WTP 319: PechaKucha for Haiti Update, Cryonics Craze, and UK Uncut by Clark Boyd

Download MP3 (31:03)

A year ago, we told you about a special series of global presentations that feature architects, designers, authors and other creative people. They’re called PechaKucha nights (pecha-kucha means chit-chat in Japanese). The organizers decided to do a special series of PechaKucha nights to raise awareness of, brainstorm ideas about, and collect donations for the rebuilding of Haiti. They sponsored this in conjunction with the group Architecture for Humanity. The Global PechaKucha night for Haiti ended up raising $80,000, and that money was put to use in rebuilding the school you see above. You can see and hear Architecture for Humanity’s Cameron Sinclair talk about this school, and about all of the group’s rebuilding work currently going on in Haiti. We think that’s the highlight of WTP 319.

We do have some other stories, too. You can hear Iranian cartoonist Nikahang Kowsar  talk about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech on Internet freedom from last week (check out his cartoons, too!). We’ll also tell you about how a British pressure group called UK Uncut [VIDEO] is employing social networking tools to make their points, and how the idea is spreading now to the United States.

We’ll also hop into the way-back tech machine again to revisit the cyronics craze of the 1960s. Trust me, it’s a great listen, but please, no jokes about being “frozen in time.” And, because we missed Valentine’s Day, we’ll go back and hear about a man who carries his heart (or at least the pneumatic pump for his Totally Artificial Heart) in a backpack.

And yes…we’ll make mention of the Egyptian man who named his kid “Facebook.”

Speaking of which, feel free to join us on Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to be social with you.

Photo courtesy of PechaKucha