I got hit by both the typhoon and an earthquake on my commute home, but luckily while stopped in between stations I was able to listen to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an interesting talk by Michael Wray on why video models struggle with real world data at the Soft Robotics Lab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXR0lS3UKBM

Next was the morning session of the Institute for Ethics in AI reimagining the future of work conference (wished I could’ve been there!) with Caroline Emmer De Albuquerque Green, Jeremias Adams-Prassl, Isabelle Ferreras, Yolanda Diaz, and Daron Acemoglu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NywaHsAABvY

Next was an important panel on the economic cost of DHS’s attacks on immigrants at the Economic Policy Institute with Erica Williams, Chloe East, and Aaron Sojourner. Obviously the moral case against these attacks is the most important case to make here, this research further underlines the corrosive effects of these actions. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPVRnqB3Wxs

Next was an informative panel on the state of the Russian Economy at the CEPR with Torbjörn Becker (Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics), Konstantin Egorov (University of Antwerp), Alicia García‑Herrero (Bruegel, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Matthew C. Klein (The Overshoot), Iikka Korhonen (Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies), Elina Ribakova (Kyiv School of Economics, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Bruegel), Lucas Risinger (KSE Institute), and Moritz Schularick (Kiel Institute for the World Economy, CEPR) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLomi_i4rNc

Next was a great conversation with Réka Juhász on why Meiji Japan was able to industrialize when so many other nations failed at the Centre for Economic Performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlnt5xHDTE

Next was an excellent discussion on why UK firms are slower to invest than their peers with Tera Allas, Stephen Roper, and Catherine Mann at The Productivity Institute https://www.productivity.ac.uk/podcast/why-do-firms-not-invest/

Last was “The Trouble with Ancient DNA” by Anna Källén. This is an essential, succinct analysis of the issues with the dominant applications of DNA analysis techniques when applied to ancient humanoid samples, with Källén delivering a masterful critique that belongs in the STS canon. This book covers the technical limitations of our current approaches, as well as the inherently political and biased framings that drive the "results" published and latched onto in this area. There are also great additional readings included. Highly recommend https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo238848353.html