Download This Show
ABC Australia
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 4, 2025 • 29min
An expert has quit over the government's planned social media ban, what now?
This week on Download This Show, we're getting up to speed with what on Earth is going on with the teen social media ban. From new standards being announced to experts quitting in protest -- it's proving to be a busy time for the people making decisions about what our teens get to see online.
Jun 27, 2025 • 36min
How are online tools being used to resist fascism across the globe?
The apps and online tools that are being used in international political action, Tesla drama and the future of autonomous vehicles, what's going on with AI search engine overviews, and the story behind 40,000 cameras being exposed to the internet. This week on Download This Show.
Jun 20, 2025 • 29min
Could a new copyright lawsuit from Disney change the way we use AI?
A lawsuit from the house of mouse, Apple being forced to let you download apps outside the app store, a huge hole in Gmail's data security, plus a world where generative AI is doing critical computer coding. This week on Download This Show.
Jun 13, 2025 • 29min
'Imperial Kitten' vs 'Fancy Bear': how are kooky hacker nicknames causing serious concerns for cybersecurity?
Why do hackers have weird and wacky non-serious names? And why are British politicians blaming Apple and Google for the rise in phone thefts? Plus, there have been breakthroughs in the world of brain implants, and we break down how and when to use a VPN. This week on Download This Show.
Jun 6, 2025 • 29min
The human-AI conversation crisis: why we're choosing chatbots over people
In a special AI deep-dive episode of Download This Show, researchers Sandra Peter and Kai Remer break down how AI chatbots are changing the way humans behave, and why we now want to talk to chatbots more than we want to talk to people.
May 30, 2025 • 28min
Could AI be the 'person' deciding whether or not you get your dream job?
AI interviewing you for a job, hackable digital drivers licences, dating app safety, and CIA-run Star Wars websites. This week on Download This Show.
May 23, 2025 • 29min
How did a haunted game cartridge take the internet by storm?
Haunted video games, a tech feud between Apple and Epic Games, how tracking apps can be used in coercive control, and Discord transitioning into cool kid territory, this week on Download This Show.
May 16, 2025 • 27min
Which app is the latest to say it wants to be your everything?
Airbnb's midlife crisis, digital ID age verification, and facial recognition software on social media, this week on Download This Show.
May 9, 2025 • 29min
How did pink Lamborghinis, Minecraft, and bitcoin become the centre of a quarter-billion dollar heist?
Crypto heists, OpenAIs mission for good continues, and the dangerous world of unregulated chatbots for minors and women. This week on Download This Show.
May 2, 2025 • 29min
If people can't tell the difference between ChatGPT and a human, are we doomed?
Content moderators suing for psychological distress, checking in on the teen social media ban, and what do we do now that ChatGPT is supposedly indistinguishable from humans? This week on Download This Show.
