On this episode of Spark: Rap Metrics, Machine Poets, and The Breakup 2.0. Click below to listen to the whole show, or download the MP3 (runs 54:00).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:05 — 27.1MB)
You can also listen to individual stories below.
The Breakup 2.0
Ah, young love. It’s formative and all-encompassing and central to what makes us human. When we’re young, we pair up and we split up – a lot. But Ilana Gershon thinks that the way young people break up today has changed dramatically because of social media. Nora speaks to her about her latest book The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media. (Runs 10:52)
Play audio:
- Ilana Gershon
- The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media
- Full uncut version of interview with Ilana Gershon
India Calling
Many of us have heard this tale before: kids born and raised in North America by immigrant parents who as adults, move to their parent’s home country to live. Anand Giridharadas did just this. Nora talks to him about his latest book India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking which documents his move to India (where his parents emigrated from decades earlier) and his observations on the way technology is transforming Indian culture. (Runs 11:24)
Play audio:
- Anand Giridharadas
- Anand Giridharadas’ New York Times Columns
- India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking
Welcome, Our New Computer Overlords
Recently, IBM’s trivia-game supercomputer Watson competed in a three-part tournament on Jeopardy. The computer played against two of Jeopardy’s best contestants – Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. And Watson won. By a lot. (Prompting Ken Jennings to write the hilarious “I for one welcome our new computer overlords” under his correct final answer). But how does a computer make sense of trivia questions anyway? Nora speaks with Noah Smith, a computer science professor who specializes in language technologies. Although he’s not directly involved with the Watson trivia computer, we wanted to get his take on the challenges of designing automated question answering. (Runs 6:38)
Play audio:
- Noah Smith
- CBC Tech: IBM’s Watson trounces humans at Jeopardy
- Full uncut version of interview with Noah Smith
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Digital Night
Machines can do a lot of “human” things – play Jeopardy, correct our grammar, and imitate our voices. But can they understand poetry? Enough to translate not only the meaning but the form into another language? Nora speaks with Michael Galvez, Product Manager at Google Translate about a recent Poetic Machine Translation research project at Google. (Runs 7:55)
Play audio:
RapMetrics
The world of sports is flush with stats – you can know everything you want to know about any player or team. What if you could apply the same analytics to hip-hop MCs? Liban Ali Yusuf is a chemical engineering student at the University of Waterloo, and in his spare time he’s created a program that measures, in a quantifiable way, a rapper’s technical ability by applying statistical analysis using linguistic software. We’ll also talk to him about a really cool online rhyme generator he’s created. (Runs 10:41)
Play audio:
- Liban’s RapMetrics blog (Language warning)
- Liban’s Rhyme Generator (Language warning)
- Automatic detection of internal and imperfect rhymes in rap lyrics
- Full uncut version of interview with Liban Ali Yusuf
Episode Details
Spark Podcast
You can receive Spark automatically by subscribing to any of our totally free podcast feeds:
- Free weekly podcast (Subscribe in iTunes)
- Free weekly podcast + additional blog-only content (Subscribe in iTunes)
- Free weekly podcast (low bandwidth version)
For more information (and instructions) visit cbc.ca/podcasting
Is there any more said from the interview with Michael Galvez? Or was it just not "full interview" material?
Hi MW, I think the only reason we didn't post the full one was that the interview as edited actually had most of the relevant information. We generally post the 'full unedited' when there's a sizable chunk that we have to leave on the cutting room floor. Often that means it's material that's very interesting, but a little off-focus. In this case, Michael and I talked pretty directly about the topic.
That "India Calling" piece was just fabulous – outstanding. I'm a true believer in technology as our real salvation.
I liked the interview with Anand Giridharadas. My biography is opposite to his in that I grew up as a white American in India (18 years), returned to my parents' homeland of the USA for university and professional career, and in recent years have done a good deal of work and research back in India. You can find my reflections on the interview as "Self and destiny undergo key transitions among India's young people, says writer" at my blog, http://titusonmission.wordpress.com
I enjoyed the show, great interviews as always. However, the interface at rapmetrics.com left me a little disappointed. Not ready for prime time.