What happens when technology is built with communities instead of just for them? In this episode, Eleanor Drage speaks with David Griffiths, founding director of the nonprofit Then Try This, about participatory design, accessible tech, and the hidden histories shaping modern computing. The conversation explores how textiles and programming are deeply connected, and why innovation is often rooted in grassroots, community-led creativity rather than top-down systems. Griffiths shares projects...

How can communities take back control of the digital infrastructure that powers everyday life? In this episode, Eleanor Drage speaks with Tara Merk about how community-owned data centers could transform digital ownership and challenge the dominance of Big Tech. The conversation explores alternative models of internet infrastructure that prioritize local empowerment, sustainability, and cooperative governance over corporate control. Drawing on examples from Germany’s renewable energy sector...

Can cloud infrastructure be owned and governed by the people, rather than just Big Tech? In this episode, Eleanor Drage speaks with Friederike von Franqué, policy advisor at Wikimedia Germany, about how feminist principles and decentralized models are reshaping the internet as a public commons rather than a purely corporate service.