Torie Bosch

Journalist Torie Bosch looks at the profound implications of computer code on our lives and says every bit of it is the result of human decisions made by the people who wrote it.

Bosch has edited a collection of essays by theologians, technologists, historians and journalists that tell the stories behind the computer coding that affects every aspect of our lives. Bosch says everything from law enforcement to space exploration, social media and the way we drive our cars depends on computer code. Essays in the collection reveal how university databases were programmed long ago to accept only two genders, and what the person who designed the first pop-up ad was thinking.

Bosch is editor of Future Tense, a partnership between the daily web magazine Slate, independent policy organisation New America and Arizona State University that explores the intersection of technology, policy, and society.

This event is part of the festival’s programme of American literature and culture.