Welcome to the episode number 26 of the Authors of Mass Destruction podcast. My name is Natasha Bajema, aka WMDgirl on Twitter. I’m a fiction author, national security expert and your host for this podcast.

• If you’re interested in science & technology, in reading good fiction, or want to write fiction based on technology, you’re in the right place. 
• Before we get started, a few notes:
  • The views expressed on this podcast are my own and do not reflect the official policy or position of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
  • The AOMD podcast is proud to be part of the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network. Check us out at www.authorsontheair.com
  • If you enjoy my podcast and want me to keep it up, I hope you’ll become a patron for only a few dollars a month at Patreon at www.patreon.com – p a t r e o n / natashabajema
• My headlines for today come from two tweets. I’ve included the links in the show notes.
  • https://twitter.com/TheEconomist/status/1178429549689921536?s=20
  • The first is a video from the Economist and about an electronic badge that monitors the behaviors of employees: conversations, time spent talking, not talking, at the restroom, moving or walking around, sitting. It tracks locations within the office and proximity to other employees. This level of tracking is facilitated by an array of different sensors.
  • Data from calendars and emails are integrated with the badge data.
  • The company that makes this device is called Humanyze. It sells the badges to companies around the world as a new way to improve the productivity of employees. 
  • [anecdote]
  • Workers’ rights, privacy, dehumanization of work. Humanyze claims it anonymizes the data collection and provides aggregated data to the companies; it also doesn’t record the content of conversations. However, the data could be misused.
  • Some companies are taking things a step further and microchipping their employees.
  • Would you work at company that tracked its employees in this way? What if we don’t have a choice because so many companies are using such technologies?
  • My second tweet is from ABC news and involves a video from Boston Dynamics:
    • https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1178907405947670529?s=20
    • You’ve probably seen videos illustrating the capabilities of their robotics. This one shows a humanoid robot carrying out an impressive gymnastics routine.
• Let’s get to my interview where I talk to two brilliant ladies about nuclear terrorism and the tool they’ve developed to better understand the threat.