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PODCAST

Modem Futura

Sean Leahy, Andrew Maynard

Modem Futura is your weekly guide to the future of science, technology, and society—where futures and 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 storytellers, they unpack how

technology social sciences

All Episodes

00:46:37

Why Human Craft and Creativity Still Wins in an Age...

Modem Futura ·

2025/12/23

In this end-of-year holiday episode of Modem Futura, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard take a rare pause from the usual existential weight of emerging technologies to reflect on creativity, craft, and community in a year defined by acceleration. The conversation opens with a thoughtful exploration of what platform “year-in-review” moments (like Spotify Wrapped) quietly reveal about culture, identity, and participation in algorithmic ecosystems. Sean shares behind-the-scenes insights into Modem

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01:20:31

Is Life a Simulation? AI, Games, and the Future of...

Modem Futura ·

2025/12/16

In this expansive and playful episode of Modem Futura, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard welcome back futurist, game designer, and author Rizwan Virk to explore the rapidly evolving Simulation Hypothesis—and what it means in an era of AI, spatial computing, and increasingly immersive digital worlds. Building on the newly released second edition of The Simulation Hypothesis, Virk reflects on how advances in virtual reality, AI-driven characters, and gaming technologies are collapsing the distance

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01:02:30

That Was Easy: The Hidden Cost of Frictionless AI

Modem Futura ·

2025/12/09

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew dive deep into the rising cultural tension between generative AI’s promise of instant production and the human need for meaningful creative friction. Prompted by frustrations with “AI slop” — low-effort, machine-generated content flooding professional and social spaces — the hosts examine why the “easy button” mentality poses risks to wisdom, craft, and our collective future. Drawing on examples from coding, design, and their own creative workflows,

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01:06:54

AI Toys: Datafied Childhoods and the Future of Play

Modem Futura ·

2025/12/02

In this toy-themed episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard start with an overnight stay aboard the USS Midway before segueing into the holiday toy season and a very 2020s concern: AI-powered toys. From chatty teddy bears running GPT-4 that cheerfully explain how to light matches and sexual kinks to kids, to the long lineage of “intelligent” toys like Teddy Ruxpin, Furby, Hello Barbie and Watson-powered dinos, they trace how our playthings have quietly become networked, data-hungry

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00:29:53

Made by Humans: Inside the New Apple TV Logo

Modem Futura ·

2025/11/25

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew dive deep into the surprising story behind the new Apple TV logo and mnemonic—and why it matters in a world overrun by “AI slop.” They unpack how, in an age where everyone assumes animations are spun up in seconds by generative tools, Apple chose a radically different path: a practical, physical frosted-glass logo, carefully lit and filmed in real space, then paired with a handcrafted two-second audio chime composed by Finneas. Along the way, they

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00:53:44

The AI Sustainability Paradox - Promise, Peril, and...

Modem Futura ·

2025/11/18

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew explore one of the most urgent and complex questions of our time: Can AI meaningfully help humanity navigate climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater scarcity, and the broader planetary pressures shaping the Anthropocene — without worsening them? Drawing on the new 2025 synthesis report AI for a Planet Under Pressure from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the conversation unpacks how artificial intelligence is being used today to model ecosystems,

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01:08:05

The Metaverse - A Stack of Reality Layers

Modem Futura ·

2025/11/11

In this mind-bending episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard dive deep into the metaverse—not as a corporate brand or sci-fi fantasy, but as a living, evolving stack of realities. Drawing on their immersive experiences with Apple’s Vision Pro, they explore what happens when the physical and digital worlds begin to merge—when the headset comes off but the virtual persists. The hosts unravel how layers of spatial, augmented, and extended reality form a “metaverse stack” that blurs the

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01:04:31

Through the lens: Spatial Computing with Apple Vision...

Modem Futura ·

2025/11/04

Recorded while actually wearing Apple Vision Pro headsets, Sean and Andrew go hands‑on with spatial computing to test what it’s good for today—and what it might become tomorrow. They compare “spatial” to VR and AR, unpack why Apple avoids the term “VR,” and explain pass‑through, eye/hand‑based interaction, and foveated rendering in plain English. The conversation moves from everyday use (multi‑monitor work setups, traveling with AVP, watching films and immersive video, viewing panoramas as if you’re

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00:23:37

Tech or Treat: A Haunted Futures Improv Special

Modem Futura ·

2025/10/31

It’s Halloween in the future — and things are getting weird. In this special Modem Futura mini-episode, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard unleash a spooky edition of their improv game “Futures Improv: Tech or Treat.” Fueled by AI-generated prompts, the duo riffs on haunted algorithms, mirrors that remember, and nightmare-mode neural interfaces. What happens when defunct social-media bots resurrect long-dead posts to tag the living? Could a smart mirror one day show you not your reflection, but who you

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01:30:04

Atlas, Higher Education, and How We Really Feel About AI

Modem Futura ·

2025/10/28

In this episode Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard dive deep into how people really feel about AI—drawing on the latest Pew Research Center global survey of 25 countries. From curiosity to concern, they unpack why so many remain unaware of AI’s everyday presence and what this says about our collective future. The hosts explore the widening gap between the technological elite and the majority who’ve “heard little or nothing” about artificial intelligence, asking what it means for democracy, governance,

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01:16:35

Sora, Slop, and the AI Economy: When ChatGPT Meets...

Modem Futura ·

2025/10/21

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard dive into a wide-ranging and characteristically lively discussion that spans the launch of Andrew’s new book AI and the Art of Being Human, the rise of OpenAI’s Sora 2video platform, and the surprising partnership between Walmart and ChatGPT that could reshape the economics of online retail. They explore how AI is eroding traditional search and ad models, speculate on whether we’re living inside an “AI bubble,” and ask what happens when

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01:16:10

We Turned One - plus Liquid Media, Work Slop, and the...

Modem Futura ·

2025/10/14

We celebrate a full year of Modem Futura with an open, in‑studio debrief on what’s worked, what’s changed, and why we double‑down on being a relational—not transactional—podcast. Sean and Andrew look back on 52+ weekly episodes that turned the studio into a “living laboratory,” where listeners pull up a chair to conversations spanning AI and AGI, simulation hypotheses, autonomous mobility (including a ride in a Waymo), radical creativity, robots and bio‑hybrids, space futures, media theory,

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01:13:16

AI and the Art of Being Human: How to Thrive with AI

Modem Futura ·

2025/10/07

This week, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard welcome venture capitalist and AI Salon founder Jeffrey Abbott to launch the new book AI and the Art of Being Human—a practical, hands‑on guide to thriving with AI while rediscovering what matters most. Together, they unpack where the idea came from, why they fast‑tracked the project, and how they co‑created with AI (moving from ChatGPT to Anthropic’s Claude) using a “shared compass,” voice training, and a living “lore book” to keep characters and story arcs

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01:22:11

AI in Elementary Education: Teaching Tech to Our...

Modem Futura ·

2025/09/30

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew sit down with veteran educator Tara Menghini to explore how artificial intelligence is shaping the formative years of K–6 learning. Tara brings over 25 years of classroom experience and a passion for helping young learners build healthy technology habits from the very start. Together, they discuss the growing comfort children have with iPads compared to pencils and scissors, the tension between hands-on physical learning and digital fluency, and the

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01:02:46

Sloppy Clankers: Is This AI’s Frankenfood Moment?

Modem Futura ·

2025/09/23

In this lively milestone episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard dive into the strange cultural moment where AI hype collides with social backlash. The conversation begins with Apple’s latest tech updates—live translation in AirPods and cinematic filmmaking features in the iPhone 17 Pro—before shifting gears into the growing online phenomenon of the term “clanker.” Originally a Star Wars slur for battle droids, “clanker” has become a pejorative for AI systems—and increasingly, for

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01:04:02

Futures Thinking: Foresight You Can Use

Modem Futura ·

2025/09/16

Stuck in traffic and daydreaming about an eVTOL escape, Sean and Andrew use “flying cars” (and a new Blackmagic URSA spatial camera that gobbles terabytes) to make a larger point: tech doesn’t fix congestion—or much else—without a systems view that includes people, policy, and behavior. From there, they unpack futures thinking as a mindset, not fortune‑telling: exploring possible, probable, and preferable futures to make better choices today. You’ll hear how horizon scanning (signals, trends,

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01:21:39

Films from the Future: Moviegoer’s Guide to Tomorrow

Modem Futura ·

2025/09/09

In this episode of Modem Futura, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard dive into Andrew’s book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies, and the course it inspired, The Moviegoer’s Guide to the Future. Together, they explore how blockbuster films—from Jurassic Park and Minority Report to Limitless, Ex Machina, Elysium, and Contact—become more than entertainment: they serve as mirrors reflecting society’s hopes, fears, and ethical dilemmas around technology. The conversation

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01:08:36

Up in the Air: The Future of eVTOLs and Urban Air...

Modem Futura ·

2025/09/02

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard take to the skies—literally exploring the promise and pitfalls of eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft). From personal one-seat “flying pod” drones to futuristic air taxis, eVTOLs are being touted as the next leap in personal and urban transportation. But do they represent a bold solution to gridlock and emissions, or a risky Jetsons-inspired fantasy?We dive into the history of flying car dreams dating back to the

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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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67 results

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