Listening to podcasts inspired Montreal’s Hugh McGuire to launch LibriVox, an open project which, he claims, is the most prolific audio publisher in the world. LibriVox is part of the podcasting family that seeks to open things up and construct on a non-economic model. McGuire feels that evidence-based thinking and decision-making … or the ability to manage data … is part of what gives humans an evolutionary advantage. Societies are most stable when they are able to solve problems. The basis of democracy is to open data up to many people and allow them to make decisions based on that data. McGuire proposes that opening data to more people means more problems can be solved, which, in turn, creates a stable society.

As an example, he talks about a podcast for OBGYN residents, as a platform to exchange information and share learning.

Conclusion? Podcasting will probably NOT save the world, but it’ll help.