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A critical look at new technologies, new approaches and new ways of thinking, from politics to media to environmental sustainability.

Future Tense

How real is the link between Artificial Intelligence and increased productivity? Jon Whittle from the CSIRO, one of Australia's leading science agencies, has been examining the latest research. He helps us sort facts from fiction. Also, literacy and problem-solving skills have taken a dive in many developed countries — could an over-reliance on technology be part of the problem? And why understanding the literary style "Magic Realism" could help in developing better regulation for AI.

Guests

Jovan Kurbalija — Executive Director, Diplo Foundation

Professor Jon Whittle — Data61 Director, CSIRO

Andreas Schleicher — Director for Education and Skills, OECD

The truth about AI and productivity

Cities across the world are beginning to sink — some by as much as 10 centimetres a year. A recent study suggests that more than a third of urban Chinese resident now live in a sinking city. The cause is often ascribed to climate change, but is there something else at play? Could our thirst for water actually be the culprit? Also, how much do our urban environments contribute to the heating of the planet? A call to finally get serious about the climate impacts of city design.

Guests

Jeff Goodell — Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council. New York Times Best Selling author of "The Water Will Come"

Dr Philip Minderhoud — Assistant Professor and Veni laureate at the University of Wageningen

Associate Professor Anna Hullimann — Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne

Further information

Jeff Goodell — The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities and the Remaking of the Civilized World

Anna Hurlimann — Integrating Climate Change Action Across the Built Environment: A Guide for Transformative Action

Sinking Cities

We face multiple looming demographic crises — and our responses seemingly contradict each other. 

A rapidly aging population means that we need more children to be born. But it's foreseeable that resources on Earth simply can't sustain many more people.

How can we solve this conundrum?

Original broadcast on May 22, 2022

Guests

Dr Stuart Gietel Basten — Professor of Social Science and Policy, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Dr Marco Amati — Associate professor of International Planning, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University

Deborah Devis — Science Communicator

Dr Anumitra Mirti — Senior Associate — Sustainability, Beca

Professor Nick Parr — Demographer, Macquarie University

How to balance the population needs on our planet

South Korea is a test case in how to maintain democracy against sustained pressure from dictatorship. The innovative and entrepreneurial country lives in the shadow of China and Russia, and its capital Seoul lies only 50km from the North Korean border. It hasn't been easy, but the difficulties South Korea faces and the way it deals with them could prove invaluable for other regional neighbours in responding to future economic and military aggression.

Journalist Matt Smith has this special report…

Guests

Dr Troy Lee Brown — Research Fellow, Defense and Security Institute, University of Western Australia

Professor Bec Strating — Director, La Trobe Asia and Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University

Dr Mike Bosack — Special Advisor for Government Relations, Yokosuka Council for Asia-Pacific Studies

Dongkeun Lee — Policy Fellow, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network

Dr Duyeon Kim — Adjunct Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Program, Centre for New American Security

Lessons from South Korea's security dilemma

Suffering internal division and stymied by geopolitical bullying, the United Nations is facing a future of diminishing influence. As the organisation marks its 80th birthday, it's also dealing with a serious financial shortfall brought on by both China and the United States, its two biggest donors. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has launched a major internal reform programme, but there are questions about whether his approach will rescue the global body or just cause further damage.

Guests

Associate Professor Chris Ogden — Director of Global Studies, University of Auckland

Eugene Chen — Senior Fellow, Center on International Cooperation, New York University

Richard Gowan — Director of UN Affairs, International Crisis Group

Roland Rich — former Australian ambassador. Director of the United Nations and Global Policy Master of Arts program, Rutgers University

A turning point for the United Nations

Synthetic biologists are hard at work developing artificial biological molecules as the first step toward developing a mirror cell that would be immune from infection. If they're successful, it could transform the world of medicine. But while the potential of mirror life is great, so too are the risks. There are warnings of a catastrophic impact if the cells can't be controlled. And that's prompted calls for a moratorium on the research.

Guests

Associate Professor Kate Adamala — Synthetic biologist and professor of genetics, University of Minnesota

Professor Andrew Ellington — Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, University of Texas at Austin

Professor Heather Douglas — Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University

Ajay Kshatriya — CEO Aizen Therapeutics

The potential benefits and risks of developing "mirror life"

What will Earth look like when humans become extinct? What "technofossils" will paleontologists of the future unearth and no doubt ponder over? Will we be remembered for our achievements or merely our rubbish? Also, which animals might rise to fill our role at the top of the pecking order? And is the future of live music really as dire as many predict?

Guests

Professor Sarah Gabbott — Paleobiologist, University of Leicester

Joanna Thompson — Freelance science journalist based in New York

Dr Christen Cornell — Research Fellow and Manager of Research Partnerships, Creative Australia

Musical artists heard in this episode - Jim Beavis, The RandomiZZZed Experience

Further information

Listening In Research series

The world after us!

History has many lessons for how to develop a successful civilisation. The trick is to understand the patterns that lead to optimism and innovation. So, where do we rate in the 21st century? Also, why all history is revisionist and why a healthy sense of revisionism drives a deeper understanding of the past, present and future.

Guests

Johan Norberg — author and historian. Senior Fellow, Cato institute in Washington DC

Associate Professor Sarah Percy — Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland

Dr James Banner — Historian and co-founder of the National Humanities Alliance

How to start your own golden age

Australia and Canada share much in common, politically, historically and socially. Why then do we know so little about each other? In a time of global uncertainty does it make sense for Canada and Australia to build a closer bond? If the two prosperous liberal middle powers worked together more closely, could they be a greater force for positive change in the world?

Guests

Dr Andrew Lilco — Economist and Executive Director and Principal, Europe Economics

N. Leo Crabe — lecturer and independent researcher. Formerly with the Canadian High Commission in Canberra

Wesley Nicol — The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University (Canada)

Emeritus Professor Roy Green — Special Innovation Advisor, University of Technology Sydney

Norman Hermant — Social Affairs Correspondent, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Australia and Canada — Strategic partners, but near total strangers?

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

Reassessing the laws of war; and why progress isn't always a straight line

Abuse facilitated by digital technology is on the rise. Abuse is abuse, no matter who commits it and what form it takes, but we need to better understand the peculiarities of this specific kind of abuse. New research in Australia suggests that many of us are the perpetrators as well as the victims. Also, regulating rocket launches and minimising space pollution – low Earth orbit may be reaching a tipping point.

Understanding tech-facilitated abuse; and problems in space

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