Burning Platforms

Muting The Manosphere with Chanel Contos

The founder of Teach Us Consent on her campaign to give young people control over their social media feeds. 
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea,  Per Capita’s Peter Lewis and Cam Wilson from The Sizzle also delve into: 
The release of a new privacy code for children
Anthropic’s push into Australia
and Bernie Sanders' new bill for a moratorium on data centres
 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/

One Battle After Another with Alix Dunn

The Host of the  ‘Computer Says Maybe’ podcast joins us to give a global take on the power and influence of Big Tech.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also delve into: 
 
the federal government’s green data centre edict
industry’s latest pitch to mine creative data
and Open AI’s pivot away from consumer products
 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/

Just Asking with Prof Daniel Angus

 
The Director of QUT’S Digital Media Research Centre outlines how different chatbots take users down different wormholes when they research conspiracy theories.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea and The Sizzle’s Cam Wilson also dig into:
How AI is creating new modes of death and destruction in Iran
Why Pornhub is pulling out of Australia
and Atlassian’s ironic jobs purge
 
For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/

Trust Mark with Alan Finkel

The former Chief Scientist outlines his new venture, ‘Proudly Human to allow creators to verify their work in the ocean of slop.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:
The Australian Government’s defence deals with Palantir
Canadian PM Mark Carney’s call for a Middle Powers LLM
and whether agentic AI will eat the internet
 
Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on our research and events.
Per Capita's podcasts are recorded and produced on Wurundjeri land.

World on Fire

The Burning Platforms panel kick around the carcass of this week when the White House went to war with AI, bosses found new ways to snoop on workers, and the market was moved by a bit of fan fiction.
Per Capita’s Peter Lewis joins Digital Rights Watch chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and The Sizzle’s Cam Wilson try to make sense of the madness.
And some reading to get you warmed up:
Casey Newton - What is OpenAI going to do when the truth comes out?HTI - ‘Surveillance Creep’ Citrini - The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis Dan Kagan-Kans - The Left is missing Out on AI Brian Merchant - ‘Actually the Left is Winning the AI Debate'

Orgy of Opportunity with Prof Nicholas Davis

On this week's episode of Burning Platforms, the team look at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi with first-hand accounts from UTS’s Human Technology Institute co-director and regular panelist Digital Rights Chair Lizzie O’Shea.
They join Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis to also discuss:
Mark Zuckerberg’s day in court
World-leading workplace laws in NSW
and the SASSopcolypse.
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome
Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on of the Centre of the Public Square's research and events.
Per Capita's podcasts are produced on Wurundjeri land.
 
 

Plumbing with Sir Geoff Mulgan

Governments may campaign in poetry and govern in prose, but what about the engineering that keeps our democracy flowing? The pioneer of public innovation and Professor of Collective Intelligence at University College London, Sir Geoff Mulgan, believes it’s time to get the boring bits right.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also discuss:
Anthropic CEO Dario Ameida’s summer essay - https://darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology
Should universities accept Big Tech dollars - https://www.science.org/content/article/nearly-third-social-media-research-has-undisclosed-ties-industry-preprint-claims
and South Korea’s new AI Basic Act - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/29/south-korea-world-first-ai-regulation-laws.
 
If you want to hear more from Sir Geoff he will be speaking in Sydney on Feburary 25 https://anzsog.edu.au/events-connection/events/what-next-for-public-innovation-with-geoff-mulgan
 
Visit www.percapita.org.au for more on our research and events.
Per Capita's podcasts are recorded and produced on Wurundjeri land.
 
 

Long Game with Greg Sadler

Burning Platforms is BACK for 2026. The panels returns this week to unpack the existential risks AI presents with the Good Ancestors CEO, Greg Sadler. Spoiler: it's not just AGI.
 
With our regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis, the panel also discuss:
Grok’s wild (and gross) summer
ChatGTP’s foray into health
and Bandcamp’s AI pledge
 
Check our Good Ancestors: https://www.goodancestors.org.au/
 
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome 
Help the Centre of the Public Square fund its research into AI and responsible technology - donate to Per Capita today: https://percapita.org.au/donate/ 
 
 
 

End of Days - 2025 in Review

As 2025 crashes out we survey the highs and lows of the year in tech with long-time platform burner Human Technology Institute co-director Ed Santow.
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis discuss:
the Government’s AI Plan
the Social Media Ban
and what to read over summer
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome 
Help the Centre of the Public Square fund its research into AI and responsible technology - donate to Per Capita today: https://percapita.org.au/donate/ 

Ground Game with Cory Alpert

While the vested interests wrestle with the intricacies of AI regulation, are community library conversations the best bet for shaping our tech future? On this week's episode of Burning Platforms, we meet the academic who is fighting the algorithm with words.
 
Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis will also discuss:
Meta’s latest Anti-Trust win
The News Media Bargaining Incentive
The case for an "AI Slop" Tax
 
Book a ticket for Cory’s late night show: https://events.humanitix.com/system-error-late-night-show
 
Read Lizzie’s Baffler piece: https://thebaffler.com/latest/antitrust-issues-oshea
 
Join us in discussing the issues raised in this episode join us in the Democracy Sandpit: https://civility.bettermode.io/welcome