#AcademicRunPlaylist - 9/21/25

I had a slow weekend, which gave me time to read some books and listen to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a great talk by Michael Tolley on biologically inspired soft robotics at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROuNXCn3irc

Next was an interesting talk by Angela Dai on using high fidelity 3D datasets for robot perception at the Soft Robotics Laboratory, ETH Zurich (SRL) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t30Nd_aRzA

Next was an amazing talk by Kevin Chen on insect-scale aerial robots driven by soft artificial muscles (!) at SRL. Beyond the inherent coolness of this work, Chen also provides great insight into how these robots function in the real world. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DNpi-x_6ho

Next was a thought-provoking talk by Oier Mees on using large models for robotics at SRL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_TTw0fOyeQ

Next was a fantastic talk by Jeffrey Lipton on using metamaterials for compliant robots at SRL. Lipton clearly explains how to use different material properties to create specific behaviors, with impressive results. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5og8wlJK-Q

Next was an incredible talk by Kaitlyn Becker on programming soft machines for deep sea exploration (and more) at SRL. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3Vov2LH2Y4

Next was a compelling talk by Guanya Shi on building generalist agile robots at SRL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVTG7809RTg

Next was a nice talk by Xiaolong Wang on modeling humans for humanoid robots at SRL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEMpD9hTRqE

Next was an engaging talk by Lingjie Liu on building more effective 3D reconstruction and generation methods at SRL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10AlYVu6BaA

Next was "White Freedom" by Tyler Stovall. Stovall opens with a compelling thesis - that the meaning of "freedom" in the US has always meant "freedom for white people." Unfortunately, he mostly fails to put together a coherent, data-backed case in this book (to be clear, I think the case is there, just not here). There's a weird digression on piracy that adds little to the discussion, and there are examinations of the freedom concept in other parts of the world that he brings up that directly undercut his argument. Part of this is because Stovall insists on shoehorning in a significant helping of French and global history here, which while occasionally helpful for context often just muddies the waters given the inherently socially constructed nature of "race." There are also a strange lack of analysis of the term "white" itself and how that concept changed over time in the US, and some straight up fallacies (e.g. the year 1919 was not the high water mark for lynchings in the US). If you want a book on this topic I recommend "Freedom's Dominion" by Cowie instead https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179469/white-freedom

Last was "Fishing" by Brian Fagan. Fagan paints a sweeping picture of the development of fishing, starting in our pre-human ancestors and progressing until recent centuries. He convincingly demonstrates the centrality of fishing to humanity even before the settlement of far flung islands, with fishing representing a pull on human technological development. The sections dealing with Roman aquaculture were especially fascinating, but I wish this book were a bit longer to cover more on modern fishing methods. Highly recommend https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300240047/fishing/