Future Tense

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Pencil towers and issues around urban inequality and density Jan 12, 2020

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Critics say that the proliferation of modern, wafer-thin skyscrapers are symbols of rising urban inequality. Also: Are levels of density in our cities making us ill? And what's the impact of short-term letting on urban affordability?

Future doom and the rose-coloured past Jan 05, 2020

Show notes

Why do we see the past through rose-coloured glasses, but not the future? Psychologists tell us that human beings have a tendency to be fearful and pessimistic about the future, while simultaneously romanticising the past. If the theory is true, it might help explain the difficulties we often have in making informed decisions and effectively planning for the future.

Prescient Predictions: 1984; Brave New World; and Network Dec 29, 2019

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The dystopian best-seller 1984 was published exactly seventy years ago. Its influence has been profound. But does it really speak to today’s politico-cultural environment?

Street art – the next space race? Dec 22, 2019

Show notes

Street artists are busy commandeering as many city surfaces as their paints will allow, authorities are trying to neutralise the threat, while advertising agencies are keen to clone the potency of hand painted art.

Our changing media environment and a call to “decomputerise” Dec 15, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, we look ahead to the news and broader media environment in 2020 and pressing issues for local content in a globalised world. We also hear about the need to “decomputerise” in order to decarbonise.

NATO’s nadir and how best to move forward Dec 08, 2019

Show notes

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, has seen better days. Historian and military analyst, Andrew Bacevich, once described it as an organisation that privileges “nostalgia over self-awareness”. But most critics, Bacevich included, want NATO refocused and retooled. So what needs to change in order to restore the alliance as an effective military force? What role should the United States play in such a reshaping? And how can NATO be strengthened without increasing tensions with Russia?

Modern Monetary Theory and its challenge to Neoliberalism Dec 01, 2019

Show notes

After more than four decades of dominance, free-market capitalism is facing a challenge. Its rival, the rather blandly named Modern Monetary Theory, promises to return economic planning to a less ideological footing. It’s also keen to strike a blow against the “surplus fetish” that many economists now blame for declining public services and growing inequality.

Digital Technology and the lonely Nov 24, 2019

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Digital technology is a new tool to mitigate loneliness amount older people. And find out about the risk associated with data "re-identification".

Depression, anxiety and social media Nov 17, 2019

Show notes

What is the relationship between depression and digital technology?

Artificial intelligence, ethics and education Nov 10, 2019

Show notes

AI holds enormous potential for transforming the way we teach, but first we need to define what kind of education system we want. Also, the head of the UK’s new Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation warns democratic governments that they urgently need an ethics and governance framework for emerging technologies.

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