Rethinking Tomorrow

Two men who bear a resemblance to the man of the season, Associate Professor Rosser Johnson joins Matt to talk about how he got where he is, infomercials and toxic masculinity. Topics swing through learning over the decades, moving from the attention economy to the affection economy, toxic masculinity and the loss of proper argument in universities and society.

This was a fun sit-down with Dr. Tui Matelau, Kaiwhakatere of the School of Communication Studies at AUT. A good example of whanaungatanga, this chat sees us find what we have in common; 6 year-old daughters, a love for creativity and a connection to Te Pou Theatre (where you can see Tui's play in its premiere production in 2026).

Matt sits down with Dr Jennie Watts to talk about how advocacy helps her teaching, the importance of community and how to build momentum for a movement. Jennie is a part of Lifting Literacy Aotearoa and the movement that has seen structured literacy brought into our school curriculum.

Our co-director, Associate Professor Sarah Baker comes in to discuss giving agency back to our students, inspiring intergenerational conversation and how we navigate the rapids of the 21st century society. Sarah's research covers political economy and current affairs, often through the lens of pop culture lenses of horror, gothic and sexuality. While both of us have fears for the future, we discuss the hope we have for our students and how we can help them imagine a future different to the status quo.Links:Nuclear War with Chuck Watson - The Great SimplificationLearning futures with Keri FacerWide boundary impact of AI with Daniel Schmachtenberger - The Great SimplificationThe AI safety expert - Diary of a CEOI spit on your grave

Matt sits down with Vijay Devadas, an Assoc. Professor in the School of Communications at AUT and one of the co-directors of the Communication for Social Change Research centre. Our conversation covers the breadth and depth of some of Vijay's research over the years, including Treaty Principles, soft violence and misinformation. We also share thoughts about we could change the way academia interacts with our communities and how to stay sane while researching wicked problems.

Dr. Christina Batistich-Vogels spearheads our inaugural conference. She sits down with Matt Halliday to discuss some of the social trends she's uncovered in her own research and an experimental idea to take university courses back to what they were when we were there. Could Gen Z complete a course without devices?