The Good Robot

Most companies unwittingly undermine their biggest growth opportunities by ignoring the complex morality of social media—where good technology depends on who controls it, and who benefits. Hosted by Eleanor Drage, this episode features Crystal Abidin, Professor of Internet Studies at Curtin University, who exposes the hidden power plays behind platforms like TikTok, revealing how what’s 'good' or 'bad' technology is often a matter of perspective—and power.
This eye-opening episode, Eleanor and Crystal explore how social media’s ambivalence shapes youth cultures and influence—covering TikTok’s surprising origins, from climate activism to viral animals, and how state bans and geopolitical tensions transform global online communities. Crystal breaks down how content creators, from neurodivergent communities to cultural niche groups, leverage memes, humor, and subcultural capitals to forge solidarity and push back against systemic inequities.
Reading List:
https://wishcrys.com/
TikTok Cultures Research Network
Her work:
Abidin, Crystal. 2026. TikTok and Youth Cultures. Emerald Publishing.
Abidin, Crystal. 2026. Child Influencers: How Children Become Entangled with Social Media Fame. Polity Press. 
Abidin, Crystal, and Natalie Pang (eds). 2025. Internet Popular Culture and (Everyday) Politics: Methodological & Ethical Critiques from Southeast Asia. Routledge.
Gurrieri, Lauren, Jenna Drenten, and Crystal Abidin (eds). 2025. Influencer Marketing: Interdisciplinary and Socio-Cultural Perspectives. Routledge. 
Tiidenberg, Katrin, Natalie Ann Hendry, and Crystal Abidin. 2021. tumblr. Polity Press.
Warfield, Katie, Crystal Abidin, and Carolina Cambre (eds). 2020. Mediated Interfaces: The Body on Social Media. Bloomsbury Academic.
Leaver, Tama, Tim Highfield, and Crystal Abidin. 2020. Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures. Polity Press. 
Abidin, Crystal, and Megan Lindsay Brown (eds). 2018. Microcelebrity Around the Globe: Approaches to cultures of internet fame. Emerald Publishing. 
Abidin, Crystal. 2018. Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online_. _Emerald Publishing.

In this episode of The Good Robot, Eleanor Drage sits down with David Griffiths, founding director of the nonprofit Then Try This. Inspired by a childhood spent coding pixels next to his mother’s traditional floor loom, Dave unpacks the deep historical links between textiles and programming, arguing that technology is never neutral and that true innovation relies on grassroots, participatory design.
They explore brilliant local projects like Sonic Kayaks, which use underwater soundscapes to map marine data for visually impaired paddlers, and Nurgle, an accessible game tracking public health trends using specialized audio cues. Finally, they reveal the hidden, feminist histories of computing, showing how modern microchips directly owe their legacy to the complex creativity of Navajo weavers. Tune in to discover why the future of tech belongs to frugal, community-led innovations rather than just the next iteration of GPT.
Reading List:
Then Try This
Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture
Queer In AI: A Case Study in Community-Led Participatory AI 
Sensing Bodies: Engaging Postcolonial Histories through More-than-Human Interactions
Edited by: Meibel Dabodabo

Join host Eleanor Drage and guest Tara Merk as they explore how community-owned data centers can revolutionize digital ownership. Discover innovative models that challenge big tech's dominance, promoting sustainability and local empowerment. Learn from Germany's success in renewable energy and cooperative governance. This episode reimagines internet ownership, focusing on community needs for a fairer, greener future.
Reading list:
Tara Merk’s LinkedIn
Community Data Centers  
The making of critical data center studies 
Data infrastructure studies on an unequal planet  
Getting into fights with data centers: Or, a modest proposal for reframing the climate politics of ICT
Data Center Opposition Report 
Edited by: Meibel Dabodabo

Can cloud infrastructure be owned and governed by the people, and not just Big Tech? Friederike von Franqué, policy advisor at Wikimedia Germany, reveals how feminist principles and decentralized infrastructure are transforming the internet from a corporate service into a public commons.
In this episode, we explore Friederike’s work with Wikimedia Germany. From the energy-intensive data centers of Frankfurt to Stockholm’s municipally owned fibre infrastructure, we examine the struggle to build technology that prioritizes the common good over corporate profit. Friederike explains why hyperscalers are not always the solution, and why we need environmental accountability and community-driven design.
This conversation pulls back the curtain on the hidden data systems powering our lives, offering a provocative roadmap for a more equitable and sustainable digital future.

Reading List:
Friederike von Franque website
"Enough of the Billionaires and Their Big Tech. 'Frugal Tech' Will Build Us All a Better World": An article by Eleanor Drage.
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikimedia Germany
“Wikipedia Is Running On Its Own Metal: The Power and Limits of Self-Hosted Infrastructure”by Wikimedia Europe 
Data centres are reshaping the global investment landscape by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 

Edited by: Meibel Dabodabo

Why do we often overlook the transformative power of open licensing in technology? Richard Bowman, a researcher and advocate for open source innovation, reveals how open licensing and frugal tech principles are not just ideas but powerful tools for global change.
In this episode, we delve into Richard's journey from developing innovative microscopy to championing open source scientific hardware that challenges traditional tech ownership and promotes accessibility. Discover how these principles are reshaping global health and education, inspiring new ways to think about technology's role in society. Richard dismantles the myth that technology is neutral, illustrating how it can be a force for justice and empowerment.
From creating locally repairable microscopes to developing community-driven scientific tools, this conversation uncovers the potential of open technology in crafting a more equitable and sustainable world.
Reading list:
Richard Bowman’s GitHub https://github.com/rwb27
OpenFlexure Official Website https://openflexure.org/
The Humanitarian Technology Trust https://httrust.org/
We need to break science out of its ivory tower – here’s one way to do this by Jenny Molloy https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-break-science-out-of-its-ivory-tower-heres-one-way-to-do-this-76354
The Open Source Hardware Movement by Andre Maia Chagas https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000014
Making hardware open source can help us fight future pandemics by Richard Bowman and Julian Stirling https://theconversation.com/making-hardware-open-source-can-help-us-fight-future-pandemics-heres-how-we-get-there-153280
Microscopy for everyone: how the OpenFlexure microscope is changing global healthcare https://www.theiet.org/membership/member-news/member-news-july-august-2025-issue/microscopy-for-everyone-how-the-openflexure-microscope-is-changing-global-healthcare
OpenFlexure in MagPi Magazine (Issue 158, p. 112) https://magazine.raspberrypi.com/issues/158
Sharing of hardware is a missing link in the open science puzzle via SPARC https://sparcopen.org/impact-story/often-overlooked-sharing-of-hardware-is-a-missing-link-in-open-science-puzzle/
Open Science Hardware Policy by Julieta Arancio https://osh-policy.org/
Edited by: Meibel Dabodabo