The Next Billion Seconds with Mark Pesce

RNZ Nine to Noon Replay: Anthropic vs. the Department of War

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Leading AI firm Anthropic drew two red lines on their work with the newly renamed US 'Department of War': No mass surveillance of Americans, and no au...

RNZ Nine To Noon Replay: French social media ban, Microsoft encryption sharing

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

RNZ replay 30 January 2026 In conversation with RNZ "Nine to Noon" host Kathryn Ryan, we look at the recent massive layoffs at Amazon, France's social...

THE AGETECH AEON #2 - CAN TECH CARE FOR US?

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Abby Bloom, Catherine Ball and I (along with Sally Dominguez) are heading back to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to see the latest innovat...

AGETECH AEON - Ep 1

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Abby Bloom wants us to face an uncomfortable truth: we need a lot more space and time for care in our culture. A rapidly aging population - living twe...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT - COME TOGETHER FIGHT NOW

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Could it be that the smartphone and social media brought us together only to make us completely intolerant? Research seems to be pointing that way - s...

THE NEXT BILLION CARS - DRIVING ME BACKWARDS Part Two: China and Everyone Else

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

While the US put its car in reverse (at speed!) and European automakers chased their own tails about whether or not to abandon ICEs, the Chinese put t...

THE NEXT BILLION CARS: Driving me Backwards (Pt 1): USA! USA! USA!

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What a difference a year makes. A transition to EVs that once seemed utterly inevitable has been thoroughly disrupted by a change of regime in the Uni...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT - THE BIG END OF AI

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can a big business transform its processes and workflows using AI? With very few successful examples to follow, how does the Big End of Town even get ...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT - THE CLIMATE QUESTION

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There's an elephant in the room along with artificial intelligence - its impact on the climate. Demand for electricity has skyrocketed as Meta, Micros...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT - ISN'T IT IRONIC?

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Massive increases in productivity lure businesses into adopting artificial intelligence. But what if pursuit of that elusive 'superprodctivity' produc...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT - BUILDING RESISTANCE

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What would you do if you lost your job to an AI? Would you even know? It happened to me - and I didn't learn the truth for six months. In the aftermat...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT - STOP THE WOKE AI!

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

While the US focuses on putting the brakes on 'woke AI' (whatever that is) the rest of the world's nations confront thorny questions about how to regu...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT - A BETTER WAY

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

ALWAYS IMPERFECT Episode 3: A BETTER WAYUsed well, artificial intelligence can automate labor-intensive and rote processes, freeing people for the wor...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT: "VIBE SLOGGING"

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can a computer program a computer as well as a human being can? Artificial intelligence enabled a quantum leap in the quality of the tools programmer ...

ALWAYS IMPERFECT: "NO MAGIC WANDS"

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Always Imperfect - Episode 1 - NO MAGIC WANDS Artificial intelligence may be amazing but it’s always imperfect. Anyone trying to use AI pro...

TWO FUTURISTS GO 'VIBE FORECASTING'

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Whenever fellow futurist and longtime friend Rob Tercek and I (Mark Pesce) get together, we go crazy deep on the future: What happens when lazy humans...

RNZ Nine to Noon: ADDICTION IS THE BUSINESS MODEL

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mark joins RNZ Nine to Noon host Kathryn Ryan to delve into the sudden phenomenon of 'viral' AI videos - getting better at capturing your eyeballs. Di...

The Next Billion Cars - Experiences in 'Range Anxiety'

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On a recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, Mark rented an EV, drove to a rural town on the Mendocino coast, then drove back again. That trip taug...

RNZ Nine to Noon: DOES CHATGPT MAKE YOU STUPID?

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A recent study from MIT shows students tasked with writing essays showed significantly lower levels of brain activity when allowed to use ChatGPT. Mar...

RNZ NINE TO NOON: CAN CHATGPT MAKE YOU CRAZY?

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

RNZ NINE TO NOON: CAN CHATGPT MAKE YOU CRAZY? In conversation with host Kathryn Ryan, Mark highlights a number of reports indicating potentially very ...

Mo Meta, Mo Problems: Could Facebook be broken up?

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon: Meta - the parent of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and much more besides - finds itself fighting for its life ...

RNZ Nine To Noon - Should we give up copyright to beat China in the race for AI?

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Originally broadcast on 20th March, 2025 on Radio New Zealand's Nine To Noon with host Kathryn Ryan.  Christie's held its first auction of A...

AI WARTECH - Has technology turned to the dark side?

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Originally broadcast on Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon on 13 February 2025  Last week Google amended its ethical AI policies to allow thei...

Gradually. Then Suddenly

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"How did you go bankrupt?" begins the oft-quoted line from Hemingway. "Two ways. Gradually - then suddenly." That's how the automotive sector feels at...

The War over Plant-Based foods with Nick Hazell

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, Nick Hazell founded v2food - an amazing startup making plant-based substitutes for meat that got extensive coverage on THE NEXT BILLION SECON...

The New Alchemy

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The impacts of global heating have become persistent and profound, so we need to do as much as we can to lesson those impacts, as quickly as we can. T...

The Next Billion Cars - 2024 in Review (part 2)

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this final year in review episode, Sally Dominguez, Drew Smith and Mark Pesce address the big, smelly elephant in the room: The change of governmen...

The Next Billion Cars - 2024 in review (part 1)

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Whenever Mark, Sal and Drew get together, sparks will fly. So much has happened since our visit to CES 2024, we reckoned it time to draw all the year'...

The $100,000,000,000 Lie

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The $100,000,000,000 Lie — “In 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk instructed his team of engineers to 'hard code' the first demo of what would become 'Full...

Neo Malaise with Drew Smith

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Next Billion Cars co-host Drew Smith... has something to say.  Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here Hosted by Drew Smith, Sally D...

Your Data, My Privacy - with Sally Dominguez

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Next Billion Cars co-host Sally Dominguez examines at the data hungry nature of modern vehicles. What does privacy look like in the age of 'artifi...

The Next Billion Cars - with Drew Smith at SXSW Sydney

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

  Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here Hosted by award-winning podcast creator, journalist & futurist Mark Pesce, The Next Billio...

SXSW 2024 ZEEKR: HOW DOES A NEW BRAND SURVIVE? With Gustaf Gunér

03 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A special episode of The Next Billion Cars with Drew Smith and Mark Pesce - car brand ZEEKR: HOW DOES A NEW BRAND SURVIVE? With Gustaf Gunér - head o...

Ghosts in the Machine

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. In this series of THE NEXT BILLION SECONDS we'll explore the enormous changes that are taking pl...

Live at SXSW: A Fine Line between technology and anthropology with Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, CEO and Publisher of MIT Technology Review

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Live at SXSW: A Fine Line between technology and anthropology with Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, CEO and Publisher of MIT Technology Review Ever since t...

AI UNEMPLOYED

17 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode, we stare into the abyss of one of our deepest fears - that AI has suddenly made us all obsolete. Or has it? Sign up for 'The Practica...

CHIPS AND CHAINS

17 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode, we look at what's happened to one of the most important areas of the economy - the semiconductor industry. The very few firms who mak...

THE FOUR-DAY WEEK IS ALREADY HERE

17 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here. We've tacitly adopted the four-day week from two directions... The Future has arrived... The las...

The Future Has Arrived

13 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sign up for 'The Practical Futurist' newsletter here The Future has arrived... The last two years have seen more change and the previous 20. Are we r...

VALE: Vernor Vinge - creator of a "Technological Singularity"

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Science fiction legend Vernor Vinge inspired the title of this podcast - and his influence extends far beyond fiction. His novella "True Names" gave r...

Cryptonomics - So long and thanks for all the grift!

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mark started working with cryptocurrencies back in 2014. Ten years at the coalface has convinced him that - despite incredible promise - cryptocurrenc...

The Next Billion Cars - What Happens in Vegas, Part DEUX!

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Despite some new car announcements from Honda, this year's Consumer Electronics Show reveals a stagnant automotive sector that seems to have lost its ...

CES 2024 - What Happens in Vegas, part one!

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the biggest conventions in the world, featuring gadgets of every size and description. It’s also the most im...

The Next Billion Cars - Year in Review (2023)

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The year of 'brolectrification', artificial intelligence working its way into car dashboards, a Chinese EV invasion - and Cybertruck's domination. At ...

BONUS EP: Tip for Superpowers School Podcast - featuring Mark Pesce

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

RESHARE! Thanks to Paddy Dhanda for having Mark Pesce on his Podcast Superpowers school - we're happy to be sharing here!  🎧 Follow Superpowers S...

Chasing the Technology - 'Autonomous Agents' reach critical mass

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Autonomous agents - computer programs that can think and act for themselves - have been an impossible dream for almost forty years. Suddenly, they're ...

The Gunpowder Plot - How Meta put an AI chatbot on your smartphone and changed the game

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While everyone was going gaga over ChatGPT, Meta - the former Facebook - rewrote the AI playbook with LLaMA. Small enough to run on a smartphone, LLaM...

When It Changed -- How ChatGPT became the fastest growing app ever.

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On 30 November 2022 startup OpenAI released ChatGPT, resetting expectations for artificial intelligence. Only one year later and billions now have acc...

The Next Billion Cars - "Hard Questions"

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While they've worked together for five years, Mark, Sal and Drew have never met face-to-face - until this show. Eyeball-to-eyball they ask one another...

Bonus Ep! Horace Dediu in conversation with Drew Smith

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

SPECIAL EPISODE. We were so happy with Special Correspondent Drew Smith’s rich and powerful interview with Horace Dediu, we wanted to share an episo...

The Next Billion Cars - Micromobility, and the ‘Rest of World’

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What is ‘micromobility’? It’s a philosophy that emphasises choice and urban-centered design in our transportation networks and transport options...

The Next Billion Cars - Hydrogen Vehicles: Liquid Dreams

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Long-promised as the ‘fuel of the future’, hydrogen fails to live up to its hype. Co-host Sally Dominguez looks at the the future for big hydrogen...

The Next Billion Cars: Electric Vehicles - Looking for a Charge

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The number of electric cars in Australia doubled in 2022 - yet it remains nearly impossible to buy the model you want, and the nation’s public charg...

The Next Billion Cars: The Future of Autonomous Vehicles - Learning to Crawl

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Next Billion Cars Mini-Series is BACK for another mini series. In this episode about the future of Autonomous Vehicles, Mark Pesce with co-hosts S...

What's happening to the way we work?

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Work futurist Dom Price and resilience expert Sally Dominguez guide us through a new world of work, post-pandemic. Mark speaks with two leaders at the...

Will the next war be fought for control of semiconductors (Rebroadcast)

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

TSMC now makes the best computer chips - making Taiwan a prize that China needs in order to continue its rise as an economic and military superpower. ...

A Brief History of the Metaverse: VIRTUALLY EVERYONE

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the 2010s, VR roared back into life with Oculus, Vive, WebGL and Hololens. Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite gave millions a deep drink of the potenti...

A Brief History of the Metaverse: Game On! And on and on and on...

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 2000s, the Metaverse blossomed into the foundation for a new generation of video games such as 'Ultima Online', and big data 'digital twi...

A Brief History of the Metaverse: Days of our Second Lives

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the second half of the 1990s, VRML became the platform of choice for 'virtual worlds' filled with 'avatars' - digital representations of real peopl...

A Brief History of the Metaverse: DIY Metaverse

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tony and Mark - supported by a global community of technologists, enthusiasts and dreamers - brought 3D to the brand-new Web with VRML, creating the f...

A Brief History of the Metaverse: Military Metaverse

21 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The technology behind the metaverse has its origins in the darkest days of the Cold War. This ‘Military metaverse’ gave birth to the Internet, tra...

A Brief History of the Metaverse: What is the Metaverse?

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the first episode of our new series, "A Brief History of the Metaverse". Mark and co-host Tony Parisi travel back more than a century to un...

Fool Me Once

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A clever bit of AI software transforms my voice into a silky-smooth 'Lisa' - almost an archetypal radio host. In the near future, we'll be able to mak...

Metaverse and Weaponized Tech

05 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With our new series 'A Brief History of the Metaverse' just around the corner here on The Next Billion Seconds, we thought we would share Mark's recen...

In the Ops Room with Palmer Luckey

31 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this live interview with Oculus and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey - joined by Anduril Chief Engineer Shane Arnott - we look at the future of defens...

How to be a Futurist

24 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Three big transformations - one that's has already happened, one happening now, and one about to happen - illuminate the path (and pitfalls) for those...

TNBS Rerun - Will the next war be fought for control of semiconductors?

17 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mark delves back into the archives to bring you an episode that is particularly relevant to current events. TSMC now makes the best computer chips - m...

Palmer Luckey Goes to War

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

At the age of 19, Palmer Luckey founded Oculus, bringing a comatose VR industry back to life. Will he do the same for defense - and has he solved Aust...

TNBS Rerun - Why Virtual Reality is cool again

27 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

VR roared back to life this decade due to the efforts of visionary teenager Palmer Luckey. Luckey built Oculus, sold to Facebook for $3 billion - then...

Are You Crypto Crazy? Put it Somewhere Safe

13 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you own cryptocurrency, where do you keep it safe? Who's responsible for the contents of your 'wallet'? Both 'custodial' and 'personal' wallets hav...

Are You Crypto Crazy? Hopium and Silver Linings

06 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the middle of a bad 'crypto winter', Mark and Josh go looking for good news. All this bad news has a silver lining, as folks wean themselves off 'h...

Horizon Report FY2023: The Stars Align for an Energy Transition

29 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Caught between an energy crisis and a climate crisis, the Lucky Country has stumbled upon a unique opportunity to solve both problems with one solutio...

Horizon Report FY2023: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Going to be a Bumpy Ride

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Four huge trends will shape all of our lives over the next twelve months. This 'Horizon Report' provides the information you need to prepare for what ...

Are You Crypto Crazy? Making Bank

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Decentralised finance or 'DeFi' offers investors a way to earn great returns on their deposits without taking any of the risks associated with cryptoc...

Are You Crypto Crazy? Ethereum: The Big If

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ethereum marries money to code, creating 'smart money' that can think for itself, invest for itself, and earn a profit for itself. Ethereum was the fu...

Are You Crypto Crazy? Bitcoin: The Firstborn

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How does Bitcoin work? Is it really worth anything, or could its value fall to zero? Why would 'value investor' Warren Buffet refuse a deal to buy all...

Turn off the Digital Licence NOW!

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Since 2019, Service NSW has provided a Digital Driver's Licence (DDL). Today we learned it's extremely easy to counterfeit by anyone with modest techn...

TNBS Rerun - Smart Money

22 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this third instalment of our Crypto re-runs, Mark discusses how cryptocurrencies blended with computer code create powerful ‘smart contracts’ -...

TNBS Rerun - Bananas for Bitcoin

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this second crypto-themed rerun in the lead up to our new series, "Are You Crypto Crazy?", we ask why has the world gone bananas for Bitcoin? Why d...

TNBS Rerun - Blockchain Beginnings

15 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With the new Next Billion Seconds series "Are You Crypto Crazy?" coming soon, we thought we would warm up by revisiting a few episodes of Mark's previ...

Where's my Crypto Gone...? Don't Panic!

12 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Pesce's Executive Producer Josh just lost his shirt on a cryptocurrency known as $LUNA or Terra. Should we be prepared to lose everything when we...

Are we about to experience a global food crisis?

11 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic has produced numerous supply chain issues, some impairing our ability to manufacture fertiliser. Could this mean we won't be able to grow...

TNBS Rerun - Ransomware (from the Criminal Domain podcast)

08 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is an episode of the 'Criminal Domain' podcast that was written and hosted by Mark Pesce which tells the story of Glenn Hart, a radio host who fo...

What happens when good A.I. turns to the Dark Side?

04 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A recent experiment showed that any AI can be 'turned to the dark side' simply by reframing its goals. It's surprisingly easy - and that points to a b...

2022 Predictions: We ask the experts

27 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We turn to the experts, to hear their predictions for the future of work, sustainable energy, transportation, cryptocurrencies and the metaverse. Feat...

2022 Predictions: I'm a futurist, not a psychic!

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

At the start of 2021 I made four big predictions for the year about digital currencies, the transition to a sustainable economy, geopolitics and socia...

New and improved futures

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A new series, a new podcast production partner - and a new theme: WORLD CHANGING, bringing together amazing talent, tools, and a driving need change t...

Mark Pesce - The Next Billion Seconds - Series 6 Trailer

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The choices we make today, shape our world tomorrow. The Next Billion Seconds answers your questions about the future to make the best decisions for o...

TNBS Rerun - Designing for Flood Resilience in a Wetter World

31 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In light of the recent flood events in Australia, it felt apt to revisit this 2020 episode of The Next Billion Seconds, "Designing for Flood Resilienc...

What three changes can we make to effortlessly lower our carbon emissions?

26 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

SUSTAIN #6:  Three simple, easy changes show us how much we can do - and how empowered we already are to fix this problem. Why do we worry that d...

Can we radically reduce the emissions created growing our food?

19 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

SUSTAIN#5: Growing the meat we eat produces a lot of Australia's carbon emissions. The four innovations explored in this episode show us a path toward...

Would electrifying everything eliminate carbon emissions?

12 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

SUSTAIN #4: Inventor Saul Griffith makes a radical proposal: electrify everything, saving energy, money, and cutting emissions almost to zero. It also...

Can we collect and store enough renewable energy to replace coal-fired electricity?

05 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

SUSTAIN #3: In 2020, renewables became the cheapest source of electricity. Without cheap storage, renewables will never be able to be the entire solut...

Will electrified transport help us ‘flatten the curve’ on climate change?

29 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

SUSTAIN #2: Mercedes goes all in on EVs, with studies now indicating EVs save 50% of emissions over their lifetime, versus petrol vehicles. Is this en...

Can we 'flatten the curve' on climate change?

22 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

SUSTAIN #1: The recent UN report on climate change gives us about twelve years to really reign in our carbon emissions. That means it’s time to ...

Will the next war be fought for control of semiconductors?

06 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

TSMC now makes the best computer chips - making Taiwan a prize that China needs in order to continue its rise as an economic and military superpower.S...

How did America lose the semiconductor race?

30 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For sixty years, Intel made the best chips in the world. As of 2020, they no longer do - and a company you've likely never heard of now holds the chip...

Why do computers get faster and smaller and cheaper?

23 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

More than 60 years ago, integrated circuits created a revolution in electronics that transformed the entire world. How are chips made? And why do we k...

Why is there a global shortage of computer chips?

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

GEOPOLICHIPS part 1: Manufacturers of video game consoles, automobiles - even toothbrushes - have been impacted by a global shortage of semiconductor ...

What stands in the way of electric vehicles?

11 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Co-host Sally Dominguez and special correspondent Drew Smith explore the many facets of vehicle electrification with Mark. EVs are finally happening -...