The 9pm Edict

Right now there's a lot happening in digital policy here in Australia. The Digital Duty of Care Bill is working its way through parliament. Social media platforms are being sued. Something called AI is always in the news. So it’s time once again to chat with Johanna Weaver, executive director and co-founder of the Tech Policy Design Institute in Canberra.In this episode we discuss that Digital Duty of Care Bill, why it isn't an "AI race" between the US and China, the law relating to rogue AI (there's no such thing as "rogue AI"), and of course whether artificial intelligence is really super intelligence (it isn't). All that and much more.Full podcast details and credits:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00278/Please consider supporting the the current crowdfunder:https://the9pmedict.com/spring2026Or if you miss that or prefer to not use Ko-Fi:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

The US has confirmed that it has weapons in space, although it hasn't explained what kind. So let's do an episode on space with space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk and astrophysicist Rami Mandow. What a shallow excuse!In this episode we also discuss how planets and asteroids and their features get their names, Millisecond Pulsar PSR J0437-4715, whether alien civilisations are hiding in Moon dust, the Bepicolombo mission to Mercury, and much more.Full podcast details and credits:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00277/Please consider supporting the the current crowdfunder:https://the9pmedict.com/spring2026Or if you miss that or prefer to not use Ko-Fi:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

This is the first episode of the Spring Series 2026, and we're kicking things off with one of our more popular guests, journalist Erin Cook, who covers South-East Asia. Today we're talking about the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and more.Erin produces the excellent newsletter Dari Mulut ke Mulut, an English-language summary of what's happening in the region, and an occasional newsletter specifically on the Australia-Indonesia relationship, Flat White, Kopi Susu. She also cohosts the Reformasi Dispatch podcast on Indonesian politics, policymaking, justice, and economics.In this episode we discuss the ongoing political dramas in the Philippines, the economics of durian, why Thailand is getting sick of tourists and especially tourists from Israel, the volcanoes and land-clearing smoke haze coming from Indonesia. We even have some solid life advice.Full podcast details and credits:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00276/Please consider supporting the the current crowdfunder:https://the9pmedict.com/spring2026Or if you miss that or prefer to not use Ko-Fi:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

Odd things have been happening in the UK, so it's time once more to chat with Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous.In this episode we discuss Barnaby Joyce's claim that One Nation is "one of the gayest parties in Australia", the early days of social media, maths, physics, shrinkflation, and of course last week's Clacton by-election which returned Nigel Farage to parliament.Full podcast details and credits:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00275/Please consider supporting the the current crowdfunder:https://the9pmedict.com/spring2026Or if you miss that or prefer to not use Ko-Fi:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/

A few weeks ago I went to Newcastle, the Australian one, and spent some time chatting with the voice of Newcastle herself, Carol Duncan OAM. She was ABC Radio's morning presenter for quite some years, then she was a city councillor, and she does a lot of other things too.In this episode we discuss her Medal of the Order of Australia and her status as a Freeman of the City of Newcastle. Also, her time in the music industry, chocolate and other confectionary, and the sheer sexual magnetism of Queensland politician Bob Katter.Full podcast details and credits:https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00274/Please consider supporting the the current crowdfunder:https://the9pmedict.com/spring2026Or if you miss that or prefer to not use Ko-Fi:https://the9pmedict.com/tip/https://skank.com.au/subscribe/