What Happens Next?

3.2.23 What Happens Next? Is Food Insecurity Getting Worse? | 77 Have you noticed your grocery bill rising lately? Get used to it. When we think of “food insecurity”, many of us think of extreme poverty in the global south, not of Australia and other first-world countries. Nevertheless, food insecurity is a serious issue here – and one that will only continue to grow. Climate change brings with it...

3.2.23 What Happens Next? Is Food Insecurity Getting Worse? | 77 Have you noticed your grocery bill rising lately? Get used to it. When we think of “food insecurity”, many of us think of extreme poverty in the global south, not of Australia and other first-world countries. Nevertheless, food insecurity is a serious issue here – and one that will only continue to grow. Climate change brings with it...

02.12.22 ‘What Happens Next?’ Do NFTs require new laws | 76 People create, collect and trade NFTs for millions of dollars, with the hope of making profit in the future.  What are the laws and protections surrounding NFTs? How are artists and buyers safeguarded against theft, forgery or being swindled out of large amounts of money? This week, our host Susan Carland speaks to experts working in the...

25.11.22 “What Happens Next?” Can NFTs help digital artists? | 75 NFTs are an interesting use of crypto technology, and could enable artists to make a living from their work. Do they work? Are they here to stay? Are NFTs as nifty as they seem? Stay with us as over the next two episodes of What Happens Next as we take a look at NFTs Host Dr Susan Carland is joined this week by Professor Jon McCorma...

18.11.22 ‘What Happens Next?’ Hear Her Roar: Women’s Safety & Gender Equality | 74 “Hear me now”: 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame's acceptance speech was a rally cry that reverberated across the nation. Thousands of women marched for safety in their homes, schools, workplaces and public spaces. The recent federal election clearly demonstrated that what matters to women voters should not...

11.4.22 What Happens Next? “ Can Australia Become a Green Energy Superpower?” | 73 Green mining is a dirty business, but our sustainable future depends on it. As we begin to transition to a decarbonised future, we need to put in the work to ensure it's a just one that keeps the planet and all its people in mind. Monash University’s podcast, “What Happens Next?”, wraps up its series on critical min...

04.11.22 What Happens Next? Is Australia Behind in the Critical Minerals Race? | 72 This week on What Happens Next? , we’re kickstarting a new series on critical minerals. As we transition to a decarbonised future, away from oil and coal, our technology will run on ores such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth minerals. How will this cause global politics to shift? Can mining and sustainability go...

28.10.22 “What Happens Next?” Can We Save Endangered Languages? | 71 Soon after the first British ships arrived in Australia, Indigenous people were removed from their traditional lands and families, and were discouraged – often violently – from dancing, singing, or even speaking in their own languages. In a new episode of Monash University’s podcast, “What Happens Next?”, Dr Susan Carland’s guest...

21.10.22 What Happens Next? What Do We Lose When Languages Die? | 70 When we travel through Europe, we expect to experience a wide array of culture and customs – in each country, different foods, different views, and different languages. That’s not the expectation visitors to Australia have, but perhaps they should. Before British colonisation, this land was home to nearly 300 distinct Indigenous...

14.10.2022 “What Happens Next?” Can We Sharpen Our Focus? | 69 Between social media content, notifications pinging away on our phones, countless streaming options, and even watches with all the bells and whistles of a computer, our attention’s pulled in more directions than ever. Can we regain our focus? This week, Monash University’s podcast, “What Happens Next?”, concludes its series on focus wi...

7.10.2022 “What Happens Next?” Is Our Attention Slipping? | 68 Having trouble focusing lately? You’re not alone – and you probably already know it. From TikTok to ‘The Times’, it seems everyone’s paying attention to, well, attention. During the pandemic lockdowns, many of us took up practices such as mindfulness and meditation, while others discovered that their struggles juggling tasks might be t...

Monash University’s multi-award-nominated podcast, What Happens Next? , is back with an all-new season of tough challenges and expert guests. New episodes of What Happens Next? will be released weekly from Friday, 7 October. This season on the show, your host, Dr Susan Carland, addresses a new set of topics looking at the future we’re facing if we don’t change, the future we could have if we do, a...

“This is one of the single biggest and particular attacks on the rights of women, and girls in particular, that we've seen in a long, long time.” – Natasha Stott Despoja Last week, our guests told the story of a tense escape from Afghanistan, arranged in the hours after the Taliban took its capital city of Kabul. For the women and girls left behind, daily life is bleak. Their fre...

“I hope one day, again we will have what we had. Again, our women can raise their voice. Again we could see women leaders, women political leaders, women in universities, in schools, who have the right to dream. Again, we could see and feel the women in Afghanistan, their voice, their knowledge, their skills. And I’m hoping to see, one day again, that Afghanistan is living again.&rdquo...

Ask an artificial intelligence to play you in a game of chess, and chances are, you’ll lose. Ask an artificial intelligence to make you a cup of coffee, however, and prepare to be disappointed. While robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence, collectively known as RAS-AI, represent the bleeding edge of innovation and are often the villains in science fiction, the technology ha...

Artificial intelligence and autonomous systems are poised to change the battlefield, and with it, soldiers themselves. Today, the human cost of war is high. Will that be true of tomorrow’s wars, or will humans be removed from the front lines, left to orchestrate surgical drone strikes and autonomous technology behind the scenes? And what about the soldiers themselves? Today, pilots are opera...

In last week’s episode of ‘What Happens Next?’, Monash University’s podcast, Dr Susan Carland’s expert guests explained why a loneliness crisis is sweeping the globe, and what its knock-on effects are. Isolation is connected to issues including addiction, violence, and anxiety and depression. It impacts the whole of sufferer’s lives, from their health and wellbe...

The pandemic certainly exacerbated feelings of social isolation, but even before lockdown became the name of the game, global reports of loneliness were creeping up at an alarming rate. Both Japan and the United Kingdom established government positions dedicated to its relief, and little wonder – the cost of loneliness is high. Social isolation affects us individually and as a society. Its d...

Happy Earth Day! If last week’s episode of ‘What Happens Next?’ caused you to reconsider your wardrobe or sent you on a donation run to your local op shop, you won’t want to miss part two of our investigation into the sustainability and ethics of fashion. This week, our expert guests focus on the future we can look forward to if we slow down and make a conscious effort to v...

You take the bus to work, you turn off the lights when you’re not using them, and you’ve embraced meatless Mondays. You’re doing your part to save the planet. But there’s one massive issue that many of us overlook, even though it surrounds us – textile waste. From furniture and home decor to toy manufacturing, medical supplies and more, textiles are literally the fabr...

‘Wanted’ posters. Your local neighbourhood watch . CrimeStoppers. There’s a long tradition of citizens assisting law enforcement in reporting illegal activities and identifying criminals. In part one of the ‘What Happens Next?’ podcast’s investigation into digital vigilantism, host Dr Susan Carland and her expert guests examined the ways that behaviour can go aw...

It’s easy to see why the concept of vigilante justice resonates with so many people. In the last few years, social movements from #MeToo to BLM have made us very aware of the wrongdoers who’ve escaped accountability, and the victims who’ve been let down, or even wrongly targeted, by existing systems and laws. But when internet users take matters into their own hands, problems can...

Last week on ‘What Happens Next?’, our guest experts served up some unappetising truths about weight loss. Ultimately, our body types are not necessarily dictated by the foods we eat or the amount of exercise we do – it’s all about our genetic makeup. And once we begin to put on weight, getting it off again in a permanent way is almost impossible. In today’s episode,...

Welcome to season six of 'What Happens Next?'. You can’t go anywhere without hearing about the latest fad diet or workout, which often promise miraculously quick – and permanent – results. Does science support them? Is losing weight as simple as exercising more and eating less, or is there more to it? How has our understanding of obesity changed as our grasp on genetics and...

Introducing ‘What Happens Next?’ season six Monash University’s multi-award nominated podcast, What Happens Next? , is back with an all-new season of tough challenges and expert guests. New episodes of What Happens Next? will be released weekly from Friday, 18 March, 2022. Enjoy this preview of the season! This season on the show, your host, Dr Susan Carland, addresses a new set...