#AcademicRunPlaylist - 8/14/24

I found this lovely mural today, and while exploring London I was also able to listen to a bunch of talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a fantastic talk by Svante Pääbo on the genetic influence of Denisovans and Neanderthals on modern humans at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). Pääbo presents an engaging account of the challenges of genetically sequencing ancient fossils, what their geographic distribution tells us about ancient migration, and the continuing effects of this genetic legacy. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4F6BlD8mZs&t=10s

Next was an excellent talk by Luis Aguiar on platform bias in the music industry (specifically Spotify) at PLAMADISO – Platforms, Markets, and the Digital Society. Aguiar empirically shows how Spotify biases playlists towards certain types of artists, then examines the implications of biases like these for the broader music industry. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyS53sYtjOs

Next was an interesting talk by Raquel Fernández on language use in humans and LLMs at OIST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_zleRk4Ogc

Next was an informative panel on the Institute of Directors's proposal for a code of conduct for directors at the UCL Faculty of Laws with Roger Barker, Pedro Schilling de Carvalho, Anna Donovan, Joan Loughrey, and Eva Micheler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta90dk6rc8w

Last was a wide-ranging symposium on the importance of purpose, values, and impact for business and society at large at OIST with Mario Abela, Toshiya HOSHINO, Victoria Hurth, Haruko Satoh, and Philip Sugai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeUp6kWIQto