ai – Stilgherrian

12 April 202617 April 2026

The 9pm Cornucopia of Tech Policy Pleasures with Johanna Weaver and Zoe Jay Hawkins

Two women stand looking into the camera. Both are wearing white t-shirts. Both have their arms folded. On the left is Johanna Weaver, with brushed-up greying hair, bright pink earrings, and glasses. On the right is Zoe Hawkins, with long straight black hair worn loose. Both are trying to look more serious than they actually are. — *Johanna Weaver (left) and Zoe Jay Hawkins from the Tech Policy Design Institute. (Photos: Supplied)*

From Australia’s teen social media ban to AI safety, there’s so many tech policy matters these days! So to wrap up the summer series — finally! — I decided to chat with Johanna Weaver and Zoe Jay Hawkins from the Tech Policy Design Institute in Canberra.

13 February 202612 February 2026

The 9pm S-Bend of Technology with David Gerard

A balding clean-shaven white man in spectacles, probably Gen X, looking disdainfully at the camera. Itâ€™s David Gerard! — David Gerard watches patiently as he waits for the AI bubble to burst. (Photo: Pauline Martindale )

As the summer series continues we’re joined once more by David Gerard for a suitably cynical look at what’s happening in and around the AI bubble. Bros, do not send hate mail, but we do not believe your claims.

15 January 202616 January 2026

The 9pm Unnatural Act with a Pig with Patrick Stokes

A middle-aged white man with a greying beard and neat black spectacles wears a black collarless top. He looks at the camera with thoughtful scepticism. — Patrick Stokes is watching you, and thinking. (Photo: Supplied).

Don’t let the title put you off, nor attract you too eagerly. The 9pm Summer Series 2025 continues with philosopher, reprobate, and all-round cleverthinker Patrick Stokes, and a conversation about many, many things. He’s also half of The Fake McCoys.

03 December 202503 December 2025

The 9pm Social Media Ban and the Special Duck with Justin Warren

Close-up photo of middle-aged white man with neatly-trimmed grey stubble and black-rimmed spectacles. He wears an open-necked white collared shirt and a black jacket — *Justin Warren looks quite respectable when he tries. (Photo: Supplied)*

It’s just one week until Australia’s controversial social media age restrictions come into force, so I decided to chat with Justin Warren, noted â€œconsultant, freedom of information tragic, hexagon enthusiast, and creator of the CyberRatingâ„¢ labelling schemeâ€.

28 November 202528 November 2025

The 9pm Miracle Medical Reality with Dr Trent Yarwood

A middle-aged white man in a black t-shirt stands in front of some tropical tree or other, smiling, with his hands clasped behind his back. His hair is brown, as is his beard. He wears spectacles . The t-shirt has a green print in the style of, and indeed taken from, an old video game called Oregon Trail. It shows a covered wagon and the text: You Have Died of Dysentery. — *Dr Trent Yarwood wears the uniform of his people. (Photo: Cassandra Yarwood, The Time Thief Photography)*

Earlier this month I saw several news stories about new antibiotics, some even developed with AI. Miracle medical breakthrough, or not? Why not ask infectious diseases physician and overall medtech nerd Dr Trent Yarwood?

16 March 202522 March 2025

Weekly Wrap 772: Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be

In the blue sky above a typical inner west Sydney red-brick block of flats a skywriter has scrawled WASH HANDS.

My week of Monday 10 to Sunday 16 March 2025 was slightly more productive than the previous week, thank the gods, but for some reason I found myself thinking about the past. Wash your hands.