In this special episode, what's happening in Australia's space industry? Between Australia's first lunar rover, and putting plants on the moon (this year!), we'll take a peek behind the curtain.

Space technology is having a moment right now. NASA’s Artemis mission is the first time humans have launched themselves into space since 1972. The 2026 Australian of the Year, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, is an astronaut. So, what does our local space industry look like right now? And where is it headed?

GUESTS:

• Professor Andy Koronios -- Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Australasian Space Innovation Institute.
• Dr Lauren Fell -- outreach and marketing specialist at Lunar Outpost Oceania, co-lead of the ELO2 industry consortium building Roo-ver. She's also a director at Lunaria One, who is putting plants on the moon.

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This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

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Get in touch:

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

The world's biggest tech companies are scoping Australia out as a data centre hub. As they see it, we have an abundance of space, electricity and water. But do we actually have enough?

About 270 data centres have already been built in Australia, and there are a whole lot more on the way.

The amount of electricity and water these massive buildings are projected to consume is staggering. We'll walk through the numbers this episode, and who is likely to end up footing the bill.

The MIT Technology Review article Bronwyn referenced during the episode is here.

GUESTS:

• Petra Stock, climate and environment reporter for The Guardian Australia.
• Bronwyn Cumbo, lecturer at University of Technology Sydney and transdisiciplinary social researcher. Her Conversation article is here.

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This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

------------

Get in touch:

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

John Livingstone is the Head of Digital Policy at UNICEF Australia. He's been talking directly to students about how the Australian social media ban is affecting young people, and whether it's making their lives better.

This is Rae's full conversation with John. You can hear a broader analysis of the social media ban in our recent episode.

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This is the first edition of our 'on the down-low' series -- longer standalone interviews with interesting people in the tech world.

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Australia banned under-16s from social media at the start of summer, and the world has been watching.

Today, we're doing a full audit. What the ban is doing, what it isn't, and whether we even built it on the right foundations.

GUESTS:

• Josh Taylor -- technology reporter for The Guardian.
• Jocelyn Brewer -- psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition.

With a special appearance from John Livingstone, Head of Digital Policy at UNICEF Australia. You can hear Rae's full interview with him when it's released next Wednesday (25/03/2026).

Rae also mentioned If Books Could Kill's analysis of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

There's a fresh wave of headlines claiming that AI is eating the workforce whole, and that the only way to have a job is to become the person who builds the robots. Is this a reasonable assumption? Or has "AI-washing" just become the most convenient way to excuse a restructure?

Plus, a genuine artistic community has grown around taking photos in video games. Who owns those creations?

And, wired headphones are back? Wired headphone revenue jumped 20 percent in the first six weeks of 2026. Why?

GUESTS:

• Kath Albury -- Professor of Technology at Swinburne University, and Associate Investigator at the ARC Centre for Excellence In Automated Decision Making and Society. 
• Mark Serrels -- Editorial Director at Choice and co-founder of Continue Magazine.

This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

VPNs have topped the charts this week, after major adult websites blocked Australian users. Several of these most popular VPNs are free, but at what cost?

Plus, fake videos of the war in Iran have been circulating online. How do we tell what's real from what's not?

Also, the Macbook Neo. It runs on an iPhone chip, is remarkably cheap, and comes in a variety of colours. Has Apple become fun again?

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Benjamin Law's episode of Compass, Outsourcing Our Souls, will be out on Sunday 15th of March.

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GUESTS:

Michael Cowling — Professor of Educational Technology at RMIT and Director of the Hub for Apple Platform Innovation. AKA Professor Tech, and you can find his YouTube channel here.

Tobias Venus — technology and travel journalist, and video producer at tobygv.tv. His YouTube channel is here.

This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

A US government official has called Anthropic a national security risk, after the company drew ethical lines around its technology being used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. How comfortable would you be with AI firing missiles?

Plus, Facebook's parent company, Meta, sold seven million pairs of AI-enabled Ray-Ban last year. And now they want to add facial recognition. How will that change public spaces?

And, Microsoft tried to ban the word 'microslop'. It didn't go well.

GUESTS:

• Seamus Byrne — tech reporter and PhD research candidate with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Automated Decision Making & Society.
• Hannah Geremia — digital content editor at Whistleout Singapore.

A US government official has called Anthropic a national security risk, after the company drew ethical lines around its technology being used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. How comfortable would you be with AI firing missiles?

Plus, Facebook's parent company, Meta, sold seven million pairs of AI-enabled Ray-Bans last year. And now they want to add facial recognition. How will that change public spaces?

And, Microsoft tried to ban the word 'microslop'. It didn't go well.

GUESTS:

Seamus Byrne — tech reporter and PhD research candidate with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Automated Decision Making & Society.

Hannah Geremia — digital content editor at Whistleout Singapore.

New research about the social media platform X suggests that just a few weeks on what used to be Twitter can shift political attitudes AND the effects can last long after we log off. So is it really possible to use these sites at all without being affected by the system?

Plus, Australia's planned AI advisory body has been scrapped after 15 months of preparation. It's been replaced by the Australian AI Safety Institute. What does this mean for AI regulation?

And, scientists have found a way to make 3D printed guns traceable.

GUESTS:

• Seamus Byrne, tech reporter and PhD research candidate.
• Erica Mealy, senior lecturer of computer science at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

AI is sliding into game development pipelines, but the rules around telling players what is machine-made and what is made by people are patchy at best. So, how much transparency do players deserve, and does it even matter?

Also on the program, how the RAM shortage is impacting the price of game consoles. And, why VR is better suited to the medical and training fields than replacing the open-plan office.

GUESTS: 

• Chloe Appleby, games curator at the Powerhouse Museum. 
• Alex Kidman, freelance technology journalist at Alex Reviews Tech.

This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

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If you liked this episode, you might like to check out our previous episode about whether a dating app for games could be the solution for that indecision of what to start next. You can find the link here.