Discourse ZA

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In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to economic analyst Bheki Mahlobo about what is in store for South Africans in the year ahead. What are some economic and political trends that will define 2022? They discuss the rise of “South Africa First” rhetoric among both sides of the political spectrum, the shortcomings of modern monetary policies, the tradeoffs between growth and redistribution, the growing number of disillusioned ANC voters, and why so many young South Africans are looking at unconventional ways of investing in their futures.

Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

Bheki Mahlobo is a Senior Analyst at the Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA). Bheki is a regular speaker and media commentator, providing analysis of the political and economic trends in South Africa and global markets. Bheki is the co-author of the CRA’s client Risk Alert (together with Dr John Endres), a weekly bulletin that identifies the key risks in South Africa and the world. He also contributes research to the Socio-Economic Survey of South Africa, the CRA’s flagship reference guide.

Center For Risk Analysis: https://cra-sa.com/about/our-team/bheki-mahlobo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mahlobo_bheki

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In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to investigative journalist Heidi Swart about the rise of surveillance initiatives in South Africa. They discuss the increase in security cameras on South African streets and suburbs, the overreach of private security companies, and why more surveillance could mean less — not more — safety. They also explore issues around big tech and data, why privacy matters, and what citizens can do to better protect themselves.

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Heidi Swart is a South African investigative journalist who writes about espionage, security, surveillance and data privacy issues in both the public and private spheres. She's written extensively about illegal government surveillance, interception technologies, cyberspying and cybersecurity, risks to critical communications infrastructure, social media monitoring, data mining for surveillance purposes, public space surveillance, video analytics (including facial recognition, automatic licence plate recognition systems, etc.), the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on surveillance practices, and biometric surveillance. 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Heidi_Swart

Daily Maverick: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/heidiswart/

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Intro Animation by Cath Theo - https://www.instagram.com/Cuz_Im_Cath/

The idea of the seductive sex robot is the stuff of myth, legend and science fiction. From the myth of Laodamia in Ancient Greece to twenty-first century shows such as Westworld, robots in human form have captured our imagination, our hopes and our fears. But beyond the fantasies there are real and fundamental questions about our relationship with technology as it moves into the realm of robotics. In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to computer scientist and sex-robot expert Kate Devlin about how the emerging and future development of sexual companion robots might affect us and the society in which we live. They discuss the social changes arising from emerging technologies, the gender gap in the supply of artificial companionship, and how robots can enhance — but not replace — human relationships.

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Dr Kate Devlin is a British computer scientist specialising in Artificial intelligence and Human–computer interaction (HCI). She is best known for her work on human sexuality and robotics and was co-chair of the annual Love and Sex With Robots convention in 2016 held in London and was founder of the UK's first ever sex tech hackathon held in 2016 at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London and is the author of Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots in addition to several academic papers.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/drkatedevlin

Website: https://www.drkatedevlin.com

Book: https://amzn.to/31HSVhx

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Intro Animation by Cath Theo - https://www.instagram.com/Cuz_Im_Cath/

Over the last two years, many international media outlets have lamented the apparent death of democracy in Hungary. At the same time, Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, has become the darling of the modern conservative movement. Depending on who you’re listening to, then, Hungary is a cautionary tale of right-wing national populism run amok or the poster child of contemporary conservative politics (perhaps, not mutually exclusive notions). In this episode of The Small Print, Brownyn speaks to economist and Hungarian national, Peter Istzin. They discuss what is going on in Hungary and what the international media gets wrong, the problems of crony capitalism and lack of social mobility in Hungary, the interesting parallels between Hungary and South Africa, and more.

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Peter Isztin is an assistant lecturer in economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest. His research interests include applied microeconomic theory in general, with particular focus on persuasion, the family, human capital and the market for local services.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PeterIsztin

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Meeting the social and educational needs of South Africa’s youngest and most vulnerable children is fundamental to economic prosperity, political stability, the advancement of democracy and nation-building. Yet, when it comes to election manifestos and political rhetoric, the topic of early childhood development remains largely ignored. In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to Professor Eric Atmore, Director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development (ECD), about the lack of political will to make ECD a priority, the bureaucratic nightmare of accessing the Covid-19 relief fund, and why ECD should be a cause championed by all of us.

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Professor Eric Atmore is Director of the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Extraordinary Associate Professor, Department of Education Policy Studies, University of Stellenbosch. Eric completed his PhD in 2019. The title of his PhD: An Interpretive Analysis of the Early Childhood Development Policy Trajectory in Post-Apartheid South Africa.

Centre for Early Childhood Development: https://cecd.org.za/

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In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn is joined by columnist and renowned libertarian Ivo Vegter. In a recent article for The Daily Friend, Vegter defends the idea of vaccine passes, which some of his critics consider antithetical to his libertarian principles. Together, Bronwyn and Vegter explore the merits of that charge, the pros and cons of vaccine passes and similar proposals, and the limitations of libertarianism when dealing with a public health crisis.

Ivo’s article: https://bit.ly/3CYVQzX

Articles mentioned:

https://bbc.in/2ZWZETU

https://nbcnews.to/3wgxKhp

https://bit.ly/3k5jK5c

https://bit.ly/3bCvzLy

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Ivo Vegter is a freelance journalist, columnist and speaker who loves debunking myths and misconceptions, and addresses topics from the perspective of individual liberty and free markets. He is @IvoVegter on Twitter and you can find his columns twice a week on www.dailyfriend.co.za.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IvoVegter

Column: https://dailyfriend.co.za/author/ivo/

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Subscribe to the Discourse ZA Podcast:

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Intro Animation by Cath Theo - https://www.instagram.com/Cuz_Im_Cath/

In this episode of The Small Print, Brownyn speaks to fellow futurist Dr Ian Pearson. They talk about some of the issues surrounding the contemporary environmental movement, which is characterised by good intentions but bad policy recommendations. Bronwyn and Ian discuss the need to become sustainable from a holistic perspective, which requires us to ensure that environmental protection does not come at the cost of human cultural aspects such as politics, economics and social harmony.

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Dr Ian Pearson is a leading futurist and has written several books and appeared over 450 times on TV and radio. Pearson identifies and explains the key changes ahead in every sector of business and society that will arise as a result of rapidly changing technology, without use of jargon. He has a strong engineering background and uses that to interpret current R&D and drive his views on how fast things in each sector will change in the next 15 years. He explains often complex technological developments using ordinary everyday language, and shows why they are relevant to executives, in a provocative and entertaining style.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/timeguide

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Intro Animation by Cath Theo - https://www.instagram.com/Cuz_Im_Cath/

In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to Wandile Sihlobo, author of the book “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity, and Agriculture.” They discuss the contentious and complex issue of land reform, striving for restorative justice without sacrificing value creation, the urgent need for agricultural policy to address gender equity and youth involvement, and how agriculture can drive development and job creation in South Africa.

Book: https://bit.ly/3B7yvKE

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Wandile Sihlobo is the Chief Economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) and the author of “Finding Common Ground: Land, Equity, and Agriculture.” He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Fort Hare and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Stellenbosch University. Wandile is a Senior Lecturer Extraordinary at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Wits School of Governance. In 2019, he was appointed as a member of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council after serving on the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture between 2018 and 2019.

Book: https://bit.ly/3B7yvKE

Website: https://wandilesihlobo.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wandilesihlobo

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Intro Animation by Cath Theo - https://www.instagram.com/Cuz_Im_Cath/

The Commodification of Everything

In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to writer, mother, and modern heretic, Mary Harrington. They talk about the cultural shift in the way people understand sexual relationships and the transactional nature of modern life. The conversation evolves into a discussion about the commodification of our bodies more generally (e.g. national healthcare), why capitalism is not an antidote to authoritarianism, the class politics of scarcity, and the myth of progress.

Article: https://www.plough.com/en/topics/life/relationships/love-in-the-marketplace

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Mary Harrington is a writer based in the UK and contributing editor at UnHerd, where she writes a weekly column. She is interested in (among other things) the political and cultural side-effects of globalisation, the replacement of class politics by identity politics, the joy of limits, and women’s rights in the biotech age, which is the subject of my forthcoming book Feminism Against Progress.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/moveincircles

Reactionary Feminist: https://reactionaryfeminist.com/

UnHerd: https://unherd.com/author/mary-harrington/

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Subscribe to the Discourse ZA Podcast:

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Intro Animation by Cath Theo - https://www.instagram.com/Cuz_Im_Cath/

Western nations have not acted in good faith when it comes to the supply of vaccines. Why should African nations think they will act differently when it comes to climate negotiations?

In this episode of The Small Print, Bronwyn speaks to Gyude Moore, Senior Policy Fellow at the Center for Global Development. They discuss the need for African countries to unite to improve their negotiating position on the world stage. While Western leaders often engage in idle talk of being a global community, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that, in a time of crisis, it’s everyone for themselves. The climate emergency will prove no different. Yet, about culpability for this crisis, the facts are clear and immutable: the people least responsible for it are exposed to its worst effects. This is a timely conversation that addresses the importance of global accountability, African unity, and the need for brave leadership in Africa.

Articles mentioned in the podcast:

Article 1: https://african.business/2021/09/trade-investment/after-the-wests-response-to-covid-africa-cannot-expect-support-on-climate-change/

Article 2: https://african.business/2021/01/trade-investment/why-africa-must-ensure-afcfta-succeeds/

Article 3: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-offer-loans-to-lure-developing-countries-away-from-chinese-telecom-gear-11603036800?redirect=amp#click=https://t.co/I9hrPdeOoR

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Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bronwynwilliams

Flux Trends: https://www.fluxtrends.com/future-flux/futurist-in-residence/

Website: https://whatthefuturenow.com/

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Gyude Moore is a leading expert in African state-building, governance, foreign and development policy, and political-economy. He was previously Minister of Public Works in Liberia and before that Deputy Chief of Staff to the President and Head of the President's Delivery Unit. He is currently a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), a Washington, DC-based think tank. At CGD, Gyude focuses on African governance, infrastructure investment and Africa's response to the presence of external actors.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/w-gyude-moore-6825756/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gyude_moore

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Intro Animation by Cath Theo - https://www.instagram.com/Cuz_Im_Cath/