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Download This Show is your weekly guide to the world of media, culture, and technology. From social media to gadgets, streaming services to privacy issues. Each week Rae Johnston and guests take a fun, deep dive into how technology is reshaping our lives.

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Is Australia's social media ban *actually* working?

Australia banned under-16s from social media at the start of summer, and the world has been watching. Today, we're doing a full audit. What the ban is doing, what it isn't, and whether we even built it on the right foundations. GUESTS: Josh Taylor -- technology reporter for The Guardian.Jocelyn Brewer -- psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition.With a special appearance from John Livingstone, Head of Digital Policy at UNICEF Australia. You can hear Rae's full interview with him when it's released next Wednesday (25/03/2026). Rae also mentioned If Books Could Kill's analysis of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

29 min
20 MARS

Who owns art created inside video games?

There's a fresh wave of headlines claiming that AI is eating the workforce whole, and that the only way to have a job is to become the person who builds the robots. Is this a reasonable assumption? Or has "AI-washing" just become the most convenient way to excuse a restructure? Plus, a genuine artistic community has grown around taking photos in video games. Who owns those creations? And, wired headphones are back? Wired headphone revenue jumped 20 percent in the first six weeks of 2026. Why? GUESTS: Kath Albury -- Professor of Technology at Swinburne University, and Associate Investigator at the ARC Centre for Excellence In Automated Decision Making and Society. Mark Serrels -- Editorial Director at Choice and co-founder of Continue Magazine.This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

29 min
13 MARS

Your free VPN might be spying on you

VPNs have topped the charts this week, after major adult websites blocked Australian users. Several of these most popular VPNs are free, but at what cost? Plus, fake videos of the war in Iran have been circulating online. How do we tell what's real from what's not? Also, the Macbook Neo. It runs on an iPhone chip, is remarkably cheap, and comes in a variety of colours. Has Apple become fun again? ------- Benjamin Law's episode of Compass, Outsourcing Our Souls, will be out on Sunday 15th of March. ------- GUESTS: Michael Cowling — Professor of Educational Technology at RMIT and Director of the Hub for Apple Platform Innovation. AKA Professor Tech, and you can find his YouTube channel here. Tobias Venus — technology and travel journalist, and video producer at tobygv.tv. His YouTube channel is here. This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

29 min
6 MARS

Trump takes on Anthropic AI and Meta's AI glasses changing privacy

A US government official has called Anthropic a national security risk, after the company drew ethical lines around its technology being used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. How comfortable would you be with AI firing missiles? Plus, Facebook's parent company, Meta, sold seven million pairs of AI-enabled Ray-Bans last year. And now they want to add facial recognition. How will that change public spaces? And, Microsoft tried to ban the word 'microslop'. It didn't go well. GUESTS: Seamus Byrne — tech reporter and PhD research candidate with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Automated Decision Making & Society. Hannah Geremia — digital content editor at Whistleout Singapore.

29 min
27 FÉVR.

Does Elon Musk's X make you more right wing?

New research about the social media platform X suggests that just a few weeks on what used to be Twitter can shift political attitudes AND the effects can last long after we log off. So is it really possible to use these sites at all without being affected by the system? Plus, Australia's planned AI advisory body has been scrapped after 15 months of preparation. It's been replaced by the Australian AI Safety Institute. What does this mean for AI regulation? And, scientists have found a way to make 3D printed guns traceable. GUESTS: Seamus Byrne, tech reporter and PhD research candidate.Erica Mealy, senior lecturer of computer science at the University of the Sunshine Coast.This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.

29 min
20 FÉVR.

Did AI secretly make your favourite video game?

AI is sliding into game development pipelines, but the rules around telling players what is machine-made and what is made by people are patchy at best. So, how much transparency do players deserve, and does it even matter? Also on the program, how the RAM shortage is impacting the price of game consoles. And, why VR is better suited to the medical and training fields than replacing the open-plan office. GUESTS: Chloe Appleby, games curator at the Powerhouse Museum. Alex Kidman, freelance technology journalist at Alex Reviews Tech.This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people. -------------- If you liked this episode, you might like to check out our previous episode about whether a dating app for games could be the solution for that indecision of what to start next. You can find the link here.

29 min
13 FÉVR.

How tech is changing how we watch the Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics is using drones, AI and cloud-based broadcasting to track curling stones, freeze mid-air jumps, even talk to an official Winter Olympics chatbot. It’s turning sports spectatorship into something more high tech than ever before. Is it likely to be used in other sports? Plus, a battle is being waged in court between a 20-year-old and Meta/YouTube. The argument is over whether Meta and YouTube's social media sites are engineered to be intentionally addictive. What precedent will this set if the case is successful? GUESTS: Chris Berg, professor of economics at RMIT. David Braue, technology journalist at Information Age. If you want to get in touch, you can contact us at downloadthisshow@abc.net.au This episode was produced on Dharug and Burramattagal land.

28 min
6 FÉVR.

Are there more bots than people on the internet?

Having an AI agent act as your personal executive assistant may seem like a sweet deal, but security experts have a few concerns. Also on the program, Moltbook is a new social media platform specfically designed for AI agents to chat. So far, they’ve started a religion, made their own scripture and called for humanity’s downfall. What happens when we anthropomorphise binary code? And, the dead internet theory used to be a fringe conspiracy theory. But AI is getting us closer and closer to it being a reality. So, how much of the internet is still occupied by humans? GUESTS: Kai Riemer, professor of information technology at University of Sydney, and and director of Sydney Executive Plus.Tegan Jones, deputy editor at SmartCompany and co-host of Weird Tech.

29 min

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Rae Johnston

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Download This Show is your weekly guide to the world of media, culture, and technology. From social media to gadgets, streaming services to privacy issues. Each week Rae Johnston and guests take a fun, deep dive into how technology is reshaping our lives.