Category Archives: Aaron Swartz Podcast

Episode 8: Special Guest Gavin Grimm

This show has been rescheduled to Wednesday, December 18th at 2pm PST/10pm UTC. Sorry for the delay!

You can donate to Gavin’s fundraiser here.

We can now be found at @aaronswartzday.bsky.social.

Gavin Grimm

 

Back in 2013, when Aaron Swartz Day was originally founded, one of our original goals was “protecting future Aarons.” To that end, this Saturday, December 7th, we welcome special guest Gavin Grimm to discuss his inspirational activism and his thoughts on critical issues.

We will discuss everything from trans rights to homelessness to immigration to climate change, and more.

We’ll also get an update from Andre Sobral on Brazil’s Bolsonaro saga. Brazil’s Federal Police have indicted 37 suspects in connection with a coup attempt, all of whom are part of former President Bolsonaro’s inner circle. In a document spanning over 800 pages, the Federal Police detailed the so-called “Green and Yellow Dagger” coup plan, which included assassinations, acts of terrorism, fabricated popular support, disinformation campaigns, and the deployment of tanks in the streets. Join us to explore the details and consequences of this coup attempt, which had been in motion for over a month before the January attack on the Congress building.

See you soon!

About Gavin Grimm:

Gavin Grimm is a prominent transgender activist known for his role in advancing transgender rights in the United States. Gavin grew up in Virginia and became nationally recognized for his involvement in a landmark legal case challenging discriminatory policies against transgender students.

Like Aaron Swartz, Gavin’s journey into activism began as a teenager, while attending Gloucester High School in Virginia. In 2014, when he was just 15 years old.

Beyond his legal battle, Gavin has become an inspirational figure, speaking publicly about the challenges faced by transgender individuals and the importance of equality and inclusivity in schools and society, and also raises awareness about issues such as homelessness and climate change.

We find Gavin inspiring and can’t wait to have him on the show!

About Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board

Feeling marginalized and dehumanized by the Gloucester County School Board’s policy of requiring students to either use restrooms corresponding to their sex assigned at birth or to use private, single-stall restrooms, Gavin filed a lawsuit against the school board in 2015, with the support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The case, Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, argued that the school board’s policy violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Gavin’s case gained significant attention and became a pivotal force in the struggle to protect transgender rights. After a lower court initially ruled against him, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Gavin in 2016, leading to an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court vacated the decision and sent the case back to the lower courts following changes in federal guidance on transgender student rights by the Trump administration.

In August 2019, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of Gavin, declaring the Gloucester County School Board’s policy unconstitutional, a decision that was upheld by the Fourth Circuit in 2020. The school board’s petition to the Supreme Court for review was denied in 2021, effectively ending the case with a victory for Gavin and the broader transgender rights movement.

A photo of Andre Vinicius Leal Sobral
Andre Vinicius Leal Sobral

About Andre Sobral:

Representing Aaron Swartz Institute in Brazil, André Sobral is a postdoctoral researcher at the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab in the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy.

As a sociologist specialized in the effects of technology over society, he has dedicated his career to the investigation of political applications of computers and social media platforms.

About Lisa Rein:

Lisa Rein, Co-Founder, Aaron Swartz Day. Chelsea Manning’s Archivist, Dr. Timothy Leary’s Digital Librarian (Photo: Kevin Footer – Art Design/Concept: Kenneth Bryan Smith)

Lisa is a co-founder of Aaron Swartz Day and a co-founder of Creative Commons, where she worked with Aaron Swartz on its technical specifications. You can learn more about Lisa and how she co-founded Aaron Swartz Day  in this podcast produced by Michal Wisniowski and the Kitchen Sisters.

Lisa is Chelsea Manning’s Archivist and was her ‘Communications Liason’ from December 2015 – May 2017, and led Chelsea’s commutation campaign. She is Timothy Leary’s Digital Librarian and a musician and visual artist, performing as Lunar Elf.

Lisa is the Producer/Director/Editor/Co-host of the Mindplex Podcast, with Ben Goertzel and Desdemona Robot, since early 2023. She enjoys developing and testing Desdemona’s dialogue systems, and is proud to be the producer of the only robot-hosted podcast on YouTube.

 

 

 

Episode 7: Aaron Swartz Day 2024

Aaron would have been 38 years old on Friday, November 8th, 2024.

We had a great podcast to celebrate this year’s Aaron Swartz Day on Saturday November 9th at 2pm PST/10pm UTC.

Here’s the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/live/MZ-PQjP-XRo?si=dFy3YyImpOo18wPQ

 

We got a lot of bad news this last week when we learned that Donald Trump had been re-elected president. It’s so strange to wake up and find yourself at the dawn of what will basically be an authoritarian regime run by the same criminals that just got done fleecing our country a mere 4 years ago.

To make matters worse, it seems that racism, misogyny, xenophobia and transphobia are more widespread than ever in the United States. We are having our Brexit moment, where fear and uncertainty have driven people to make decisions that are ultimately against their own best interests – they just don’t know it yet.

With all this in mind, it’s more important than ever now for us to continue our important work, stay true to each other and stay true to our ideals, during what is sure to be a dark and tumultuous period in the history of the world.

We do believe we can get through it though! And we’ll do it together.

Special Guests on this show:

Hosted by Lisa Rein and Andre Vinicus Leal Sobral.

Our first speaker will be Ryan Shapiro, co-founder of the national security  transparency non-profit Property of the People, and the researcher who discovered why the FBI had such an interest in Aaron in the years right before the JSTOR fiasco. Ryan will talk with us about the catastrophic situation in which we now find ourselves as the fascists behind the failed January 6 coup seize control of the country.

Next, we’ll get a report on the current status of SecureDrop, from Nathan Dyer, Newsroom Support Engineer for the Freedom of the Press Foundation.

Tracey Jaquith, Founding Coder and TV Architect at the Internet Archive, will come on to discuss: Microservices, Monoliths, and Operational Security – The Internet Archive in 2024.

Tracy Rosenberg, Co-founder of the Aaron Swartz Day Police Surveillance Project and Oakland Privacy. Tracy will give us an update on the latest crop of surveillance battles.

Brewster Kahle will pop in to say hello at some point!

Ryan Sternlicht: The Next Layer of Reality: Social Identity and the New Creator Economy

As VR starts to become more well developed and used for social interaction, more and more people need avatars that represent themselves in VR, this has caused many different VR avatar creators, avatar shops, and tools to create avatars to start popping up. How will this economy grow and change, how will avatars evolve, and what tools are in the works to allow for better avatars.

Grant Smith Ellis, Chairperson of the Board, MassCann and Legal Intern at the Parabola Center, discussing: Jury Trials in the Age of Social Media.

Michael “Mek” Karpeles, Open Library, Internet Archive will give a presentation:   When it Rains at the Archive, Build an Ark –
Book bans, Lawsuits, & Breaches

 

 

Episode 6: A Comparison of Trump and Bolsonaro

Date: Saturday, July 27, 2024

Time: 2pm PST/9pm UTC

URL: We are live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_AKKNsczT4

The title "The Aaron Swartz Podcast" and "Episode 6" with a photo of Aaron Swartz smiling wearing glasses.

 

 

 

 

 

Episode 6 Description:

This episode we will be diving in the eerie similarities of events separated by many miles and years.

You may be familiar with the information that Donald Trump inspired many copycats over the world, but can he also be inspired by events elsewhere?

Perhaps you are still unfamiliar with how the far right creates well connected networks of political advisors and allies to bolster its campaign strategies?

Come join our conversation and learn a little bit about this strange pattern of political extremism and far right electoral appropriation of the media structures in its favor.

A photo of Andre Vinicius Leal Sobral
Andre Vinicius Leal Sobral

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Representing Aaron Swartz Institute in Brazil, André Sobral is a postdoctoral researcher at the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab in the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy.

As a sociologist specialized in the effects of technology over society, he has dedicated his career to the investigation of political applications of computers and social media platforms.

 

 

 

 

 

Episode 5: Censorship and the TikTok Ban

Here is Episode 5 of The Aaron Swartz Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGjmtgOWRoY

The title "The Aaron Swartz Podcast" and "Episode 5" with a photo of Aaron Swartz. This is for Episode 5 of the Mindplex Podcast with Lisa Rein and Andre Sobral.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Rein gives a brief outline of the TikTok ban situation.

Andre goes deeper into the concept of censorship, what it is, what motivates it, who does it, what is necessary to enforce it.

Then he explores some cases of censorship and bring in Aaron’s thoughts on the matter, including:

-one text about how a wireless device could help make us more resilient against it.

-one text about how moralism is responsible for validating censorship.

-one text that is a part of a interview where Aaron speaks about censorship and how deplorable it is.

-one text about how a mechanism such as the wayback machine can help to fight against censorship.

Episode 4 of the Aaron Swartz Podcast: Elections & Deep Fakes

Great show today with Andre Sobral, Tracey Jaquith and Lisa Rein. Recording here:

https://www.youtube.com/live/tuwJHVedGIY?si=ayybpcDsgYH9fH43

Today we will be discussing this year’s presidential election and the issue of deep fakes – within the context of Aaron’s political writings on democracy and elections on his blog.

Hosts:

Lisa Rein (Co-founder Aaron Swartz Day)

Andre Sobral (Brazil’s Aaron Swartz Institute)

Special guest at 3pm:

Tracey Jaquith from the Internet Archive’s TV/News Archive will give us a tour and show us how to use the TV/News Archive for fact checking and cross referencing news sources.

Tracey Jaquith, Founding Coder, Internet Archive Co-founder, TV/News Archive

 

 

Jan 6 Insurrection In the Context of Aaron’s Political Writings (Episode 3)

We will join Lisa Rein and Andre Vinicius Leal Sobral from Brazil’s Aaron Swartz Institute, as we discuss the January 6 Insurrection in the context of Aaron’s political writings.

Also our special guest will be Tracy Rosenberg from Oakland Privacy and the Aaron Swartz Police Surveillance Project.

Index of this show:

Start of Andre Sobral’s presentation 3:02

Tracy. Rosenberg, Oakland Privacy 1:02:32

Grant Ellis: Revenge Porn Legislation passed in Massachusets 1:33:34  (also a brilliant and fast “how to” for understand the editing colors for a bill being worked on)

Statement by Lindsey Gaetani 1:40:08

 

This show happened at 2pm PST/7pm UTC on Saturday, March 30th.

The next podcast will at be 2pm PST/7pm UTC on Saturday, April 20th.

The First Aaron Swartz Podcast

We are live now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kbBmPbQ9zU

"The Aaron Swartz Podcast" with a photo of Aaron Swartz

TODAY Saturday, January 13th at 2pm PST for our first Aaron Swartz Podcast.

We will have Andre Vinicius Leal Sobral of Brazil’s Aaron Swartz Institute and Timid Robot from Creative Commons.

Today, we will go back and discuss what exactly happened to Aaron. 

Then we will start taking a deeper look into his life, accomplishments and motivations.

There will be constant Q and A the whole time. Part of the reason we are doing this is to take the time to answer everyone’s questions.

See you soon.