The 9pm Edict

It's the final episode of the spring series, finally. And with all the weird digital policy action in Australia in recent weeks, I figured we'd better chat once more with Justin Warren, "consultant, freedom of information tragic, hexagon enthusiast, and creator of the CyberRating™ labelling scheme".In this episode we talk about Australia's newly-legislated social media ban for under-16s, sure. But we also talk about something called "systems intentionality", product safety, the new AI tool from MyHeritage that turns old photos into videos, and wine decanters,Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00237/Please consider supporting this podcast with your cash-type money:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

We’re joined today by one of my favourite guests, space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk from Flinders University.In this episode we talk about the research she and her colleagues have been doing with the International Space Station. Apparently it's rather like a share house. We wonder how you might develop a feminist map of the Moon. And as usual we veer off on plenty of tangents.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00236/Please consider supporting this podcast through this season’s crowdfunder, The 9pm Summer Series 2024, by 5 December:https://the9pmedict.com/summer2024If you miss that deadline:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

No, we're not really on ketamine. But as the spring series continues we're going sideways with a bonus episode featuring my good friend Snarky Platypus and many, many topics.In this episode we talk about robot whales, the secrets of Dinosaur Club, Australia's proposed social media age restrictions (again), the truly horrible side effects of ketamine addiction, how Donald Trump and Elon Musk might change our world, the problem with our news media, and premix drinks.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00235/Please consider supporting this podcast through this season’s crowdfunder, The 9pm Summer Series 2024, by 5 December:https://the9pmedict.com/summer2024If you miss that deadline:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

The spring series grinds on — and I do mean grinds — with friend of the pod, satirist Mark Humphries.In this episode we do talk about the thing that happened last week — the Trump thing — but we also talk about edible underwear, North Korean soldiers, British comedians Ben Elton, Rik Mayall, and Steve Coogan, whether straight people can do camp, and pixellated genitals.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00234/Please consider supporting this podcast through this season’s crowdfunder, The 9pm Summer Series 2024, by 5 December:https://the9pmedict.com/summer2024If you miss that deadline:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

As the spring series continues we're joined by Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous to talk about the thing that happened in The America this week — but also much more.In this episode we talk about Australia's plans to ban under-16s from social media,  a selection of animals to turn into jerky, Macaulay Culkin, British religious history, and why violence sometimes isn't wrong.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00233/Please consider supporting this podcast:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

As regular listeners to the Edict will know, I reckon Australians should know more about the other nations in our region. So our special guest today is journalist Erin Cook, who covers South-East Asia, and we're talking Indonesia and Thailand. Mostly.Erin produces the excellent newsletter “Dari Mulut ke Mulut”, an English-language summary of what's happening in the region.https://darimulut.beehiiv.comIn this episode we talk about Indonesia's soon-to-be president Prabowo Subianto and the nation's plans to move the capital from Jakarta to the new city of Nusantara. We attempt to give you an introduction to the complicated and often amusing politics of Thailand. And we take a side journey into the politics of Myanmar and two varieties of popular music.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00232/Please consider supporting this podcast:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

The spring series of the Edict kicks off properly with our first special guest and it's David Gerard, co-editor of the newsletter Pivot to AI. So guess what we talk about.Yes, in this episode we talk about artificial intelligence. Specifically, we test out Google's NotebookLM podcast creator, we discuss why the much-promoted AI utopia won't happen, we put the idea of a robot uprising into its cultural context, and much more.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00231/Please consider supporting this podcast:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

It's more or less the start of the spring series as Stilgherrian vents about three more things that got on his wick this week. He also plugs his current crowdfunding campaign, because of course he does.In this episode he talks about the shoddy journalism of the US presidential campaign, the problems of artificial intelligence, and his disturbing dreams.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00230/Please consider supporting this podcast via the current crowdfunder:https://the9pmedict.com/spring2024If you miss the deadline of 19 September:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

With so much news about social media in Australia right now, I thought I'd wrap up the winter series by speaking with Professor Axel Bruns from the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology.In this episode we discuss whether anything can replace what was Twitter, Australia's News Media Bargaining Code and Meta refusing to pay for news content, age restrictions for social media, the arrest of Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov, and why filter bubbles really aren't a thing.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00229/Please consider supporting this podcast via the current crowdfunder:https://the9pmedict.com/spring2024If you miss the deadline of 19 September:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

It's time for another podcast about space, so we're joined once again by astrophysicist Rami Mandow, founder of SpaceAustralia.com.In this episode we talk about what may be a new kind of pulsar, the cancellation of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, three ways in which the solar system is being a jerk, Japanese folklore (no really), those astronauts who are definitely not "stuck" or "stranded" on the International Space Station because NASA says they're not, and the ZWO Seestar S50 smart telescope.Full podcast details and credits at:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00228/Please consider supporting this podcast with a tip:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/