#causeascene by Kim Crayton
Last Updated: April 16, 2026
Are you tired of technology leaders and organizers using inclusion and diversity as the latest marketing buzz words to garner attention? For far too long many of our technical organizations, communities and events have been unsafe, unwelcoming, and unapologetic environments for members of underrepresented and marginalized groups. Thankfully, I was recently reminded that success is seldom gained by asking permission. Disruption and innovation are products of individuals who take bold steps in order to shift the collective and challenge the status quo.
Dawn Wages
“Decolonizing is the process of dissecting and removing colonialism. Most theories surrounding decolonization is based on decolonizing the colonized but the colonized can’t and shouldn’t cut themselves off and only decolonize themselves. The colonizer must also remove the dominant-subordinate relationship. In short, and this is all in bold…All spaces must be actively anti-racist.” […]
Kurt Kemple
A perfect example of this is like a white woman calling the cops on Black men. It is like a fucking prime example of…and at that point maybe they do know they have privilege. But either way they know that they can manipulate the system to get a desired outcome and it is […]
Wesley Faulkner
It’s the hard conversations. Like a lot of people are still trying to find a way around not having these hard conversations, come to these real truths about how their approaching business and thestructure and the system that we all live in. And if Google doesn’t have the power to go against the […]
Dr. Ebun Joseph
Black people in Ireland are like super educated. Because we just believe, okay…the only way to pull yourself, so you know, out of this is by education. So we, it’s the default we over educate. And so at the end of the day we’re overqualified and underemployed. That is the…thing that is happening. […]
Alphabet Workers Union
People come to the union for all sorts of reasons. You’re hearing my story here, but a union is like live body of lots of people coming for different reasons so here’s a couple things like: first of all, some of us might be paid really well, but at the same time we […]
Dr. Joy Cox
You know, it’s nothing like the doctor sitting and telling you that like you’re not sick yet, but you will be. “Oh yeah, yeah…it’s not bothering you now, but it will bother you later.” How you gonna tell somebody something like that? You’re pronouncing me dead 5 years down the line before you, […]
Abeba Birhane
Within these social spheres, when you try, when you create algorithmic systems to predict social outcomes are you not only making a scientifically dubious claim because that’s impossible? But also you are doing something that’s ethically a red flag that harms people that harms minoritized communities. Abeba Birhane is currently a Ph.D. candidate […]
Cathy O’Neil
My argument in my Shame book is that it’s like a sort of fortress…of denial that white people have like surrounded themselves with because they are living in cognitive dissonance. And that’s what shame does. Shame when it’s real and it and it hits. It hurts so badly that you’re like how can […]
Ayodele Odubela
It’s funny because the title of my upcoming book is called Uncovering Bias in ML and I feel like it’s…it’s not that it doesn’t go deep. I feel like that’s the first layer, right? Yes, it talks about discovering that this bias is here. But I’m like: I make it clear from the […]
Dr. Sherita Golden
Ya know, we all have an Esther moment. And you know, if you think about, remember the story of Esther in the Bible like she found out that there was a plot to kill…annihilate all the Jewish people. And her husband Mordecai came to her and said, you know Esther, you know there’s […]
Lizz Westman
‘I must have been really young cuz I remember…I have a freaky memory, like I was a creepy little white kid, umm, I was so creepy. I tried to sabotage my parents moving to the suburbs for two years and I would and I would like put little like cards that were like […]
Minda Harts
“When I was growing up, my white friends would say: if I was around during slavery I never would have…I would have taken you and all that stuff and it’s like, okay. Well this is this is a version of it right now, you know, so what are you going to do it […]
Dr. Oni Blackstock
“And I really felt so emboldened by what was going on that I asked to speak to [him/former manager] again. And I said, and I spoke to him on the phone and I said: Ya know, I want to be completely honest with you, um while I understand this was not your intention […]
Max Jordan
“People sometimes think that like having had like, you know having had a Black president like changes people like attitudes towards it doesn’t, so…being in med school has made it…ya know, I feel like this is not the first time that I’ve been in like in a white space where I went to […]
Melissa Ryan
“I mean that’s the ultimate dream right? Like, I think if you think back to 2011-2012 when you saw these uprisings around the world that were live streamed you saw Occupy protests and it was: “Oh, the Internet is great!…it’s gonna democratize communication” and I think to a certain extent it has and […]
Nicole Archambault
“I’m not actually able to visualize it in my head, so it doesn’t have an actual structure to it. A lot of this is mathematically related…ya know numbers and variables…can be very abstract and so I had difficulty. It was like constant confusion. Between the autism and the non-verbal learning disability I’m a […]
How to Survive the Robots: Professional Development 2.0: A Business Strategy
Kim is taking some much needed time off, so enjoy this presentation from the 2018 Clojure SYNC conference. Additional Resources Presentation Slides Presentation Video Transcription Coming Soon! Twitter How to Survive the Robots: Professional Development 2.0: A Business Strategy Become a #causeascene Podcast sponsor because disruption and innovation are products of individuals who take […]
Hey! What About Me? How To Manage Heterogeneous Groups While Minimizing Harm
Kim is taking some much needed time off, so enjoy this presentation from the 2019 Cream City Code conference. Additional Resources Presentation Slides Presentation Video Transcription 00:30 Announcer: She’s the founder of the #CauseAScene movement. And the #CauseAScene movement has four guiding principles that we should follow: tech is not neutral, prioritize the most […]
Unintended Consequences: How to Reduce Exclusionary Practices
Kim is taking some much needed time off, so enjoy this presentation from the 2018 JSConf EU conference. Additional Resources Presentation Slides Presentation Video Transcription 00:31 Hello, everyone. [Shouts] Hello, everyone! [Audience cheers]. Alright! If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you should know, ask somebody, it’s not going to be a quiet room. […]
Whiteness In Marginalized Spaces When Coalition Building Harms
Kim is taking some much needed time off, so enjoy this presentation from the 2019 Write/Speak/Code Conference Additional Resources Presentation Slides Presentation Video Transcription 00:30 Moderator: Please welcome to the stage our next keynote speaker, Kim Crayton! [Applause] Kim Crayton: White people, you’re gonna have a hard time with this today. My job is to […]
Jonathan Martinez
“Really it’s a cult. They prey on the people who don’t know, who are the weakestWho are going through the hardest time and I met a lot of people going through really, really hard time…everybody’s going through their pain or their hurt. And it just seems like Lambda is the hope for them. […]
Ahlaya Reed
“My mom said, ‘Be happy you have a job, if they just tell you to clean up just do it. And I was like Mom you’re missing the point: nobody else is cleaning up after someone else’s dog. Nobody else in this company has cleaned up someone else’s shit.” Ahlaya Reed is an […]
Shannon Byrne
“And it’s also one of these put up or shut up moments where you like ‘care so much about this’ but here we are in this situation where the company you’re at right now isn’t doing enough, isn’t aligning with your values. And we’re trying to put lipstick on a pig and make […]
Stop Hiring As If We're In The Industrial Age
Kim is taking some much needed time off, so enjoy this presentation from the 2018 View Source Conference Additional Resources Presentation Slides Presentation Video Transcription 00:39 Kim Crayton: Yeah! Woo! Alright, you stop when I tell you to stop! [Audience laughs] You don’t stop when you wanna stop. Hello. This is [Kim laughs] “Stop […]
Not Asking Permission! Giving Notice! Redefining Capitalism Without White Supremacy
Kim is taking some much needed time off, so enjoy this keynote presentation from the 2018 Black’s In Technology Conference. Additional Resources Presentation Slides Presentation Video Transcription 00:30 Announcer: We saw her last night. And, when I say she lit the place up, you can tell when someone has a certain spirit, when […]
What is Community Engineering?
Kim is taking some much needed time off, so enjoy this keynote presentation from the 2017 Nodevember conference. Since technology now literately touches almost everyone and it is no longer the playground of just a few, it isn’t economically prudent to build products and services that don’t reflect the needs and desires of […]
Dr. Jonathan Metzl
“I think if we don’t fix the institutions people can apologize all they want, but the problem will remain. And so that’s why antiracism is important, but so is thinking about how antiracism can be a structural change in addition to making people individually more aware of the problem.” Jonathan M. Metzl is […]
David Golumbia
“I get to teach some students who are closer to the engineering side of things and over the years I’ve certainly taught quite a few of them. And when they talk about that they want to improve the world and make things better and you look at the kinds of education they have […]
Cher
“I’m also making myself center stage and I don’t wanna do that either. I just have a really loud articulate voice that people listen to. And so, I need to learn how to use that without erasing the voices of the black women that I’m trying to lift up.” Cher is a self-taught […]
Hannah Howard
“It’s so obvious in the US that the big thing that has shaped the entire history of this nation is fuckin’ racism. Specifically…I don’t feel like I’m making a moral statement here, you can just look at the history. Like, there was not industrial capitalism until 1850, but there was slavery for a […]
Nancy Hawa
“I feel like it enabled him to lure people who really do care about the things that he preaches on Twitter into a really toxic work environment.” Nancy is a full-stack software engineer based in San Antonio, TX. Before turning to code, Nancy was a Special Education teacher at high need schools in […]
Adrian C. Jackson
"Does that mean that there are certain people will be weeded out? Yes. Is that the objective? Abso-fuckin'-lutely. That's the idea. There are certain people who honestly do not deserve a platform." Adrian C. Jackson is a Houston-based computer scientist specializing in mobile, web & full-stack enterprise application development since 2004. His tech startup, […]
Dr. Ainissa Ramirez
“You will feel more comfortable to make decisions about Siri and Alexa and driverless cars…I wonder how AI is changing us and also feel empowered to ask questions, because right now everybody’s just…too afraid and It’s not their fault. Technology was pushed at us, that it’s the holy grail and you should worship […]
Dr. Fay Cobb Payton
“This is really about relationships and failure to be attuned to relationships means that we’re…not using all of the levers and all of the assets we have in community to make this happen. Nor on the flip side are we being represented in spaces and places where we traditionally have not have [a] […]
Dr. Eleanor Seaton
“If you step into my classroom, that’s gonna be the help you get. You can come into my classroom it’s my space, I determine the rules, I determine what we’re gonna talk about and that’s what I tell ‘em on the first day: if you can’t handle this conversation, god bless you.” Eleanor […]
Saber Khan
“I got a stat that will blow you away. At CUNY which is the City University of New York and their CS program, the majority of CS undergrads at CUNY don’t have their own computer.” Saber Khan is a Bengali-American educator based in New York City. He is a veteran K12 educator with […]
Maria Farrell
“‘And now I will tell you how to make Google slightly less bad without ever actually dismantling surveillance capitalism.’ This kind of sensible centrist nice kind of middle aged medium politically white guy narrative. But It’s always about that guy, or indeed that white woman or whoever is always the hero of the […]
Andre Brock
“Black people are constantly lookin’ back at who they were, while constantly trying to look forward while navigating this fuckery that is white supremacy” André Brock is an associate professor of media studies at Georgia Tech. His scholarship examines racial representations in social media, videogames, black women and weblogs, whiteness, and technoculture, including […]
Capitalism Is NOT A Failed System
Capitalism has not failed, it’s only been implemented globally, rooted in white supremacy. Adam Smith, “the father” of Economics, in the 1700s, envisioned a moral economic system that worked from the ground up, was inclusive and took care of the most vulnerable.
Dr. Chris Gilliard
“When your rights are being dismantled and destroyed, and your personhood isn’t respected, you shouldn’t be civil. You should cause a scene.” Dr. Chris Gilliard is a writer, professor and speaker. His scholarship concentrates on digital privacy, and the intersections of race, class, and technology. He is an advocate for critical and equity-focused […]
Erynn Brook
“There’s still quite a few people who think that ADHD is itself a parenting problem. And that stigma most definitely is also applied to Black people at a far greater rate than it is to white people. Even if it were behavioral problems…you will still see more sympathy for white parents than you […]
Dr. Yassmin Abdel-Magied
“Up until this point I had been like the model minority….And then all of a sudden THIS model minority turns around and she thinks Islam is feminist? That she’s proud of this? That she doesn’t think that we need to change ourselves to live in this society? No no, this was unacceptable. All […]
Charlton D McIlwain
“I’ll say it again: it is the same thing and it is that thing that we simply refuse to talk about. Whether we’re talking about elections or we’re talking about technology. And that is the question of race.” is the author of the new book Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, From […]
Sasha Costanza-Chock
“We can’t talk about what’s broken with education and coding education in the bootcamp system without zooming out to look at the larger context of our educational system. Why is it that Trump is like “Oh, I’ve got 2 trillion dollars I’ve just spent on purchasing new weapons that we’re gonna use to […]
Dr. Tiffany Jana
“Na-na-na-na-no Boo Boo. If you’re a good person then you need to understand exactly what your white ness means. And you need to understand what kind of harm that it has caused and continues to cause on a daily basis, no matter how woke and good you think you are.” Dr. Tiffany Jana […]
Keziyah Lewis
“People of color, people from a low-income background get into this much debt going to a school thinking, this is my way into the tech industry, this is my way out of poverty, this is my way to help take care of my family or help care for my parents, and then they […]
Courtney D. Cogburn
“There’s a disconnect between beliefs and behavior. And there’s an investment in the symbolism of one’s beliefs and translating that as if it represents behavior when it doesn’t.” Dr. Courtney D. Cogburn is an associate professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and faculty of the Columbia Population Research Center. She […]
Jordan Thompson
“I think many folks on the Left…don’t really understand what is a system of oppression. I think they view racism that is some sort of personal indictment on an individual’s character rather than the reality that it is, which is a system that has existed since the very founding of this nation. It […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 18
Survival Homework Ask yourself, what are you willing to do in the service of antiracism? Transcription 00:10 OK everyone, welcome to today’s episode of the #CauseAScene Podcast Book Club episode of “How to be an Antiracist” Chapter 18: “Survival”. We’re at the end of this book. It took us a minute, but we […]
Dr. Brandeis Marshall
“I want every US presidential candidate…to give me a list of what they are going to in order to address institutionalized racism. I want to know what regulations, I want to know the policies, I want to know the data. And I want to be able to review your plan. Give me a […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 17
Success Homework Page 222: “Toure and Hamilton could not have foreseen how their concepts of overt and covert racism would be used by people across the ideological board to turn racism into something hidden and unknowable.” How does this statement parallel how the academic work of Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” is being used […]
Nicole Sanchez
“When I go in and I’m working with companies, I tell them you have got to design your systems, your culture, your norms, your communication for the most marginalized person. If she’s okay, then the rest of the people in your company are going to be okay.” For 25 years, Nicole Sanchez has […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 16
Failure Activist: One who has a record of power or policy change. Homework Page 204: Identify and evaluate current policies that hold Blacks responsible for the racist ideas and beliefs of whitenesss. Page 207: How would your “activism” change if you accepted and internalized that whiteness is NOT racist due to a lack […]
Ruha Benjamin
“When I think about the role of technical systems…the inequity becomes even more encoded, subtle and it may seem like it’s operating where race is not explicit…The designers are not taking explicit note of race and yet racial disparities are being reproduced.” Ruha Benjamin is Associate Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, founder of […]
Nandini Jammi
“What I’ve realized is that after three years we have made absolutely no dent on this issue at all. What’s happened instead is that these companies are relying on our free labor to flag this up for them and they’re not doing anything.” Nandini Jammi is co-founder at Sleeping Giants, the campaign to […]
How To Be An Antiracist – A Strategy [Rebroadcast]
Things to remember about engaging as a #causeascene community member: There’s no “I’m not racist.” There’s ONLY racist and antiracist. An antiracist strategy isn’t about equality, it’s about equity. It is about actually discrimination against the interests of the privileged, in favor of prioritizing the most vulnerable I’m not here to rehabilitate or […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 15
Sexuality Queer Racism: A powerful collection of racist policies that lead to inequity between race-sexualities and are substantiated by racist ideas about race-sexualities. Queer Antiracism: A powerful collection of racist policies that lead to equity between race-sexualities and are substantiated by antiracist ideas about race-sexualities. Homework Page 196: Dr. Kendi uses the word […]
Aniyia L. Williams
“I honestly think that fairness just in terms of everybody having the same or some equal thing. I don’t think that’s realistic and I don’t think we’ll ever get there. I don’t think that is possible.” Aniyia Williams is a creator, inventor and tech changemaker. She is a co-founder of Zebras Unite, an […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 14
Gender Gender Racism: A powerful collection of racist policies that lead to inequity between race-gender and are substantiated by racist ideas about race-gender. Gender Antiracism: A powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to equity between race-gender and are substantiated by antiracist ideas about race-gender. Homework Page 186: Part 1– Find a recent […]
Dr. Kate Miltner
“A lot of these schools don’t even have instructors, right. A lot them are project-based…it’s just like, ya know, figure it out by yourself.” Dr. Kate M. Miltner is a TRAIN@Ed Postdoctoral Fellow at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. She received her PhD from the Annenberg School […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 13
Space Space Racism: A powerful collection of racist policies that lead to resource inequity between racialized spaces or the elimination of certain racialized spaces, which are substatiated by racist ideas about racialized spaces. Space Antiracism: A powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity between integrated and protected racialized spaces, which […]
Jessie Daniels
“I’m actually working on a book right now…I’m calling it ‘From Barbecue Beckys to Pink Pussy Hats’ – calling out white women and white feminists, because we white women have got some work to do.” Jessie Daniels, PhD is Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and at The Graduate Center, CUNY (Sociology and […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 12
Class Class Racist: One who is racializing the classes, supporting policies of racial capitalism against those race-classes, and justifying them by racist ideas about those race classes. Antiracist Anticapitalist: One who is opposing racial capitalism. Homework Page 152: Make a list of as many policies, you can think of or find, that function […]
Anonymous Bootcamp Guest 4
“There are people who have dropped out and gotten multiple jobs, got part time jobs and gotten up to that $40K threshold just barely and the ISA kicks in. And they’re up shit’s creek because they have to pay it. There’s no way out, or no way out that any of us can […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 11
Black Powerless Defense: The illusory, concealing, disempowering, and racist idea that Black people can’t be racist because Black people don’t have power. Homework Page 142: How many pieces of legislation has the House passed that Mitch McConnell won’t to a vote? How many conservative federal judges have been appointed during this same time? […]
Marco Rogers
“[Venture capitalists] are people who by definition have said: my only goal is to make money for myself. But what we’ve done is allowed those people and that mentality to become pervasive; to become the dominant culture.” Marco Rogers is a senior engineer and technical leader with 15+ years of experience building innovative […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 10
White Anti-White Racist: One who is classifying people of European descent as biologically, culturally, or behaviorally inferior or conflating the entire race or White people with race power. Homework Page 124: If your goal is to live and function as an antiracist, do you honestly have the courage to do what is right […]
Dr. Crystal Fleming
“I don’t just want that people to realize that white people are complicit in white supremacy – I want you to question what whiteness means. I want you to learn about the history of whiteness.” Dr. Crystal Marie Fleming is Associate Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies and Associate Faculty in the Department […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 9
Color Colorism: A powerful collection of racist policies that lead to inequities between Light people and Dark people, supported by racist ideas about Light and Dark people. Color Antiracism: A powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to equity between Light people and Dark people, supported by antiracist ideas about Light and Dark […]
Amelie Lamont
“Some of them require you to talk through and to like talk about that pain and suffering and then they still don’t learn anything from it. It’s almost as if Black people having a conversation or engaging in anything isn’t worth value unless there’s Black pain of some sort. Because we’re not allowed […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 8
Behavior Behavioral Racist: One who is making individuals responsible for the perceived behavior of racial groups and making racial groups responsible for the behavior on individuals. Behavioral Antiracist: One who is making racial group behavior fictional and individual behavior real. Homework Page 94: Evaluate the current list of political candidates [local, national, and […]
Annalee
“You don’t mediate someone being racist. You don’t mediate someone being groped at the bar. You don’t mediate this shit. You tell whoever was causing the problem to make it right or get the fuck out. And sometimes the only way to make it right is to get the fuck out.” Annalee Flower […]
How to Be An Antiracist - A Strategy
Episode Overview Operating Perspective: There’s no “I’m not racist.” There’s ONLY racist and antiracist. An antiracist strategy isn’t about equality. It is about actually discrimination against the interests of the privileged, in favor of prioritizing the most vulnerable I’m not here to rehabilitate or change anyone’s mind. I want them gone because they’re […]
Kate Klonick
“Everyone wanted diversity for the board, but it was really unclear as to how on Earth you have diversity over an entire globe with only 40 people on the entire board.” Kate Klonick is an Assistant Professor at Law at St. John’s University Law School and an Affiliate Fellow at the Information Society […]
Pete Holiday
“White people specifically can take rules and policies designed to protect people of color – specifically black people – and use them as weapons. I don’t remember ever being taught that, but it is instinctual.” Pete Holiday is a software engineering leader with over twenty years of experience in tech. His focus areas […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 7
Culture Cultural Racist: One who is creating a cultural standard and imposing a cultural hierarchy among racial groups. Cultural Antiracist: One who is rejecting cultural standards and equalizing cultural differences among racial groups. Homework Page 86: Do some research to discover Black communities, outside of Africa that have developed their own African culture […]
Gabor Javorszky
“I have this enormous privilege. It would be a shame to not use it. Then again I get the thinking around it because I was brought up with that pretty much instilled in me since I was like five: like work for your stuff and then it’s your stuff and no one else […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 6
Body Bodily Racist: One who is perceiving certain racialized bodies as more animal-like and violent than others. Bodily Antiracist: One who is humanizing, deracializing, and individualizing nonviolent and violent behavior. Homework Page 73: “Unarmed Black bodies, which apparently look armed to fearful officers, are about twice as likely to be killed as unarmed […]
Anonymous Bootcamp Guest 3
“In part I felt this was a safe decision because I had discovered Pursuit from my local library…I went to my own library’s coding classes and at the library’s graduation ceremony they were giving out information on other coding bootcamps if you wanted to take this a little further and Pursuit was one […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 5
Ethnicity Ethnic Racism: A powerful collection of racist policies that lead to inequity between racialized groups and are substantiated by racist ideas about racialized ethnic groups. Ethnic Antiracism: A powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to equity between racialized ethnic groups and are substantiated by antiracist ideas about racialized ethnic groups. Homework […]
Anonymous Bootcamp Guest 2
“I understand that in the tech industry, there are a lot of people that do not have a computer science background and a lot of companies are promoting this, but we’re still at a disadvantage and we’ll still feel very lost…I just feel like we’re going to be left behind regardless.” Twitter Anonymous […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ep. 4
Biology Biological Racist: One who is expressing the idea that the races are meaningfully different in their biology and that these differences create a hierarchy of value. Biological Antiracist: One who is expressing the idea that the races are meaningfully the same in their biology and there are no genetic racial differences. Homework: […]
Ben Halpern
“Democratizing and meritocracy and those things are not just not a step forward. They are the right idea in the most ignorant way. They are coming from the perspective of trying to ‘do right’ but not applying any actual complex thinking towards what ‘doing right’ is.” Ben Halpern is the founder of DEV […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ch. 3
Power Race: A power construct of collected or merged differences that lives socially. I want to begin this episode with a warning: Reading this book, are any other, does not make you an Antiracist expert compared with those who have the lived experiences of racism’s impact. Homework 1. Page 38: find 3 examples […]
Coding Bootcamp Warning Signs
There’ve been many raising questions recently about the real value of bootcamps, their impact on students and the community at large, and this new crop of businesses using Income Sharing Agreements (ISAs) to target the vulnerable. My hope is that this is only the beginning of a much overdue conversation. Transcription 00:30 Kim […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ch. 2
Dueling Consciousness Assimilationist: One who is expressing the racist idea that a racial group is culturally or behaviorally inferior and is supporting cultural or behavioral enrichment programs to develop that racial group. Segregationist: One who is expressing the racist idea that a permanently inferior racial group can never be developed and is supporting […]
Damien Williams
“No matter what we build as human beings, we’re building it from human perspective.” Damien Patrick Williams is a PhD researcher at Virginia Tech in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society. His research areas include technological ethics, algorithmic bias, philosophy of knowledge, philosophy of technology, philosophy of mind, nonhuman intelligence, machine consciousness, […]
How to Be An Antiracist Ch. 1
Welcome to the first episode of the #causeascene Podcast Book Club. The very first book we will be tackling is “How To Be An Antiracist” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. I will cover a chapter a week, so I encourage you to read along. Also, please send your questions/comments/concerns to podcast@hashtagcauseascene.com and I’ll […]
C J Silverio
“Twitter is an absolutely fascinating example of the political choice to say free speech is an absolute…The problem with that is, of course, they’re white men. Their default experience is radically different from the majority around them who have a very different experience.” C J Silverio is probably best aimed at back-end problems, […]
Kojo Idrissa
“There’s a term in computer science that I’ve become fond of, the idea of a naive solution. It’s a solution that appears to be correct at first glance. But if you dig in a little deeper you realize, ya know what – this is not really the way to go.” Kojo Idrissa *was* […]
DarkSkyLady
“That’s what a lot of people miss, unless you’re specifically going up to people and saying ‘I am not white, I am indigenous’ – no one is going to recognize that.” All I can think is DarkSkyLady is a creative zealot writer talking and combatting white supremacy and all its sub branches. Additional […]
Lian Li
“Oh I can’t even make jokes anymore or I can’t be myself anymore.” – like yeah, if that’s how you are then you should not be yourself. You can be that way…and I don’t care if I’m not around, I don’t care. But yeah that’s what a code of conduct means: you have […]
Jared Arms
“If you give ‘em your best slice of pizza and you know that’s your best slice in the box and they act like it ain’t nuthin, and they try to give it back, spit it out, whatever – don’t even give ‘em no more pizza.” After losing more than ten close friends due […]
Tatiana Mac
“What if we were both carpenters instead of developers or designers and we were having these types of conversations about React versus Angular versus Vue, and it was about screw driver? Is it a flat head or a Phillips? Can you imagine two carpenters going at it on Twitter: I can’t believe you use flat-head […]
Simone Haas
“Where are our biases? What do we have to do to get more people of color into our team and feel safe in our team. And then maybe feeling safe enough to tell us: we are feeling harm, please help us in this case. I think this is the biggest failure that they didn’t feel […]
Tech Is Not Neutral Ep. 7
Today’s topic is life as an Facebook content moderators Content warning: This story contains discussion of serious mental health issues, racism, descriptions of violent acts against people and animals, accounts of sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder, and other potentially disturbing content. Episode Resources: THE TRAUMA FLOOR: The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America AI […]
Pariss Athena
“Let me tell you something, the day I started Black Tech Twitter, I had plenty of [white people] going: ‘What if there was a white tech twitter?” – I’m like THERE IS that’s literally the industry.” Pariss Athena is creator of the #BlackTechTwitter hashtag and movement, proving that the “pipeline problem” in tech isn’t true […]
Sara Chipps
“The thing that I keep coming back to is to not speak for or to make decisions or to pretend that I represent anyone that has a different experience or different affinity than I do.” Sara Chipps, is a JavaScript developer based in NYC who has been coding since the adolescence of the web. As […]
Emily Gorcenski
“We need to be able to talk about violence against the trans community because there is an immense amount of violence against the trans people, even white trans people. We need to be able to talk about that while also not co-opting the very specific type of violence that happens against Black trans women.” Emily […]
Danielle Smith
“What we did to help get stuff done is to change the conversation from it being a legal compliance to being an equality conversation. We want to make sure that you consider the spectrum of humanity when you build digital tools.” Danielle is a trained social scientist that has spent the past 15+ years working […]
Copyright © 2026 PodcastSearch.org All Rights Reserved.
