Future Tense

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

Joshua Carlon - The Age 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

The demand for sex tech is booming. That is, toys and apps that can be used for pleasure, communication or to improve sexual health.

Developers are using innovative ways to incorporate AI in a way that is respectful of both consent and the diversity of human desire.

But it seems some male developers are intent on weaponising it against women.

In this special episode of Future Tense, Stephen Stockwell, explores the power of the emerging technology, its potential benefits and harms, and the need to keep a clear focus on consent.

Guests

Madison Griffiths – Melbourne-based writer, artist and producer

Bryony Cole – host of the Future of Sex Podcast

Professor Alan McKee – pornography researcher and Head of the School of Art, Communication and English, University of Sydney

Ashley Neale – founder of My Peach AI

Further information

Madison Griffiths - Orifice.ai, and the Arousal of Rejection

It was known as Wolf Warrior diplomacy – a brand of Chinese foreign ministry posturing that was as aggressive as it was unexpected. But has Beijing now changed tack? And if so, why? Also, does the theory of Institutional Amnesia explain why our preparedness for natural disasters is often found wanting?

Guests

Assistant Professor Tyler Jost — Political Science, International and Public Affairs, Brown University (US)

Dr Sarah Robertson – Research Fellow in sustainability, RMIT University

Dr Paul Barnes — Senior Research Fellow and emergency and risk management expert, Griffith University

Dr Alastair Stark – Associate Professor in Public Policy, School of Political Science and International Studies, Queensland University

Further information

Future Tense - The best response to disasters: centralised strength or community mitigation?

Gone are the grandiose infrastructure projects, replaced by an emphasis on smaller development opportunities. China's Belt and Road initiative has entered its second decade — and it's changing. It now also includes a determined focus on green technology. But is the recalibration a sign of the project's overall success? Or a scaling back because of China's growing economic problems? And what has Beijing learnt about debt-levels and governance?

Guests

Professor Christoph Nedopil – Director of Asia Institute, Griffith University

Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian – Political Science, National University of Singapore

Associate Professor Jessica Liao – Political Science, North Carolina State University

2024 has been an eventful year for democracies around the world. More than 80 countries, containing over half the world's population, are holding elections this year. It's democracy's mega test. The implications for the future of democracy and world order are profound.

Guests

Professor Nick Bisley – Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University

Dr Gorana Grjic – Senior Researcher, Swiss and Euro-Atlantic Security Team, ETH Zürich's Center for Security Studies (CSS)

Dr Priya Chako – Associate Professor, International Politics, University of Adelaide

Dr Raul Sanchez-Urribarri – Senior Lecturer in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, Department of Social Inquiry, La Trobe University