Nostalgia triggers our emotions and that in turn makes us vulnerable to manipulation. We speak with Richard King about the commodification and weaponisation of nostalgic sentiment. Also, New York Times critic-at-large, Jason Farago, on why he believes our cultural age might be the least innovative in half a millennium.

Guests

Richard King – author and critic

Jason Farago – author, social commentator and critic-at-large, The New York Times

Further information

Richard’s Griffith Review essay - Nostalgia on demand

Jason’s NYT essay - Why Culture Has Come to a Standstill

Most people want to eat better. And many of us have embraced the trend toward "natural" foods and conscious eating.

We equate "natural" with healthy, nutritious and virtuous, but that can often be way off the mark. New research shows many healthy alternatives are anything but. And our embrace of the term natural is more about expressing identity and morality rather than healthy eating. Empowering people to understand what and how they should eat is what it should be about – and one way to do that is by using a food labelling app.

Guests

Professor Sarah Bridle – Chair in Food, Climate and Society, University of York

Alan Levinovitz – Associate Professor of Religious Studies, James Madison University

Laura Marchese – Researcher, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University

Julie Chapon – Co-founder of the Yuka app

Lisa – Brisbane-based food-rating app user

Further information

Sarah Bridle: Food and Climate Change -- Without the Hot Air, UIT Cambridge

Climate Stack Calculator - A free tool to help you add up the climate impact of different food choices

Play the game: Which of your food choices have the biggest climate impact?   

Take A Bite Out of Climate – resources and games to learn how food choices contribute to climate change 

BBC Future – Foodprint Calculator

Methane levels are going up — not down, despite decades spent trying to reduce emissions from agriculture and landfill. But some countries are bucking the trend, we find out who and how.

Breeding sheep and cattle to burp less is one way to reduce methane emissions. ABC Top 5 Science Residency recipient Luisa Olmo talks us through a genetic selection programme that could lead the way forward.

Guests

Dr Ed Clayton – Ruminant nutritionist, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Professor Sam Clark – Professor of Animal Genetics, University of New England

Dr Pep Canadell – Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Environment

Producer

Dr Luisa Olmo — Research Officer, Meat Science and Value Chains, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

The design of your city contributes to how much rain you get. Researchers have found a 'wet island effect' and it's likely to shape the future construction of our cities. Also, better understanding how Artificial Intelligence is used in conflict; and the major Australian study that calls into question the effectiveness of carbon trading.

Guests

Dr Megan Evans – Senior Lecturer, Public Sector Management, UNSW Canberra

Professor Dev Niyogi – Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin

Professor Toni Erskine – International Politics, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, ANU

Further information

Statement from the Clean Energy Regulator

Military spending around the world has reached a new peak, and it's still going up. All eyes are on Ukraine and the Middle East as new strategies and weapons are being put to the test. But are the traditional international rules of warfare too focussed on old technologies? Can they be adjusted to encompass cyber hacking and the use of online civilian proxies?

Guests

Professor Johanna Weaver – Director of the Tech Policy design Centre, Australian National University, ANU

Professor Alexander Hill – Military Historian, University of Calgary

Dr Nan Tian – Senior Researcher and Programme Director, SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, SIPRI

Dr Jack Watling – Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare, Royal United Services Institute (UK)

Further information

Global Roaming - THE NEW FRONTLINES 01: Welcome to the future of war

Sometimes, despite the hype, despite extensive funding, and despite clever and ingenious thinking, good ideas fail. Or at least don’t live up to their initial promise. There are lessons to be learnt and interesting anecdotes to be told. In this episode we look at four future-focused projects that have never really taken off: Google Glass, solar roads, space tourism and hyperloop technology. 

Guests

Dr Paul Sutter – Astrophysicist, SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute, New York 

Sarah Marquart – freelance journalist, editor of From Quarks to Quasars

Andrew Hawkins – Transportation editor, The Verge 

Quinn Myers – Chicago-based journalist and author 'Google Glass'

The UN General Assembly has passed a Declaration on Future Generations. It’s designed to ensure the generations of tomorrow aren’t disadvantaged by the decisions we make today. But is it more than feel good symbolism? Could it one day be as powerful as the Declaration on Human Rights? Also, how a focus on the here and now restricts visionary thinking; and we get the results from the latest 4-day work week trial, this time in Germany.  

Guests

Professor Thomas Hale – Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University  

Professor Brett Bowden – Professor of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, School of Humanities & Communication Arts, Western Sydney University 

Professor Julia Backmann – University of Münster

Further information 

University of Münster - Germany’s four-day working week trial

Blavatnik School of Government - Implementing a Declaration on Future Generations

Brett Bowden - Now is Not the Time: Inside our Obsession with the Present

Robot vacuum cleaners are so innocuous, many people treat them almost like pets. But they're also potential portals into our private life. Story Lab journalist, Julian Fell, learns how to hack a robot vacuum cleaner and uncovers some disturbing facts about the security of connected household appliances. Also, acts of aggression and abuse committed in virtual reality environments. So-called "metacrimes" may be cyber in nature, but they can feel very real and have physical world consequences.

Guests

Dr Milind Tiwari – Postdoctoral research fellow, Charles Sturt University

Dennis Giese – independent security researcher

Sean Kelly – robot vacuum owner

Daniel Swenson – US-based victim of robot vacuum hack

Donald Dansereau – senior lecturer, Australian Centre for Robotics, University of Sydney

Yong Zhi Lim – former cybersecurity tester, TUV SUD

Further information

ABC News - Hackers take control of robot vacuums in multiple cities, yell racial slurs

ABC News - We hacked a robot vacuum — and could watch live through its camera

The heating climate is now recognised as a threat to our inner world – to brain health and rationality. Extreme temperatures not only impact our ability to think and our decision-making they also increase the presence of neurotoxins in the environment. And that can lead to disease and mental degeneration. We speak with the head of the newly formed International Neuro Climate Working Group. Climate anxiety is also caused by changes in our brains. So, is that a blessing or a curse?

Guests

Clayton Page Aldern – Neuroscientist, author and senior reporter, Grist.

Dr Burcin Ikiz – Neuroscientist and Chair of the International Neuro Climate Working Group

Professor Joshua Carlson – Director of the Cognitive X Affective Behaviour and Integrative Neuroscience Lab, Northern Michigan University

Further information

Clayton Aldern - The Weight of Nature.How a Changing Climate Changes Our Minds, Brains and Bodies

The Melting brain

Joshua Carlon - The Age of Climate Anxiety

Climate change on the brain: Neural correlates of climate anxiety

Rana Sylvatica is an unassuming wood frog with an extraordinary gift. In the depths of winter, it can slow down its metabolism, flood its cells with ice and remain in a state of suspended animation for months. But it's what it might be able to teach us about preserving human organs for transplant that has scientists really excited. Also, the menagerie in an icy test tube — San Diego's Frozen Zoo and the fight to preserve biodiversity.

Guests

Dr Ken Storey — Professor of Biology and Biochemistry, Carleton University, Canada.

Dr Saffron Bryant – Senior lecturer, Department of Physics, RMIT University

Marlys Houck – Curator, Frozen Zoo, San Diego Wildlife Alliance

Dr Justine O’Brien – Manager, Conservation Science,Taronga Conservation Society Australia

Further information

Youtube video of a frozen frog thawing