Counterfeit People (2024) - Lizzie O'Shea, Patrick Stokes & Emily van der Nagel

Counterfeit People (2024) - Lizzie O'Shea, Patrick Stokes & Emily van der Nagel

Author: Festival of Dangerous Ideas May 15, 2025 Duration: 1:01:03

The late philosopher and scientist, Daniel Dennett talked about 'counterfeit people' as one of the great dangers of AI – but are we now willing to court the same dangers through our adoption of multiple identities across the metaverse. Moving from the confinement of physical reality to the landscape of the metaverse, where looks, preferences, and genders are limitless, we can each acquire many digital selves. Is a 'virtual you' a truer reflection of your deepest self – revealing desires and aspects that otherwise remain hidden? What is the human cost of leaving the physical world behind? What are the ethical implications of living without boundaries in a digital space where the borders between morality and legality, in the 'real world', begin to dissolve? 

Lizzie O'Shea sues companies and governments that do the wrong thing. She has run major cases against major technology companies on behalf of thousands of people who have been harmed by them. She is also a founder and the chair of Digital Rights Watch, which advocates for human rights in online spaces. 

Patrick Stokes is associate professor of philosophy at Deakin University, and a writer, radio producer, and media commentator on philosophical matters. He is currently engaged in a three-year Australian Research Council-funded project, 'Digital Death and Immortality.' 

Emily van der Nagel is a Lecturer in Social Media at Monash University. She researches social media identities, platforms, and cultures, with a particular focus on digital intimacies. Her book, Sex and Social Media, co-authored with Katrin Tiidenberg, takes a feminist, sex-positive approach to how social media platforms shape and restrict sex. Emily is currently working on a research project about how Australians use social media to create and subscribe to content on OnlyFans.

Chaired by Professor of Evolution at UNSW Sydney and a popular science author, Rob Brooks.

 

For more than a decade, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas has curated a space where provocative thinking isn't just welcomed, it's the entire point. This podcast is a direct line to that stage, offering an archive of talks that deliberately unsettle comfortable opinions and interrogate the stubborn problems we often agree to ignore. Each episode captures a live conversation from Australia's original disruptive ideas festival, presenting arguments that can be exhilarating, uncomfortable, and vitally important. You’ll hear from a compelling roster of festival alumni-including leading experts, intellectual troublemakers, and visionary authors-who share perspectives that conventional discourse frequently sidelines. The discussions here aren't theoretical exercises; they grapple with the pressing and difficult issues shaping our society and culture right now. Tuning in means granting yourself access to a decade-long tradition of intellectual courage, where the core assumption is that some truths are only reached by first entertaining a dangerous idea. It’s a chance to listen as boundaries are pushed, not for shock value, but for clarity. The result is a consistently challenging and refreshing audio experience that complicates simple narratives and expands what feels possible to talk about.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Festival of Dangerous Ideas
Podcast Episodes
Little Bad Thing Trailer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06
If you've been enjoying our deep dive festival sessions you might want to check out bite sized conundrums in Little Bad Thing, the new podcast from The Ethics Centre. True stories about the things we wish we hadn't done.…
Helen Joyce (2015) | The Right To Die [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:43
Why is the right to doctor-assisted dying supported by so many and legal for so few? Helen Joyce became international editor of The Economist in January 2014 having previously served as International Education Editor and…
Edward Snowden (2020) | Surveillance States [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:53
Edward Snowden has been condemned as a traitor and celebrated as a patriot. In his mind, he is simply a man of good conscience who has followed in the footsteps of family members who have faithfully served the people and…
Marcia Langton (2020) | Dangerous Fictions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:51
No one has a monopoly on truth when it comes to the past and present lives of Australia's Indigenous peoples. Conservatives tend to deny that Indigenous peoples should have special status in the Constitution. Progressive…
Eric Schlosser (2015) | Nuclear Delusions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:22
Why has humanity still not worked out how to make nuclear weapons safe? As an investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser continues to explore subjects ignored by the mainstream media and gives a voice to people at the marg…
Lydia Cacho (2014) | Slavery Is Big Business [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:03
In the West, slavery is often seen as a dark part of the colonial past. Although it's illegal in all countries, it remains alive and well—and is growing dramatically. Impervious to recession, it forms a thriving part of…
Lee Vinsel (2016) | Innovation Fetish [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:05
Is innovation overvalued? It is the dominant ideology of our era. But what if building, maintenance and repair prove much more important to our daily lives than the vast majority of technological innovations? Co-founder…
Sarai Walker (2015) | Radical Fat Acceptance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:09
One of the last bastions of acceptable discrimination is against fat people. Health arguments reinforce the social and cultural pressure to avoid fatness at all costs. But is it possible to imagine things differently and…