Things Of Interest

Today we have a very special guest: Erica Chan is a published science fiction author, a lawyer, and someone who delivers such great chats we had to break this episode up into parts. For our frist part we hear about her story: how she started writing and how she became a lawyer. We touch on laws around techonolgy, data privacy, corporate morality, dystopian fiction, representation, technology as a tool for empathy, and more! Enjoy :)

Getting to get through life reasonable happy, healthy, and productive is all a part of being a Real Human Adult. Today Serena and Sophia talk about habits: the good, the bad, the ugly. We talk about how we get over procrastination, how we make time to do the things we love, how our routines have evolved, and how we face-off with the ennui of life.

Special guest Dr. Alayna Cole joins us this episode as we get deep into the nitty gritty of diversity, inclusion and representation in video games.

What is in a name? Today we talk pseudonyms, identity, and personal perception. Is your name a branding tool, something to be co-opted then discarded when necessary? Is it a family treasure, something imbued with history, ancestry, and deep spiritual meaning? Is it a commodity used to strengthen unpopular opinions, or an anchor that ties us to remaining decent human beings? When is it these things, and how do we reconcile the paradoxical nature of the names, handles, and pseudonyms we use throughout life?

Join us as we grapple with the inevitable march towards climate doom! What is there left for us to do, if anything at all? What pieces of our culture and our societies need to be refactored in a post-global-warming world? Should we just give up and shoot off to Mars? How would that even work?

How many chains could a blockchain block if a blockchain could block chains? Today we get deep in the weeds to talk about the details behind blockchain: what is it? How does it actually work? And how does it relate to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? And more importantly, how is this affecting our world? How is it changing it, if at all? And what does it mean for the future?

CRISPR is an incredibly new and fascinating techonology in gene science - a technique that allows us to programmatically edit genes. This episode, we really get in the weeds, and discuss what it is, how it works, what the current research looks like and the ethical and moral implications of such a technology.

Emotional labour is important, invisible work that we all do - and it's great! It strengthens relationships and makes us better people. The problems arise when there is an imbalance, when a member of a relationship is left to do the majority of the labour, while the other reaps the benefits. Today we discuss this labour: what it is, how historically women are expected to perform the vast majority of it, and how it interplays with our relationships. We make our usual diversions into work, unions, pay equity, and discuss how to be better reciprocators of emotional labour ourselves.

Welcome to the wonderful world of film. Today we have the talented and insightful Cassandra Tse joining us as we discuss the power of films, what they mean to us and how it interacts with the people in society. We touch on the political power of movies (for both conservative and progressive messaging), representation, modern myths, #MeToo, film as a training tool for empathy, the emotional impact of stories, how women are represented on screen, awards, and how everything interplays with the public consciousness.

Join us for a chat on the happenings and horrors of 2017, and our hopes and dreams for 2018.

How is social media making us all less sociable? Today we talk about social networks, the morally ambiguous things they do, how it served as a manipulation tool during elections, how the economic model of the Internet (advertising) incentivises companies to put up with bad actors, abusive users, and sometimes even lead them to act immorally by themselves. We also touch on the horrific situation on Manus Island, and the #MeToo movement of women coming out against their sexual harrassers and abusers. And of course, how post-capitalism continues to be a nightmare. It's a fun episode!

This episode we talk race, culture and identity in New Zealand with the wonderful Marcelle Wharerau. Did our teachers in high school communicate the importance of NZ history enough? What cultural aspects did colonialism imprint on Māori and what did it erase? How does it affect other non-European New Zealanders, even now? And what is Pākehā culture?

Is self care another mushy fad, or is it underrated and critical to our lives? Does it mean staying in bed and binge watching TV or does it mean going outside for a run? Or both? How do we care for ourselves in this tumultuous world?

Where do we find strength? How do we take care of ourselves when everything feels hopeless? How do we deal with feeling a lot, or nothing at all? How do we deal with feeling overwhelmed? What are our rituals to tune out the world? Also: relationships, found family, and change.

We react to the events of Charlottesville, the danger of white moderates and neo-nazi sympathisers, free speech, the importance of continually interrogating your own beliefs. On the topic of things that infuriate us, we touch on the Google screed. From 32:53 we officially run out of emotional energy and do a 180 and ask each other about the positive things that have happened in our lives lately. We hope this podcast finds you smiling, despite the current state of the world. Take care of yourselves.

Today: the ins and outs of MMP, bicameral parliaments, welfare, political segregation, poverty, and the paradox of choice. And of course: VOTING. Sophia then gives us the low-down on a particularly silly section of the Australian constitution. But yeah. Go vote!

What is a reasonable amount of responsibility to expect from high-visibility individuals? Why are some celebrities so vehemently defended when they've done something wrong, while others shamed for the public's enjoyment? How do we navigate a world that is increasingly intrusive and less authentic? Plus, we gush over our shared love of Suzy Cato. Content warning for chats around suicide and how people respond to it from 28:36 to 35:14.

CONSPIRACIES. What makes people believe them? How do we fight against them? When are they real? Also: fake news, journalism, and the investigation into reality itself.

This week: guest host Leesa Charlotte joins us to chat about communities — from the old to new, organic to artificial, mundane to extreme.

Probably our nerdiest episode to date. Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, Star Trek, Animorphs, with the usual distractions and foray into race, gender and identity, and how that manifests differently in different cultures. Also: Mars Trilogy, The Three Body Problem, Orphan Black, Steven Universe, mild Joss Whedon, Gattaca, Gravity, Arrival, good/bad storytelling, and the distribution of the future.