Let's Talk SciComm podcast

#Science #Unimelb SciComm

1:14:43

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying math that powers modern machine learning to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives, even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…

Let's Talk SciComm

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Hosted by Associate Professor Jen Martin and Dr Michael Wheeler, Let’s Talk SciComm is a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s Science Communication Teaching Program. Listen for advice, tips and interviews about how to communicate science in effective and engaging ways. Show notes, transcripts and more info: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ty8e

102 एपिसोडस

Let's Talk SciComm

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updated about a year ago

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102 एपिसोडस

#Science #Unimelb SciComm

Wszystkie odcinki

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100. Twenty questions with Jen and Michael 37:15

11 weeks ago37:15

37:15

Three years later and we couldn’t be more excited to be sharing Episode 100 of Let’s Talk SciComm with you. We are so proud to still be creating this podcast and couldn’t be more grateful to YOU, our fabulous listeners, for continuing to support us. To celebrate reaching episode 100 and the end of Season 13, Jen and Michael decided to turn the spotlight inwards and ask each other some of our favourite quick-fire questions, with a few new questions thrown in for good measure. We hope the result is a fun conversation in which you can get to know us a bit better and learn something about effective science communication along the way. We’ll be back with more episodes of ‘Let’s Talk SciComm’ and ‘Listen To This If…’ in February 2025 and in the meantime, we wish you all the best for a lovely Festive Season and hopefully holidays filled with fun and rest. We’d love to connect with you here: Jen https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-martin-scicomm/ https://bsky.app/profile/scidocmartin.bsky.social https://www.instagram.com/scidocmartin/ Michael https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wheeler-3872b869/ https://bsky.app/profile/michael-wheeler.bsky.social…

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99. Our scicomm highs and lows - with the UniMelbSciComm teaching team 35:58

12 weeks ago35:58

35:58

It’s hard to believe this is the 99th episode of Let’s Talk SciComm! As you can imagine, we are very excited to still be producing our podcast three years and 99 episodes later. To celebrate, we invited the rest of our fabulous teaching team - Dr Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, Dr Linden Ashcroft and Dr Graham Phillips back to the podcast. The five of us spend half an hour reflecting on the highs and lows of our science communication experiences and what we’ve learned along the way about how to be more effective communicators. We hope you’ll find our reflections helpful! You can connect with us here: Jen https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-martin-scicomm/ https://bsky.app/profile/scidocmartin.bsky.social https://www.instagram.com/scidocmartin/ Michael https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-wheeler-3872b869/ https://bsky.app/profile/michael-wheeler.bsky.social Catriona https://www.linkedin.com/in/catrionanguyen-robertson/ https://bsky.app/profile/nyuroscientist.bsky.social https://www.instagram.com/nyuroscientist/ Linden https://www.linkedin.com/in/linden-ashcroft-08640b59/ https://bsky.app/profile/lindenashcroft.bsky.social https://www.instagram.com/lindenashcroft/ Graham https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-phillips-80b3b920/ https://www.instagram.com/grahamphillipsscience/…

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98. Interview with speech pathologist Dr Georgie Johnson 32:13

13 weeks ago32:13

32:13

This week we had a fascinating conversation with speech pathologist and science communicator Dr Georgie Johnson. Georgie is a clinical researcher with an interest in childhood stuttering treatment and addressing the psychological impact of stuttering for children. Georgie completed her PhD in 2024 investigating management of stuttering during the school years. Part of this program of research was a treatment trial of an intervention to support 6-12 year old children who stutter from across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. From this trial, Georgie and colleagues have published a range of freely accessible practical recommendations and clinical resources for community clinicians to use to optimise treatment outcomes for their school age clients. Georgie is also one of the Directors of the Stuttering Association for the Young Australia (SAY AU) and continues to work in the field to explore psychosocial support for young people who stutter. You can follow Georgie and find out more about her work here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgie-johnson-5a87971b5/ https://bsky.app/profile/georgiejspeechpath.bsky.social https://www.rrr.org.au/on-demand/segments/speech-pathologist-dr-georgie-johnson-on-supporting-stuttering-children https://healthsciences.unimelb.edu.au/departments/audiology-and-speech-pathology/news-and-events/meet-speech-pathology-phd-student-georgina-johnson You can find out more information about SAY AU and their programs for young people who stutter at www.sayaustralia.com.au…

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97. Interview with wildlife scientist and science communicator Dr Vanessa Pirotta 35:17

14 weeks ago35:17

35:17

This week we had the most wonderful conversation with wildlife scientist, woman in STEMM/STEAM, science communicator, author and vessel operator, Dr Vanessa Pirotta. You’re going to love hearing Vanessa’s infectious enthusiasm for all things science and science communication. Vanessa’s research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation. Vanessa works collaboratively across both marine and terrestrial environments merging cutting edge technology to access animals in unique ways. Most notable works include drones to collect whale snot and the use of computer algorithms and AI for the detection of illegal wildlife trafficking. Vanessa is a passionate and experienced science communicator who plays an important role in society by making science accessible across generations. Vanessa’s spoken on the TEDx platform and has been recognized by the Australian Financial Review as one of the top 100 Women of Influence and recently, a 2024 finalist in the Australian’s Museums Eureka awards for promoting understanding of science and winner of the 2024 Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards Emerging leader in Science. Vanessa is working collaboratively with indigenous knowledge holders such as the Gamay Rangers, to learn more about the marine mammals in our blue backyard but also identifying appropriate ways scientists can respectfully incorporate First Nations perspectives into marine research. Vanessa is also the lead scientist of the citizen science program Wild Sydney Harbour, connecting community with its blue backyard. Vanessa is also a proud children’s book author, with her book The Voyage of Whale and Calf, serving as an annual reminder of humpback whale biology and ecology in Australian waters. In 2024, Vanessa also released two additional books; The Humpback Highway: Diving into the mysterious world of whales and a second children’s book, Oceans At Night. Vanessa is a highly experienced presenter and was the invited MC for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science at Parliament House, Canberra in 2023/24. You can follow Vanessa and learn more about her work here: https://www.vanessapirotta.com/ https://www.wildsydneyharbour.com/ https://www.instagram.com/drvanessapirotta/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/drvanessapirotta/ https://www.facebook.com/DrVanessaPirotta/ https://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/profile/dr-vanessa-pirotta/ https://x.com/vanessapirotta https://www.tiktok.com/@drvanessapirotta…

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96. Interview with sustainability leader and climate justice advocate Linh Do 31:36

15 weeks ago31:36

31:36

This week we are lucky enough to chat with Linh Do, an incredible sustainability leader, educator, and climate justice advocate based in Melbourne, Australia. As Director of the Wattle Fellowship at the University of Melbourne, she cultivates the next generation of sustainability leaders through an innovative year-long program. With over a decade of experience across advocacy, media, and social enterprise sectors, Linh has worked globally to drive climate action and community engagement. Linh holds multiple leadership positions in the community, including chair of Climate Action Network Australia and a board member at the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, and a research committee member at the Centre for Policy Development. She is a co-founder of the technology start-up OurSay and has previously led community organising at the Australian Conservation Foundation. Linh's work bridges diverse disciplines and sectors to create holistic approaches to complex environmental challenges. Prior to her current role, she served as the Australia and Pacific lead for The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore's climate leadership program; and as publisher and editor-in-chief of The Verb during the Paris climate negotiations. She has collaborated with diverse organisations, from high school students to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Reuters Foundation. Externally, she has been recognised with for her sustainability leadership from Green Gown Awards Australasia Sustainability Leadership, as a Woman of Influence from the Australian Financial Review (AFR) and as the Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year. You can follow Linh and learn more about her work here: https://www.instagram.com/linhloop/ https://www.instagram.com/wattlefellowship/ https://x.com/lmdo https://www.linkedin.com/in/linhmdo/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/wattle-fellowship/…

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95. Interview with science communication consultant Rachael Vorwerk 30:02

16 weeks ago30:02

30:02

This week we had the wonderful pleasure of catching up with one of our very own alumni! Rachael Vorwerk studied science communication with us many years ago and has gone on to forge an incredible career in the field. Rachael is a science communicator and freelance consultant who has been published in The Conversation, Cosmos Magazine and Eingana. She has helped scientists to share their research in BBC World News, The Independent, ABC and The Age, among others. Currently Rachael works at RMIT University as the Science Communication, Education and Outreach Manager at a 7-year Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, the biggest research funding scheme available in Australia. She works with a group of around 50 researchers spanning PhD students through to Distinguished Professors – and helps the team to make their research more accessible to broader audiences. You can follow Rachael and learn more about her work here: https://au.linkedin.com/in/rachael-vorwerk https://twitter.com/rachael_vorwerk Here’s how a TV series inspired the KeepCup revolution. What’s next in the war on waste? What role does Entertainment-Education play in the adoption and maintenance of sustainable behaviours: a case study of reusable coffee cups in millennials https://www.combs.org.au/ (The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Optical Microcombs for Breakthrough Science (COMBS); AKA the 7-year Research Centre where Rachael is currently working) https://climatethrive.com.au/ (Climate Thrive, the company Rachael co-founded)…

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94. Interview with science communicator Professor Nancy Longnecker 30:58

17 weeks ago30:58

30:58

This week it is a huge honour for us to speak with our long-time scicomm colleague Nancy Longnecker who is Emerita Professor of Science Communication at the University of Otago. She has collaborated in the production of communication resources and assessment of their effectiveness in work that is often multidisciplinary and cross-cultural. In a career spanning four decades, Nancy has produced both physical and virtual resources, including exhibitions, displays, podcasts, websites, and teaching resources. She has written over 100 books, book chapters and articles. Nancy has taught science communication and contributed to workshops in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, the UK, and Denmark and has supervised over 50 science communication research students from 17 countries. Nancy is thrilled with her recent exhibition – Hou Rongo: Moriori | Music | Manawa . Hou Rongo offered an immersive look at the home and culture of New Zealand's indigenous Moriori people, who are often neglected or misunderstood. This exhibition blended tradition with innovative technology to evoke the feeling of being on Rēkohu (Chatham Island) amid the realms of the etchu (deities). The exhibition used sacred cultural objects, large video projections and an atmospheric soundscape to transport visitors to this special place. Nancy says, ‘I am proud to have been a part of a talented multidisciplinary team of academics and cultural advisors. With the Hou Rongo exhibition and its legacy components, we are honouring Moriori culture and contributing to its revitalisation.’ You can follow Nancy and learn more about her work here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-longnecker-7275ab66/ https://www.otago.ac.nz/science-communication/staff/longnecker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Longnecker Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ym98…

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93. Interview with author and illustrator Sarah Firth 34:29

18 weeks ago34:29

34:29

Welcome to Season 13 of Let’s Talk SciComm. We’re so thrilled to be kicking off another season as we head towards our 100th episode! To get the season off to a fabulous start, this week we’re thrilled to talk with the incredible Sarah Firth (she/ her). Sarah is based on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne, Australia. She is an artist, writer, cartoonist, graphic recorder and animator, originally trained as a classical sculptor. She has received a Talking Difference Fellowship from the Immigration Museum, was a finalist in the Incinerator Gallery Award For Social Change and her comics were part of Eisner Award-winning and Ignatz nominated comic anthologies. Her debut graphic novel Eventually Everything Connects was shortlisted for The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2024, selected as The Age’s Non-Fiction Pick of The Week, ALIA’s Notable Graphic Novels of 2023 and one of The Best Graphic Novels Ever by Refinery29. You can buy Sarah’s brilliant book Eventually Everything Connects in Australia/ NZ here : http://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/daGy9Q And in US/UK/Europe here: https://www.graphicmundi.org/books/978-1-63779-068-7.html You can follow Sarah and learn more about her work here: https://www.instagram.com/sarahthefirth/ http://www.sarahthefirth.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahthefirth/ https://www.facebook.com/SarahTheFirthCreativeServices https://twitter.com/sarahthefirth https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahthefirth Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/om98…

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92. Listen to This If….you want to grab your audience’s attention 5:36

20 weeks ago5:36

5:36

You NEED to listen to this. In this week’s episode of ‘Listen to This If…’ Jen and Michael explore how to grab your audience’s attention. In just five minutes Jen and Michael will discuss everything you need to know to turn heads and captivate your audience. https://hbr.org/2023/07/3-ways-to-keep-your-audience-focused-during-a-presentation https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-ways-hook-your-audience-first-60-seconds-jaimie-abbott-mba-gaicd/ https://thespeakerlab.com/blog/attention-grabber-examples/ Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/kog8…

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91. Listen to This If… you want to conquer public speaking nerves 5:42

21 weeks ago5:42

5:42

Upcoming presentation got your palms sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy? Don’t worry, forget mum’s spaghetti, because we’re not going to let you miss your shot. Tune in to this week’s episode of ‘Listen to This If…’ where Jen and Michael give you all the tips and tricks to turn those shaky hands into a killer mic drop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXHivnWyZyo https://hbr.org/2016/10/how-to-calm-your-nerves-before-a-big-presentation https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/discover-ucl/top-tips-overcoming-dreaded-presentation-nerve Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/w8g8…

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90. Listen to This If... you can't stop doom scrolling on your phone 5:38

22 weeks ago5:38

5:38

Doomscrolling getting in your way? Don’t worry! Jen and Michael have some great tips to break the scrolling cycle and get you back to your task. In this week’s episode of Listen to This If, we’re discussing addictive algorithms and what strategies you can employ to get off your phone and back on track! https://hai.stanford.edu/news/psychiatrists-perspective-social-media-algorithms-and-mental-health https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2024/07/doomscrolling-breaking-the-habit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/news/2020/may/study-boosting-benefits-exercise https://catherineprice.com/phone-break-up-challenge Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/u778…

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89. Listen to This If… you are over the word count 5:19

23 weeks ago5:19

5:19

Over the word count on an assignment? It can be stressful trying to trim the writing you’ve put so much effort into. Luckily in this week’s episode, Jen and Michael have some handy tips to wriggle down those words while keeping your writing sharp and relevant to the task. Tune in now! https://www.brandeis.edu/writing-program/resources/faculty/handouts/reverse-outlining.html https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/reading-aloud/ https://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/how-to-reduce-word-count-without-reducing-content Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/2d78…

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88. Listen to this if… you’re preparing for a job interview 5:01

24 weeks ago5:01

5:01

Got an interview coming up? Don't worry, Jen and Michael are here to help! In this five-minute episode, they'll give advice to make sure you're prepared for a perfect interview. From putting your mind at ease to carefully studying the job posting, Jen and Michael will provide you with practical tips that will boost your confidence and help you land the perfect job. Listen now and get ready for your interview! https://www.proclinical.com/blogs/2021-6/3-ways-to-make-a-good-impression-in-a-scientific-interview https://headspace.org.au/explore-topics/for-young-people/job-interview-preparation/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpkegRmPgis https://www.askamanager.org/category/interviewing https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-02/how-to-nail-job-interview/9868736 Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/is78…

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87. Introduction to Listen To This If! 1:12

25 weeks ago1:12

1:12

We're thrilled to launch an exciting new series of our podcast, 'Listen To This If...'. Jen and Michael will deliver a speedy, five-minute Friday fix packed with practical hot tips to tackle your toughest science communication challenges. Next Friday, we're starting with something we all want to know: how to ace a job interview! An enormous thank you to the University of Melbourne Science Communication students who form the production team for Listen To This If: Madeleine Kelly, Riccardo Petroni, Meiqi Peng and Lorne Whytcross. Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/9cc8…

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86. Interview with climate change communicator Dr Simon Torok 30:19

27 weeks ago30:19