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The digital world is a place where the fast, the dynamic and the disruptive rule. Would it shock you to find out that same world sits on top of 50 year old software that only a handful of people remember how to code? Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833070-800-how-covid-19-has-exposed-a-huge- computing-disaster-in-the-making/ https://twitter.com/bbcmicrobot?s=20 More about Mattsplained: www.kulturpop.com  https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/  https://twitter.com/kulturmatt

Can we save the Internet by breaking it and making the digital world less streamlined and friction free?  Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury  Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.wired.com/story/to-mend-a-broken-internet-create-online-parks/  https://www.wired.com/story/digital-nunchi-virtual-empathy-tips/ More about Mattsplained: www.kulturpop.com https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/  https://twitter.com/kulturmatt

Sky diamonds, life on Venus, facial recognition earphones and artistic drone swarms. It must be the future. Episode Sources: https://scitechdaily.com/what-is-phosphine-and-why-does-it-point-to-extra-terrestrial- life-floating-in-the-clouds-of-venus/ Sky diamonds https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/30/ecotricity- founder-to-grow-diamonds-made-entirely-from-the-sky  https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833063-800-there-may-not-be-life-on-venus- after-all-but-we-shouldnt-despair/ https://news.mit.edu/2020/solar-extracts-drinkable-water-1014 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256925-earphone-cameras-watch-your-facial- expressions-and-read-your-lips/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256822-microwaving-plastic-waste-can-generate- clean-hydrogen/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2257229-water-could-be-extracted-from-desert-air- using-heat-from-sunlight/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2257926-robot-trained-in-a-game-like-simulation- performs-better-in-real-life/ https://www.newsci

Last weekused the term endsourcing to describe the phasing out of human workers in a growing number of sectors of the economy. This week, we’re going a step further to ask: are we prepared for a post work world Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury  Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833031-000-will-robots-and-ai-take-our-jobs-in-covid-19s-socially-distanced-era/ More about Mattsplained: www.kulturpop.com https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/  https://twitter.com/kulturmatt

Can we engineer our way out of our current climate and health crises? Meet the science that is hacking evolution, and in some cases, turning back time. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury  Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833031-000-will-robots-and-ai-take-our-jobs-in-covid-19s-socially-distanced-era/  More about Mattsplained: www.kulturpop.com https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/  https://twitter.com/kulturmatt

Can we engineer our way out of our current climate and health crises? Meet the science that is hacking evolution, and in some cases, turning back time. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury  Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 More about Mattsplained: www.kulturpop.com https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/  https://twitter.com/kulturmatt

As the CIA announces new revenue sharing models for spies, we take a look at nuclear batteries, touchy-feely cameras and Deep Fakery. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2254877-ai-camera-can-tell-what-surfaces-feel-like-with-just-a-glance/  https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/22/elon-musk-says-cheaper-more-powerful-electric-vehicle-batteries-are-3-years-off https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/21/1008654/cias-new-tech-recruiting-pitch-more-patents-more-profits/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24733010-700-safe-extra-long-life-nuclear-batteries-could-soon-be-a-reality/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/29/1009098/ai-deepfake-putin-kim-jong-un-us-election/  https://youtu.be/ERQlaJ_czHU https://youtu.be/sbFHhpYU15w  More about Mattsplained: www.kulturpop.com  https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop  https://twitter.com/kulturmatt 

“How do you wake up from the matrix when you don’t know you’re in the matrix?” That’s pne of the key questions posed in Netflix docudrama The Social Dilemma. Matt Armitage takes the red pill and the blue pill and wakes up in the future. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 www.kulturpop.com  https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/?hl=en https://twitter.com/kulturmatt 

We often refer to technology as ‘a step in the right direction’ on the assumption that better things will follow. What happens when those steps themselves become the problem? Walk This Way as MSP’s Matt Armitage takes you into the strange world of step recognition. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 www.kulturpop.com  https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/?hl=en https://twitter.com/kulturmatt  Episode Sources: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-16/singapore-to-pay-citizens-for-keeping-healthy-with-apple-watch  https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24733000-800-the-way-you-walk-may-soon-be-used-by-authorities-to-identify-you/ 

“I am not a human. I am a robot. A thinking robot.” Those words were written by an AI called GPT-3. Should we celebrate the arrival of the thinking machine? Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 www.kulturpop.com  https://www.instagram.com/kulturpop/?hl=en https://twitter.com/kulturmatt  Episode Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/06/from-viral-conspiracies-to-exam-fiascos-algorithms-come-with-serious-side-effects https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/robot-wrote-this-article-gpt-3 

Why are bees so much better than us? Are wormholes the best way to travel? Plus, a dollop of brown fat and the glue that lets you drink milk. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/01/elon-musk-bionic-pig-publicity-stunt-innovations  https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-neuralink-brain-implant-v2-demo/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253157-travelling-through-a-wormhole-without-dying-may-actually-be-possible/  https://www.wired.com/story/map-shows-how-wildfire-smoke-spreads/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253394-honeybees-are-able-to-calculate-probability-and-use-it-to-find-food/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2252936-coating-our-gut-walls-with-glue-could-treat-lactose-intolerance/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2252925-body-fat-transformed-by-crispr-gene-editing-helps-mice-keep-weight-off/ 

Where are the self-driving cars, the robot servants and the cloud-powered smart companions? Have we been oversold on the power and potential of AI? That’s where the trouble starts. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Photo Credit: Eric Krull / Unsplash Episode Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidteich/2020/02/27/artificial-intelligence-ai-hardware-and-software-history-does-rhyme/#75ce7cc632d2 https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2020/06/11/driverless-cars-show-the-limits-of-todays-ai https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2020/06/11/driverless-cars-show-the-limits-of-todays-ai https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/22/all-hail-the-california-court-that-put-the-brakes-on-uber-and-co 

Despite the trend for eating healthily and consciously, we know remarkably little about what’s in the food we eat or how it works. Is it time we knew more about the Dark Matter in our diet? Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Photo Credit: Hermes Rivera / Unsplash Episode Sources: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24732920-700-hidden-nutrition-we-dont-know-what-makes-up-99-per-cent-of-our-food/ https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Food-Beverage/Coronavirus-accelerates-demand-in-Asia-for-plant-based-meat https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/dining/plant-based-meats-coronavirus.html https://time.com/5827315/coronavirus-diet/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/daphneewingchow/2020/03/31/five-ways-that-coronavirus-will-change-the-way-we-eat/#e9f2e5b1a2b4 https://fortune.com/2020/07/21/us-consumer-spending-food-dining-out-restaurants-coronavirus-pandemic-lockdown/ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/aug/03/vegan-food-company-provokes-advertising-campaign-meatless-

Do you remember that time Rey and Chewie bumped into Thor at brunch? No? It’s on Gamora’s Insta. Our feeds are full of omakase, dalgona coffee and selfies. But where are the selfies in sci-fi? Welcome to the Real Housewives of Space.  Hosted by Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced by Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 EPISODE EXCERPT Do you remember that scene in The Last Jedi where Luke and Rey stand near the edge of a cliff on Ahch-To, arms around each other and staring wide-eyed and grinning into the camera as they point at the puffin-like Porgs? Me neither. MSP’s Matt Armitage has had a revelation: there are no selfies in Sci-Fi. So, I originally talked about this on a recent episode of BFM’s A Bit of Culture. But it’s been gnawing away at me.  This difference between what we see on our screen and our actual behaviour. Which is nothing new - we call it fiction for a reason.  That no one goes to the bathroom on TV shows?  And there’s good reason for that. When we’re hanging out with friends and som

As we build ever more complicated games and tasks to challenge AI, should we really be asking them to get the simple stuff right? Like reposing our selfies and helping to prescribe medicines? Science is certainly slick with new smart waterproofing fabrics and bricks that bring Mario to life. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced: Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2250551-quantum-version-of-the-ancient-game-of-go-could-be-ultimate-ai-test/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2209631-ai-beats-professionals-at-six-player-texas-hold-em-poker/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251262-an-ai-can-make-selfies-look-like-theyre-not-selfies/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/05/1006003/ai-machine-learning-defer-to-human-expert/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2250401-these-are-the-12-ways-you-can-drastically-cut-your-dementia-risk/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2251189-in-ear-nerve-stimulating-device-helps-people-learning-a-new-

The terrible ‘20s have seen the most radical changes to our society in a generation. As MSP moves into a post-Jeff world, we examine some at home hacks designed to keep us healthy until the world reopens.   Hosted by Matt Armitage & Richard Bradbury Produced by Richard Bradbury for BFM89.9 EPISODE SOURCES https://www.wired.com/story/stop-doomscrolling/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/technology/personaltech/youre-doomscrolling-again-heres-how-to-snap-out-of-it.html  https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24732922-400-what-is-the-best-way-to-lose-weight-and-keep-it-off-for-good/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24732913-000-how-changing-the-way-you-sit-could-add-years-to-your-life/ EPISODE EXCERPT Ballooning weight gain. Crisps. And doom scrolling. 2020 has not been kind to MSP’s Matt Armitage. Following the do as I say principle, MSP has been experimenting with some ways to stay physically fit and mentally healthy in these strange times.  You want to start today by telling us about yo

MSP says a fond farewell to Jeff Sandhu by celebrating the decade that shaped him. Mobile phones, PCs, the Web 1.0 and a sea of plaid, acid washed jeans and boho-chic. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Jeff Sandhu Produced: Jeff Sandhu for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/91603cc1-f159-4c89-9462-443a078945ca https://www.history.com/news/1990s-the-good-decade    EPISODE EXCERPT A couple of weeks ago we were talking about the 80s and MSP’s Matt Armitage came to the conclusion that the 80s has overstayed its cultural welcome and should go away and leave us all alone. What will fill the gap? Does that mean we’re all set for a 90s revival? [you want to ad lib something about it being your last episode?] Do we need another revival? I don’t think we do.  One of the conclusions we reached on that previous show was pretty much to that effect.  Hopefully by throwing all the Gen X and Gen Y contaminated stuff out of the window, it will leave the Gen A and Bs space to create something that

Could pencil and paper be the future of medical diagnosis sensors and facial recognition software? Can water filled windows cool your house? And are ultrasonic waves really the next jump in screen technology? Science is slick… Hosts: Matt Armitage & Jeff Sandhu Produced: Jeff Sandhu for BFM89.9 Source Links: https://www.bfm.my  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2244446-ultrasonic-speakers-let-people-who-are-blind-read-braille-in-mid-air/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248486-noise-cancelling-windows-halve-traffic-sounds-even-when-theyre-open/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2247368-water-filled-windows-could-keep-your-home-cool-and-save-energy/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2247049-us-military-electroshock-weapon-can-hit-a-person-100-metres-away/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248749-sketch-a-heart-sensor-with-pencil-drawings-that-become-electrodes/  https://www.newscientist.com/article/2245996-an-ai-can-generate-photographs-of-peoples-faces-from-line-drawings/  https:/

The 80s. A great place to visit, a terrible place to live. Why has our obsession with 80s culture lasted for 20 years? It’s time to throw away the neon tees and create something new. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Jeff Sandhu Produced: Jeff Sandhu for BFM89.9 Episode Sources: https://www.bfm.my  https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/2016-why-are-we-obsessed-with-the-80s.html  EPISODE EXCERPT On last week’s MSP, Matt Armitage had a brain wave. Generally speaking, these are dangerous things accompanied by considerable suffering for other people. This one, if it works, is likely to be no more than a crime against taste. Yes, today we’re talking about The 80s. The decade that just won’t quit. So. The 80s? I don’t know - you tell me. I was there. For pretty much all of it. And sometimes I feel like I’m still there.  I walk into stores and they’re selling clothes like the ones that looked terrible on me 30 years ago. And look worse now? Well, yeah, we hadn’t added Lycra to everything back then.  Now I just end up look

Mocked for their love of avocado toast and artisan everything, as the first Millennials get ready to embrace middle age and middle management, it’s time for them to settle into comfortable khakis and let Gen Z do the heavy lifting. Hosts: Matt Armitage & Jeff Sandhu Produced: Jeff Sandhu for BFM89.9 Resources: https://www.bfm.my  Excerpt: Millennials. The generation that everyone loves to hate. But as the artisan food fanatics move towards Middle Age, MSP’s Matt Armitage thinks it’s time to reassess.  So no cheap jokes about avocado toast today? I don’t know - you tell me. Identifying the cut-off points for generations is = as we’ve remarked on previous shows - a bit of a fool’s errand.  In fact, we did a couple of show a few weeks ago about my Generation C… Where you laid out the case that generation are meaningless and the coronavirus has put us all in the same ‘bucket’ as you like to say. Are they suddenly more meaningful? In the sense that we’re heading back to some semblance of normality in