Episodes
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism joins Jonathan this week to chat through some of the challenges facing media creators and consumers.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 10/14/20
Published 10/14/20
Tackling misinformation in India is the subject of enquiry this week as Jonathan is joined by Rema Rajeshwari, District Police Chief in Telengana State. Rema has used a series of innovative approaches to prevent crimes such as mob violence which had been driven by false Whats App rumours. The episode also covers the pace of digital transformation in India and the rise of cybercrime.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 09/30/20
This week we take a look at disinformation in the Middle East with Marc Owen Jones. Marc talks us through how he found fake journalists writing for US news sites, explains some of the disinformation he's seen put to use by countries like Saudi Arabia and gives the lowdown on which Twitterstorms it is really worth paying attention to.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 09/16/20
Jonathan is joined this week by Dr Imran Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. Imran sets out the relationship between disinformation and hate speech, picks apart why the financial architecture of fake news could be its achilles heel and leaves major social media companies nowhere to hide when it comes to calling out bad behaviour.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 09/02/20
How do we get better at agreeing to disagree? Jonathan talks to Alison Goldsworthy, Founder and CEO at The Depolarisation Project hosted at Stanford University to talk about what's driving polarisation in society and what we can do about. Taking a breather from in-depth analysis of disinformation they cover business case for polarisation, the role of fundraising and campaign professionals in contributing to the problem and Jonathan gets called out for mocking a well known politician........
Published 08/19/20
What can a former CIA analyst teach us about misinformation? Find out in this week's episode with Cindy Otis who spent ten years working for the US Government's Central Intelligence Agency. Jonathan and Cindy discuss her new book 'True or False' and explore the history of disinformation, asking why it's often been used to harden racist sentiment and drive marginalisation. As well as looking at the past they also discuss the present and the possibility of hidden dimensions to modern protests...
Published 08/05/20
This week Jonathan talks to Professor Samuel Woolley, author of The Reality Game, about the use of bots to plant and spread disinformation on social media platforms. The conversation covers how many bots there are online, how to spot them, the use of geolocation data and the current strategies of modern political communicators.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 07/22/20
This week we talk to Dr Claire Wardle who is the co-founder of First Draft, an NGO committed to tackling misinformation. The conversation covers the difference between misinformation and disinformation, the weaponisation of context and why conspiracy theories are keeping Claire awake at night.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 07/08/20
In the first episode of a new series exploring misinformation, disinformation and communication, Jonathan talks to Author Peter Pomerantsev. Having lived in Post-Soviet Russia where he made TV, Peter has a unique insight into how some of the 'nebulous nostalgia' of that period is on display today in the UK and the US. The conversation covers the great 'f**k off to facts', why we buy into conspiracy theories, the challenges facing civil society in the internet era and how we might construct a...
Published 06/24/20
A quick update on what to expect from Series 3 of Government Vs The Robots in which Jonathan and guests explore at misinformation, disinformation and our online discourse.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Published 06/17/20
It's a retrospective, forward-looking bonanza this week as Jonathan faces a guest interviewer and takes stock of the previous two series. As well as asking listeners to get in touch with ideas about where we go next, we cover lots of ground including smart communications strategy in a post-truth world, the impact of further fragmentation on our politics, the power of symbols to unite people and some hot tips for what to expect from candidates at the next election, whenever that may be.... ...
Published 08/07/19
In this episode we're talking all things code with Clive Thompson, journalist for Wired and the New York Times Magazine, and now author of Coders: Who They Are, What They Think and How They Are Changing Our World. We discuss whether coders are the most powerful people on the planet, what their personalities can tell us about the culture in companies like Twitter, and whether we're headed for a battle between the ultimately rational world of algorithms, and the uniquely emotional world of...
Published 07/17/19
This week we talk disinformation with Amil Khan, a former Reuters Middle East correspondent and documentary maker. He is now Associate Fellow at Chatham House and works with governments and NGOs on strategies to tackle disinformation. We get into the weeds of how states can plant disinformation in our mainstream media, how groups like IS spread disinformation, and whether Boris' latest bus shenanigans were a cock-up, or conspiracy... For information regarding your data privacy, visit...
Published 07/03/19
In this episode we're taking a look at the psychology of politics and asking whether we've all been triggered, with Alex Evans. Alex is the founder of the Collective Psychology Project, a senior fellow at New York University working on political polarisation, and was previously Campaigns Director at Avaaz. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy
Published 06/19/19
This week we're joined by writer, humanitarian advocate and political analyst Nanjala Nyabola. Her book, Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics explores how the internet era is transforming politics in Kenya. We talk about the country's evolving landscape online, what constitutes digital colonialism, and the impact social media is having on Kenya's feminist movement. If you enjoy the part on digital identity, we think you'll love another podcast we've been worked on called Inside Good ID,...
Published 06/05/19
This week we're joined by Professor Amy Webb, quantitative futurist, founder of the Future Today Institute and author of Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity. We talk about whether we've reached the beginning of the end of the smartphone era, why China is ahead of the US on AI and how we can try to predict the future of tech.
Published 05/22/19
This episode brings you more from SXSW, this time focusing on the future of news, from deepfakes to chatbots and VR. We hear from Hazel Baker, Global Head of User-Generated Content at Reuters; Emily Withrow, Director of the Quartz Bot Studio; and Paul Cheung, Director of Journalism and Technology Innovation at the Knight Foundation. We've also been working on another podcast, exploring the future of digital identity with a range of global experts. It's part of the Good ID project and the...
Published 05/08/19
In the first of two episodes recorded at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Jonathan talks all things artificial intelligence with Azeem Azhar, editor of the Exponential View newsletter; Tiffany Li, Resident Fellow at Yale Law School at the Information Society Project; and Meredith Broussard, data journalism professor at NYU.
Published 04/24/19
For this episode we headed to the Houses of Parliament to catch up with Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, and Chair of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. The Committee's inquiry into disinformation and 'fake news' investigated the Trump and Brexit campaigns, tech platforms, and who holds responsibility for what ends up online.
Published 04/10/19
In this episode we're going back to the some of the big questions at the heart of Government vs the Robots, with Jamie Susskind, barrister and author of Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech. We talk all about the importance of algorithms, how technology is changing the rules we follow, and software engineering turning into ethics.
Published 03/28/19
How will the Internet of Things affect our homes, and our politics. We talk to Alexandra Deschamps Sonsino, author, inventor and designer about why Alexa is always listening, even when she's not recording, what sort of data your toothbrush might reveal about you and how smart homes can contribute to dealing with the housing crisis.
Published 03/14/19
This week we talk to Labour MP Darren Jones about just how tech-savvy his fellow politicians are, how fully the Houses of Parliament are embracing the digital age and the peril of doing politics by WhatsApp
Published 02/21/19
Sky News' Technology Correspondent Rowland Manthorpe joins us to discuss what to expect from 2019 when it comes to technology and politics. We cover Huawei, the evolution of technology journalism, the death of the high street, drone misuse, deepfakes and plenty more as we delve into a very murky crystal ball....
Published 02/07/19
We talk to Martin Moore about whether Google and Facebook are set to run our schools, if the triumph of fake news in the west is coincidence or conspiracy and what we might be able to learn about the future of democracy from countries like India and Taiwan. Martin is Director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication and Power at King's College London.
Published 01/24/19