Natasha Schull's guest appearances

Natasha Schull

Between Worlds

Center for Internet and Society

Marco Tempest

David Epstein

Wade Foster

Michael Bungay Stanier

Lawrence Lessig

Marcus Boon

David Perlmutter

Austin Grossman

David Zweig

Calum Chace

Charlene Li

Kevin Kelly

Chris White

Dave Johnson

Cindy Gallop

OwlTail

With every new connected device, messaging application or digital service that enters our lives - it becomes increasingly difficult to resist the seductive lure of technology on our attention. For Natasha Schull, a cultural anthropologist and associate professor in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, the addictive nature of devices, whether slot machines or smart phones, is no accident. In her recent book, ADDICTION BY DESIGN: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, she explored the relationship between technology design and the experience of addiction. Her next book, KEEPING TRACK: Personal Informatics, Self-Regulation, and the Data-Driven Life concerns the rise of digital self-tracking technologies and the new modes of introspection and self-governance they engender. Meeting up in Soho, New York - we spoke about the nature of addiction and what makes the design of a particular technology so enthralling, the strange trance-like states that gamblers experience, the quantification of work and life, and why smartphones are a kind of ‘Skinner box’.

Natasha Schull on addiction, ludic loops and why smartphones are mobile ‘Skinner boxes’

The third show for today's salvo of new shows is Show # 242, July 24, my interview with Prof. Natasha Schll of MIT, author of Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Natasha's ground-breaking book is an eye-opening study of the ways that technology can and is used to stoke the human predilection for addiction. Focusing on Las Vegas, Natasha's deep dive into the world of addicted gamblers exposes the capabilities (and some limitations) of an industry's efforts to reap profits. Moreover, the ease with which programmers can alter games in order to increase gambling (and the resulting losses) is startling. As Natasha points out, people are in the game not just for money; we discussed that dynamic as well as the future of gaming and addiction in our fascinating interview.	  {Hearsay Culture is a talk show on KZSU-FM, Stanford, 90.1 FM, hosted by Center for Internet &amp; Society Resident Fellow David S. Levine. The show includes guests and focuses on the intersection of technology and society. How is our world impacted by the great technological changes taking place? Each week, a different sphere is explored. For more information, please go to http://hearsayculture.com.}

The third show for today's salvo of new shows is Show # 242, July 24, my interview with Prof. Natasha Schll of MIT, author of Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas. Natasha's ground-breaking book is an eye-opening study of the ways that technology can and is used to stoke the human predilection for addiction. Focusing on Las Vegas, Natasha's deep dive into the world of addicted gamblers exposes the capabilities (and some limitations) of an industry's efforts to reap profits. Moreover, the ease with which programmers can alter games in order to increase gambling (and the resulting losses) is startling. As Natasha points out, people are in the game not just for money; we discussed that dynamic as well as the future of gaming and addiction in our fascinating interview.<br>	  <br>{Hearsay Culture is a talk show on KZSU-FM, Stanford, 90.1 FM, hosted by Center for Internet &amp; Society Resident Fellow David S. Levine. The show includes guests and focuses on the intersection of technology and society. How is our world impacted by the great technological changes taking place? Each week, a different sphere is explored. For more information, please go to <a href="http://hearsayculture.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://hearsayculture.com</a>.}

Natasha Schull - Hearsay Culture Show #242 - KZSU-FM (Stanford)