240. Anthropology of Algorithms, Ethnography of Engineers, Theory of Traps (ft. Nick Seaver)

We are joined by Nick Sever – author of the new book Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation – to discuss his excellent ethnographic research on the creation of algorithmic recommendation systems. Nick spent a long time getting to really know the people who make these systems and his book offers so much original, granular detail about the various practices, theories, and relationships that influence the engineers behind these algorithms. Nick’s book also contains extremely interesting and surprising applications of classic anthropological theory to contemporary algorithmic technology. ••• Nick’s book – Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo183892298.html ••• Nick’s twitter – https://twitter.com/npseaver Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)