FT Tech Tonic

Financial Times

We are in the midst of a digital revolution, where the line between our physical world and cyberspace is blurring. Tech Tonic is the show that investigates the promises and perils of this new technological age.

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261 episodes
Updated July 15

Episodes261

Newest first

Apr 18, 2018 · 21 min
What we can learn from ancient DNA
David Reich, professor of genetics at Harvard, talks to Clive Cookson, the FT's science editor, about how the genomic revolution is affecting paleontology and the study of human pre-history.
Apr 11, 2018 · 25 min
Julia Shaw on a bot you can trust
Psychologist Julia Shaw talks to John Thornhill about her research into the fragility of human memory and how this helped her design a software tool that can be used to record and report workplace harassment
Apr 4, 2018 · 29 min
The consumer awakening
How can we fix the digital future? Writer and Silicon Valley critic Andrew Keen tells John Thornhill our best resource is human agency and the power of consumers to reject products that they have lost faith in
Mar 28, 2018 · 47 min
Facebook and Google: platforms or publishers?
The big tech platforms where many people get their news wield significant power. How do they work with publishers, and are they doing enough to combat "fake" news? FT global media editor Matt Garrahan put the questions to a panel of experts a...
Mar 21, 2018 · 25 min
Removing bias from AI
Kriti Sharma talks to John Thornhill about her work for the UK software company Sage and about her mission to bring greater diversity and accountability to the algorithms that guide our decisions.
Mar 14, 2018 · 22 min
Rethinking the way we earn money
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes joins the FT's Hannah Kuchler to talk about economic inequality in the age of "big tech", and his proposal to shrink the income gap in the US. It's the subject of his book Fair Shot: Rethink...
Mar 7, 2018 · 29 min
Erel Margalit on investing in peace
John Thornhill talks to Erel Margalit, founder and chairman of Jerusalem Venture Partners, about his plan to help create a regional hub for tech startups and how he believes business collaboration in the region can help ease tensions when politicians f...
Feb 28, 2018 · 21 min
Is there anyone out there?
Clive Cookson, FT science editor, discusses the possibility of alien life and whether we would recognise it if we encountered it with British astrophysicist Paul Davies.
Feb 21, 2018 · 26 min
ENCORE: When data rules the world
In this encore episode, John Thornhill talks to author and historian Yuval Noah Harari about his vision of a future when humans are no longer the smartest algorithm on the planet.
Feb 14, 2018 · 23 min
Road testing self-drive cars
John Thornhill talks to nuTonomy's Gretchen Effgen about why the company chose Singapore as well as Boston to test its self-drive cars and why it uses a formal methods approach to developing its software.
Feb 7, 2018 · 23 min
Jacqueline Poh on digital government
John Thornhill talks to the head of Singapore's GovTech about her work in advancing the country's Smart Nation ambitions
Jan 31, 2018 · 27 min
Martin Rees on saving the planet
John Thornhill talks to leading astrophysicist Martin Rees about why he thinks we need to pay greater attention to the risks posed by environmental damage and the rapid adoption of new technologies.
Jan 24, 2018 · 28 min
Silicon Valley's coming of age
Historian Leslie Berlin talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about the generation of entrepreneurs and investors, from Mike Markkula to Sandra Kurtzig, who transformed the tech hub in the 1970s and 1980s. It's the subject of her...
Dec 27, 2017 · 24 min
Calum Chace on a world without work
Business and science fiction writer Calum Chace talks to John Thornhill about the exponential growth of AI and why we need to start planning now for a world without work.
Dec 20, 2017 · 29 min
Social media in the classroom
How is the use of mobile technology and social media affecting the lives of children and adolescents? Sonia Livingstone, professor of psychology at the LSE in London, examined the issue in her book: The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age. Sh...
Dec 13, 2017 · 24 min
Garry Kasparov on the risks and rewards of AI
Artificial intelligence is an important tool, but human beings have to be creative to understand how best to make use of it, former world chess champion Garry Kasparov tells John Thornhill
Dec 6, 2017 · 26 min
Guarding against the next cyber attack
Army veteran and cyber security expert Rick Howard talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about the current state of cyber security, what we have learned from recent large-scale attacks known as WannaCry and NotPetya and what companies can do to try to ...
Nov 29, 2017 · 24 min
Why AI is the future
Phil Libin, former chief executive of Evernote, tells John Thornhill why he thinks artificial intelligence will soon be part of the fabric of all our lives and about his plan to create a global AI incubator
Nov 22, 2017 · 29 min
Using tech to fight poverty
Elisabeth Mason, founding director of the Stanford Poverty & Technology Lab, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about solving problems such as education inequality and job retraining the Silicon Valley way. 
Nov 15, 2017 · 27 min
What has gone wrong with the internet revolution?
Internet pioneer Martha Lane Fox talks to John Thornhill about her work in trying to ensure that the technology lives up to its early ideals and serves the interests of people rather than big companies.