PODCASTS
A new series of podcasts hosted by Tara Stewart exploring the conversations we are all having globally about the consequences of the pandemic. New episodes will be released every two weeks - and each episode features a FutureCast speculation by artist Lucas Garvey, and the series was sound designed by Frank Sweeney.
Episode One:
HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY TACKLE THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS?
Using robotics and open-source 3D printing to aid treatment and prevention
Innovative technologies emerged at the start of the pandemic as a rapid response to the virus. In order to keep up with sudden demand, open-source ventilators provided respiratory support for patients struggling to breathe, while automated robots had the ability to sanitise hospitals without the need for human contact. What does this mean for the future of healthcare? AI researcher Niamh Donnelly and engineer Colin Keogh join us to talk about their experiences at the forefront of tech and COVID.
Episode Two:
HOW CLOSE CAN WE GET DURING A PANDEMIC?
Intimacy and the loss of physical touch in an age of social distancing
For many people, it can be hard to remember the last embrace with another living, breathing human. Since social distancing became normalised people are craving physical touch with their nearest and dearest and looking for ways to recreate physical human connection. Interaction designer Joanna Montgomery and neuroscientist Francis McGlone join Tara to talk ‘skin hunger’ and human-centric innovations that aim to keep us closer, even when we’re far apart.
Episode Three:
HOW IS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTING THE YOUTH OF TODAY?
Every living generation has been impacted by Covid-19 in similar but different ways. Elderly people have had to cocoon, certain professions have adopted a ‘work from home’ approach and young people have had to reduce social interaction with their peers to minimise the spread of the virus. For Leaving Certificate students, the impact has been particularly significant with uncertainty around the examination process. Hear from Benat Broderick, a fifth-year student living with Cystic Fibrosis, and Roisin Cork, a sixth-year student from Ringsend College, who are both living through the Covid-19 pandemic and trying to make sense of it.
Episode Four:
WHAT ROLE DOES DESIGN PLAY IN TIMES OF CRISIS?
The British Government received backlash in response to the release of the ‘Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives’ campaign which was described as “a brochure for a very bad wellness clinic” by the co-owner of design magazine, Eye. The pandemic has highlighted bad design in a number of areas including our health and government communications and in our cities and homes. Good design flows effortlessly with users unaware of its excellence, bad design stops us in our tracks asking why isn’t there a solution for this? How can effective graphic design connect with members of the public and increase awareness of something like a global pandemic? Ciarán Ó Gaora, founder of Dublin-based design studio Zero-G, and Marc Ngui, an artist/designer based in Windsor, Canada, join Tara to discuss the role of design in times of crisis.
Episode Five:
IS VACCINATION FAIR?
COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out across the world with priority being placed on healthcare workers and our most vulnerable citizens, but while some countries are hoarding vaccines, others are suffering while cases escalate beyond control.
In this episode, Tara Stewart chats to Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO of Gavi Vaccine Alliance, and Eamonn Faller, Doctor and infectious disease specialist, about how the developed world can step up to ensure low and middle-income countries are protected from the virus and the long-term benefits of vaccine equity.
Make sure you keep listening too for Lucas Garvey's very special dystopian speculation on the FutureCast.
Episode Six:
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT BURNOUT?
Fatigued, languished, exhausted, burnt out, depleted - we are all becoming a little too familiar with these terms, but what exactly can we do about it, and why is it happening?
The term burnout may have been coined in 1974 but manifestations of stress and exhaustion appear to have exacerbated since we transitioned to life online.
Tara Stewart will dig into the roots of burnout with cognitive psychologist Celine Fox, and mindfulness and meditation expert Conor Creighton.
Episode Seven:
HOW CAN WE REIMAGINE PUBLIC SPACES?
The pandemic has unearthed inequalities in our homes and our lifestyles, and while some have flaunted the luxuries of leafy green gardens and the seaside on their doorstep, others have been confined to the limitations of their interior living quarters. Lockdown has also reinforced the importance of connecting with the outdoors and being immersed in nature, so maybe now is the time to redesign our relationship with public spaces - and make sure they can benefit everyone.
Tara Stewart is joined by Aoife Kirk, one of the co-founders of Irish Doctors for Environment, and Ben Channon, an architect, author, TEDx speaker, and mental wellbeing advocate, to explore what it means to reimagine public space, and to discuss the precise physiological and mental benefits of spending time outdoors.
Episode Eight:
WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE IN COVID-19 CONSPIRACIES?
At the beginning of the pandemic, it felt like everyone was an immunologist - freely sharing personal views in response to the spread of the virus. Some people assumed a new vaccine would swoop in and save us from the threat of COVID-19, while others questioned the efficacy of mask-wearing and the health effects of a new type of vaccine. Soon, fake news about supposed cures, the origins of the virus and vaccines started to spread online - so what makes a person susceptible to false narratives? And how can we separate truth from fake news? What impact does misinformation have on our decision-making processes? And is it possible for our brains to form false memories in our own minds?
For this episode, Tara Stewart is joined by Stephen Murphy, an Assistant Professor in Marketing whose current research interests include conspiracy theories, creativity, and online gambling, and Ciara Greene, Associate Professor in the School of Psychology, UCD where she also heads up the Attention and Memory Laboratory.
Episode Nine:
HAS THE PANDEMIC CHANGED THE WAY WE EAT?
Food is yet another daily essential greatly affected by the pandemic. When the hospitality industry closed, many people were forced to familiarise themselves with their own kitchens; myths arose about quick consumable antidotes to the virus -ranging from bleach to plant-based diets - and some people who caught COVID-19 lost their sense of taste and smell, transforming their relationships with food.
In Episode Nine of our IN THESE STRANGE TIMES podcast, Tara Stewart explores how has the pandemic changed we way we produce and consume food with neuroscientist Rachel Herz, a world-leading expert on the psychological science of smell, and Joshna Maharaj, a chef and activist who uses social gastronomy to rebuild food systems, to increase people's access to good food, and to help everyone have more fun in the kitchen.
Episode Ten:
HOW DO WE PREPARE FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC?
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted and changed society as we once knew it. Certain industries have experienced extensive closures while health services operated night and day to protect and save citizens - but this isn’t the first time the world has experienced a pandemic and it certainly won’t be the last. What tactics did we use to tackle the virus and how can we use our learnings to future-proof society against subsequent threats?
IN THESE STRANGE TIMES comes to a close with an episode focused on pathology and crisis management. Tara chatted to professors Orla Sheils and Noel McCarthy, both from Trinity College Dublin, to learn about tried and tested tactics and strategies for tackling new health threats as they arise.
