FT Tech Tonic

US President Donald Trump wants to “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”. But more than 50 years on from the moon landings, America’s space agency, Nasa, is in disarray. Meanwhile, China is forging ahead with its own plans for manned missions to the Moon and perhaps to Mars. Who will win the race to the red planet? 

The FT’s space industry editor Peggy Hollinger speaks to former and current Nasa employees about the challenges facing the space agency, and to Jared Isaacman, Trump’s one-time nominee for Nasa administrator.

This episode of Tech Tonic is hosted by Peggy Hollinger and produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Fact checking by Lucy Baldwin. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

Clips: CNN, Brut America, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox 4 News

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Elon Musk wants humans to settle on Mars, and his rocket company SpaceX is spending billions of dollars on developing the spacecraft to take us there. The ‘Starship’ is being designed to take astronauts back to the moon, and eventually, on to the red planet. But why is Musk so obsessed with building a colony on Mars, and is he really the man to take us there? 

The FT’s space industry editor Peggy Hollinger speaks to space experts and Mars enthusiasts about the pull of the red planet, both for scientists and explorers, and how realistic Musk’s vision for humanity as an interplanetary species really is.

This episode of Tech Tonic is hosted by Peggy Hollinger and produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Fact checking by Simon Greaves. Sound design is by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original Music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Special thanks to Tom Hannen.

Clips: SpaceX, AP, Joe Rogan Experience, SXSW, VideoFromSpace, WPLG Local 10, International Astronautical Foundation, BBC Archive, ABC, CGTN, Flagler Live, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, NasaSpaceFlight/Joshua Adank

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”, China could send its first crewed mission to Mars within a decade, and Elon Musk wants people to actually settle on Mars, transforming the human race into an interplanetary species. 

In a new series of Tech Tonic, the FT’s Peggy Hollinger asks if we’re really about to land, and even live, on the red planet. 

Free to read:

Musk’s mission to Mars

Three days with America’s rocket chasers

Tech Tonic is produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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AI models have learned to create their own music by harvesting millions of songs from the internet. But critics say they’re using musicians’ work without permission, and three major record labels are suing them for ‘copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale’. 

In the second episode of this two part series, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney speaks to campaigners and lawyers about the legal battle over AI generators, and to artists about the growth of AI music on streaming platforms. How are AI generated songs racking up millions of listens? And should streaming platforms do anything to stop it? 

Free to read:

Will AI kill the pop star?

The Velvet Sundown’s shaggy retro rock has attracted 750,000 listeners – but is it all an AI hoax? 

A musical supergroup fights AI – with a silent protest album 

Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus warns of AI threat to musicians’ revenues

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. The producers are Lulu Smyth and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer, Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original Music by Metaphor Music. Fact checking by Miatta Mbriwa and Megan Hill. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. 

Music used in this episode: 

‘Dust on the Wind’ - The Velvet Sundown

‘The’ – Is This What We Want by 1000+ artists 

‘Chasing Horizons’ - generated by Udio 

‘Euphoria in Motion’ - generated by Udio 

‘Drift Beyond the Flame’ – The Velvet Sundown 

‘The Thrill of Loneliness’ - Hana Stretton 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Generative AI models trained on vast swaths of popular music can create songs almost indistinguishable from human-made work. For some, they represent the future of pop music. For others, they threaten to flood the world with ‘AI slop’, drowning out the work of human artists, stealing musicians' jobs, and ending the process of music-making as we know it. Is this just a case of technophobia? Or could AI music generators replace human musicians altogether?

In the first in a two-part series, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney speaks to musicians and artists about the inventive power of generative AI in music, as well as the potential threat it might pose to musicians’ livelihoods and the music industry as a whole. 

This series of Tech Tonic is presented by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. The producers are Lulu Smyth and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer, Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original Music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. 

Music used in this episode: 

‘Chasing Horizons’ - generated by Udio 

‘Own the Night” - generated by Udio 

‘From Ashes to Madness’ - generated by Udio

‘Workplace Vibes’ - generated by Udio

‘Canaan (Live Training)’ - Holly Herndon. Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

‘Evening Shades (Live Training)’ - Holly Herndon. Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

‘Godmother’ - Holly Herndon. Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

Music from Holly Herndon & Matt Dryhurst: The Call - Copyright Herndon Dryhurst Studio

‘Heart on My Sleeve’ - Ghostwriter977

‘Verknallt in einen Talahon’ - Butterbro / generated by Udio

‘Let it Burn’ - The Velvet Sundown

‘Sexual Healing’ - Written by Marvin Gaye, Odell Brown, and David Ritz. Copyright EMI Blackwood Music Inc. and EMI April Music Inc.

‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ - Written by George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, Copyright Sony Music Entertainment

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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AI music generators - platforms that use artificial intelligence to create new, original music from scratch - can make songs that are almost indistinguishable from human creations. For some musicians, they’re the next frontier in music-making technology. But for others, they represent a grave threat, flooding the world with low-grade AI music, stealing the jobs of working musicians, and even spelling the end of the creative process as we know it. Is this just technophobia, or is music facing AI annihilation?

In a new two-part series, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney explores the emerging world of AI music, and the impact it could have on the industry.

Tech Tonic is presented by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. The producers are Lulu Smyth and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer, Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Thiel is unlike any other Trump tech bro. As well as a wildly successful investor, he’s seen as a thinker - the philosopher king of Silicon Valley. Thiel’s acolytes in the tech world and Washington include vice-president JD Vance but his relationship with the Trump camp is complicated. And there are still questions about what, if anything, he wants with the president.

In the final episode of this season of Tech Tonic, Murad Ahmed speaks to FT columnist Gillian Tett about Thiel’s political philosophy, and to Tabby Kinder, the FT’s West Coast financial editor, about his influence in Silicon Valley.

Free to read:

How Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley funded the sudden rise of JD Vance

A time for truth and reconciliation (written by Peter Thiel)

How a little-known French literary critic became a bellwether for the US right

Palantir’s ‘revolving door’ with government spurs huge growth

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Sam Giovinco. Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has undergone a transformation, both physical and political. The skinny teenager who founded Facebook in his dorm room is now a muscular jiu-jitsu enthusiast who’s called US President Donald Trump a “badass” and wants to see more “masculine energy” in the workplace. 

Is this all an act? Is Zuckerberg doing whatever it takes to ingratiate himself with the Trump administration and ensure that Meta emerges a winner in the AI race? Or has “Maga Mark” been the real Mark Zuckerberg all along? 

Murad Ahmed speaks to Hannah Murphy, the FT’s technology correspondent in San Francisco, and to Katie Harbath, a former Facebook executive under Zuckerberg and now CEO of Anchor Change.

Free to read:

How Mark Zuckerberg unleashed his inner brawler

How Joel Kaplan became Mark Zuckerberg’s most trusted political fixer

OpenAI says Meta is trying to poach staff with $100mn sign-on offers

Tech titans stand with Donald Trump to kill off activism in Silicon Valley

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Odinn Ingibergsson, Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was once a vocal critic of Donald Trump. But that changed during last year’s election campaign. Now, he has instructed the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post, to shift its editorial line to be more in line with the president. So what provoked Bezos’s political change of heart?

Murad Ahmed and the FT’s US media editor Anna Nicolau speak to Marty Baron, the former executive editor of the Washington Post, about why Bezos bought the Post in the first place, the effect his ownership is having on the newspaper, and how the editorial shift is symptomatic of a larger impact the president seems to be having across the American media landscape. 

Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post did not reply to a request for comment.

Free to read:

How Jeff Bezos made peace with Donald Trump 

Jeff Bezos focuses Washington Post opinion pages on ‘personal liberties’ and ‘free markets’

Jeff Bezos to sell up to $4.75bn in Amazon stock

Amazon to begin deploying rival satellites to Starlink this month 

This season of Tech Tonic is presented by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane and the executive producer is Flo Phillips. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music, Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.