international relations – Looks Like New

How is crypto taking hold in India?

MEDLab — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 22:57:05 +0000

Being an entrepreneur in the international cryptocurrency market involves numerous challenges—from government regulations to cultural context. These challenges play out very differently around the world. The conversation revolves around cryptocurrency in India, web3 entrepreneurship, and cryptocurrency technology-based arcades for gamers. Nikita Menon speaks with Siddharth Menon, a founder of various startups including Tegro, WazirX, and Crowdfire. He shares his experiences as a serial entrepreneur and highlights how blockchain can shape the future of diverse industries around the world, from art to gaming.

Can Blockchains Stop War Crimes?

MEDLab — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 21:50:22 +0000

These days it seems like cryptocurrencies and blockchains are mostly enabling abuses: speculative bubbles, malware attacks, and money laundering for rogue states. But could the same technology also hold powerful governments and corporations accountable?

Jonathan Dotan directs the Starling Lab at Stanford University and USC, which uses emerging cryptographic technology to document human rights abuses, from the Holocaust to the current war in Ukraine. Dotan explains how his lab leverages tools usually associated with money and finance to preempt misinformation in the fog of war.

What has happened to Lebanon?

MEDLab — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 21:45:43 +0000

News from the Arab world tends to come to us in the United States in the form of dramatic spectacle that oversimplifies complex situations. Lebanon is no exception—most recently, the site of a deadly explosion and a political crisis.

What are we missing when we see only images of spectacle? This month we hear from Marwan Kraidy, the dean of Northwestern University’s campus in Doha, Qatar, who helps us think past the headlines to understand what is really going on in his native country.

Tensions in the Archive: Rediscovering The Non Aligned Movement with Mila Turajlić

MEDLab — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 23:00:04 +0000

How did the Global South once inscribe its battle for liberation into media archives and how does accessing and viewing this material change through time, location and context? What lessons can the mediated image learn in counteracting the digital divide today?

This month we are discussing archival footage documenting the Non-Aligned Movement, through images of African and Asian liberation and revolutionary leaders that defined the era of decolonization with Dr Mila Turajlić, award winning filmmaker and archival artist, working on the intersection of personal and national memories. With host Darija Medic.

Should we all have a Great Firewall?

MEDLab — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 15:20:54 +0000

This month, President Donald Trump has threatened to ban the Chinese-owned platforms TickTock and WeChat. This comes after years of China banning major US platforms like Google and Facebook, and securing the purchase of Uber’s Chinese business by a Chinese company. Chinese tech activists Katt Gu and Suji Yan speak with us about how this conflict looks from where they live in Shanghai, and they describe some of the firewalls they’re building to help protect labor and privacy rights. As the US—long used to being on the offensive in the Internet economy—moves to the defensive, our guests will help us think through what kinds of sovereignty online might be worth having.

Which images count as evidence?

MEDLab — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 18:46:21 +0000

We are haunted and mobilized by images. The cellphone video of George Floyd’s death has set cities on fire, elevated Black struggles for justice, and reminded White Americans of violence that their society is organized to blind them to. We hear from Sandra Ristovska, a scholar and filmmaker at the University of Colorado Boulder who specializes in video evidence of human rights crimes. She explores the meaning of images in courts and social movements around the world.