A far cry from the microchips, wires, and bits and bytes that form them, what computers have come to mean in our culture has manifested itself in so many positive and negative ways. It’s no different in politics, where campaigning has seized technology as a way to reach out and connect in an emotional and substantive way. And yet in the actual voting process, the technology has become a hinderance to many, with fear of what it can do stunting the progress beyond the butterfly ballot, and with those who have been courageous enough to make that progress hitting the bumps in the road that come with any technological advance. (For evidence, see what Apple’s going through with its new Maps app.)
Today, Melissa will get technical in a number of ways, including an examination of technology in our politics, how early voting is going and will go — whether people are voting on paper or using a computer — and the upcoming debates (sure to be live-tweeted by yours truly and thousands more). She’ll also take the mess Scott Brown has made for himself with race-baiting Elizabeth Warren to take a look at race as a social construct. We’ll also have a look at sex trafficking and slavery, which also has a disturbing online aspect we’ll explore.
Keep an eye out also for another sterling Footnote, and Melissa’s daughter making a cameo! We’ll also invite these folks into #nerdland:
As always, folks — be sure to interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET on msnbc!
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