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PODCAST

Modem Futura

Sean Leahy, Andrew Maynard

Modem Futura is a weekly futures podcast exploring the future of science, technology, and society — your guide to where foresight meets real-world impact. Hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard — educators, futurists, and public scholars — dive into the breakthroughs and big questions shaping tomorrow: AI ethics, space exploration, climate tech, bio-engineering, digital media, STEM education, and the shifting future of work. In candid, banter-filled conversations with innovators, scholars, and

technology social sciences

All Episodes

01:15:23

Agentic AI in Education & the Art of Becoming with...

Modem Futura ·

2025/08/26

Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard welcome ASU’s Punya Mishra back to unpack what “agentic AI” could—and shouldn’t—mean in education. After a nostalgic cold open on AOL’s September 30, 2025 dial‑up shutdown and why the show’s intro samples the 56K handshake, they question recent AI “study” and “agent” releases and the industry’s habit of mistaking prompts and dashboards for pedagogy. Mishra contrasts gamified nudges with deep, personal motivation, sharing how he used AI to begin reading Odia so he could

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00:56:46

AI, Not AI: Riding the Hype Cycle

Modem Futura ·

2025/08/19

Summer-mode serendipity turns into a sharp tour of today’s tech hype and what actually matters. Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard open with the rapid-fire AI news cycle—GPT-5 rumors, Claude 4.1, and OpenAI’s new open‑weight releases (120B/20B under Apache 2.0 license)—and why running local models (think Whisper on M‑series Macs, or other local models) is accelerating “garage‑scale” experimentation. From there, Andrew shares a candid writer’s-eye view of co‑authoring with AI: Claude can produce moving,

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01:12:27

Show Me the Receipts: the Futures of AI...

Modem Futura ·

2025/08/12

In this wide‑ranging summer episode, Sean and Andrew begin with the strange calm of an almost‑empty university campus and ponder how AI‑assisted “digital twins” could let us re‑imagine academic spaces once the students return. A quick shout‑out to Modem Futura’s growing global audience segues into a critical look at the latest AI headlines—especially Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that “developing super‑intelligence is now in sight.” The hosts unpack what super‑intelligence and AGI actually mean, tracing

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01:13:51

Living Machines: Inside the Future World of...

Modem Futura ·

2025/08/05

What happens when living organisms become components of our machines—and our machines become partly alive? In fact – how do we tell when or if something is ALIVE? In this episode, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with guest Sean Dudley (Associate Vice President, ASU Knowledge Enterprise) to unpack the rapidly emerging field of bio‑hybrid robotics. Dudley breaks the field into four sub‑domains: (1) micro‑robots that harness algae or bacteria for propulsion, (2) living‑tissue–integrated

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01:25:04

Futures of Agentic AI and the 2025 AI Action Plan

Modem Futura ·

2025/07/29

In this episode, Sean  and Andrew dissect the newly released U.S. 2025 AI Action Plan, exploring its three pillars—accelerating innovation, building U.S. AI infrastructure, and leading global AI diplomacy. They probe the plan’s “build‑baby‑build” ethos, the push for deregulation, massive energy demands, and semiconductor incentives, and the geopolitical chess game with China. From there, the conversation pivots to the hype‑cycle around “agentic AI.” Sean tests OpenAI’s new Agent Mode live, while

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01:23:29

Summer School with AI: Rethinking Learning in the Age...

Modem Futura ·

2025/07/22

In this “summer session” of Modem Futura, Sean is joined by the newly minted Dr. Rachna Mathur—artist, engineer, dancer, and Senior STEM Strategist at ASU Preparatory Academy—for a candid, big‑picture conversation about what emerging AI means for schools, work and humanity. Recording from a toasty Arizona studio, the pair trace Mathur’s path from semiconductor algorithm architect to K‑12 AI advocate, then dive into how today’s generative‑AI “Cambrian explosion” is reshaping childhood, parenting, and

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00:56:57

Summer Movies, liquid media, and alien AI languages

Modem Futura ·

2025/07/15

Episode 40 of Modem Futura is a true summer grab‑bag. Sean and Andrew kick things off a conversation that ricochets from popcorn flicks to philosophical deep dives. First up is a spoiler‑free reaction to the new Superman film—praised for its Dolby Atmos spectacle and nostalgic cameos—followed by Andrew’s unexpected enthusiasm for Megan 2, a techno‑thriller sequel that riffs on AI value‑alignment, neural chips and the “paperclip maximizer” thought experiment. The pair then pivot to teaching with

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00:54:41

Summer Vibes & Spatial Rides: Inside Vision Pro, F1 &...

Modem Futura ·

2025/07/08

In this laid‑back summer installment, Sean and Andrew sweat it out in the studio to deliver a free‑flowing “potpourri” of future‑focused topics. They compare practical effects vs. CGI through the lens of the original Jurassic Park and the new Jurassic World: Rebirth; share hands‑on insights from months of experimenting with the Apple Vision Pro, spatial video rigs, and multi‑cam podcast production; and preview Xbox Cloud Gaming inside mixed‑reality headsets. The conversation then shifts to

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00:54:49

Future Vibes: Sean & Andrew’s 2025 Summer Reading List

Modem Futura ·

2025/07/01

In this laid-back “summer reading list” edition of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew swap stacks and playlists to prove that great ideas don’t always hide in weighty nonfiction tomes. After comparing the pleasures (and pitfalls) of audiobooks, narrator chemistry, and the lost art of radio drama, they dive into a dozen page-turners that feed futurist imaginations. On Sean’s side you’ll find propulsive series such as Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries; Hugh Howey’s silo saga (Wool, Shift, Dust); the

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01:31:49

World Economic Forum Top 10 Emerging Technologies of...

Modem Futura ·

2025/06/24

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard cover the World Economic Forum’s newly-released “Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025” report, unpacking what makes each breakthrough matter and how foresight professionals can turn hype into actionable insight. After a quick update on recording in Apple’s Spatial Video, the hosts explore the WEF’s rigorous selection methodology—crowdsourced nominations, AI-assisted clustering, and a STEEP (social, technological, environmental, economic,

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01:06:24

Osaka Expo 2025 Futures Lab: an inside look with...

Modem Futura ·

2025/06/17

Fresh off a 10-day immersion at Osaka’s 2025 World Expo, returning guest Dr. Jamey Wetmore joins Sean and Andrew to unpack the spectacle, surprises, and sociotechnical undercurrents he witnessed alongside 17 ASU students. Jamey explains why today’s expos feel less like gadget bazaars and more like “collaboration theme-parks,” spotlighting national visions of cooperative problem-solving rather than single, shiny inventions. He walks us through standout pavilions—from Jordan’s multisensory

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00:58:23

Murderbot: Futures of AI Superintelligence, Rogue...

Modem Futura ·

2025/06/10

Hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard kick off this episode with a behind-the-scenes reveal: they’re now capturing each conversation in Apple’s easy-to-edit spatial video—and debating what immersive podcasting might become. From there the discussion rockets into the cultural obsession with AI super-intelligence and “rogue” robots, sparked by Apple TV+’s new adaptation of Murderbot. Sean and Andrew unpack why stories from Terminator and Ex Machina to Westworld and Her keep returning to machines that

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01:12:29

Living Circuits and Biofoundries: Ethics and Care of...

Modem Futura ·

2025/06/03

What does it really take to engineer life—and should we? In this wide-ranging conversation, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with ASU colleague Dr. Emma Frow to unpack the promise and perils of synthetic biology. Emma traces the field’s origins—from the early “DNA-as-code” dream of rational genetic design to today’s reality of brute-force experimentation and highly automated biofoundries—and explains why biology stubbornly resists plug-and-play engineering. The trio dive into the tensions

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01:25:32

Futures of Learning: AI in Education with Punya Mishra

Modem Futura ·

2025/05/27

In this lively round-table, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with renowned educational-technology scholar Dr. Punya Mishra to untangle the hype and hope around AI in education. Together they probe why “personalized learning” promises often miss the messy, human heart of learning; explore Sean and Punya’s shared devotion to John Dewey's natural impulses for learning—inquiry, communication, construction, expression—as a practical compass for designing AI-infused classrooms; and wrestle

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00:59:16

Symbiotic Futures: Megatrends, foresight, and Futures...

Modem Futura ·

2025/05/20

Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard reunite after Sean’s trip to Lisbon’s Future Days conference to riff on everything from testing an Apple Vision Pro on an 11‑hour flight to the Iberian‑Peninsula blackout that plunged Portugal and Spain into darkness. They use those real‑world anecdotes to explore “symbiotic futures,” the fragility of complex socio‑technical systems, and why futures thinking — complete with megatrend scanning and human‑centered foresight — belongs in every profession. Along the way they

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01:10:49

Severed Minds: Brain Implants, AI, and the Future of...

Modem Futura ·

2025/05/13

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean L and Andrew M examine Apple TV+’s hit series Severance, using its mind-bending premise of surgically split consciousness to explore real-world questions around emerging science and technology, identity, and ethical responsibility. They unpack the show’s depiction of “innies” and “outies” as a metaphor for how modern workers often compartmentalize personal values from corporate expectations, and consider what brain-computer interfaces, memory editing, and AI

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01:04:56

AI on Campus: How Gen Z Is Redefining College with...

Modem Futura ·

2025/05/06

In this “student-takeover” episode, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with Arizona State University sophomores Caleb Lieberman and Bella Faria to explore what it’s really like to be “AI-native” undergraduates. The conversation ranges from their day-to-day use of tools like ChatGPT Plus (Caleb’s personalized “Arthur Ivan”), Spotify’s DJ, Perplexity, and Google’s Notebook LM podcast summaries, to the cultural dynamics of AI-assisted learning—when it feels taboo, when it builds community,

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01:01:21

Dire Wolves and Dinosaurs: The Bioscience of...

Modem Futura ·

2025/04/29

In this deep dive of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard tackle the sensational claims surrounding the "de-extinction" of the dire wolf by Colossal Biosciences. Using the hype-heavy headlines as a jumping-off point, the hosts explore the real science behind resurrection biology, CRISPR gene editing, and the ethics of engineered evolution. From Jurassic Park references to cutting-edge synthetic biology, the episode unpacks what’s happening in labs today, what it means for biodiversity and

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01:23:53

Beyond the Hero’s Journey: AI, Protopia & the Future...

Modem Futura ·

2025/04/22

In this lively, idea‑packed episode of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew sit down with Taryn O’Neill—filmmaker, futurist, and impact storyteller—whose work bridges entertainment, emerging technology, and climate action. They trace the (nostalgic) arc from DVD‑by‑mail and the early YouTube web‑series boom to today’s streaming ecosystem, unpacking how residuals, budgets, and community engagement have all been up‑ended.Taryn explains why AI‑assisted production will slash visual‑effects costs while opening

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01:14:16

Electronic Vehicles and the Future of Transportation...

Modem Futura ·

2025/04/15

In this episode of Modem Futura, co-hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with special guest Dr. Jamey Wetmore, Associate Professor at Arizona State University and author of the Substack The Tech Skeptic Goes Electric. They explore the intricacies of owning an electric vehicle, including the joys of quick acceleration, the challenges of charging infrastructure, and the privacy concerns tied to data collection. Jamey offers insights into how skepticism can inform better decisions on adopting

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