麻豆社

What happens when a new technology transforms how we communicate ideas and information? Best-selling science fiction writer Naomi Alderman joins Amol to explain why she thinks the digital age has pushed us into a 鈥渢hird information crisis鈥�, which is as profound as the invention of writing or the printing press.

Drawing on those past revolutions, Naomi offers some solutions to help us navigate the era we're living through. She suggests new laws to regulate the online world and potentially even a 鈥渃hecked internet鈥� like Wikipedia, which is home to verified facts rather than misinformation.

But at the heart of her argument is the need to prioritise real world, human connection and resist the urge to move everything online.

Naomi also tells Amol how therapy has helped her and why she鈥檚 written her first non-fiction book after a series of successful novels.

(00:03:23) What is the third information crisis?

(00:08:01) Why the invention of the printing press caused the Reformation

(00:10:40) Challenges of an information crisis

(00:12:40) The transition to literature

(00:16:30) The pros and cons of smartphones

(00:20:30) The origins of writing and how that changed human connection

(00:24:10) Collective thinking and decision making

(00:26:30) What is social media doing to our minds?

(00:29:06) Naomi鈥檚 radical ideas

(00:39:28) Hope for the future

(00:42:30) Scepticism about AI

(00:49:40) Digital ID

(00:51:29) Is this making it better or worse to be human?

(00:55:10) The importance of therapy and becoming reconciled with the events of her life

(01:00:00) What鈥檚 next for Naomi Alderman?

(01:02:09) Amol鈥檚 reflections

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* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on 麻豆社 iPlayer: /iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on 麻豆社 Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on 麻豆社 One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the 麻豆社 and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by James Piper. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

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