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The way we use and understand data is rapidly evolving. So what does the future hold? Will backlash against surveillance capitalism result in protections that empower people to take control of their data? What’s going on with the new American Privacy Rights Act that’s currently moving through Congress? Raffi talks to experts about how we can understand — and help shape — the future of data, exploring new policy, digging into the concept of “digital doubles,” and assessing how data collection might play a role in coalition-building and reform.
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Guests include Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA); Brandon Pugh, policy director at the R Street Institute; author and internet activist Cory Doctorow; actor and SAG-AFTRA member Clark Gregg; and Amy Bach, CEO of Measures for Justice. 

What does it take to build technology for good? Season 1 journeyed into the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence with Raffi Krikorian, Chief Technology Officer of Emerson Collective as he unpacked how this transformational technology can be developed and deployed with society’s best interests at its core. 
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Raffi engaged experts in the field on how to harness the incredible potential of AI while mitigating its risks. Season 2 explores the most valuable resource on our planet… data. Raffi invites listeners to become curious and informed about their data in order to build a better collective future. It’s more important than ever to educate ourselves on the benefits and tradeoffs of new technology — what’s at stake, but also what is possible.  
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The future is unknown, but we are technically optimistic.

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Where we break down transformational technology and ask how it can be developed and deployed with society’s best interests at heart.

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[Podcast 3x4] Technically Optimistic S2 E8

What’s next for data

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Emerson Collective presents Demo Day 2024, an annual event inspired by the Silicon Valley tradition of celebrating entrepreneurs.

Hear leaders across our portfolio share their bold ideas on everything from fusion and food, to women’s health and education.

[Meet the speakers](https://www.emersoncollective.com/events/demo-day/demo-day-2024?utm_source=ec-dot-com&utm_medium=previewcard_3c&utm_id=demo-day-2024 "Meet the speakers")

Emerson Collective presents Demo Day 2024, an annual event inspired by the Silicon Valley tradition of celebrating entrepreneurs.

Hear leaders across our portfolio share their bold ideas on everything from fusion and food, to women’s health and education.

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Demo Day

Emerson believes in the power of solving the worlds problems.

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Emerson Collective is a company that invests in entrepreneurs and innovators driven by purpose and a sense of possibility, working to create a world of abundance for future generations. Complex challenges in education and economic mobility, immigration and the environment require audacious ideas, rigorous thinking and hard work.

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In the new season of *Almost There*, poet, activist, and lawyer Dwayne Betts explores how a person’s home—their geography, their community, their place—can be a source of power and inspiration. He talks to local leaders who are trying to change their communities for the better: A faith leader in Chicago fighting gun violence and disinvestment. A bookstore owner in Salt Lake City ensuring that everyone can find the one book that will change their life. A farmer and longtime food access activist in upstate New York helping farmers earn a living by providing food for neighborhoods in need in New York City. 

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As a kid growing up below the poverty line on the west side of Salt Lake City, Calvin Crosby found immense pleasure and freedom in books. Years later, after a journey that took him to San Francisco and into a leadership role at the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, he bought the bookstore that first changed his life – The King’s English – and moved back home to Utah to run it.
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[Learn more](https://www.kingsenglish.com/ "Learn more") more about our guest, Calvin Crosby, and The King’s English. 
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Books mentioned in this episode: 
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Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
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Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary 
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Three Junes by Julia Glass 


Almost There: Season 2 - Episode 6

The First Place I Felt Safe

If you think dance is just movement set to music, you’re missing something big. Award-winning director and choreographer Camille A. Brown argues that dance is the act of using physical gesture to manifest story—stories about ourselves, the lives we’ve lived, and where we’re from. Camille, whose work celebrates Black culture, helps Dwayne see the ways he’s moved through prison and his work with Freedom Reads as a liberatory dance for his community. 
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Learn more about our guest, [Camille A. Brown](https://www.camilleabrown.org/ "Learn more about our guest, Camille A Brown").

Almost There: Season 2 - Episode 5

Dance Is Story

Born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, Abel Acuña has been a mariachi musician for three decades. Now, he teaches mariachi at Edinburg North High School, the very same school he himself attended. He tells Dwayne how he uses the power of music to foster confidence and pride in his students—and explains why competitive mariachi is a perfect way for young people to find their place in the world. Don’t miss Abel and his students in the Sundance documentary hit, Going Varsity in Mariachi, now on Netflix. 


Almost There: Season 2 - Episode 4

Mariachi Became Home

Welcome to the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, where we meet Reverend Marshall Hatch Jr. He leads The MAAFA Redemption Project, a faith-based program that supports young men in West Garfield Park on the West Side of Chicago. Marshall tells Dwayne how he’s working to build a space where young men resist despair, become agents of change in their city, and move forward with a deep understanding of the American past.
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Learn more about our guest, [Marshall Hatch Jr.](https://www.maafachicago.org/home "MAAFA Chicago")

Almost There: Season 2 - Episode 3

A Place for Redemption

Do you have to be born in a place to feel like you are of that place? The conductor Teddy Abrams has been asking himself that question for the last decade. Originally from San Francisco, he has earned recognition as one of today’s youngest and most dynamic conductors while serving as music director of the Louisville Orchestra. For Teddy, music is a bridge across Kentucky, a magical force that binds him to the state’s hills and hollers, bluegrass and bourbon—and, of course, its people. 
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Learn more about th work of our guest, [Teddy Abrams](https://www.louisvilleorchestra.org/about/conductors/teddy-abrams-music-director/ "Louisville Orchestra - Teddy Abrams").
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Music featured in this episode courtesy Louisville Orchestra.


Almost There: Season 2 - Episode 2

My New Kentucky Home

A podcast about what it takes to make transformational change.

Almost There