Dan Bricklin discusses his new book, Bricklin on Technology, in which he talks about the human aspect of technology: how it is created, how it is used, and how it evolves. He talks about how the book came about and how he decided what content to include. He also reviews the particular issues in trying to adapt a book for the Amazon Kindle.

How has the "fundamental right" to vote evolved since the colonial period? In this excerpt from the historical public radio show, BackStory, the hosts review how elections were handled as the country was formed and how voting fraud has always been a major problem. They interview Mark Summers, Professor of History at the University of Kentucky about how things have changed in the last two hundred years.

The question of what to eat to be healthy has spawned a rash of often contradictory advice by "experts." In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Ethics and Society Program, NYU professor and author Marion Nestle offers simple advice that cuts through the confusion. She highlights the difference between "nutrients" and "food," and suggests how to bring "nutrition" back into the food realm. Her discussion forays into how agriculture and business interact to produce the foodstuffs on our shelves.

Rick Falkvinge is a Swedish politician who recently founded a new party. Its values include freedom, upholding laws, and rights to privacy. These may sound like safe and just laws - things that are constant and don't need defending; so what's jeopardizing them? According to Falkvinge, that would be copyrights and patents.

On the fifth anniversary of IT Conversations, founder Doug Kaye joins Phil to discuss the past, present, and future of both IT Conversations and the Conversations Network. He reviews the technical aspects of how shows are assembled and also assesses the challenges with trying to produce quality programming in a non-profit environment. He also discusses how the Conversations Network will continue to evolve in the future.

Microfinance, the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans, has proved to be an effective strategy for raising millions of families from poverty worldwide. Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered the microloan revolution in Bangladesh, explains how he saw rural poor and women struggle against deeply institutionalized economic systems, and realized the massive change that small loans could provide.

From Gnomedex 4.0: The Geeks-Gone-Wild crowd was glued to this rare and brilliant presentation by Steve Wozniak, a geek's geek. It started with games and pranks, crystal-set radios, reading Popular Electronics. Then he met Captain Crunch and got into telco-busting Blue Boxes. Woz wanted to be an HP engineer forever and never thought he'd start a company, but his friend, Steve Jobs, said, "Let's sell it!" at every opportunity. Good thing he did, and good thing HP turned down Woz's offer for the rights to build what would become Apple's first computer. You'll enjoy this -- one of the best from Gnomedex 4.0. (Part 1 of 2)

From Gnomedex 4.0: The Geeks-Gone-Wild crowd was glued to this rare and brilliant presentation by Steve Wozniak, a geek's geek. It started with games and pranks, crystal-set radios, reading Popular Electronics. Then he met Captain Crunch and got into telco-busting Blue Boxes. Woz wanted to be an HP engineer forever and never thought he'd start a company, but his friend, Steve Jobs, said, "Let's sell it!" at every opportunity. Good thing he did, and good thing HP turned down Woz's offer for the rights to build what would become Apple's first computer. You'll enjoy this -- one of the best from Gnomedex 4.0. (Part 2 of 2)