Tech Mirror

“Technology is made by humans. When we refocus on this foundational truth, it opens the possibility that technology can be made differently” – Johanna Weaver, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Tech Policy Design Institute.

Tech Mirror explores how technology impacts our lives: the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.

Questions about how we might shape technology differently are not just “technical” questions. The answers to these questions go to the very core of the fabric our societies.

Through interviews with the movers and shapers, and analysis by experts and opinionated guests, this podcast will empower you to get involved in discussion that help shape the technologies that will shape our future.

This is the podcast that talks about how technology is reshaping our world. And how we – the humans! – can shape technology back.

Building Matilda

Johanna Weaver sits down with Maincode CEO Dave Lemphers to discuss Matilda, Australian-made AI, and the hard realities of creating a world-class technology company from Melbourne. From compute clusters to copyright, to national ambition, this is a conversation about building capability that lasts.

Human Choice and the Ethics of AI

In a world of AI, what does it mean to be human? In this episode of Tech Mirror, host Johanna Weaver speaks with one of Australia’s foremost ethicists, Simon Longstaff, from the Ethics Centre. Together, they make the case for ethics in the wider AI discourse

AI Agency and Mythos 5

In this episode of Tech Mirror, host Johanna Weaver is joined by Tech Policy Design Institute co-founder and lead researcher Zoe Hawkins to unpack their latest report Expanding AI Sovereignty to AI Agency. Together, they explore why Australia needs to move beyond simplistic debates to uncover how Australia’s tech movement holds strategic advantages that build both leverage and resilience when global events expose geopolitical uncertainty.

Worker Futures & Digital Dignity

The nature of work and jobs is being reshaped by artificial intelligence. Is it the building block to a worker utopia, or a more bleak, disruptive reality? In this episode of Tech Mirror, host Johanna Weaver sits down with Joseph Mitchell from the Australian Council of Trade Unions to unpack the opportunities, risks, and power dynamics brought on by the rollout of AI in workplaces around Australia.

Good Tech

Prepare to meet some amazing individuals who are using technology for social justice. This episode was recorded live at the Technology for Social Justice conference – Australia’s premier not-for-profit technology capability building, upskilling, networking and awards event, celebrating and exploring how technology can enable leaders to amplify impact. 

Earning trust

This episode marks the launch of TPDi’s new research around AI, trust and regulation in Parramatta on 5 May 2026. It begins with Johanna speaking with the Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, Dr Andrew Charlton, followed by his keynote where he sets out the Government’s plan when it comes to AI and how to get the Australian public to trust and invest in AI.

Privacy + Kids Online

Johanna discusses Australia’s draft Children’s Online Privacy Code with Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind and Director of the Code Taskforce Kate Bower. They discuss how the proposed privacy code will work and how it will shape and benefit young people’s privacy in the future, with the potential for positive spillover for all users regardless of age.

How Progess Ends

Johanna looks at whether the past can give us clues about the future with Carl Benedikt Frey, Dieter Schwarz Associate Professor of AI & Work at the Oxford Internet Institute and writer of How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations.

China + Tech

In the next deep dive into tech and geopolitics, Johanna Weaver sits down with Tim Coghlan, an Australia global tech and China economy analyst living in Beijing.They talk about geostrategic competition, from the perspective of China. Tim talks about how China has embraced AI, even down to the neighbourhood running track.

Tech + Trump

In the first episode in a deep dive into tech and geopolitics, Johanna Weaver sits down with Martijn Rasser, Vice-President of Technology Leadership at the US Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP). The pair talk about strategic technology competition between the US & China, and what this means for middle power countries like Australia.

India AI Action Summit

In this episode Johanna Weaver catches up with recent attendees at India AIAction Summit: Jess Wilson, CEO of Good Things; David Masters, Head of Global Public Policy at Atlassian; Lizzie O’Shea, Chair of Digital Rights Watch; Nick Davis, Co-Director at the UTS Human Technology Institute; and Meredith Hodgman, Head of Strategy from the Tech Policy Design Institute. 

S3/E1: 2026 Preview

In this Tech Mirror mini-series, we unpack the harms the law seeks to prevent, trace how young people’s use of social media became a flashpoint in the lead-up to the 2025 Federal Election, and explain what the legislation actually means. We ask what will happen on 10 December, when the law comes into force, and explore what next to happen next as we demand more from tech companies and from our politicians.