The Conversation Weekly podcast

#News #Analysis #Context #Global #Science #News Talk #Conversations #Experts

28:30

We're trying something different this week: a full post-show breakdown of every episode in the latest season of Black Mirror! Ari Romero is joined by Tudum's Black Mirror expert, Keisha Hatchett, to give you all the nuance, the insider commentary, and the details you might have missed in this incredible new season. Plus commentary from creator & showrunner Charlie Brooker! SPOILER ALERT: We're talking about the new season in detail and revealing key plot points. If you haven't watched yet, and you don't want to know what happens, turn back now! You can watch all seven seasons of Black Mirror now in your personalized virtual theater . Follow Netflix Podcasts and read more about Black Mirror on Tudum.com .…

The Conversation Weekly

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A show for curious minds. Join us each week as academic experts tell us about the fascinating discoveries they're making to understand the world, and the big questions they’re still trying to answer. A podcast fromhttps://theconversation.com/ ( The Conversation), hosted by Gemma Ware.

217 episodes

The Conversation Weekly

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updated about 24 hours ago

Series home•Feed

217 episodes

#News #Analysis #Context #Global #Science #News Talk #Conversations #Experts

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The Conversation Weekly

1
Brazil’s anti-vax disinformation economy 27:12

24 hours ago27:12

27:12

Few places on earth are immune to the explosion of anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and health disinformation fuelled by the COVID pandemic. But in countries like Brazil, where the disinformation flowed from the very top of government, the problem is even more acute and some people are exploiting the fear of others to make money. In this episode we speak to Ergon Cugler at the Brazilian Institute of Information on Science and Technology about his new research into how peddlers of disinformation on social media also sell fake cures and vaccine detoxes. And we ask disinformation researcher Igor Sacramento at Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation why some people are looking for solutions to their health problems in these dangerous chemicals and unproven protocols. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware with assistance from Mend Mariwany. Sound design and mixing by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the f ull credits for this episode and s ign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.…

The Conversation Weekly

1
The Birkin bag game 25:18

8 days ago25:18

25:18

The Birkin bag made by French luxury retailer Hermès has become a status symbol for the global elite. Notoriously difficult to obtain, the world's rich obsess over how to get their hands on one. But when US retailer Walmart recently launched a much cheaper bag that looked very similar to the Birkin, nicknamed a "Wirkin" by others, it sparked discussions about wealth disparity and the ethics of conspicuous consumption. In this episode we speak to two sociologists, Parul Bhandari from the University of Cambridge in the UK and Aarushi Bhandari from Davidson College in the US, about the Birkin and what it symbolises. This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood. Sound design and mixing by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the f ull credits for this episode and s ign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Birkin bags, Swiss ski resorts and Louis Vuitton: how super-rich Delhi housewives strive to be part of a global elite Birkin handbags, Walmart’s ‘Wirkin’ and the meme-ification of class warfare…

The Conversation Weekly

1
How AI could influence the evolution of humanity 26:55

16 days ago26:55

26:55

Some of the leading brains behind generative AI have warned about the risk of artificial superintelligence wiping out humanity, if left unchecked. But what if the influence of AI on humans is much more mundane, influencing our evolution over thousands of years through natural selection? In this episode we talk to evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks about what AI could do to the evolution of humanity, from smaller brains to fewer friends. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the f ull credits for this episode a nd s ign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.…

The Conversation Weekly

1
Ancient cities had hidden disease protections 21:20

22 days ago21:20

21:20

Five years since Covid, not only has the pandemic affected the way we live and work, it’s also influencing the way researchers are thinking about the past. In this episode archaeologist Alex Bentley from the University of Tennessee explains how the pandemic sparked new research into how disease may have affected ancient civilisations, and the clues this offers about a change in the way humans designed their villages and cities 8,000 years ago. This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood and hosted by Gemma Ware. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the f ull credits for this episode a nd s ign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Celibacy: family history of Tibetan monks reveals evolutionary advantages in monasticism – podcast Socially distanced layout of the world’s oldest cities helped early civilization evade diseases…

The Conversation Weekly

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Shipping produces 3% of global emissions. How to get that down, quickly 22:01

29 days ago22:01

22:01

Ships transport around 80% of the world’s cargo. From your food, to your car to your phone, chances are it got to you by sea. The vast majority of the world’s container ships burn fossil fuels, which is why 3% of global emissions come from shipping – slightly more than the 2.5% of emissions from aviation. The race is on to reduce these emissions, and quickly, to meet the Paris agreement targets. In this episode we find out what technologies are available to shipping companies to reduce their carbon emissions – from sails, to alternative fuels or a 'Google maps for the ocean'. Featuring Daniel Precioso , post-doctoral researcher at IE University in Spain and Alice Larkin , Professor of Climate Science and Energy Policy, University of Manchester. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware with assistance from Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the f ull credits for this episode a nd s ign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Sails and satellite navigation could cut shipping industry’s emissions by up to a third Global shipping is under pressure to stop its heavy fuel oil use fast – that’s not simple, but changes are coming Five ways to cut emissions from shipping…

The Conversation Weekly

1
Prospects of lasting peace between Turkey and the Kurds 25:59

5 weeks ago25:59

25:59

For over 40 years, the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK, has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey, fighting for Kurdish rights and autonomy. But in late February, Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK’s imprisoned founder, called for the group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. Days later, the PKK, which is labelled as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, Europe and the US, declared a ceasefire with Turkey. In this episode, we speak to political scientist Pinar Dinc at Lund University in Sweden about what’s led to this moment and whether it could be the beginning of a lasting peace between Turkey and the Kurds. This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Syria integration deal with Kurds brings relief after days of bitter violence wracks war-torn country What’s behind Erdoğan’s calculated shift on Kurds and its potential consequences PKK leader’s call to disarm fuels hope for end to Kurdish conflict – but peace is not imminent…

The Conversation Weekly

1
The surreal story of how COVID took over a remote city in the Amazon 32:13

6 weeks ago32:13

32:13

When the first cases of COVID-19 began to spread around the world in early 2020, people in Iquitos, a remote city in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, weren’t unduly worried. They assumed their isolation would protect them. It didn’t. Peru, and Iquitos, were hit fast, and hard . In a surreal situation, people were left to fend for themselves, fighting to get hold of oxygen on the black market for their loved ones and forced to put themselves in danger to survive. In this episode we speak to researcher Japhy Wilson from Bangor University in Wales who spent a year living in Iquitos, trying to understand what happened there during the pandemic. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware with assistance from Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.…

The Conversation Weekly

1
The fossil that proved humanity's common origins in Africa 24:44

7 weeks ago24:44

24:44

One hundred years ago, a paper was published in the journal Nature that would radically shift our understandings of the origins of humanity. It described a fossil, found in a lime mine in Taung in South Africa, which became known as the Taung child skull. The paper’s author, an Australian-born anatomist called Raymond Dart, argued that the fossil was a new species of hominin called Australopithecus africanus . It was the first evidence that humanity originated in Africa. In this episode, we talk to science historian Christa Kuljian about Dart’s complicated legacy and to paleoanthropologist Dipuo Kgotleng about what’s happened to the city of Taung itself, and how paleoanthropology has changed over the last century. This episode of The Conversation Weekly was presented by Gemma Ware and written and produced by Katie Flood with assistance from Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens, and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. How old are South African fossils like the Taung Child? New study offers an answer The fossil skull that rocked the world – 100 years later scientists are grappling with the Taung find’s complex colonial legacy…

The Conversation Weekly

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Scam Factories Ep 3: Great Escapes 43:36

8 weeks ago43:36

43:36

Every day that he was locked up in a scam compound in Southeast Asia, George thought about how to get out. "We looked for means of escaping, but it was hard," he said. Scam Factories is a podcast series taking you inside Southeast Asia's brutal fraud compounds. It accompanies a series of multimedia articles on The Conversation. In our third and final episode, Great Escapes, we find out the different ways survivors manage to escape, what it takes for them to get home, and what is being done to clamp down on the industry. The podcast series was written and produced by Gemma Ware with production assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Editing help from Justin Bergman and Ashlynee McGhee. Getting out of Southeast Asia's scam factories From empty fields to locked cities: the rise of a billion-dollar criminal industry ‘We could hear the screams until midnight’: life inside Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds…

The Conversation Weekly

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Scam Factories Ep 2: Inside the operation 38:13

9 weeks ago38:13

38:13

A few weeks after Ben Yeo travelled to Cambodia for what he thought was a job in a casino, he found himself locked up in a padded room. “It’s a combination between a prison and a madhouse,” he remembers. He was being punished for refusing to conduct online scams. Scam Factories is a podcast and multimedia series taking you inside Southeast Asia's brutal fraud compounds. The Conversation collaborated for this series with three researchers: Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne, Ling Li, a PhD candidate at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Mark Bo, an independent researcher. In the second episode, Inside the Operation, we explore the history of how scam compounds emerged in Southeast Asia and who is behind them. We hear about the violent treatment people receive inside through the testimonies of two survivors, Ben, and another man we're calling George to protect his real identity. The podcast series was written and produced by Gemma Ware with production assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Editing help from Justin Bergman and Ashlynee McGhee. Rise of an industry: part 2 of Scam Factories Locked in: the inside story of Southeast Asia's fraud compounds…

The Conversation Weekly

1
Scam Factories Ep 1: No skills required 32:55

9 weeks ago32:55

32:55

Scam factories is a special three-part series taking you inside Southeast Asia's brutal fraud compounds. Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to work in these scam factories. Many were trafficked there and forced into criminality by defrauding people around the world. The Conversation collaborated for this series with three researchers: Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne, Ling Li, a PhD candidate at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Mark Bo, an independent researcher. In episode 1, our researchers travel to a village in Cambodia called Chrey Thom to see what these compounds look like. And we hear from two survivors about how they were recruited into compounds in Laos and Myanmar. The podcast series was written and produced by Gemma Ware with production assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Editing help from Justin Bergman and Ashlynee McGhee. Locked in: the inside story of Southeast Asia's fraud compounds…

The Conversation Weekly

1
Tariffs: the winners and losers 29:58

9 weeks ago29:58

29:58

As the Trump administration ratchets up its threat to slap tariffs on allies and economic rivals alike, the world is bracing for another wave of costly economic disruption. This protectionist shift is all the more remarkable given how the US championed trade liberalisation for decades. So what does it actually take for a country to use protectionism to grow its economy? Some developing countries have successfully used tariffs to do so, while others have struggled. In this episode, we talk to Jostein Hauge , a development economist at the University of Cambridge in the UK, about who wins and who loses from tariffs and protectionism. This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Mend Mariwany with assistance from Katie Flood and Gemma Ware. Sound design was by Michelle Macklem, and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Further reading: How protectionism can help developing countries unlock their economic potential Tariffs are back in the spotlight, but skepticism of free trade has deep roots in American history Trump’s tariff gambit: As allies prepare to strike back, a costly trade war looms Will Trump’s tariffs boost the US economy? Don’t count on it…

The Conversation Weekly

1
How does decentralised social media work? 27:17

10 weeks ago27:17

27:17

Since Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in 2022, many users have looked for alternatives, fuelling a wave of online migration from the social media platform. How do alternative platforms such as Mastodon or Bluesky differ from traditional social media, and what does the future hold for these online spaces? In this episode, we speak to Robert Gehl , Ontario Research Chair of Digital Governance at York University, Canada, about the evolving landscape of decentralised social media. This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Mend Mariwany with assistance from Katie Flood and Gemma Ware, Sound design was by Michelle Macklem, and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Further reading: Bluesky isn’t the ‘new Twitter,’ but its resemblance to the old one is drawing millions of new users Decline of X is an opportunity to do social media differently – but combining ‘safe’ and ‘profitable’ will still be a challenge…

The Conversation Weekly

1
Where support for Germany’s far-right AFD is growing and why 36:49

11 weeks ago36:49

36:49

As Germany heads towards elections on February 23, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) is polling in second place on 20% of the national vote. The AFD's roots are in nationalistic and racist movements. It continues to take an ultra anti-immigration stance and is calling for "demigration" – effectively the deportation of migrants. In this episode, Rolf Frankenberger, an expert on right-wing extremism at the University of Tübingen in Germany, talks to Laura Hood, senior politics editor at The Conversation, about where the AFD draws its support from and what type of Germany it wants to return to. This episode was Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware with sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up for The Conversation Europe's newsletter to get the best from our European scholars in a weekly digest. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation , which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Further reading: What happened in the German parliament and why is the far right hailing it as a ‘historic’ moment? The far-right is rising at a crucial time in Germany, boosted by Elon Musk AfD: how Germany’s constitution was designed with the threat of extremism in mind…

The Conversation Weekly

1
How close are quantum computers to being really useful? 30:09

12 weeks ago30:09