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

Nov 8, 2017 · 20 min
Human friendly robotics
Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Mark Palatucci talks to John Thornhill about the consumer robot revolution and his efforts to help create empathy between humans and their robot toys
Nov 1, 2017 · 30 min
The social media effect
Microsoft researcher and Data & Society president danah boyd talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about the effect of everyday technology, such as Facebook, on society and culture.
Oct 25, 2017 · 26 min
Reclaiming Europe's digital sovereignty
Francesca Bria tells John Thornhill how she is helping citizens in Barcelona design their digital future, moving from an economy fuelled by advertising and surveillance and towards transparency and a new social pact on the ownership of data.
Oct 18, 2017 · 21 min
Seth Stephens Davidowitz on data mining
John Thornhill talks to Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a former Google data scientist, about what our internet searches reveal about who we really are.
Oct 11, 2017 · 27 min
Mary Lou Jepsen on the wearable MRI
Scientist and former Facebook and Google executive Mary Lou Jepsen talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about her latest startup, Openwater, where she and a team of researchers are working to develop a ski helmet-sized imaging device that will one day...
Oct 4, 2017 · 1 min
Tech Tonic returns for a second series
Tech Tonic returns for a second series, starting next week. Our first guest is a former Google and Facebook executive who is working on a wearable diagnostic product that can read your mind. We’ll also be hearing how search engine data can be used to...
Jun 21, 2017 · 35 min
What lies ahead for AR
Matt Miesnieks, creator of one of the first augmented reality apps and co-founder of startup 6D, tells the FT's Tim Bradshaw about the technological advances that make AR possible, and what needs to happen if it is to fulfill its promise.
Jun 14, 2017 · 25 min
Tim Wu on addictive apps
The author of "The Attention Merchants" talks to John Thorhnill about his concerns about the way some web apps are eating into our time
Jun 7, 2017 · 22 min
The graphics chip powering AI technology
Jensen Huang, chief executive of graphics chipmaker Nvidia, tells the FT's Tim Bradshaw how the graphics processing unit, or GPU, the company pioneered in the 1990s is being used in everything from virtual reality to machine learning to autonomous...
May 31, 2017 · 24 min
Silicon Valley's newest recruits
Jeremy Johnson, chief executive of Andela, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about how his company recruits, trains and then places software engineers from several African countries with the top tech companies.
May 24, 2017 · 26 min
The limits of artificial intelligence
Despite billions being spent on research, even our best deep learning neural networks look pitiful when compared to the intricate design of the brain of a bumble bee or even an ant, Peter Bentley tells John Thornhill.
May 17, 2017 · 23 min
Using blockchain to fight fraud
Leanne Kemp's company Everledger uses blockchain technology to track the provenance of assets, from diamonds to fine wines. She talks to John Thornhill about the technology's potential to combat fraud.
May 10, 2017 · 22 min
Uber's plans for aviation on demand
Jeff Holden, Uber's chief product officer, talks to the FT's Leslie Hook about the company's ambitious plans for aviation on demand.
May 3, 2017 · 18 min
How US companies find the right talent
Mehul Patel, chief executive of Hired, talks to the FT's Hannah Kuchler about hiring trends in Silicon Valley and other technology hubs in the US, and what some companies are doing in response to President Donald Trump's executive action on i...
Apr 26, 2017 · 23 min
What's next for Stripe and online payments
Stripe's John Collison speaks to the FT's Leslie Hook about what he and his co-founder brother have planned for the $9bn online payments company, why Silicon Valley is still their preferred place to have their headquarters and what it is like...
Apr 19, 2017 · 30 min
What self-driving cars could do for robotics
Jeremy Conrad, co-founder of hardware incubator and VC fund Lemnos Labs, talks to the FT's Tim Bradshaw about the way economies of scale in the self-driving car industry could bolster the field of robotics.
Apr 12, 2017 · 32 min
How DeepMind vanquished Go
Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind, talks about what he learnt from the Alpha Go experience and the complex problems his artificial intelligence company has been working on since it was acquired by Google in 2014.
Apr 5, 2017 · 32 min
Engineering your own chatbot
Lili Cheng and her team at Microsoft's FUSE Labs are at the forefront of research on social interaction with artificial intelligence. She joins the FT's Richard Waters to discuss the evolution of chatbot technology, what the company learnt fr...
Mar 29, 2017 · 20 min
Political disruption and the internet
Helen Margetts, head of the Oxford Internet Institute, talks to the FT's Madhumita Murgia about fake news, echo chambers, big data and why we need more research to be able to combat the "pathologies" of the internet.
Mar 22, 2017 · 23 min
The virtue of cash
Rutger Bregman tells John Thornhill there is evidence to show that we can end poverty by handing out cash to those who need it. The idea of a universal basic income is one whose time has come, he says, and it is finding support in unexpected places...