Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd

Hello! This week we’re talking about ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence language model that’s taken the world by storm. But is the hype justified? And what can it do beyond writing poems about your favourite podcast? We speak to Rory Cellan-Jones, whose dog is also an internet sensation, about what ChatGPT is and whether it’s been trained on a pro-Ed dataset, to Dr Kate Devlin about what it means for education and whether we can trust AI, and finally to Andrew Strait about some of the ethical concerns surrounding ChatGPT. Can AI really make society better and fairer?Plus: Where is Ed off to next on his culinary journey?GuestsRory Cellan-Jones, Former Technology Correspondent, BBC (@ruskin147 and check out the hashtag #SophiefromRomania to keep up to date with the latest doggie developments)Dr Kate Devlin, Reader in Artificial Intelligence and Society, Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London (@drkatedevlin & @kingsdh)Andrew Strait, Associate Director, Ada Lovelace Institute (@agstrait & @AdaLovelaceInst)More infoTry out ChatGPT for yourselfSubscribe to Rory’s Substack on health and technologyDepartment of Digital Humanities, King’s College LondonVisit the Ada Lovelace Institute’s WebsiteUKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind by Rory Cellan-JonesOpenAI underpaid 200 Kenyans to perfect ChatGPT then sacked them Human-like programs abuse our empathy by Professor Emily BenderChatGPT used by mental health tech app in AI experiment

Hello! This week we’re talking about climate misinformation and how we tackle it. Mis- and disinformation about the climate crisis is not new: since the 1970s industry players and fossil fuel giants have been denying the reality of climate change in order to sow confusion and polarise public support for taking action. Delay is the new denial, according to Jennie King, who talks to us about some of the arguments used to delay action on climate change. Professor Sander van der Linden tells us about the psychology of misinformation spread and why social media has only turbocharged it. Finally, Sean Buchan talks to us about the grassroots campaign Stop Funding Heat which aims to make climate misinformation unprofitable.Plus: Geoff goes on a gastronomic journey with Ed's latest cooking attempt.GuestsJennie King, Head of Climate Research and Policy, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (@jkingy, @ISDglobal)Professor Sander van der Linden, Professor of Social Psychology, University of Cambridge (@Sander_vdLinden)Sean Buchan, Campaign Director, Stop Funding Heat (@seanforachange, @stopfundingheat)More infoWhat is climate mis-/disinformation?Deny, deceive, delay: documenting and responding to climate disinformation at COP26 and beyond Report from the ISDTaxonomy of climate contrarian claims Academic paper: Coan, Boussalis, Cook, NankoDiscourses of Climate Delay Comic by Céline KellerClimate Action Against Disinformation Pre-order a copy of Sander's book Foolproof: Why we fall for misinformation and how to build immunityStop Funding Heat CampaignOther resourcesDeSmog Journalism to clear the 'PR Pollution' clouding the science and solutions to climate changeSkeptical science Website set up by academic Jon Cook to examine the science and arguments of climate scepticismEd and Geoff mentioned:Three policies making life in Paris better for children

Hello! New year, new term and this week Ed and Geoff are going back to school. Too little has changed about our education system since the Victorian times, and for too many young people it can seem an outdated and rigid system - geared simply towards passing exams - which is letting them down. We speak to three experts who tell us that it doesn't have to be this way: Dr James Mannion, clinical psychologist Dr Naomi Fisher and to Andy Sprakes, the co-founder of Doncaster's most oversubscribed school, about how they're already doing things differently and why it's beneficial for everyone involved.Plus: want a chance to live out your Geoffocracy dreams? We hear from Suzanne Heywood about a new prize looking for our listeners' policy ideas!GuestsDr James Mannion, Director of Rethinking Education, a teacher training organisation (Visit his website or follow him on Twitter @RethinkingJames)Dr Naomi Fisher, Clinical Psychologist (Follow her on Twitter @naomicfisher or subscribe to her Substack)Andy Sprakes, Chief Academic Officer and Co-founder, XP School in Doncaster (@SprakesA & @XPschool) Suzanne Heywood, Chair of the Heywood Foundation (@HeywoodFndation)More infoDo schools kill creativity? TED Talk, Sir Ken RobinsonThe crisis of the last six months has exposed five damaging myths in education Blog, Peter HymanRethinking Education James Mannion's teacher training organisationHow to Change the World James Mannion's TEDxtalk on 'vertical slice politics'Above all compassion, the story of XP School FilmLearn more about the Heywood Prize and enter here.Contact Reasons to be Cheerful via our website, follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Let us know your episode ideas, your comments and feedback! 

Hello and happy 2023! Normal service will resume next Monday but in the meantime we’ve got a cracking interview with co-authors Adrienne Buller and Mathew Lawrence for you. Their new book ‘Owning the Future: Power and Property in an Age of Crisis’ is all about ownership. Basically, who owns what in our economy and society, and why it matters. They set out an alternative future for us that’s not dominated by profit making business models, but rather meets the needs of all citizens without destroying the planet. And as we look to the future, Ed reminisces about past mishaps with his coat...Buy Owning the Future: Power and Property in an Age of CrisisCommon Wealth Think TankGuestsAdrienne Buller, Director of Research, Common Wealth Think Tank (@adribuller)Mathew Lawrence, Founder and Director, Common Wealth Think Tank (@dantonshead)

It’s been another calm year for politics: four chancellors, three prime ministers and a lettuce. Through the tumult, we’ve been providing you a steady stream of reasons to be cheerful. Having applied a (not very) rigorous methodology we’ve chosen our ten favourite moments from the year. What’s made it to the top spot?We’d love to hear from you over the holidays with your ideas, guest suggestions or emails. If you want to get in touch with the podcast you can email us at reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or through our website.

Hello! We’ve decked the loft with boughs of holly and after two years, Ed and Geoff are finally reunited for some Christmas fun and frolics. Traditional board game proceedings have been temporarily suspended, as we ask some friends of the pod to tell us their reasons to be cheerful. And boy, it’s a real bagamashings. We hear from Jon Ronson, Self Esteem, Davina McCall and Michael Douglas, Ayesha Hazarika, Tom Allen, and many more…Find out which celebs sent us a message from bed, who told Ed he had the weakest handshake in Western Europe, and what Dan the Lifeguard really sounds like.With thanks to all our cracker message senders and listeners in 2022!If you want to get in touch with the podcast you can email us at reasons@cheerfulpodcast.com or through our website.