Now that we know the state of play, we ask the big question: can the automotive sector thrive? Mark, Sally & Drew reflect on what they’ve learned on their journey.
Author mpescePosted on Author mpescePosted on Author mpescePosted on Episode 3.09 The Future of the Web with Sean White
In thirty years the Web has grown into the foundation of civilisation – but can we make the Web more useful, more private – and more human? That’s a question that Sean White, Chief Research & Development Officer at browser-maker Mozilla continually considers. The answer is evolving.
Some of the answer lies with new Web technologies, like Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s Solid project. And plenty of the answer lies within ourselves, as our use of the Web evolves.
Author mpescePosted on THE NEXT BILLION CARS Episode 9 – The Next Billion Carmakers
It’s the birth of ‘fabless’ production – manufacturing without huge capital investment. Will we be able to design a car ourselves – inexpensively and safely?
Author mpescePosted on Episode 3.08 The History of the Future with Blake Harris
Virtual Reality roared back to life this decade due to the efforts of visionary teenager Palmer Luckey. Luckey built Oculus, sold to Facebook for $3 billion – then got fired.
Blake Harris’ wonderful book The History of The Future: Oculus, Facebook and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality served as the foundation for this episode – a true life story of triumph and tragedy. It’s a rip roaring good read. Grab a copy here.
Author mpescePosted on THE NEXT BILLION CARS Episode 8 – The Next Billion Drivers
Is our transportation future a sleek clean sci-fi vision or a Max Max redux with added robotics? Could it be hell on wheels – or heaven on earth? Mark, Sally and Drew each explore their own versions of the perfect – and less-than-perfect automotive worlds to come.
Author mpescePosted on Episode 3.07 How the Computer Became Personal with Laine Nooney
In the 1970s computers went from huge, expensive and difficult to cute, affordable and fun. Our world emerges from that transformation.
NYU professor Dr. Laine Nooney studies the culture of computing – its origins and how it became both “domestic”, as it entered the home, and “personal” – as it entered our lives.
Author mpescePosted on THE NEXT BILLION CARS Episode 7 – The Next Billion Tons
Waste? Not! Designing cars for near-perfect recycling – is it even possible, or do the next billion end up as junk? How do we rethink a sustainable future around billions of automobiles? And can EVs promise zero carbon emissions?
We reference a lot of material on this episode, including this BP report on how much carbon we’re adding to the atmosphere every year. And a great article on recycling shredded automobiles.
Author mpescePosted on Episode 3.06 Liminal Dreaming with Jennifer Dumpert
Humanity’s newest (and oldest) frontier lies at the boundary between waking & sleep – hypnagogia and hypnopompia – at the edges of consciousness, within ‘liminal’ dreams.
Jennifer Dumpert has written a book on liminal dreaming – read more about it (and buy a copy!) here.
Author mpescePosted on THE NEXT BILLION CARS Episode 6: The Next Billion Passengers
Apps have turned us into ride-sharing, route-planning, ‘micromobility’ experts. We’re all passengers now, with more options than ever before.
LEK Partner Mark Streeting is an expert in ‘mobility-as-a-service’, a new term for the kind of seamless end-to-end transportation pioneered by Uber…
Special correspondent Drew Smith spoke with ZipCar co-founder Robin Chase about how the city has been defined by cars – and what it means to move past that into the age of passengers.
And co-host Sally Dominguez found an intriguing Chinese startup – Grove Hydrogen Automotive – building hydrogen-fuel-cell powered vehicles and offering them to drivers on a ‘subscription’ basis – as a path toward jump-starting hydrogen fueling infrastructure throughout the nation.
Author mpescePosted on THE NEXT BILLION CARS Episode 5: The Next Billion RPM
Will we cling to of the thrill of acceleration, rush of adrenaline, and roar of a petrol engine? Are we losing our emotional connection to the car?
Author mpescePosted on Episode 3.05 Brave New Wars with John Robb
Social media has been weaponised and is now used against nations as a tool of war – invisible, subtle, and dangerously destabilising. John Robb has spent over a decade studying how these new networks represent the new powers – and the new engines of war.
Some of John’s best writing goes to his Patreon supporters…
John writes the amazing Global Guerrillas blog – you should check it out.
John’s book Brave New War is quite good, too.
Author mpescePosted on Australian Podcast Awards finalist!
Great news! We’re a finalist in the Technology category of the Australian Podcast Awards. We won last year, and the competition is even stronger this year…