#AcademicRunPlaylist - 11/20/24

It was lovely spending the evening with folks at the MIT Media Lab, and earlier I also enjoyed listening to some talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a fascinating talk by Nick Gravish on creating adaptive robots through new classes of materials and bioinspired algorithms at the Maryland Robotics Center https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJl_Bux0Cds

Next was an interesting talk by Andriani Kalintiri on the resilience of EU antitrust law at the Cambridge Faculty of Law https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BUSMwSnMsA

Next was a rip-roaring discussion with Ann Lipton and Michael Levin on the popcorn-worthy case of Ben & Jerry's, which despite being a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever is somehow suing itself, and the legality of buying/selling corporate election votes on the Shareholder Primacy podcast. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKpE3wiB57Q&t=5s

Next was a thought-provoking talk by Adam Visokay on the pitfalls of performing inference on predicted data at the University of Washington eScience Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iF826EnwRk

Next was an amazing talk by Jessica Silbey on intellectual property and fundamental values in the Internet age at Yale ISP. Silbey first reviews the history of IP law in the US, then examines changes in its utilization and meaning over time. Finally, she argues for the necessity of reimagining this area of law for the modern world, ending with a banger quote: "Economists are very allergic to the idea that IP is being infused with moral narratives. But all laws are more, and we shouldn't be afraid of it. We should embrace it and debate it on its own terms." Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqoeTM2S6dk

Last was a whirlwind talk by Curtis Marean on the great human diaspora at the ASU Institute of Human Origins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq-SC9RmeI4