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Download This Show is your weekly guide to the world of media, culture, and technology. From social media to gadgets, streaming services to privacy issues. Each week Rae Johnston and guests take a fun, deep dive into how technology is reshaping our lives.

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All Episodes

0:29:04

Opt Out 05 | Can you ever really opt out of online life?

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2025/12/19

After weeks of trying to audit, delete, and lock down her digital life, Rae hits the big, uncomfortable question: what if you can’t opt out of the internet, even if you really want to?In the final episode of Opt Out, Rae speaks with Jathan Sadowski, senior lecturer at Monash University and proud Luddite, about how surveillance creeps into everyday life — from smart cars to smart locks — and why 'just logging off' is a privilege most people don’t actually have. Then she sits down

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0:29:04

Opt Out 04 | What did I just agree to?

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2025/12/19

Every time you click 'accept' online, you’re legally agreeing to something. The problem is… you probably have no idea what that something is.In episode four of Opt Out, Rae tackles the fine print: the privacy policies and terms and conditions we all scroll past because life is short and the language is cooked. She speaks with Dr Katharine Kemp, privacy law expert and associate professor at UNSW, about how digital 'consent' works in Australia, and why companies can legally do things

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0:29:03

Opt Out 03 | How not to get hacked

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2025/12/19

If someone tried to hack you right now… how long would it take?In episode three of Opt Out, Rae confronts her own extremely average cyber hygiene and tries to stop being the digital equivalent of someone who leaves their keys in the front door. She speaks with Vanessa Teague, cryptographer and privacy advocate, to unpack why passwords matter (and why humans are terrible at them), before spiralling into the world of password managers, two-factor authentication, and security

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0:29:03

Opt Out 02 | Can you delete yourself from the internet?

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2025/12/19

The internet knows a lot about you, but what if you wanted to take it all back and delete yourself all together?In episode two of Opt Out, Rae tries to do the unthinkable: delete herself from the internet. She talks to Lawrence Gentilello, founder of data-removal service Optery, about what it really takes to scrub your details from people-search sites — and why it’s harder than it sounds. Then she checks in with John Payne from Electronic Frontiers Australia to find out what

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0:29:00

Opt Out 01 | The guide to taking back control of your...

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2025/12/19

We all know the internet knows a bit about us. But… how much, exactly? And what happens if you actually try to look?In the first episode of Opt Out, Rae volunteers as tribute and starts poking around her own digital footprint — checking data breaches, Googling herself, and asking some pretty uncomfortable questions about where our personal info ends up. Along the way, she chats with investigative tech reporter Yael Grauer about how our data spreads, and Troy Hunt, the creator of

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0:28:32

What were the biggest stories in tech for 2025?

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2025/12/12

It was a huge year for tech in 2025, and there were a few stories that hooked our attention more than others. The introduction of the social media ban, and the slow tease of details across the year about its implementation took up a significant chunk of our focus, while AI being embedded (to varying degrees of success) into absolutely everything meant that it was also impossible to escape. Join us to look back on the year that was, and attempt to predict the workings of the weird

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0:29:05

Is the AI boom going to spell the end of democracy in...

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2025/12/05

With AI in our newsrooms, our universities, and our courtrooms, the way we understand the truth has been forever changed. But could it be for the better? Or have we embarked on an unstoppable march towards a new understanding of democracy. How do we democratise AI development when a handful of tech companies run the digital world? And could we implement government reforms in Australia to make this happen?GUESTS:Cory Alpert, former Biden–Harris administration staffer and current PhD

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0:29:06

Do androids dream of electric housework? The...

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2025/11/28

If you were to picture the ideal robot form to vacuum your floor all by itself, what do you see? Is it a small UFO-shaped disc that whizzes under couches, or is it a humanoid robot with eyes and ears tracking your every move? The new 1X Neo robot has been launched and has been marketed as a 'robot butler', but what issues arise when we start making the tech that serves us look more and more human? Also, a new AI chatbot designed for human companionship has been met with outright

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0:29:06

Why is the government using AI to help create NDIS...

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2025/11/21

Roblox has been one of the worst culprits for child safety in the games world, and they’ve come up with something to supposedly keep our kids safe. ‘Age-gating’ is designed to keep people of different ages in different parts of the online game, but how accurate is this age verification? And is it going to cause more problems than solutions? Also, the government has been found using generative AI to develop plans for NDIS participants. Will rising costs and dwindling resources in

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0:29:05

Is it possible for an AI to 'hasten the coming of...

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2025/11/14

What happens when theology and technology collide? There's a new tech startup dedicated to building a Christian AI. It's called Gloo, launched by ex-Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger, and they say it's going to 'hasten the coming of Christ's return'. Also, AI chat services are helping us speak to God. From innocent Bible chatbots to an AI priest that told people to baptise their babies in Gatorade, how seriously are people taking these technological embodiments of God? Plus, we go way

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0:29:06

Self-driving taxis could be coming to Australia, but...

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2025/11/07

How well do you think the streets of Sydney would handle self-driving taxis? What about those same self-driving taxis navigating the Melbourne tram lines? Could you imagine it? Waymo is set to launch self-driving taxis and Ubers in Australia soon after talks with Transport NSW, and not everyone is happy with it. Also, Elon Musk has launched his very own version of the people's encyclopedia, Wikipedia, and Facebook Dating has been quietly dominating the online dating scene, and on

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0:29:06

Would you use ChatGPT now that it's in its horny era?

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2025/10/31

How much do you trust the AI chatbots you use on a day-to-day basis? Once you send your prompt off into cyberspace, how do you now no one is interfering with it somewhere in between? Prompt injections are an increasingly common vulnerability in generative AI services and they could be tricking you into giving away majorly sensitive information.Also, Google announced a breakthrough in quantum computing, the first ever algorithm to gain an actual quantum advantage on every day

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0:29:06

How did a global Amazon outage bring down almost 50...

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2025/10/24

When a major outage hit Amazon Web Services this week, websites and apps started falling like dominoes -- from Square to Duolingo, Netflix, and Adobe, why do so many major players rely on a single company to host their data? And should we be calling time on these pseudo tech-monopolies? Also, we investigate whether its actually true that your iPhone slows down every time a new one is released, and what’s going to happen to the 400 million computers that are going to become obsolete

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0:29:04

What happens when you try to ban a generation from...

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2025/10/17

The Online Safety Amendment Bill is the name on everyone’s lips this week and as the implementation date looms closer, we take a deep dive into some of the people most affected by the upcoming ban, and lay out all the info you need to know if you’re a parent or teen trying to duck and dodge this murky legislation. GUESTS:Leo Puglisi, teenager and Founder of 6 News Australia Nikita White, Amnesty International Campaigner Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Safety ComissionerThis

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0:29:18

We've got tonnes of space waste orbiting our Earth,...

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2025/10/10

There are over 170 million pieces of space junk orbiting Earth right now, and that number is only growing as space orbit becomes more accessible. How are we going to deal with this astronomical littering problem, while keeping up with our satellite-hungry tech needs?Also, an increase in light and radio pollution is making it harder for astronomers to study the stars. How can space tech companies, governments, and even you do something about it?Plus, we check in with the latest from

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0:28:59

If 'simulated gambling' is banned in kids games, why...

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2025/10/03

You step up to a box full of prizes, and knowing that there is a chance you may not win anything, you give it your real-life money anyway. No, this isn't a game at the casino, it's a video game that children as young as four are playing in their spare time. Last year, Australia introduced classification to prevent things like this from happening, so why are we still seeing Loot Boxes show up in kids games?Also, one of the largest video game companies in the world, Electronic Arts

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0:28:58

Is it true that AI is going to add $60 billion to...

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2025/09/26

The Australian Finance Industry Association has modelled AI's contribution to economic growth in the years ahead. It found that "scaling", or expanding, the use of AI could add up to $60 billion to GDP over the next decade. But who is actually going to benefit from this, and where are we getting these numbers from?Also, we explain the blossoming $100 billion bromance between Nvidia and OpenAI, and how Gen Z elected their new PM via the gaming app Discord amidst a wave of

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0:29:04

How fanfiction took over the world (and stayed free)

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2025/09/19

Fanfiction has gone from photocopied zines traded at conventions to millions of stories shared online. From smut-filled Harry Potter ships to the fic that birthed Fifty Shades of Grey, we explore fanfiction's growth, its influence on writing and culture, and how Archive of Our Own has stayed free and fan-run in an internet that charges for almost everything.GUESTS:Danielle Binks, fanfiction (and regular fiction) writer, literary agent, and lecturer in Creative Writing at RMIT

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0:29:04

How did an Australian team make the biggest video...

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2025/09/12

This week, an Australian video game called Hollow Knight: Silksong is the biggest video game in the world. It’s made by a small team out of Adelaide and has already sold millions of copies worldwide. What could this mean for our quietly successful games industry here in Australia? And why do we still have so much trouble seeing video games as a form of art? Also, new research is out that says up to a third of all women playing video games feel guilt-ridden about their hobby. While

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0:28:57

Why is Australia spending a billion dollars on a...

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2025/09/05

2025 is the 'International Year of Quantum Science and Technology', but what actually is quantum science? IBM and AMD are teaming up to champion 'quantum-centric supercomputing' – but what's the difference between a supercomputer and a regular computer? Will we ever see a supercomputer show up in our own homes? And why is Australia making a billion-dollar bet on a quantum computing facility in Brisbane? Plus, how and why did scientists develop a ‘biological qubit’, and could

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