Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast

🌍The Crisis of Social Media Moderation Moderation isn’t equal. New research shows social media platforms fail non-English speakers — with dangerous consequences.” 📵 Sudan’s WhatsApp Ban Sudan has blocked WhatsApp calls. For families in war, aid workers, and journalists, that’s more than inconvenient — it’s survival cut off. All this and more on Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast - out e...

A Ceasefire for the Digital Age When war moves online, civilians and critical infrastructure become targets in new ways. In this episode, we unpack Access Now’s call for a digital ceasefire — a bold demand to protect human rights in cyberspace. What would it mean to declare peace in networks, servers, and code? And how do we hold governments and companies accountable in this invisible but devastat...

Coming up this week on Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast: 🔌 War has gone digital. So must peace. What does it look like to demand a #DigitalCeasefire—not on the ground, but in the code, networks, and servers where conflict now spreads? 🧠 Meanwhile in China: a small AI lab just schooled the giants. DeepSeek’s R1 model made waves globally—not with limitless funds, but with clever, effici...

Artificial Intelligence isn’t coming — it’s already here. In Episode 102 of Somewhere on Earth – The Global Tech Podcast, host Ghislaine Boddington explores how AI is transforming the workplace, what it means for Africa’s young population, and who’s winning the global race for AI supremacy. 🤖 The Future of Work: Why AI Assistants Are Here to Stay Alex Farrell, CEO of Autometry, believes AI assist...

In our next episode: 🚨 AI isn’t just the future — it’s already here. From the workplace to Africa’s digital youth to the global AI race, the world is changing fast. In this week’s Somewhere on Earth – The Global Tech Podcast, host Ghislaine Boddington dives deep with: 🤖 Alex Farrell — why AI assistants could soon sit next to us at work. 🌍 Dr. Wambui Kahara — how Africa’s young generation can sh...

From underserved African languages to a revolutionary Braille display — the latest Somewhere on Earth podcast covers stories that matter. Story 1 – AI and African LanguagesHausa, spoken by 94 million people, is understood by ChatGPT only 10-20% of the time. The issue? Lack of training data. A team behind African Next Voices has recorded 9,000 hours of speech across eighteen African languages, crea...

🌍✨ Somewhere on Earth is back! This week:🔹Why AI fails 94M Hausa speakers — and the project fixing it.🔹The explosive new Braille tech changing classrooms forever. 🎧 Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast |New episodes every Tuesday 21:00 BST. #Podcast #AI #Africa #Braille #TechForGood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Become a supporter of this podcast: https...

The Internet is unsafe if you’re LGBTQ+ in Africa – and Big Tech isn’t helping Being online should be empowering - but for LGBTQ+ communities across Africa, it’s often dangerous. A new survey from digital rights group Access Now reveals how queer people are suffering harassment, threats, and abuse across social platforms. Instead of offering protection, major tech companies are turning a blind eye...

This week on Somewhere on Earth; The Global Tech Podcast… When the Internet turns against you. We hear how LGBTQ+ communities across Africa are being targeted with horrific abuse on social platforms – while Big Tech looks the other way. We speak to Access Now’s Jaimee Kokonya on why being online is an act of bravery. And… is your AI assistant spying on you? Research from University College London...

Brazil Declared War on Phone Theft — Should the UK Do the Same? The UK’s battle against mobile phone theft is being hindered by a standoff between law enforcement and major handset manufacturers. Police want to use IMEI blocking to quickly disable stolen devices, but Apple and Google disagree on the approach. The deadlock raises questions about privacy, data access, and the most effective way to r...

GigU: Empowering ride-hailing and delivery drivers to take back control In Brazil, many ride-hailing and food delivery drivers face the harsh reality of low earnings — sometimes even paying to work. GigU is changing that. The startup’s app acts as a “smart co-pilot,” showing drivers whether a job will actually be profitable before they accept it. Co-founder Luiz Neves shares how this technology is...

Medsi AI: The selfie and voice scan revolutionizing healthcare in Mexico In this week’s episode, we explore an innovative health platform called Medsi AI that can measure your heart rate and assess mental well-being - just from a one-minute selfie and a short voice recording. Developed in Mexico to address a health system struggling to meet the needs of an ageing population, Medsi AI is working al...

Blockchain Revolution: How the Hive community is bringing clean water to villages in Ghana This week we meet McSamm who fell violently ill from contaminated water in rural Ghana. He didn’t just recover though, he revolutionized access to clean water. Partnering with Hive’s blockchain community, he raised funds to install 22 boreholes in remote villages. These often solar-powered systems (minimizin...

No Internet for a year: Why Equatorial Guinea has kept Annobón island offline For 12 months, the people of Annobón, an island province of Equatorial Guinea, have lived in a digital blackout - cut off from the world with no explanation. Why would a government deliberately silence its own citizens? In this episode of Somewhere on Earth, we speak with Tutu Alicante (EG Justice) and Felicia Anthonio (...

Bridechilla x Somewhere on Earth - Episode 2 What happens when Bridechilla meets Somewhere on Earth? Tech, tradition, and a touch of tulle collide in the second of two special crossover episodes, exploring how technology is transforming weddings around the world.  In Episode 2, hosts Gareth Mitchell and Leah Haslage dive into intimacy tech, virtual reality ceremonies and even hologram guests with...

What happens when one of the world’s top wedding podcasts teams up with a global tech show? Magic. Or at least a stress-free wedding planned with #AI. In this special crossover episode of Bridechilla and Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast, hosts Leah Haslage and Gareth Mitchell join forces to explore how artificial intelligence and tech tools are revolutionizing the wedding experience. Fr...

Meta’s Submarine Cable Megaproject Meta’s Project Waterworth isn’t just another undersea cable - it’s an 50,000km+ behemoth set to link continents, with India’s data centres as a key hub. Doctoral researcher Anniki Mikelsaar from the Oxford Internet Institute breaks down its geopolitical stakes: Will it dodge regulatory battles? The project also raises questions about regulation and security. Who...

The rising energy cost of AI & how tech impacts sustainability The growing demand for AI comes with a staggering energy price tag. Research by Alex de Vries reveals that AI could consume nearly half of global data centre power by the end of 2025, surpassing even cryptocurrency mining. As models like DeepSeek AI advance, so does their electricity consumption, raising urgent questions about sustaina...

Next-Gen Black Boxes: Saving lives with Real-time Data Traditional black boxes—Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR)—have critical flaws. CVRs often overwrite audio after just two hours, while FDRs require physical recovery, delaying crash investigations. Honeywell’s new HCR-25 solves these issues with a 25-hour CVR and live satellite data streaming, ensuring instant access...

WhatsApp voice notes are revolutionizing English learning in Brazil Forget expensive apps - Storm Education is teaching English via WhatsApp voice notes, memes, and chats, targeting Brazil’s 95% non-English speaking population. Founder Marcos Almirante reveals how his startup scaled to 100,000+ students entirely within WhatsApp—and why traditional language apps should be worried. Cabo Verde’s offl...

Wisdomia: Chat with Da Vinci & Ada Lovelace in 3D Imagine learning calculus from Ada Lovelace or art theory from Leonardo da Vinci—digitally resurrected in 3D AI avatars. That’s the vision behind Wisdomia, the first Web3.0 edutainment marketplace blending gamified learning with immersive history. Founder Dinis Guarda joins us to explain how users interact with AI versions of geniuses, explore 3D-r...

Brazil’s UNESP transforms its IT infrastructure to compete globally Imagine a university shackled by slow, outdated tech - now picture it rivalling global giants in connectivity and innovation. That’s exactly what happened when São Paulo State University (UNESP) teamed up with Brazilian IT powerhouse RoostEdge to completely overhaul its IT infrastructure across 34 campuses in just 18 months; swapp...

Scaling Solar Access Across Brazil magine accessing affordable solar power with just a few clicks - no rooftop panels, no upfront costs, just clean energy delivered through smart, decentralized infrastructure. That’s the vision transforming communities across Brazil, where millions are still priced out of the energy transition. Leading this project is Pedro Somma, CEO of Luz Energia. He explains h...

The Disturbing Reality of AI-Generated AbuseA new study reveals nearly 35,000 publicly downloadable AI models capable of generating deepfake pornography—often targeting women and celebrities. These "model variants" can be tweaked to create millions of non-consensual intimate images, fuelling a growing crisis in digital exploitation. Researchers identified 35,000 deepfake model variants in public r...

In this episode of Somewhere on Earth, we dive into groundbreaking tech innovations with a purpose. Join us as we speak with Eduardo Peixoto, CEO of Brazil’s CESAR Innovation Hub, about cutting-edge projects like a smart lipstick prototype and a real-time sign language translator — game-changing tools designed to empower people with disabilities. We also explore inclusive tech initiatives shaping...