Best Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency Podcasts (2025)

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Special Episode: AI, Copyright, and Model Collapse, with Professor Alain Strowel 30:17

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1M ago30:17

30:17

We are told that Generative AI is the future. But what ifthat future is built on, as one commentator puts it, the "largest theft ofintellectual labor in history"? AI models are trained by ingesting vastamounts of creative works—including art, music, computer code, andwriting—often without permission from, or payment to, the creators of thatcontent.…

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Ontology and the Ethics of Milk: A Relational Materialist Approach 25:14

2M ago25:14

25:14

Milk is largely taken for granted as a food source in many societies. However, the fact that milk is considered such a normal and staple part of many diets obscures various questions that we might have about what‘milk’ actually is, and what the ethical implications are of making milk acentral part of human diets. In this podcast, DistinguishedProfe…

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Loneliness and Being Other/ed in Autism 29:46

3M ago29:46

29:46

There are many assumptions about autistic people and theirpresumed desire to be alone. But being alone can also lead to profoundexperiences of loneliness, which can be detrimental to the lonely person’shealth. Increasing evidence suggests that autistic people experience loneliness at higher rates than non-autistic people. But little is understood a…

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Synthetic Biology and the Goals of Conservation, with Christopher Lean 31:38

3M ago31:38

31:38

One potential solution to the various ecosystem crises we face is to genetically engineer organisms better to survive in a changing climate. Synthetic biology offers the tools to attempt this, by introducing various genetic modifications to help organisms avoid extinction intheir rapidly degrading environments. But how does an intervention like gen…

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Feeling is Believing? Exploring Belief as Emotion with Professor Miriam Schleifer McCormick 31:10

3M ago31:10

31:10

We typically think of beliefs as cognitive representations of the world that should be responsive to evidence and truth. In contrast, emotions are very different sorts of mental states: they seem to be non-cognitive, perhaps non-representational, and they have a certain feeling tothem. Or so the traditional story goes. But what happens when beliefs…

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The Gamer's Dilemma: Navigating Morality in Virtual Worlds, with Dr. Tom Montefiore 27:07

3M ago27:07

27:07

Many of us enjoy video games, immersing ourselves in rich virtual worlds where we can perform actions that would be unthinkable inreality. We might slay dragons, topple empires, or even engage in virtual theft and violence, often without a second thought. But are there ethical lines that we should not cross in these digital spaces? What happens whe…

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Do People Really Believe in Conspiracy Theories? With Dr Robert Ross 17:51

6M ago17:51

17:51

We've all seen the headlines: "20% of Americans believe the government is using COVID vaccines to microchip the population"; "12 million Americans think lizard people control their country."; or “9% of Australians believe that the government is covering up the fact that 5G mobile networks spread coronavirus”. These kinds of survey results about con…

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Public Reason and Conscientious Objection in Healthcare, with Dr Doug McConnell 34:46

6M ago34:46

34:46

Imagine that you are a doctor with deeply held moral or religious beliefs that conflict with providing certain medical treatments. For example, perhaps you oppose physician-assisted dying, or you have religious objections to performing certain reproductive healthcare procedures. How should healthcare systems handle these situations where healthcare…

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Can ChatGTP be an author? Exploring the ethics of AI creative writing assistance with Paul Formosa. 33:03

7M ago33:03

33:03

We often imaging novelists as solitary creatures, shut away in a room, labouring over their keyboards and relying on their imaginations for the words that fill the page. But even before the advent of AI, this image did not ring true for all novelists. Many had assistants to do research and check facts, and editors to massage the raw prose into the …

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Exploring the roles of medical device reps in Australian hospitals: ethical challenges, with Dr Brette Blakely 30:38

7M ago30:38

30:38

From the ventilator to the pulse oximeter to the surgical robot, medical care is mediated by sophisticated devices. It takes time to learn to use these devices safely. They require upkeep from skilled technicians. If something goes wrong, the consequences may be devastating for the patient. So how do Australian hospitals ensure that clinicians know…

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The law and religious privilege, with Mareike Riedel 30:18

1y ago30:18

30:18

Australia prides itself on being a secular, multi-cultural state. Section 116 of the Australian Constitution declares that: The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification …

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Epistemic Appropriation and the history of being “woke”, with Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky 27:29

1y ago27:29

27:29

The concept of "self-care" has become ubiquitous in recent years - we're urged to take bubble baths, book spa days, and indulge in retail therapy to cope with the stresses of modern life. But what often gets lost in this wellness rhetoric is that self-care has much deeper roots, originating in the Black feminist tradition as a form of resistance an…

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Film-Philosophy, Cinematic Ethics and the Transformative Experience of Film, with Robert Sinnerbrink 33:33

1y ago33:33

33:33

Given the ubiquity of streaming services as well as the enduring popularity of cinemas, we are probably watching more films now than at any other time in human history. Films entertain, distract, fill an otherwise empty hour or two, facilitate social interactions, split audiences, provoke controversy and more. However, most of us would probably not…

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Empathy, Moral Understandings and Psychopaths with Heidi Maibom 29:22

1+ y ago29:22

29:22

Psychopathy holds a certain fascination for crime writers and philosophers alike. Characters such as Harris’ Hannibal Lector, Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and Steinbeck’s Cathy Trask fascinate and repel readers with their indifference to the pain and distress of others. Philosophers’ interest in psychopaths revolves around the question of whether or not …

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AI Special Series Pt 3: Responsible AI and the Future of Education, with Virginia Dignum 18:22

1+ y ago18:22

18:22

Imagine that you're a student struggling with writer's block on an essay assignment. What if you could turn to an AI tutor for help - one that could not only offer suggestions for improving your prose, but could even generate entire paragraphs or complete drafts based on a few simple prompts? With the rapid advancement of AI and large language mode…

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AI Special Series Pt 2: Generative AI and Copyright – Where to from here? With Rita Matulionyte 26:52

1+ y ago26:52

26:52

Generative AI technologies, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and text-to-image tools such as Stable Diffusion, have exploded in popularity. These tools can produce everything from philosophy essays, poems, and computer code to high-realism images, with a few simple prompts. For example, you could prompt a Gen AI tool to create a self-portrait of Picasso wi…

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AI Special Series Pt 1: The AI Alignment Problem, with Raphaël Millière 28:33

1+ y ago28:33

28:33

Could the AI personal assistant on your phone help you to manufacture dangerous weapons, such as napalm, or illegal drugs or killer viruses? Unsurprisingly, if you directly ask a large language model, such as ChatGPT, for instructions to create napalm, it will politely refuse to answer. However, if you instead tell the AI to act as your deceased bu…

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Should we aim for a world without work? With Jean-Philippe Deranty 42:57

2y ago42:57

42:57

Just imagine that you are lying down in the warm sand, relaxing while enjoying the sun and sea on a lazy holiday. Wouldn’t it be nice if every day was like that? Many of us have enjoyed the fantasy of quitting our jobs, moving somewhere exotic, and living a simpler and more meaningful life. Wouldn’t a life without the trouble of work be a more fulf…

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From Theory to Practice: The Ethics of Uterus Transplantation with Mianna Lotz 28:19

2y ago28:19

28:19

Assisted reproductive technologies are now pervasive in Australia, with around 1 in 20 babies born through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or other technologies. IVF has been used to help people make families since 1978. However, for women without a functioning uterus, the options were limited to adoption or surrogacy until relatively recently. In 201…

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Legal Identity and Human Rights with Christopher Sperfeldt 23:17

2y ago23:17

23:17

Many of us take our legal identity for granted. We are easily able to apply for passports, bank accounts and other services that require proof that we are who we claim to be. But around one billion people lack proof of their legal identity, impacting their human rights in adverse ways. It can be a difficult matter to establish legal identity. Mecha…

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AI, Robots and Gender with Inês Hipólito 26:09

2y ago26:09

26:09

You call out to your favourite AI voice assistant and ask it to play an obscure song. Unfortunately, it starts playing the wrong song, which leads you to verbally abuse it. After a brief pause, the AI responds submissively. Is there anything wrong with your behaviour? And does it matter that the AI voice assistant was designed, by predominately mal…

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AI, Ethics and Meaningful Work with Sarah Bankins 24:25

2y ago24:25

24:25

All of us may complain about our jobs from time to time. Despite this, meaningful work, that is work that we find personally significant or is objectively worthwhile, is an important part of our lives. Work allows us to exercise our skills and autonomy and can provide a sense of belongingness. These and other dimensions of meaningful work will be a…

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Do human races exist? An exploration of social constructionism about race with Adam Hochman 22:07

2+ y ago22:07

22:07

In the CAVE: An ethics podcast, is back with Season 3 of the show. Join your hosts, Professor Paul Formosa and Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers, along with guest host Associate Professor Mark Alfano, from the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (or CAVE) as they explore a range of philosophical topics focused on t…

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Remembering and self-narratives with Regina Fabry 24:33

2+ y ago24:33

24:33

In the CAVE: An ethics podcast, is back with Season 3 of the show. Join your hosts, Professor Paul Formosa and Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers, along with guest host Associate Professor Mark Alfano, from the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (or CAVE) as they explore a range of philosophical topics focused on t…

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The Pleistocene Social Contract with Kim Sterelny 21:51

2+ y ago21:51

21:51

In the CAVE: An ethics podcast, is back with Season 3 of the show. Join your hosts, Professor Paul Formosa and Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers, along with guest host Associate Professor Mark Alfano, from the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (or CAVE) as they explore a range of philosophical topics focused on t…

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Animal welfare and food ethics with Rachel Ankeny 27:28

2+ y ago27:28

27:28

In the CAVE: An ethics podcast, is back with Season 3 of the show. Join your hosts, Professor Paul Formosa and Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers, along with guest host Associate Professor Mark Alfano, from the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (or CAVE) as they explore a range of philosophical topics focused on t…

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Smartphones, mind-wandering, and the attention economy with Jelle Bruineberg 17:58

2+ y ago17:58

17:58

In the CAVE: An ethics podcast, is back with Season 3 of the show. Join your hosts, Professor Paul Formosa and Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers, along with guest host Associate Professor Mark Alfano, from the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (or CAVE) as they explore a range of philosophical topics focused on t…

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Exclusion and Uptake in Deliberative Democracy with Professor Sarah Sorial 18:12

3y ago18:12

18:12

Patronizing, interrupting, ignoring, talking over, shouting down, and mansplaining, not to mention outright trolling, abusing, threatening, and humiliating are just a few of the deliberative vices that plague too many of our discussions. This matters not just for our interpersonal and work relationships, but also for the quality of our democracy. J…

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Bad Beliefs with Professor Neil Levy 18:40

3y ago18:40

18:40

Humans have long been characterized as ‘the rational animal’. However, this claim has come under sustained attack by a range of scholars who portray humans as rarely engaging in conscious reasoning. Join host Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers and guest Professor Neil Levy discuss the nature of rationality and how humans use evidence to make up t…

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Enculturation, Cognition and Technology with Professor Richard Menary 19:26

3y ago19:26

19:26

To be a moral agent requires having various skills and capacities. But where do these come from and how do we acquire them? Join host A/Prof Paul Formosa and guest Professor Richard Menary discuss how enculturation gives us an account of cognitive tools that can help us to understand how technology can transform us into modern human agents capable …

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Moral Conflicts in a Pandemic with Professor Wendy Lipworth 15:01

3y ago15:01

15:01

Various ethical arguments have come into play to try to understand the moral conflicts triggered by this pandemic. Join host Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers and guest Professor Wendy Lipworth discuss whether framing these conflicts in terms of a duty to care versus reciprocity can lead to an impasse in thinking about the ethics of providing ca…

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Moral Responsibility and Anger with Professor Michael McKenna 30:47

3y ago30:47

30:47

An argument breaks out in response to a perceived slight, anger erupts, and violence ensues. It is all-too-familiar cases like this that make anger seem like a problematic emotion. However, many philosophers have taken interpersonal reactive attitudes, such as anger and resentment, to be defining features of our moral responsibility practices. Join…

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In the CAVE Season Two Coming this Wednesday! 1:31

3y ago1:31

1:31

In the CAVE: An ethics podcast, is back with Season 2 of the show. Join your hosts, Associate Professor Paul Formosa and Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers, from the Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (or CAVE) as they explore a range of philosophical topics focused on the question of how we can live well as moral …

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Gender Bias in Surgery with Dr Katrina Hutchison 29:07

3+ y ago29:07

29:07

Being a surgeon is one of the most lucrative careers in Australia. But those high salaries are almost exclusively the preserve of male surgeons. Is this the result of bias against women? Or something else? Join host Wendy Rogers and guest Dr Katrina Hutchison discuss this important topic. This podcast discusses Mark’s paper which you can read at th…

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YouTube, Radicalisation, and Conspiracy Theories with A/Prof Mark Alfano 14:19

3+ y ago14:19

14:19

Radicalisation, fake news, echo chambers, and conspiracy theories are some of the concerns that are often raised about the growth of social media. But do social media sites, such as YouTube, really drive their users down radicalisation rabbit holes of conspiratorial misinformation? Join host Paul Formosa and guest A/Prof Mark Alfano discuss this in…

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The Ethics of using Animals in Research with Dr Jane Johnson 14:44

3+ y ago14:44

14:44

The image of the lab rat, moved between cramped cages by white lab coat wearing scientists, is one that we are all familiar with. But should the lab of the future still use animals for research? Join host Paul Formosa and guest Dr Jane Johnson discuss this increasingly important topic. This podcast discusses Jane’s paper which you can read at the f…

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The Ethical Impacts of Social Robots on Human Autonomy with A/Prof Paul Formosa 21:11

3+ y ago21:11

21:11

Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence mean that robotic companions are no longer the stuff of science fiction. While there are potential benefits from the use of social robots, we need to think carefully about human-machine relationships and how these might affect the ways that humans think and act in the world. Join host Wendy Rogers an…

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The Ethics of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare with Professor Wendy Rogers 18:55

3+ y ago18:55

18:55

Would you like it if a computer decided whether you were diagnosed with cancer or not, or whether you should get the last remaining ventilator when you are struggling to breathe? That future may not be that far away from us. Join host Paul Formosa and guest Prof Wendy Rogers discuss this increasingly important topic. This podcast discusses Wendy’s …

Macquarie University Research Centre For Agency Podcasts