, its role in shaping policy, and its potential to reduce...
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Hannah Gais on the Far-Right Rallies and Social Media Presence
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins chats with Hannah Gais on the far-right rallies and social media presence on platforms like Telegram and X. Hannah explores the events of the Unite the Right rally, the storming of the capital on January 6th, the far-right in the wake of...
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Eileen Hunt on Mary Shelley's "The Last Man"
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins chats with Eileen Hunt on her latest book, The First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination (2024), which focuses primarily on Mary Shelley's 1826 novel, The Last Man, the first major modern pandemic novel. Hunt...
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Roos Slegers on the Uncanny Valley, Freud, and Cyborg Science Fiction
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins chats with Roos Slegers on the uncanny valley, Freud, and cyborg science fiction. They explore the uncanny valley and Freud’s concept of the uncanny, connecting them to ETA Hoffmann’s “The Sandman”, Donna Haraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto”…
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Kris Rose on Deliberative Democracy and Meta's Community Forums
Season 3 is here! On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins interview Kris Rose on deliberative democracy and Meta's community forums. Kris discusses Meta’s efforts to incorporate public input into decision-making through the Oversight Board and Community Forums. The Oversight...
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Lida Maxwell on Whistleblowers, Queer Love, and Truth-Telling
A special thanks to our listeners for joining us, and please enjoy the final episode of Season 2. We hope to see you again soon! On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins interviews Lida Maxwell on whistleblowers, queer love, and outsider truth-telling. Lida uses Chelsea…
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Samantha Cole on How Sex Changed the Internet
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins interviews Samantha Cole on her book, How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex. Their conversation features discussion on the origins of deepfake technology, nonconsensual pornography, the rights of sex workers, concerns...
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John Kaufhold on the History of Image Recognition and Deep Learning
On today's episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins interviews John Kaufhold on the history of image recognition and deep learning. With over 30 years of experience in the artificial intelligence and machine learning world, John shares his history starting from his early days in speech...
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Salomé Viljoen on Relational Data, Governance, and Privacy
On today's episode of Virtual Sentiments, host Kristen Collins interviews Salomé Viljoen on relational data, governance, and privacy. Salomé shares insights into some of the key positions and debates about legal reforms relating to digital privacy and data governance, particularly the relational...
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Eric Schliesser on Playing and the Das Adam Smith Problem
Kristen Collins interviews Eric Schliesser on playing, liberty, and the Das Adam Smith Problem. In their conversation, they discuss the "Das Adam Smith Problem" which addresses the perceived inconsistency between Smith's works, "Wealth of Nations" and "The Theory of Moral Sentiments," as well as...
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James Goodrich on Data Monopolies and the Neo-Brandeis Movement
Kristen Collin interviews James Goodrich on data monopolies and the neo-Brandeis movement. They begin their conversation by addressing the political nature of algorithmic bias and how we define data property rights. They discuss how certain firms have a sort of monopoly power over behavioral data...
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Boris Litvin on Spectatorship, Memes, and Rousseau
On this episode, Kristen Collins interviews Boris Litvin on spectatorship, memes, and Rousseau. Kristen and Boris delve into the relevance of Rousseau's insights on politics and the public stage, relating them to today's social media-driven democracy. They explore the concept of "audience...
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Christopher Coyne on the History of Surveillance Capitalism
Season 2 is here! On this episode, host Kristen Collins chats with Christopher Coyne on the history of surveillance state from the early 20th century to now and surveillance capitalism, where user data is sold or used for advertisement targeting. They also discuss foreign intervention, the...
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Eileen Hunt on Mary Shelley and the Ethics of AI
On the last episode of Season 1 of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews Eileen Hunt, a Professor and Political Theorist at the University of Notre Dame, on Mary Shelley and the Ethics of AI. Hunt begins by providing historical context of Mary Shelley regarding her parents and Shelley as…
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Lucia Rafanelli on Global Justice and Biased Technology
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews Lucia Rafanelli on global justice and biased technology. Rafanelli is an Assistant Professor of Political Science & International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Rafanelli...
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Theodore Lechterman on Automating the Democratic Process
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews Theodore Lechterman, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at IE University, on automating the democratic process. Lechterman begins by discussing his book on philanthropy, The Tyranny of Generosity: Why Philanthropy Corrupts Our...
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Leilani Gilpin on Self-Explaining Machines and Autonomous Cars
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews Leilani Gilpin, an Assistant Professor at the University of California Santa Cruz, on self-explaining machines and autonomous cars. Gilpin begins by highlighting the limits of artificial intelligence, detailing how machine learning...
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Hans Noel on Our Current Age of Increased Polarization
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews Hans Noel, an Associate Professor in the Government Department at Georgetown University, on the increasingly polarized nature of politics in the current age. Noel begins by examining the nature of polarization and the many ways in...
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Jennifer Forestal on Designing Democratic Digital Spaces
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen interviews Jennifer Forestal, the Helen Houlahan Rigali Assistant Professor of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago, on the role that digital spaces play in a democratic environment. They discuss the ways in which the design of digital…
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Emerson T. Brooking on Social Media & Disinformation
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen interviews Emerson T. Brooking, a resident senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council, on the presence of disinformation in social media. Brooking gives his definition of disinformation and highlights particular…
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Martin Gurri on the Relationship Between Politics & Global Media
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen interviews Martin Gurri, a visiting research fellow at the Mercatus Center, on the relationship between politics and media. Martin explains his concept of how communications technology evolves in great leaps, instead of incremental steps, and...
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Weifeng Zhong on Machine Learning and the Policy Change Index
On this episode of Virtual Sentiments, Kristen interviews Weifeng Zhong of the Mercatus Center on his work with the Policy Change Index (PCI), a series of open-source machine learning projects that predict authoritarian regimes’ major policy moves by “reading” their propaganda publications.…
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Virtual Sentiments Season 1 Trailer
Whether it is the intensification of polarization, the dissemination of disinformation, or the expansion of surveillance, today’s digital technologies seem to radically disrupt liberal democratic politics. But what if the problems we face are less new than they first appear? In this podcast…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
In Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with the most pressing problems in political economy today with an eye to the past.
HOSTED BY
Mercatus Center at George Mason University
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Virtual Sentiments have?
Virtual Sentiments currently has 34 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Virtual Sentiments about?
In Virtual Sentiments, Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with the most pressing problems in political economy today with an eye to the past.
How often does Virtual Sentiments release new episodes?
Virtual Sentiments has 34 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Virtual Sentiments?
You can listen to Virtual Sentiments on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Virtual Sentiments?
Virtual Sentiments is created and hosted by Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
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