Ramesh Srinivasan Explores “Utopias”

UCLA Professor of Information Studies Ramesh Srinivasan has launched a new podcast, “Utopias,” with guests who are scholars, politicians, artists, journalists, even religious figures. With this project, the scholar of technology and globalization seeks to explore the rapid developments in technology, its impacts on society writ large, and the work and perspectives of those who represent and care for the endless potential for human creativity, expression, and compassion.

Professor Srinivasan is the founder and director of the UC Digital Cultures Lab, which offers a unique, people-focused analysis of new technologies across the world and examines the means by which new media technologies impact businesses, economics, cultures, politics, labor, and the environment through collaborations with global partners.

Professor Srinivasan is the author of “Beyond the Valley: How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow,” “Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Shapes Our World,” and “After the Internet” (With Adam Fish). Srinivasan appears frequently on NPR, The Young Turks, MSNBC, BBC, CNN and other major media networks, and his articles and interviews have been published by the Washington Post, Wired, The Economist, Quartz, Financial Times, CNN, Forbes, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, among others. “Beyond the Valley” was named a Top Ten Tech Book in 2019 by Forbes Magazine.

Srinivasan has been a faculty member at UCLA since 2005 in the Department of Information Studies and the Department of Design|Media Arts. He holds a Ph.D. in design studies from Harvard, his M.S. in media arts and sciences from MIT, and his bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from Stanford.

How does “Utopias” continue the conversations started in your books?

Ramesh Srinivasan: My books have always been about understanding where our planet is and how increasingly, the experiences we're having around the planet are directly connected to the directions digital technologies have been taking. In particular, we must consider what one might call the "escalation of technology," meaning that almost every aspect of our lives is increasingly mediated by digital technology and mainly [by] private corporate systems written by and for elites, in limited parts of the world.

I have a number of questions that I think almost all of us are staring at, starting with how we feel divided [and] disconnected, even from others in our own nation and what role if any does tech have in such. All these ideas of feeling alone or alienated or lonely… certainly set in during the pandemic but existed before that; the idea that we are somehow, at odds with one another around racial or gendered, or geographic or even, demographic lines. That need not be our reality, nor need it be our planetary future; we must move beyond borders if we are to come together on all the big issues of our time - climate change, the vanishing of linguistic and biodiversity, pandemics, inequalities, and so much more.

There are a couple of aspects about us as human beings that are really profound, our ability to care for one another and other beings, whether they are animals, plants, fungi, etc., but also our ability to be creative. In my mind, those are the values and aspects of humanity, and life itself, that are really not part of this technological world. My entire goal has been whether it's books, articles, speeches, interviews, and now a podcast, [has been] to do anything and everything to bring back that spirit and have us recognize what we already have. That’s the vision of the podcast and that's why it’s called “Utopias”… to bring in creative, inspiring, compassionate voices who in lots of different ways, represent that light - represent that spirit of what it means to be alive, and are doubling down on life [with] that deeper sense of care and creativity, or what we call in the podcast, “care and repair.”

Our first guest [is] one of the most famous intellectuals and public figures in this country, Dr. Cornel West, who's actually running as an independent for president. In our podcast, we barely touch on politics and instead, talk about these bigger issues. The podcast is not merely speaking to scholars and writers, but also to people like Kevin Roose, the main technology reporter for The New York Times, who in a conversation with Chat GPT, [was asked] to leave his wife. Academy Award-winning filmmakers and documentary filmmakers are joining the podcast, famous musicians in punk rock, such as Kathleen Hanna from Le Tigre/Bikini Kill, jazz and hip-hop [artists], [even] spiritual figures such as monks and social entrepreneurs.

Another forthcoming guest is Andrew Yang, who ran for president four years ago, a friend and colleague of mine. Representative Ro Khanna, currently in the U.S. Congress, is going to be joining us, who is one of the sharpest minds balancing care and rationality in the government. We will be bringing on a lot of artists as well, and pranksters and comedians. I'm very agnostic about who joins [in], as long as they have that spirit and they’re not trapped by this sort of bait that a lot of us are being fed, that makes us distrust one another.

It is an expansive and wide-ranging podcast that represents in many ways, different parts of my own life. I'm not just a scholar, I'm not just someone who studies technology. I have a lot of different aspects and a lot of different visions and inspirations that motivate my scholarship around technology. This podcast is really about giving people a sense of spirit, of creativity, of care, rather than profiting and monetizing on division and negativity, which is a lot of where things have gone.

How do you think we can transform the perception of technology from being the be-all and end-all, to simply a tool that can further creativity and has the potential to bring humanity and empathy back into society?

Srinivasan: I think that it starts by not fixating on technology and even [its] problems. Instead, we can be reminded of something that most of us already know, but kind of forgot,  that technology is nothing but an expression of the human mind, spirit, and heart. It's about reminding us that we are connected with one another, whether we like it or not. We are connected with the only planet we've ever known, and all the beings who live upon it in a sense, and we have the capacity to make and create the type of planet we believe in. It’s up to us. It’s our time. We can reject alienation and cynicism and fight and create something that is just, caring, and compassionate - it’s time for repair. For example, there are actually far more agreements we have as human beings with one another – [among] Americans, by the way – than is often portrayed by these systems and elites that monetize division.

My hope is that [the podcast] reaches everybody, regardless of who and where they are. I'm working with UCLA undergrad students on this project, and one of them told me that both her father and grandfather, who have no real political allegiances, have told [her] how much they appreciate this first episode and the insights in it. That’s the whole point: moving out of this false, shallow idea of in-group versus out-group [and] moving beyond it. That is what a utopian vision is… a world without borders, both physically and conceptually.

Visit this link to listen to “Utopias.”