The old US-led order has ruptured... but Australia is still behaving as though it’s 2012.

In this episode, Matt and Elliot ask what happens when your closest ally can no longer be trusted. From Trump’s America and the Pentagon’s growing alliance with Silicon Valley oligarchs to Albanese’s AI bargains and the A$368 billion AUKUS bet, Australia keeps exporting abundance, importing vulnerability and calling it stability.

Canada and Europe recognise that compliance no longer buys safety and are widening their choices. So why is Australia still rolling over for belly rubs?

Find out in this week's episode of Worth Knowing.

Chapters ➡

00:00 Ten episodes of weekly sense-making
01:30 The bigger bubble that has already burst
03:40 Why Carney’s rupture speech matters
10:15 Albanese and Australia’s leadership vacuum
14:00 Exporting abundance, importing vulnerability
16:45 The AI copyright and data-centre bargain
21:20 Middle powers and tech companies with state-like power
27:05 Why America can no longer be trusted
30:45 The A$368 billion AUKUS question
34:00 Allies, protectorates and sovereign defence
36:30 Albanese, Carney and the schoolyard bully
40:35 Final thoughts and where Australia goes next

Watch and subscribe to the channel now, as well as our Substack and your favourite podcasting channels, at: https://worthknowingpod.com

For show notes and a deep dive on each episode, visit the Substack via the link above.

AI was the elephant in every room at Climate Week NYC. Behind the promises of green innovation looms a ‘brown boost’ in data centres, gas and power.

This week, Elliot reports from New York as he and Matt unpack the real, immediate and enormous energy demand behind the race towards AGI, and the religious promise that once we reach the Promised Land, AI will save us.

Where are the examples? What are the strategies? And can AI companies become good corporate citizens without locking in another generation of gas and coal?

And what hope do we have when even the climate tech VCs are all in on AI and fresh out of decarb?

Find out in this week's episode of Worth Knowing.

Chapters ➡

00:00 AI is the elephant in every room
00:15 A typhoon rolls through New York
02:32 Climate Week becomes AI and Data Centre Week
06:35 The missing global guardrails
07:55 AI’s brown boost
09:09 Nvidia says: trust us, we're surgeons
12:20 Racing towards the Promised Land
16:48 Decentralised energy and good corporate citizens
20:47 Renewables are on a tear
22:26 Patagonia, Twiggy Forrest and Sylvia Earle
27:02 Active hope and Gross Domestic Regeneration
29:41 Why COP31 will not save us
31:58 The war is not yet over

Watch and subscribe to the channel now, as well as our Substack and your favourite podcasting channels, at: https://worthknowingpod.com

For show notes and a deep dive on each episode, visit the Substack via the link above.

The AI bubble is looking very, very frothy. But after the OpenAI–Hugging Face incident and Andrew Yang’s extraordinary claim, Matt thinks a bubble may already have burst... and something strange, dangerous and potentially extraordinary is emerging underneath.

This week, Matt and Elliot unpack the circular economy of IOUs between AI labs, cloud providers and chipmakers, and what happened when AI agents moved beyond the boundaries of a controlled cybersecurity evaluation.

Why are rival AI leaders suddenly sounding the alarm? And is a choice between human extinction and incredible shareholder value really all that's on offer?

This isn’t another doomer episode. It’s a conversation about what the hell comes next... and who gets to imagine it.

Chapters ➡

00:29 Introduction to the AI bubble and market context
01:58 Lessons from the dot-com bubble and early internet optimism
03:10 The parallels between past crashes and current AI valuations
04:55 The circular economy of AI companies and market interdependence
07:01 Potential for a market crash driven by overvaluation and speculation
12:37 Regulatory challenges and the risk of monopolistic control
15:50 Narrative-driven markets
19:43 The importance of balanced narratives and realistic expectations
21:21 The potential for AI to create a better future if managed wisely
23:14 Call for imagination, regulation, and societal engagement
25:10 Something has happenned
28:17 The Hugging Face Incident and Its Implications
30:28 The bubble that has already burst
35:25 Closing thoughts and upcoming Climate Week event

Watch and subscribe to the channel now, as well as our Substack, and on your favourite podcasting channels at: https://worthknowingpod.com

For show notes and a deep dive on each episode, visit the Substack via the link above.