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PODCAST

Future Tense

A critical look at new technologies, new approaches and new ways of thinking, from politics to media to environmental sustainability.

society & culture tech news

All Episodes

29:08

Big corporations are taking over as landlords and...

Future Tense ·

2024/05/02

Insecure housing has long-term effects on both individuals and communities, it's impacting the social fabric of countries around the world. Corporations buying up housing stocks are further adding to the pressure. In rich and poor countries alike the cost of housing is outstripping growth in incomes. As a result, more than 100 million people have been made homeless, according to the UN. While more than 1.6 billion lack adequate housing and essential services. We also explore some

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29:08

The great distribution dilemma – can public interest...

Future Tense ·

2024/04/25

For more than a decade serious news organisatons, including public broadcasters, have increasingly relied on social media and other third-party digital distribution platforms to reach audiences. But now the big tech platforms are no longer interested in traditional news. So, can public interest journalism survive without the online networks they let cannibalise their content? How can serious news outlets avoid slipping into obscurity? And what impact would such a decline have on

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29:08

Dark sky at night, everyone's delight

Future Tense ·

2024/04/18

It's estimated that by 2030 more than 100 thousand satellites are likely to be buzzing around in low-Earth orbit – and the implications of that for our dark skies is potentially significant. We hear from the Executive Director of the non-profit network Dark Skies International. Also, is our environmental future written in the past? Paleo-conservation could be the answer to how we adapt to the adverse effects of climate change; and in Stockholm, engineers and builders are hard at

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29:09

Nobel-Prize laureate Abhijit Banerjee on the world's...

Future Tense ·

2024/04/11

The world's largest Universal Basic Income trial is currently underway in Kenya. It involves 295 villages and more than 20,000 families. The trial has just reached the two-year mark and Nobel-Prize winning economist, Abhijit Banerjee, joins us to talk about its progress – both economic and social. Also, why it's counterproductive to talk about "screentime" and people being "addicted" to their phones; and speech writer, Lucinda Holdforth, who worries that we've supplanted old

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29:08

The manufacturing of "natural food" and how tech can...

Future Tense ·

2024/04/04

Most people want to eat better. And many of us have embraced the trend toward "natural" foods and conscious eating. We equate "natural" with healthy, nutritious and virtuous, but that can often be way off the mark. New research shows many healthy alternatives are anything but. And our embrace of the term natural is more about expressing identity and morality rather than healthy eating. Empowering people to understand what and how they should eat is what it should be about – and one

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29:08

Self-destructive behaviour — the enemy within

Future Tense ·

2024/03/28

Why do otherwise sensible people continue to do things that are bad for them, that impact negatively on their personal future? Also, what happens in the brain when you're trying to make or break a habit?  Temptation, addiction and habit formation – mapping the pathways to self-destruction and how to navigate a better course.

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29:09

Fear and anger – the complicated emotions that govern...

Future Tense ·

2024/03/21

Authoritarians rule through fear. We can clearly see that from China to the Middle East to eastern Europe. But why do we constantly overlook the way in which fear also shapes democratic societies? It's fuelling populism and distorting our future focus. Then there's anger. It's inspired generations to man the barricades and right society's wrongs. But anger is increasingly becoming a driver of commerce. There's billions to be made in getting you riled up and keeping you that way

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29:08

Algorithmic homogeny – why everything looks and feels...

Future Tense ·

2024/03/17

Algorithmic feeds are meant to personalise our online experiences, but increasingly they're flattening our culture and fostering a dull conformity, according to best-selling author Kyle Chayka. And the influence they exert on our lives is increasingly physical not just digital. Also, data scientist Gloria Mark who has crunched the numbers on how our attention spans have fared over the past decade or so. If you can keep focused, you might find it fascinating.

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29:08

The weaponisation of nostalgia; and has culture come...

Future Tense ·

2024/03/10

Nostalgia triggers our emotions and that in turn makes us vulnerable to manipulation. We speak with RICHARD KING about the commodification and weaponisation of nostalgic sentiment. Also, New York Times critic-at-large, Jason Farago, on why he believes our cultural age might be the least innovative in half a millennium.

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29:08

Are we really becoming more isolated and less...

Future Tense ·

2024/03/03

Social cohesion is under strain. The result, researchers say, of economic, political and work-based pressures. At the same time levels of volunteering are falling and people are showing far less willingness to take part in community-based activities. Some even fear our "cultural evolution" has been disrupted. That is, the process by which our interactions shape future cultural norms. It's complicated.

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29:08

TikTok's superstar economy – how live-streaming is...

Future Tense ·

2024/02/25

Fans are spending thousands of dollars a month to support their favourite streamers on TikTok Live, but most of the money is going to TikTok itself.

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29:09

Conversing with aliens and 'decentering' the human

Future Tense ·

2024/02/18

Cambridge University has a new institute dedicated to understanding extraterrestrial languages. It's about being prepared for the possibility that intelligent life exists beyond our galaxy. Also, the dangers of being overly dramatic when talking about climate change; the link between indigenous language and health; and the researchers who say it's time for human being to wake up to the fact that it's not all about us.

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29:08

Does AI show we overestimate our human creativity?...

Future Tense ·

2024/02/11

Among the angst over the creative potential of Artificial Intelligence, some researchers and academics are now turning the spotlight back onto humans. If AI can be as imaginative as your average human being, they ask, what does that say about traditional notions of human creativity? Have we long overestimated our own smarts? It's also prompted a discussion about what "creativity" actually means and why the term only came into common usage during the second half of the last century

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29:08

Growing houses and running computers with help from...

Future Tense ·

2024/02/04

Scientists are changing the genetics of cells so that they can be used for a whole range of purposes never before imagined. Think building a biocomputer with a processor powered by bacteria or re-engineering microbes to make environmentally-friendly concrete. The potential is enormous, but there are warnings from within the field, not to let the hype get ahead of reality.

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29:08

Building a new social contract

Future Tense ·

2024/01/28

There’s a growing public sense that the current model of the social contract is broken, due in large part to rising inequality and the pursuit of profit over social progress. The “social contract” defines the relationship between citizens, their government and business. Its modern form emerged after WWII and, in western democracies, was largely structured around the principles of the welfare state. It’s about equity, order and trust. So, does the essence of the social contract

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28:53

The Great Regression and the "kidification" of adulthood

Future Tense ·

2024/01/21

Many commentators bemoan the adolescent nature of modern society. Adults, they suggest, are acting like juveniles and thereby eroding our culture and destroying our politics. We hear two arguments to the contrary. Also, philosopher William MacAskill on his new book “What We Owe The Future”.

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29:04

Research productivity and innovation is declining

Future Tense ·

2024/01/14

Our modern understanding of innovation isn't modern at all, it turns out. Historian, Iwan Rhys Morus, says we're being held back by Victorian-era notions of the future as a land to be conquered; and the lone-genius inventor as the standard bearer of technological advance. Which might explain why research productivity is now sharply declining, despite a substantial rise in research investment..

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28:57

Managerialism ... and what it means for work

Future Tense ·

2024/01/07

Exploring new ideas, new approaches, new technologies — the edge of change.

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28:53

Turning our back on alcohol

Future Tense ·

2023/12/31

Are attitudes towards drinking changing as we learn more about the impact alcohol can have on our bodies? Drinking has been part of our social and cultural activities for centuries. But cultural norms appear to be shifting. So, could alcohol go the way of cigarettes and become socially unacceptable?

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28:57

Who are the beneficiaries of climate change?

Future Tense ·

2023/12/24

It might be an uncomfortable idea for many, but in the short term climate change will produce "winners" as well as losers. Some countries, companies, communities and species will actually benefit from a warming world. But in what ways and for how long?

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333 results

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