--- title: "We Turned One - plus Liquid Media, Work Slop, and the Road Ahead" podcast: "Modem Futura" episode: "Episode 53" hosts: "Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard" date: 2025-10-14 audio: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/018f87c3-4d42-4bc0-9d66-53873b51ec68/episodes/510083b5-01b4-40f9-a046-344e6eeff8ef/audio/9a55027e-de08-48cc-a64a-3f44d7cadd3c/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=3frRI0HN mirror: https://text.futureofbeinghuman.com/modemfutura/53-we-turned-one-plus-liquid-media-work-slop-and-the-road-ahead.html --- # We Turned One - plus Liquid Media, Work Slop, and the Road Ahead Modem Futura · Episode 53 · October 14, 2025 · 76 min · Hosts: Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard Listen: [MP3 audio](https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/018f87c3-4d42-4bc0-9d66-53873b51ec68/episodes/510083b5-01b4-40f9-a046-344e6eeff8ef/audio/9a55027e-de08-48cc-a64a-3f44d7cadd3c/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=3frRI0HN) · [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-turned-one-plus-liquid-media-work-slop-and-the-road-ahead/id1771688480?i=1000731765905&uo=4) · [Spotify (show)](https://open.spotify.com/show/3eFl4hY4t1qTCWE2Bxotrg) · [YouTube (video)](https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura) --- We celebrate a full year of **Modem Futura** with an open, in‑studio debrief on what’s worked, what’s changed, and why we double‑down on being a *relational*—not transactional—podcast. Sean and Andrew look back on 52+ weekly episodes that turned the studio into a “living laboratory,” where listeners pull up a chair to conversations spanning AI and AGI, simulation hypotheses, autonomous mobility (including a ride in a Waymo), radical creativity, robots and bio‑hybrids, space futures, media theory, education, and more. We unpack how *care* became a guiding frame for our topics and tone; why parasocial dynamics matter when you’re building community; and how year‑one feedback—from teams using episodes to spark discussion to a certain astronaut’s seal of approval—shaped the show. Then we fast‑forward: “liquid media,” **NotebookLM** → **Hux** and 24/7 AI radio streams, the risks of “work slop” and extra cognitive load in organizations, and the line between helpful AI tools and losing the human voice. A playful “Futures Improv” lightning round tackles AI pets, brain‑to‑brain headbands, meditation‑mandating robotaxis, and (naturally) Jurassic Park…on the Moon. We close with what’s next—Vision Pro, Meta’s new glasses, and Andrew’s new book *AI and the Art of Being Human*—plus a nudge to rate/review so more people can join the conversation. -----Modem Futura is a production of the Future of Being Human initiative at Arizona State University. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. To learn more about the Future of Being Human initiative and all of our other projects visit - [https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/)Subscribe to our [YouTube Channel: @ModemFutura](https://www.youtube.com/@ModemFutura)Follow us on Instagram: [@ModemFutura](https://www.instagram.com/modemfutura/)**Host Bios:****Sean M. Leahy, PhD** - [ASU Bio](https://search.asu.edu/profile/3183014)\ Sean is an internationally recognized technologist, futurist, and educator innovating humanistic approaches to emerging technology through a Futures Studies approach. He is the Executive Director for the [Future of Being Human Initiative](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/) and Research Scientist for the [School for the Future of Innovation in Society](https://sfis.asu.edu/) and Senior Global Futures Scholar with the [Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory](https://globalfutures.asu.edu/) at [Arizona State University](http://www.asu.edu/).**Andrew Maynard, PhD** - [ASU Bio](https://search.asu.edu/profile/2670673)\ Andrew is a scientist, author, thought leader, and Professor of Advanced Technology Transitions in the ASU [School for the Future of Innovation in Society](https://sfis.asu.edu/). He is the founder of the ASU [Future of Being Human initiative](https://futureofbeinghuman.asu.edu/), Director of the ASU [Risk Innovation Nexus](https://riskinnovation.org/), and was previously Associate Dean in the ASU [College of Global Futures](https://collegeofglobalfutures.asu.edu/).----- --- *These are the show notes for this episode of Modem Futura (), a podcast hosted by Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard and part of the ASU Future of Being Human initiative (). This file is a text mirror of the episode’s show notes — not a transcript. Listen to the full episode via the links above, or watch it on YouTube ().*