The International commitment to ban landmines is wavering. Several European countries are reversing their opposition to using them. The shift comes as disarmament negotiators struggle to regulate the spread of "killer robots" — AI-controlled autonomous weapons. So, is the future of weapons containment and control under threat? And are treaties signed in peace always likely to be vulnerable during times of war?

Guests

Professor Sean Watts — Co-director of the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare, West Point

Dr Barry de Vries — Research fellow, Public International Law, Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany) Professor Lee Funnell — University of Chicago Law School

Professor Lee Fennell — University of Chicago Law School

Researchers and corporations are already working to relocate data servers beyond the Earth's atmosphere — on satellites.

Data servers are essential to the functioning of the modern world, but they're both power and water hungry. When they're built, they often meet with community concern and environmental protest.

So, why not build data centres in space where solar energy is abundant? What could possibly go wrong?

Finally, we discuss how artificial intelligence is changing the way we write by providing tools for editing, improving clarity, and suggesting new ideas.

Guests

Dr Domenico Vicinanza — Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems and Data Science, Anglia Ruskin University

Damien Dumestier — Space system architect, Thales Alenia Space

Dr Steven Freeland — Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University and Professorial Fellow, Bond University

Dr Daniel Murphy — Program Lead, Aerosol Properties and Processes, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)

Associate Professor Ritesh Chugh — Information and Communication Technologies, CQ University

Forgetting is the only safe response to the world's problems, from a geopolitical perspective, according to author and journalist David Rieff. Sometimes it’s too dangerous to remember. And forgetting is also a good thing in your personal life, say scientists. It moves us forward. The science of memory is giving way to the science of forgetting. Forgetting used to be seen as a failure of the brain, but new research suggests it’s a crucial part of the way our minds function. 

Original broadcast on March 27, 2022

Guests

Dr Scott Small – Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Columbia University

Dr Oliver Hardt - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, McGill University (Canada) 

David Rieff – writer and journalist

Further information

Scott Small – Forgetting: The Benefits of Not Remembering

David Rieff – In Praise of Forgetting

Donald Trump is establishing a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. He wants it to rival the country's stockpile of gold. He boasts America will one day be the "Bitcoin superpower of the world", but what's his end game and what will it mean for future global finance? Questions are already being asked about why he's chosen to largely deregulate the cryptocurrency sector and whether his family's personal crypto interests are now driving US policy.

Guests

Associate Professor Larisa Yarovaya — Director of the Centre for Digital Finance, University of Southampton

Professor Robert Elliott — Professor of Economics, University of Birmingham

Dr John Hawkins — senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra

Maximilian Brichta — Communications, University of Southern California

There's been growing research and investment in projects that use the oceans to artificially remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Such techniques involve both a biological and a chemical approach.

To date, carbon removal technologies have been largely land-based, using giant air-purification machines, or planting trees to consume and store carbon. Those efforts have struggled to gain scale and acceptance. So, will a marine-based approach make any difference? It's a controversial idea and not without its difficulties.

Guests

Brad Ack — CEO, Ocean Visions

James Kerry — Senior Marine and Climate Scientist, OceanCare; Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at James Cook University

Romany Webb — Deputy Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School

Rachel Rose Jackson — Climate Campaign Director, Corporate Accountability

YouTube is the second biggest website in the world, containing more than 14.8 billion videos. It's been a huge success, but its public image as a haven for influencers and digital monetisers belies its true character and role. Ryan McGrady from the University of Massachusetts takes us inside the online behemoth. Also, perspectives on boredom, its purpose and prevalence; its relationship to time, and why the measures we undertake to fight boredom so often backfire.

Guests

Isabella Lee — Production assistant, Guardian Australia

Dr Michael Inzlicht — Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto

Dr Maria Balaska — Philosopher and Research Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire and Åbo Akademi University (Finland)

Dr Ryan McGrady — Senior Research Fellow, Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Future Tense — The vicious cycle of fear and anger — and how it traps society

We like to think that increases in efficiency lead to greater sustainability – to lower resource use. But from cars to computers to bitcoin, it seems the reverse is true – efficiency stimulates demand. It’s an oft forgotten rule of economics called the Jevons Paradox, and it might explain why the demand for almost everything keeps going up even while we simultaneously fret about over-consumption. Also, would you accept a parcel from a stranger, take it on the bus or train with you, and then deliver it to another stranger for a small fee?  It might sound dodgy when you put it like that, but it’s part of an emerging delivery trend call “crowdshipping”. And proponents say it’s about reducing the environmental impact of transport. 

Guests

Dr Blair Fix – Political economist, York University (Canada) 

Dr Adam Dorr – Director of Research, Rethink 

Professor Lynette Cheah – Chair of Sustainable Transport, University of the Sunshine Coast 

 Further information

Blair Fix article - A Tour of the Jevons Paradox: How Energy Efficiency Backfires

Adam Dorr’s article - Rethinking the Jevons Paradox: why more clean energy efficiency is good for the environment

Human beings have a bias toward optimism, says astrophysicist turned author and editor, Sumit Paul-Choudhury. While we may not always acknowledge it, the power of optimism is what drives our species forward. But beware of the modern craze for "Manifesting" — wishful thinking, no matter how intense, only has impact if it's married to action. Also, why we need to rethink globalisation's bad rap. International relations expert, Inanna Hamati-Ataya, argues there are no pure cultures and globalisation is really the means by which humanity flourishes.

Guests

Professor Inanna Hamati-Ataya — Chair of Global International Relations, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Sumit Paul-Choudhury — author, editor and Managing Director, Alternity Limited

Associate Professor Laura D'Olimpio — School of Education, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Further information

Inanna Hamati-Ataya's article on globalisation 

Laura D'Olimpio's article on manifesting 

Sumit Paul-Choudhury's book The Bright Side

Artificial intelligence, it turns out, has a heavy human backend — they're called "data labellers"; they mostly live in developing countries, and there are ethical questions about their pay and work conditions. So, why aren't we talking more about them? Also, Google and other search companies have begun replacing hyperlinks with AI summaries. It's a move seemingly in line with our AI obsessed times, but what will it do to the tapestry of the internet? And will it simply make online information even harder to verify?

Guests

Dr Zena Assaad — Senior lecturer, School of Engineering, Australian National University

Professor Toby Walsh — Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of New South Wales

Dr Collin Jennings — writer and academic

Further information

Collin Jennings' article: A linkless internet

Does the spirit of the "Futurist" movement live on today in the likes of Elon Musk and America's intrigue of techno-oligarchs? The Italian poet and fantasist Flippo Tommaso Marinetti almost died in a car crash, and out of that experience was born the "Futurist" movement. It went on to inspire the fascism of Benito Mussolini with an energetic emphasis on disruptive technology, conflict and creating an authoritarian future.

Guests

Annalee Newitz — Journalist and author

Dr Jonathan White — Professor of politics, London School of Economics

Further information

Jonathan White’s article - How Trump and the new right came to ‘own’ the future – while apparently exploiting the past | Jonathan White | The Guardian

Annalee Newitz’s article – How futurism took an abrupt right turn in the 20th century