In this Ready Living Podcast interview, award-winning problem solver and change agent Art Chang examines one of the most important questions of our time: How can we save democracy and strengthen the moral and civic foundations of our country before it’s too late?
Born in Atlanta, Georgia to Korean War refugee parents during Jim Crow, his early years were marked by isolation, racism, and domestic violence. He transformed those experiences into purposeful action, working towards pursuing a more just and equitable world.
Arguing that democracy isn’t self-sustaining and instead requires participation, accountability, and an unwavering belief in our shared humanity, he is an outspoken advocate for reimagining political, social, and educational systems so they serve all Americans.
He points out how America’s diversity should be one of its greatest strengths, but that fear of difference, the language of “othering,” and the dehumanization of entire groups of people is dividing communities and corroding society.
A former managing director at JPMorganChase and a 2021 candidate for New York City mayor, he has continually sought to repair what’s broken in our institutions. His leadership reflects not just policy expertise, but also deep moral clarity and a belief that the strength of democracy lies in the dignity and participation of every person.
As an institutional entrepreneur using technology to transform broken systems, he founded a dozen tech startups, co-created NYC Votes, an initiative of the NYC Campaign Finance Board, and built Casebook, the nation’s first web-based child welfare system.
He argues that democracy can’t survive polite neutrality, and that preserving it requires taking necessary action. In a time of democratic peril, he challenges listeners to confront the myths that divide us and to imagine an America that lives up to its promise.
Art is a lecturer at Columbia University, Board Chair of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, and holds a BA in Women’s Studies from Yale University and an MBA in Finance from New York University.
While nearly a third of the world still lives without internet connectivity and far more remain digitally excluded due to a lack of skills, resources, or support, she dismantles the myth that internet access alone equals inclusion.
She argues that critical thinking, privacy awareness, and ethical participation are needed to effectively navigate a world increasingly shaped by misinformation and disinformation, AI-generated falsehoods, and algorithmic manipulation.
She offers grounded, practical strategies for positive action, sharing how each of us can help build a more inclusive and safer internet. Whether through community-led workshops, media literacy programs for youth, equitable tech policies, or simply practicing kindness and accountability online, she says that the online realm is impacted by the daily actions and choices we all make.
She speaks to the growing human need for real connection and reflects on a growing hunger for authentic, in-person experiences, especially in a post-pandemic world marked by digital fatigue. She argues that authentic human creations, versus artificial AI ones, may soon become sought-after luxuries.
She encourages people to embrace lifelong learning, practice self-knowledge, and recognize that every online action is a chance to shape a digital world worth living in.
One of the most powerful moments in the episode is when she shares how she recently learned about her grandfather’s imprisonment in a Nazi camp during World War II. For Danica, the act of writing about her family’s history is a way of transforming trauma and reclaiming the narrative, and underscores her deep commitment to human dignity and inclusivity.
In this Ready Living Podcast episode, Daniel J. Solove, one of the world’s foremost experts in privacy law and the #1 most cited law professor in the law and technology field, talks about technology’s impact on privacy, how the law often fails to adequately protect privacy, and what needs to be done to safeguard our personal privacy freedoms.
Dan challenges the traditional, narrow definitions of privacy and argues against what he calls “privacy essentialism”—the idea that privacy has clear, fixed boundaries. Instead, he proposes an approach that acknowledges the nuanced and evolving nature of privacy violations.
The way privacy is conceptualized, he explains, has profound implications for how laws are crafted, interpreted, and enforced. And unfortunately, he argues, the law too often falls short, particularly when it comes to addressing the impact of technology.
He describes how legislators and judges often get “brain freeze” when faced with cases involving technology, leading to a failure to recognize harms that should be apparent. Whether it’s the lack of a comprehensive federal privacy law in the U.S. or the messy patchwork of existing regulations, he paints a picture of a legal system struggling to keep up with the pace of technological change.
Dan explains how the design of technology—from social media algorithms to data collection tools—affects the choices people make about sharing their personal information. He notes that “control the design, control the decision,” highlighting how tech companies intentionally create platforms that encourage data sharing and polarizing content to maximize profit, often at the expense of societal well-being. Regulators, he argues, have been hesitant to address these design issues.
He also raises alarm bells about the darker side of surveillance and the unprecedented power governments and corporations now wield through big data and artificial intelligence. With algorithms capable of analyzing vast amounts of personal data to draw highly detailed—and often biased—inferences, the potential for abuse is enormous. He warns that this level of surveillance could pave the way for authoritarian regimes to target dissenters and control populations, drawing chilling parallels to historical examples like Nazi Germany.
This episode is a must-listen for everyone who cares about privacy and the future of our society.
Dan is the Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor of Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the George Washington University Law School, and the founder of TeachPrivacy, a privacy and cybersecurity training company. He is the author of over 10 books and more than 100 articles; the #1 most cited law professor born after 1970, and the #1 most cited law professor in the law and technology field, having been cited in thousands of publications, excerpted in numerous casebooks, and discussed in many judicial opinions, including those by the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeal, district courts, and state supreme courts.
His newest book, On Privacy and Technology, comes out March 2025.
