The Digital Period

Teaser The Digital Period

Judith, a philosopher, examines her own and society's relationship to period tracking apps. Why do we use them? Do they work for us and how can we improve them? All episodes will be published at the end of 2023.Do you want to join the conversation? Send an email to judith@thedigitalperiod.com. You can find more information on thedigitalperiod.com. 

Episode 0. Prologue - Why I want to talk about period apps

The Digital Period is a podcast series that examines the relationship between autonomy and technology by taking a closer look at period apps. 
In this short introduction, I discuss how I, Judith Zoë, embarked on this adventure in the first place and why I want to talk about period tracking apps. Period apps are one of the most downloaded health apps across the world, and they play an incredible intimate role in our lives. Taking a closer look at their role in our lives can tell us a lot about how we relate to technology. 
You can find the transcripts and more episodes of The Digital Period at www.thedigitalperiod.com/podcast. This series is created by Judith Zoë Blijden. The jingle was made by Kristel Scholtens and Judith. The podcast visual was designed by Asja Keeman. This project is made possible with the help of Humanity in action and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

Episode 1 Humans and Period tracking

In this episode Judith talks to her best friend Iris van Wurmond, Mana Sadeghipour, a public policy professional, and Rayén Mitrovich co-founder of radical data about how and why they track their periods.
Together they discuss why tracking one’s period is important to some people and all the different ways this can be done. We also discuss the role of women in health care, the impact of the so-called gender health data gap in health care, the role of stereotypes and how all of this translates to technology. 
If you want to learn more about the topics of this episode we recommend you read ‘Period Power’ by Maisie Hill, ‘Invisible Women’ by Carolina Criado-Pérez and, for the dutchies, the report ‘Gezondheidstechnologie speciaal voor vrouwen’ by the Rathenau Instituut. 
The Digital Period is a podcast series that examines the relationship between autonomy and technology by taking a closer look at period apps. 
You can find the transcripts and more episodes of The Digital Period at www.thedigitalperiod.com/podcast. This series is created by Judith Zoë Blijden. The jingle was made by Kristel Scholtens and Judith. The podcast visual was designed by Asja Keeman. This project is made possible with the help of Humanity in action and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

Episode 2 Period apps and society

In this episode Judith Zoë talks to Chiara Nowak, a visual artist, and Anastasia Siapka and Elisabetta Biasin from the KU Leuven University. 
To understand the effect of marketing and narratives behind period apps, I spoke to Chiara Nowak, a graphic designer and visual artist working on the project ‘not.a.period’ and got the chance to visit the site of her art installation while we dissected the topic together. 
Anastasia and Elisabetta are the authors of the research paper ‘Bleeding data: the case of fertility and menstruation tracking apps’. We discuss the social impact and implications of period apps and potential paths towards overcoming the challenges they pose to our health, safety, and data privacy.
The Digital Period is a podcast series that examines the relationship between autonomy and technology by taking a closer look at period apps. 
You can find the transcripts and more episodes of The Digital Period at www.thedigitalperiod.com/podcast. This series is created by Judith Zoë Blijden. The jingle was made by Kristel Scholtens and Judith. The podcast visual was designed by Asja Keeman. This project is made possible with the help of Humanity in action and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

Episode 3 Values and technology

In this episode, we dive into the principles and practicalities behind period tracking and how we can better equip ourselves to protect our data. 
I talk to Iris Muis from the Data School of the University of Utrecht about how developers can translate values into technology. She points to practical resources that can help make sure our technology is aligned with what we find important. 
During my time at the CPDP conference I was lucky to cross paths with Julia Krämer, a researcher from the Erasmus university in Rotterdam. We talk about the ways apps can track us. She walks us through a number of steps we can take in our everyday lives to be more cautious about our data. 
The Digital Period is a podcast series that examines the relationship between autonomy and technology by taking a closer look at period apps. 
You can find the transcripts and more episodes of The Digital Period at www.thedigitalperiod.com/podcast. This series is created by Judith Zoë Blijden. The jingle was made by Kristel Scholtens and Judith. The podcast visual was designed by Asja Keeman. This project is made possible with the help of Humanity in action and the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

Episode 4 Autonomy and Privacy

In this episode, we got philosophical as I spoke to Marjolein Lanzing, Naomi Jacobs, and Jenneke Evers - all philosophers who have done research on period apps and self-tracking technologies. I also talked to Anuj Puri, a postdoctoral researcher at Tilburg University, about what autonomy means for privacy. 
 
Together, we attempt to dissect what autonomy is and how it relates to us in the digital age, especially when it comes to using period apps.
The Digital Period is a podcast series that examines the relationship between autonomy and technology by taking a closer look at period apps. 
I really recommend you to also look at the resources listed in the transcript. You can find the transcripts and more episodes of The Digital Period at www.thedigitalperiod.com/podcast. This series is created by Judith Zoë Blijden. The jingle was made by Kristel Scholtens and Judith. The podcast visual was designed by Asja Keeman.

Episode 5 Feminist Futures

In episode 5, I take time to look to the future. How can we move forward? How can we build a feminist future with technology that fits our values? And what does that mean for period apps?
To answer these questions, I spoke to Marie Kochsiek, co-founder and developer of the period app Drip and Elisa Lindinger, one of the founders of Superrr Lab, a feminist organization and advocacy hub focused on feminist digital policy and many other things.

Bonus episode 6 The Localization of Technology

This bonus episode of The Digital Period Podcast is about localizing technology to local needs. It touches on the importance of embedding period app technology within societies or different geographic regions.
I spoke to Risper Onyango, who pointed me towards a period app called Oky, developed by UNICEF. I also got the chance to approach Niken Lasarati, the international project manager of Oky as well as Ashley Rarieya and Mercy Nzuki, part of the team of LVCT Health about localizing Oky for Kenya.