Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast
by Ania Lichtarowicz
Can AI Make Us Healthier and Happier?
About this podcast
Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast - Tech That Actually Matters
If you’re tired of hype, gadgets-for-gadget’s-sake, and the same recycled tech headlines, welcome to Somewhere on Earth (SOEP) - the weekly global tech podcast that digs way deeper.
Made by and hosted by the ex-BBC World Service Digital Planet team (yes, the award-winning crew behind 21+ years of world-leading tech journalism and 1.5M annual downloads), SOEP uncovers the untold stories shaping our digital world.
This isn’t a show about the latest shiny toy. It’s about technology that changes lives, cultures, and global societies.
Each episode explores:
⚡ The real-world impact of emerging tech
🌍 New innovations driving social good
🔍 Under-the-radar digital trends you should be paying attention to
🧠 How tech is reshaping communities, culture, and the way we live
📰 The technology behind the week’s biggest world stories - explained simply
Our mission?
To build a tech-for-good ecosystem where new ideas, powerful insights, and meaningful innovation can grow.
If you want smart, globally minded tech storytelling from journalists who’ve been doing this longer (and better) than almost anyone else - SOEP is your new must-listen podcast.
🌎 Somewhere on Earth: Where tech meets humanity.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/somewhere-on-earth-the-global-tech-podcast--6924871/support.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 194 episodes
- Can AI Make Us Healthier and Happier? · 25 min · Episode 160Your health, your data, your AI What if an AI could know your entire health history without the company behind it seeing your medical data? New service GetMine has launched an AI…
- AI Toys: Why Experts Say Don’t Buy Them · 25 min · Episode 159AI toys can talk, listen and become a child’s “friend”. Experts say: don’t buy them. AI-powered teddy bears, dolls and companion toys can hold conversations with children…
- Russian Disinformation, AI & Elections: New Evidence of How Fake News Spreads & The Hidden Workers Training AI · 27 min · Episode 154New evidence of Russian-linked disinformation around European elections The British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, said that he was given a clear answer after entering Downing…
- AI, Visas and Border Control: Can Artificial Intelligence Decide Who Gets Through · 23 min · Episode 157AI Is Changing How Visas and Borders Work AI is increasingly being used in consular services to check documents, detect patterns, flag potential fraud and help process huge…
- We’re Throwing Away the Technology Keeping Us Healthy: The Hidden Crisis of Healthcare E-Waste · 25 min · Episode 156Medical Devices, Critical Materials and the Race to Build Circular Devices Digital healthcare is producing a fast-growing mountain of electronic waste. Glucose monitors, wearable…
- When Your Data Becomes a Weapon: Myanmar and Customer Privacy · 27 min · Episode 155Myanmar, Customer Data and Human RightsAfter Myanmar’s military coup in 2021, authorities demanded access to sensitive customer information held by a major Norwegian…
- AI Is Getting More Powerful. Can We Regulate It Before It’s Too Late? · 35 min · Episode 154The future of AI, self-improving systems, cybersecurity, AI for Good and the fight for global AI regulationHow powerful can artificial intelligence become — and can governments…
- Internet Shutdowns: 10 Years of Fighting to Keep the World Connected · 23 min · Episode 15310 Years of #KeepItOn: Documenting the Global Fight Against Internet ShutdownsFor a decade, Access Now’s #KeepItOn campaign has been documenting and fighting government-led…
- AI Medical Devices: Are We Using Them Before We Know They Work? · 23 min · Episode 152AI in Healthcare: 1,357 Medical Devices Cleared - Only 3 Tested on Patients A new PLOS Digital Health study reveals a huge gap between AI medical devices being cleared for use…
- Could Your Electric Car Power Your Home? Everything-to-Grid Energy, AI & the Future of Electricity · 22 min · Episode 151Everything-to-Grid Energy: Turning Electric Cars, Batteries and Homes into Power StationsWhat if your electric car could do more than get you from A to B? Professor ZhaoYang Dong…
- AI for Domestic Violence Support & Cybersecurity: Why We Need to Pause Before We Act · 24 min · Episode 150Brazil’s AI-Powered Technology Helping Women Escape Bureaucracy and Access SupportFrom Web Summit Rio, we hear about a company that uses technology and AI to help women…
- Flying Boat Could Revolutionise Amazon Transport + AI to Tackle Endometriosis · 21 min · Episode 149Flying Boat Could Transform Amazon TransportIn the Amazon, where rivers are often the only roads, journeys can take hours or even days. Brazilian company Aero River is developing…
- Could This Affordable Bionic Arm Change Healthcare Forever? AI & Autism, & Green Fuel Innovation · 21 min · Episode 148🦾 Affordable Bionic ProstheticsA Brazilian start-up is using 3D printing and muscle-controlled technology to develop affordable bionic arms, giving amputees greater independence…
- Lighting Up the Amazon with Recycled Bottles | Recorded Live at Web Summit Rio · 20 min💡 Bringing Light to the AmazonCan a recycled plastic bottle change lives? At Web Summit Rio 2026, Ania Lichtarowicz meets Rodrigo Eidy, President of Litro de Luz Brasil, to…
- AI Predicts Tunnel Collapses & WhatsApp Brings a Pediatrician to Your Phone · 21 minCan AI predict a tunnel collapse before it happens?As cities grow and become more crowded, we are increasingly building underground. But tunnelling beneath busy urban areas can…
- Robots Inspired by Birds, and the Future of Clean Energy: How Technology Is Transforming Our Planet · 19 min · Episode 145MIT’s flying and swimming robot takes inspiration from diving birds to explore the oceans of tomorrowMIT engineers have created a remarkable aerial-aquatic robot that can swim…
- Is AI Rewriting Our Opinions? And Can inDrive Build the Next Global Super App? · 28 min · Episode 144Are AI Writing Assistants Quietly Shaping Public Opinion?A new study suggests that the AI tools many of us use every day on platforms like LinkedIn, X and Google may be doing…
- The Hidden Algorithms of Gig Work: Who Really Profits from Uber and the Platform Economy? · 42 min · Episode 143435 Million Gig Workers, Secret Pricing Systems & The Global Fight for Transparency in the Digital Economy The World Bank estimates there are more than 435 million online gig…
- AI Is About to Spend Your Money: Pix Payments and the Tech Behind Amazon's Superberry · 25 min · Episode 142How AI Agents Could Change Digital Payments Brazil's Pix payment system has already transformed how millions of people move money. Now, fintech company Iniciador is exploring…
- AI, Trust and the Future of Money: Plus the Brazilian Drones Replanting Forests · 29 min · Episode 141How Trust Became Fintech's Most Valuable Asset As artificial intelligence reshapes financial services, technology alone is no longer enough to stand out. Denise Johansson…
