Robots are everywhere. Two post-graduate students from the California Institute of Technology explained to our reporter Charlotte Crang how robots are already interacting with humans — sometimes in ways we may not even notice.

Claudia Kann and Maegan Tucker are interested in how robots can help people recover from serious injuries. Perhaps not quite the Doctor Robot you may be picturing (sorry!), but just as fascinating.

Maegan works on assistive rehabilitation technology and studies how different robotic techniques can enhance human mobility. At the moment, she’s working on a balance-detection device.

Claudia works on helping healthier patients walk using less energy with the help of an exoskeleton for ankles.

They also have a message for girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM): “Don’t give up. We need you!”

Charlotte Crang also speaks with guest expert Jeremy Wagstaff, who provides listeners with a somber take on how robots could disrupt the workforce if governments don’t ensure people are reskilled.

Back at school, reporter Ellie Clifford remembers being taught that what you put on social media could limit future job prospects. Then things changed: social media became integrated into workflows, consumer attention-spans shortened and intuitive platforms turned social spaces into business tools.

Ellie, who studies broadcast radio and works in production, volunteered to investigate how young people think about their online presence because she works on creating content for distribution online. “It’s all about storytelling, and while there is an issue with filters, if you think about it as a mechanism to tell stories with artistic flare, then it’s a really great tool.”

Then things changed again as social media became an important part of people’s personal and professional lives. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has forced both consumers and companies to rethink how data is managed.

Ellie sat down with mass communication students Liberty Phelps and Amber Miller, who present a radio show called “Red, Red, Whine” and rely on social media to promote and develop their projects. She also met Malak Obaidi, a social media influencer who has found working partnerships through her YouTube channel and Instagram account, and who does presenting and social media takeovers to help companies reach audiences — work that didn’t exist 15 years ago.

In the grips of the worst economic recession in the Western hemisphere, Venezuela has spiraled into a full-blown crisis. Inflation has made the most basic goods and services impossible to afford.

Passionate about the Spanish language and Latin America, reporter Megha Thomas decided to look into the state of affairs in Venezuela. She reached out to two young Venezuelan woman to ask how the crisis developed over the years.

Stephanie Alex left Venezuela and won asylum in the United States. She made the decision not to return to Venezuela for university because censorship laws would limit her ability to pursue a career in journalism. Stephanie recently graduated with a journalism degree from The American University of Paris.

Valentina Salazar had a similar experience. Her parents urged Valentina and their youngest son to go abroad after repeated kidnapping threats and even attempts. She is now living and working in Spain. Her parents remain in Venezuela and are trying to maintain their local clinic.

But is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Venezuela, and what can the world do to respond? Megha turned to former Reuters Latin America editor Bernd Debusmann for his opinion on what short-term and long-term solutions are available.

Interested in identity and gender, Giuliana Nicolucci-Altman spent a summer studying in Jerusalem trying to “understand how communities of fundamentally differing ideologies can potentially find compromise and live together in harmony.”

At Hebrew University’s Rothberg International School in Jerusalem, Nicolucci-Altman met Student Life director and LGBTQ+ campus representative Ira Kirschner to learn about resources and support available to the city’s gay community.

That led her to the Video Hub, the only gay bar in Jerusalem and a place where anyone, of any religion, can be themselves. Ira introduced Giuliana to local gay rights activist Eyal Lurie-Pardes, who identifies as bisexual and used to work at the Video Hub.

An active member in the gay community, Eyal spoke about being open in deeply conservative and religious areas of Israel.

In our last episode for Season One of The Kids Are Alright, reporter Savannah Jenkins meets up with China expert David Schlesinger to discuss Beijing’s One Belt One Road initiative in light of trade frictions with the United States.

While a shaky trade truce may now be in place, the relationship between China and the United States is under strain. “I don’t think China knows what to expect from the United States, but they certainly can’t rely on the U.S. as they have been able to in the past,” says Savannah.

After speaking with Schlesinger about One Belt One Road, Savannah turned to friend and former colleague Marco De Nobili. A recent graduate of Roskilde University, Marco completed his thesis on how the One Belt One Road initiative reflects domestic support in China for globalization. Savannah asks Marco if an increase in populist and protectionist sentiment in Western countries may encourage China to launch other such initiatives.