Policy Prompt is a podcast featuring long-form interviews — going in depth to find nuances in the conversation — with leading global scholars, writers, policy makers, business leaders and technologists working at the intersection of technology, society and public policy. The focus of the podcast will be to advance constructive policy remedies for urgent global problems.
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Welcome to Policy Prompt, a new podcast from the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). Hosted by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson, Policy Prompt will keep you abreast of the most pressing policy challenges in the digital era. Discussions with today’s thought leaders will cover the latest developments in tech and governance and their impact on communities worldwide. Join us biweekly for new episodes, available on all major podcast platforms.
Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
CTRL+ALT+Revolt: The Tech Coup, with Marietje Schaake
Season 1 · Episode 1
Monday, September 16, 2024 • Duration 59:45
Marietje Schaake joins the hosts to discuss her book The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley (Princeton University Press, 2024). Informed by Marietje’s experience working at the forefront of tech governance, the conversation explores strategies for effective government regulation and ways citizens can counterbalance the immense power wielded by today’s tech giants, to promote a more democratic digital landscape.
Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
A Crash Course on the “Corpocene”: The Influencer Factory, with Grant Bollmer and Katherine Guinness
Season 1 · Episode 2
Monday, September 30, 2024 • Duration 01:31:44
In this episode, the Policy Prompt hosts are joined by Grant Bollmer and Katherine Guinness, authors of The Influencer Factory: A Marxist Theory of Corporate Personhood on YouTube (Stanford University Press, 2024), to discuss the evolving landscape of influencer culture. The episode touches on the growing phenomenon of “uncancelability” among influencers, the rise of artificial intelligence–powered avatars and the impact of fluctuating platform regulations.
History Claps Back on Techno-Optimism, with Daron Acemoglu
Season 1 · Episode 3
Friday, October 11, 2024 • Duration 59:49
Do emerging technologies inherently serve the greater good? Join Policy Prompt hosts Vass and Paul in a discussion with world-renowned economist Daron Acemoglu, on his recent book Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, co-authored with Simon Johnson (PublicAffairs, 2023). Following the launch of this episode, the announcement was made that Acemoglu, Johnson and James Robinson share this year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their groundbreaking research on global inequality. The hosts and Acemoglu discuss the implications of technological prowess on the global stage, the impacts of artificial intelligence on the future of work and education, and the building blocks of techno-optimism.
Siri, Tell Us About Human Rights and Robot Wrongs (a conversation with Susie Alegre)
Season 1 · Episode 4
Monday, October 28, 2024 • Duration 50:34
In this episode, Policy Prompt hosts chat with CIGI Senior Fellow and international human rights lawyer Susie Alegre, to unpack her latest book, Human Rights, Robot Wrongs: Being Human in the Age of AI (Atlantic Books, 2024). Listen to find out if Susie has ever been fooled by artificial intelligence, what the challenges and the tensions of rights for machines are, and why there is a palpable lack of urgency around the adoption of fully autonomous weapons.
How Every Computer Is a Chinese Computer (twirling the cord with Thomas Mullaney)
Season 1 · Episode 5
Monday, November 11, 2024 • Duration 01:03:32
Amid the geopolitical tensions of the Cold War, the Chinese computer emerged. Despite the complexity of formatting tens of thousands of characters for digital use, the race for ingenuity resulted in the revolutionary computing of non-Latin script and unprecedented typing speeds — feats that continue to shape the devices we use today. Join Policy Prompt hosts for a deep dive into the history of digital technology in China with Thomas S. Mullaney, American sinologist, professor at Stanford University and author of The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age (MIT Press, 2024).
A look at News, Memes, and Wireless Tech from More than 100 Years Ago (Heidi Tworek calls from Germany)
Season 1 · Episode 6
Monday, November 25, 2024 • Duration 01:00:32
Before Google and Meta dominated the digital landscape, the news agencies and technologies of the early twentieth century captured unprecedented influence. Join hosts Vass Bednar and Paul Samson in conversation with Heidi Tworek, a leading expert in international history and public policy from the University of British Columbia, as she explains the historic prevalence, power and manipulation of media and wireless technology. Her latest book, News from Germany: The Competition to Control World Communications, 1900–1945, is available from Harvard University Press.
The Competition Cage Match (Vass Bednar and Denise Hearn weigh in)
Season 1 · Episode 8
Thursday, December 19, 2024 • Duration 01:16:44
Join the Policy Prompt crew for a different kind of episode: recorded with a live audience at Perfect Books in Ottawa, host Paul Samson interviews Denise Hearn (resident senior fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, author, applied researcher and adviser) and Vass Bednar (CIGI senior fellow, Public Policy Forum fellow and executive director of the Master of Public Policy in Digital Society program at McMaster University) to discuss “kayfabe capitalism,” and why our nation’s competition policy leaves much to be desired. Listen to learn how Canada can promote competition, encourage citizen engagement and create a more level playing field. Denise and Vass’s book, The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians, is available now from Sutherland House Press.
How Refrigeration Changed Our Palates, Our Plates and Our Planet (a taste of history with Nicola Twilley)
Season 1 · Episode 7
Monday, December 9, 2024 • Duration 01:07:42
Is refrigeration really that revolutionary? In this episode of Policy Prompt, the hosts are joined by Nicola Twilley, author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves (Penguin Press, 2024) and co-host of the award-winning Gastropod podcast. They explore the “modern marvel” of enjoying fresh foods from around the globe year-round, and the science that makes it all possible.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located in Norway, is home to gene banks that are preserving more than one million seeds from around the world.
A remedy for rampant food waste? Nicola Twilley and co-host Cynthia Graber explore “surprise bags” in an episode of .
“The Empire of IP”: How Did We Get Here? (talking history of copyright with David Bellos and Alexandre Montagu)
Season 1 · Episode 9
Monday, January 27, 2025 • Duration 01:14:30
Copyright has become a tool for privatizing everything — the opposite of what it was designed to do when it was invented in the eighteenth century to protect published works. In their book Who Owns This Sentence? A History of Copyrights and Wrongs (Penguin Random House, 2024), Princeton professors David Bellos and Alexandre Montagu provide a lively account of that turnaround, to the point where “the bulk of American culture is in copyright prison,” the world’s largest companies earn their revenue from intellectual property, and creative rights to everything from wallpaper, computer code, choreography, a “vibe” or a banana costume can be disputed, claimed and monetized. Join Vass and Paul for this engaging tag team with David and Alexandre as they discuss both historical and contemporary examples of the power of copyright and where we might be headed with new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence.
Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17): www.copyright.gov/title17/
“Fair use in America simply means the right to hire a lawyer to defend your right to create”: Lawrence Lessig in Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity (Penguin Random House, 2005, chapter 12)
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Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
Vass Bednar’s Substack, Regs to riches, a newsletter about start-ups and public policy
Denise Hearn’s newsletter, Embodied Economics, focuses on today’s economic frameworks and financial structures through a nuanced lens
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
More on copyright history, current questions around legislation, and rights of publicity: BBC Arts & Ideas podcast, “Dickens, Disney and copyright” (with guests David Bellos, Katie McGettigan and Hayleigh Bosher; December 21, 2023)
Credits: Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our technical producers are Tim Lewis and Melanie DeBonte. Fact-checking and background research provided by Reanne Cayenne. Marketing by Kahlan Thomson. Brand design by Abhilasha Dewan and creative direction by Som Tsoi.
Original music by Joshua Snethlage.
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault.
Special thanks to creative consultant Ken Ogasawara.
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt biweekly on major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at info@policyprompt.io.
