Dr. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR for short), an independent organization of academics, activists, and engineers who believe in technology that benefits everyone. Dr. Gebru is also the co-founder of Black in AI, a nonprofit that works to increase the presence, inclusion, visibility, and health of Black people in the field of AI, and is on the board of AddisCoder, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching algorithms and computer programming to Ethiopian and Jamaican high school students. She has received a number of accolades, including being named one of Nature’s Ten people who helped shape science and one of TIME 100’s most influential people.

In reference to her book, The Afrofuturist Evolution, this conversation explores Afrofuturism as an active world-building practice rather than a distant or purely speculative future. Womack reflects on living inside futures once imagined by thinkers like Octavia Butler, the role of imagination in shaping present realities, and how ancient cosmologies, rhythm, and storytelling can inform more humane technological systems.

Dr. Mansour is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at CU Boulder whose work sits at the intersection of architecture, spirituality, digital media, and AI. A former research fellow at the Princeton Center for Theological Inquiry, she has published widely across disciplines and is currently editing Religion and AI: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches, forthcoming with Bloomsbury.

A leading sociologist of media and culture, his work has been central to understanding how media and communications concentrate symbolic power and what that means for human solidarity. His recent research focuses on the ethics, politics, and social implications of Big Data and everyday data practices. He is the author or editor of 17 books, including Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back (with Dr. Ulises Mejias) and The Space of the World: Can Human Solidarity Survive Social Media and What if It Can’t?

Galaz is the founder of Structured Knowledge, a nonfiction narrative consultancy helping creatives and thinkers translate complex ideas into meaningful public-facing work. She is also co-creator of Our Friend the Computer, a globally ranked podcast uncovering underrepresented histories of computing; an editor at the Millennium Film Journal; and co-founder of Superkilogirls, a creative research lab examining the material infrastructures of computing and their entanglement with women’s labor.

Her projects have been supported by the New Museum, the Nieuwe Instituut, Creative Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Media Archaeology Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder. In this episode, Galaz reflects on how storytelling, archives, and experimental media can reveal the hidden human histories behind our digital world.

Who will own the future of gig work? In this month’s episode of Looks Like New, MEDlab Associate Director Júlia Martins speaks with Minsun Ji, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center, about empowering workers to reclaim control over their economic futures. Minsun and her team are pioneering efforts to democratize work ownership, including the launch of Colorado’s first driver-owned ride-share cooperative. Together, they examine the unique challenges of competing in the ride-share market, the innovative strategies behind worker cooperatives, and why these models are essential for building resilient local economies.

In this episode of Looks Like New, host Júlia Martins Rodrigues speaks with Warren Liu, a Media Studies doctoral student. Liu examines how video games shape culture—both by reflecting colonial legacies and by offering space to challenge them.

Their conversation explores how games can spark decolonial thinking and open new paths for cultural exchange. From reclaiming narratives and traditions to reimagining design and player agency, they discuss how gaming can become a tool for inclusivity, empathy, and social change.

Who gets to participate in society—and how do we build systems that serve everyone, not just the privileged few?

In this episode of Looks Like New, MEDLab’s Júlia Martins Rodrigues speaks with Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, a leading expert at the intersection of technology and social justice, about what happens when entire communities are left behind in our rapidly digitizing world. As Director of the Center for Technology Innovation and founder of the AI Equity Lab, Turner Lee has dedicated her work to making AI and internet access more inclusive, ethical, and equitable—from the U.S. to the Global South. We explore insights from her groundbreaking book Digitally Invisible and discuss how we can rethink AI governance to create a more just digital future.

AI is advancing at lightning speed—so fast that questions of ownership and data use often get left behind. What control do we really have over our data in these massive language models? And how can we rethink governance for AI?

On this episode of Looks Like New, MEDLab fellow Andy DiLallo speaks with Berlin-based artist, musician, and technologist Mat Dryhurst. Known for his work on collective ownership and digital governance. We hear how DIY music culture shaped Mat’s approach to technology, the importance of transparency in AI, and the role institutions can play in building ethical, trustworthy AI frameworks.

In this month’s episode of Looks Like New, hosted by MEDlab’s associate director Júlia Martins Rodrigues, we hear from Art Bamford, Ph.D., lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, a fellow at the Center for Media, Religion, and Culture, and co-author of Every Parent’s Guide to Navigating Our Digital World.

Art Bamford is currently researching the influence of Protestant revivalism on modern American advertising and public relations. In this episode, he shares fascinating insights into the historical relationship between celebrity, advertising, and scandal—and how these forces have shaped enduring trends in pop culture.

On this month’s episode of Looks Like New, hosted by MEDlab fellow Stephanie Abdalla, Anna Muller joins us all the way from Brazil to discuss the importance of data control, especially for individuals with uteruses.

Anna Muller brings a wealth of knowledge to the conversation. She is a biomedical specialist in neuroscience and behavior, a health instructor focused on fertility, perception, and hormonal health, as well as a speaker and content producer specializing in menstrual education. Together, Stephanie Abdalla and Anna Muller dive into the world of fertility tracking apps, the risks and realities of data control, and possible safer alternatives—drawing from history, academic discourse, and personal insight.

Ehmke developed the Contributor Covenant, a code of conduct that is widely used across digital communities, as well as the Hippocratic License, a software license designed to protect human rights. She previously appeared on Looks Like New to explore why software development communities need ethical standards. This month, Ehmke returns to Looks Like New to talk about her work as a tech ethicist, experimental musician, and occult practitioner. As the Executive Director of the Organization for Ethical Source, Ehmke considers software’s real-world impacts and works to promote the fundamental rights and well-being of diverse communities affected by technology.

Ehmke’s writing appeared in the MEDLab publication “Change is in the Cards,” a zine that explores open-source governance through the lens of tarot. The zine is freely available for download here

Curious to hear more about Ehmke’s work as a tech ethicist? Listen to her previous appearance on Looks Like New here

On this month’s episode of Looks Like New, we’re bringing you a conversation between guest mentors from MEDlab’s Open Social Incubator, where community organizers from all over the world come together to explore alternatives to dominant corporate platforms. These innovators prioritize community building, safety features, and governance structures in their designs. The discussion featured Rudy Fraser, founder of BlackSky on Bluesky; Evan Henshaw-Plath also known as Rabble, a former Twitter developer now working on Nostr; and Christine Lemmer-Webber, a leading author of the ActivityPub protocol, software developer, and Executive Director of the Spritely Institute.

These speakers, alongside audience questions, shared insights into the challenges and opportunities of creating open social software. They explored ways to prevent the re-centralization of power and ensure the protection of marginalized users.