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PODCAST

For Tech’s Sake

Elaine Burke & Kelly Earley

Join Elaine Burke and Kelly Earley as they look at tech through a critical lens – not evangelising or demonising it, but definitely throwing a bit of shade when it’s deserved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

technology tech news

All Episodes

36:58

Slop ’til you drop

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/11/27

’Tis the season of shopping and scams, so arm yourself with knowledge from the For Tech’s Sake buyer’s guide to what you need to know about online shopping in the slop era. Come for the explanations of TikTok Shop, drop-shipping and scam tactics to watch out for, and stay for the references to ancient memes and Kelly’s tell-all review of a popular Game Boy emulator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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41:54

Say sorry, be nice, stand up for workers’ rights

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/11/20

This week, Kelly and Elaine discuss why a delay in the release of Grand Theft Auto VI to late 2026 might be the least of Rockstar Games’ problems as protests have kicked off outside their offices following the firing of more than 30 employees. Could gamers now boycott a release they’ve been waiting more than 12 years for?Meanwhile, as yet another tech outage caused widespread ripples across the web, the EU is taking a look at the concentration of power in digital infrastructure.Also in this episode,

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41:08

Ryanair’s app trap

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/11/13

This episode may contain a rude word or two when Elaine and Kelly start going off on Ryanair’s decision to force app downloads under the guise of ‘paperless’ boarding (that’s not actually paperless). And rude words are apparently being shadow-banned on Bluesky, while Elon Musk is getting roasted by Joyce Carol Oates on X.We also make an attempt to rouse EU citizens into a fight for the sanctity of GDPR, muse on whether All’s Fair signals a microdrama trend for TV, and get through some listener

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40:28

The good guy of tech

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/11/06

There’s been some Wikipedia drama this week as Jimmy Wales has been doing the rounds on a press tour promoting a book that bills him as ‘the good guy of tech’ – but Elaine and Kelly have a different man in mind for that moniker. Also in this episode, Ekaterina Uetova from the MOvD research project joins us to explain how a group chat might be more motivational than a gamified fitness app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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1:05:30

Tech Treehouse of Horror

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/10/30

In this very special Halloween episode, Elaine and Kelly are communing with the digital after life and sharing (barely) spooky stories about data from beyond the grave. It’s a bumper episode with a special appearance from researcher Danny Snow, who has been giving digital data a post-mortem examination and proposes how we could donate our data like we donate our organs.Visit DataDonorCard.org for more information and be sure to check out BetaFestival.ie for our ‘something good’ recommendation

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28:55

Tech will fail and you will die

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/10/23

Well, our maxim has finally caught up with us. We’re always saying the only certainties in life are that tech will fail and you will die and – while Elaine and Kelly are both still very much alive and well – the tech did fail and we lost an entire episode recording. So now you just have Elaine monologuing about the widespread impact of the 15-hour Amazon Web Services outage this week, and the problem with building an internet that’s just three Big Tech kids in one trench coat. She also has an extra

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36:01

Return of the dead

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/10/16

It’s no coincidence that the launch of endless feeds of AI-generated video from Meta’s Vibes and OpenAI’s Sora have coincided with a marked increase in video slop online, but what kind of social media are these platforms creating? One that’s littered with dead celebrities, deepfakes and juvenile humour, normalising the manipulation of a real person’s image just for fun.In this episode, Elaine and Kelly wonder if Denmark’s proposed new copyright law could be a death knell for “synthetic resurrection”

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39:41

On the campaign ad trail

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/10/09

Tech and democracy expert Liz Carolan joins Kelly and Elaine to explain some new regulations on political advertising hitting the EU this week, right in the midst of an Irish presidential election. These rules have been introduced to minimise political interference and ensure transparency, but the response from platforms is likely to make this situation even murkier. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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43:18

Sims, sEMG and soft robotics

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/10/02

Mark Zuckerberg’s live demo of gesture controls for his Meta glasses may have failed, but the underlying technology in the wrist-worn Neural Band, known as surface electromyography (sEMG), made us curious about potential applications in medtech. To find out more we spoke to EMG expert Prof Madeleine Lowery, who explained the differences between using these sensors in the lab or clinic versus commercial products.Sticking with medtech marvels, we also spoke to Prof Garry Duffy about soft robotics that

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39:04

Terms of abuse

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/09/25

Platforms are really stretching the bounds of privacy rights with their terms of use these days. With recent changes to terms at Spotify, LinkedIn and Academia.edu in the spotlight, we called on data protection expert Daragh O Brien to give us a steer on how we should navigate impenetrable, and sneaky, user agreements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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34:41

TrumpTok

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/09/18

In this episode of For Tech’s Sake, Elaine and Kelly discuss TikTok’s potential takeover by a consortium of Donald Trump allies, and the uptick of fake online content inflaming the discourse about real events. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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35:32

Chat control chaos

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/09/11

Joining Elaine this week are two special guests on two very different topics. Cybersecurity expert Brian Honan fills us in on what’s going on with the EU’s Chat Control proposal and explains how it could do more harm than good. Then, author Sylvia Leatham discusses her book Chaos Theory, which takes the familiarity of the workplace and mixes it up with a socially awkward robot.If you want to reach out to your MEP about concerns regarding Chat Control, go to FightChatControl.eu. And head to

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40:26

Should we banish AI from work?

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/09/04

We have things to say about another survey, this time all about AI in the workplace. We look at what some other research is telling us about AI adoption and consider the ethics of pushing gen-AI technologies on workers in light of some recent revelations.We also learn all about peer-to-peer energy sharing from Sweta Malik, a senior power systems researcher at the UCD Energy Institute. And, as usual, we end with our picks of what’s good in the tech world right now, shining the spotlight on some great

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44:32

Femtech for all

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/08/28

Find out about the deep-tech side of femtech from our special guest Dr Tanya Mulcahy, director of Health Innovation Hub Ireland and founder of FemTech Ireland. In this episode we also try to get to the bottom of some bizarre search suggestions on TikTok. And remember to listen to the end for our suggestion of something good you can find online today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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39:10

Looking back in anger

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/08/21

Today is gonna be the day that Kelly and Elaine are gonna throw a look back on a bleak week of tech news, from some shocking revelations over at Meta AI to some concerning behaviour from Stripe’s customer service team. We also look into why VPN advertising has ramped up in Ireland and leave you with something you can use to spend your days in the sunshine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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40:48

Digital sexual literacy

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/08/14

We are delighted to be joined in this episode by Benji Foley, a PhD researcher at DCU's Institute for Research on Genders and Sexualities, who explains the concept of digital sexual literacy and why it’s important we build this up in young people. In particular, Benji’s research looks at digital sexual literacy among young people from the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland, and what he’s learned in the early stages of his research might surprise you.Kelly and Elaine also look at the release of OpenAI’s new

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37:32

The bloody stream

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/08/07

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in AI military technologies are turning off musicians and listeners. Kelly Earley and Elaine Burke discuss the many ethical issues Spotify’s streaming has waded into and how the algorithmic flow of music has affected their own listening habits, and Kelly floats some alternative options for music-lovers. Kelly also gives us a speedy intro to Formula E and Elaine has a surprising fact that links ’90s punk band The Offspring with some modern medical marvels. Hosted

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36:11

Palestine: A testing ground for digital rights...

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/07/31

Elaine Burke speaks to Riham Al Faqih, development and outreach director with MIFTAH, a civil society organisation based in Palestine, about digital rights violations committed against Palestinians. Their conversation took place shortly after an internet blackout in Gaza, and highlights how Palestine has become a testing ground for the advancement of surveillance tech. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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36:44

What's my age again?

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/07/24

Kicking off a new season of For Tech’s Sake, hosts Elaine Burke and Kelly Earley discuss recent developments in age verification for social media and online platforms within the EU and the UK. They assess the practical challenges, examine the privacy risks and debate the implications of relying on tech alone to solve this problem.Listen to the end for our suggestion of something good you can find online today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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1:34

New host, who this?

For Tech’s Sake ·

2025/07/17

For Tech’s Sake is back with an all-new series, a brand new co-host and lots more tech stories to talk about.Join Elaine Burke and Kelly Earley as they look at tech through a critical lens – not evangelising or demonising it, but definitely throwing a bit of shade when it’s deserved.Follow us for updates:InstagramBlueskyTikTok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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