We have been lamenting our loss of focus and blaming our short attention spans on technology for ages. But are our attention spans actually dwindling - or is it just that there are just so many things clamouring for our attention all the time?

Thomas Hills, professor of psychology and director of the Behavioral and Data Science master's program at the University of Warwick in England, provides a historical overview of attention through the lens of tech and innovation.

TikTok has been a key part of Toronto artist Hima Batavia's pandemic experience. It started with dance moves and moved towards engagement with social justice issues and into a variety of communities she never would have learned about if not for TikTok.

Sarah Sharma, associate professor of media theory at ICCIT/Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto and the director of the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology, talks about the tech and media "solutions" to our current relationship with time, and what that all says about our position of power in society.

494: The Spark Guide to Civilization, Part Four: Attention

Spark on CBC Radio One Nora Young helps you navigate your digital life by connecting you to fresh ideas in surprising ways.

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The climate is changing. So are we. On What On Earth, you’ll explore a world of solutions with host Laura Lynch and our team of journalists. In 1970, 20 million people showed up to fight for the environment on the first Earth Day. More than five decades later, is it time for this much tamer global event to return to its radical roots?  
 OG organizer Denis Hayes recounts how – amidst other counterculture movements at the time – his team persuaded roughly one in ten Americans to take to the streets. As he approaches 80, Denis offers his singular piece of advice to the next generation of climate leaders. Then, environmental warriors Maria Blancas and Axcelle Campana share ideas on what a reinspired Earth Day could look like – including making it a public holiday. 
 More episodes of What On Earth are available at: https://link.chtbl.com/fHfXfjAJ 
 We love to hear from our listeners and regularly feature them on the show. Have a question or idea? Email Earth@cbc.ca

Spark presents What On Earth: "Can Earth Day be badass again?"

From the earliest musical instruments to the metronome, to vocoders, auto-tune and beyond, music creation has always been a collaboration between humans and machines. But now that generative AI is shaking up songwriting, have we crossed a new threshold where the distinctively human talent for music is no longer ours alone?

Being Human Now - Music

Strides in AI software are finding their way into physical robots. It's promising a new era of human-robot interaction, where robots can assist us, respond to our needs and to cues in the environment. Question is: are we ready for robots among us?

Should robots work for us or with us?

Like most of us, you probably only think about infrastructure when it doesn't work: the power goes off, the roads flood. But in the face of climate change and the increasing energy demands of our digital tech, how can we rethink what infrastructure looks like to meet our future needs?

Building more responsive, AI-driven infrastructure

One of civilization's oldest technologies, textiles have long been linked to money, power, and politics. Now, researchers are looking to produce novel, more sustainable textiles using organisms like yeast, fungus, and bacteria.

494: The Spark Guide to Civilization, Part Four: Attention

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