Policy Prompt

Today’s world is more convenient than it has ever been in history. It can take fewer than five discrete actions to have most anything delivered right to your door, and you don’t even have to get up from your chair. But in our world becoming so comfortable, so convenient, we must ask the question: What are we losing?

In this special episode, Vass is joined by Tim Wu, a preeminent legal scholar and former Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy at the United States, in a live conversation recorded at Hot Docs in Toronto, in November 2025. The discussion was anchored on Tim’s latest book, The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity (Knopf, 2025), which illuminates how we can reclaim control and create a balanced economy that works for everyone in a modern world where tech platforms have been permitted to run rampant in their own self-interest under the guise of free innovation. We regulated electricity when it became clear it would change the world; why not today’s disruptive tech?

Mentioned:

Human Potential Movement: spreadgreatideas.org/glossary/human-potential-movement/

Clay Shirky: shirky.com/

Raffi’s Bananaphone: wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananaphone

Amazon sellers bidding for top spots in results: aihello.com/resources/blog/amazon-ppc-bidding/

Lina M. Khan, former commissioner of the FTC: ftc.gov/about-ftc/commissioners-staff/lina-m-khan

History of nursing homes: share.google/G1faVin0hpjK5p5pS

Canadian 2025 budget: budget.canada.ca/2025/home-accueil-en.html

Economic gardening: kauffman.org/resources/policy/economic-gardening/

Democracy in decline worldwide: en.ara.cat/politics/democracy-in-decline-72-of-the-world-s-population-lives-in-autocracies_1_5352060.html

Hugo Chavez launching monetary support for Venezuelan children living in poverty in 2011: reuters.com/article/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/chavez-launches-cash-giveaway-for-poor-venezuela-kids-idUSTRE7BB1C8/

Further Reading:

Tim Wu biography: timwu.net/

The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity (Knopf, 2025): penguinrandomhouse.com/books/691177/the-age-of-extraction-by-tim-wu/

Agency decay from AI usage: cigionline.org/articles/the-silent-erosion-how-ais-helping-hand-weakens-our-mental-grip/

Credits:

Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our supervising producer is Tim Lewis, with technical production by Henry Daemen and Luke McKee. Show notes are prepared by Rebecca MacIntyre, Libza Manna and Isabel Neufeld, who also handles social media engagement, brand design and episode artwork by Abhilasha Dewan and Sami Chouhdary, with creative direction from Som Tsoi. 

Original music by Joshua Snethlage. 

Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault. 

Be sure to follow us on social media. 

X: @_policyprompt

IG: @cigionline

Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt on all major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at [email protected]

Ever since the ancient Athenians first attempted a democratic approach to governance, nations worldwide have been attempting to perfect it. Some things we’ve gotten right; for instance, many nations have decided that the Athenians’ exclusion of many groups of people was not conducive to democracy, and instead have elected to include all people, not just men who owned land. But we’ve oftentimes gotten things wrong, too. How can we reinvent democracy, given what we know now?
In this episode of Policy Prompt, Paul and Vass welcome James Bacchus, a former member of the US Congress, a founding judge, twice chairman and chief judge of the Appellate Body at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, director of the Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity at the University of Central Florida, CIGI senior fellow, and much more, to discuss how a true global democracy could be formed, one that accurately represents all nations and that dutifully involves all humankind. Many of us are quite removed from the “democratic” proceedings of our nations. What if we had the right to participate?
Mentioned:
Chinese coal plants: apnews.com/article/china-coal-solar-climate-carbon-emissions-242abe76eb69f5a362e977de74ff3254
8 The Economist Democracy Index: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index
Gerrymandering:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering#:~:text=Gerrymandering%2C%20
Participatory Democracy: www.govocal.com/blog/what-is-participatory-democracy
Sortition, the “jury duty” system: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition
The Pnyx, an important site in the creation of democracy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pnyx
Athenian Democracy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy
“Living Democracy,” a philosophy of John Dewey: share.google/qXy5uA1tEdqhZowtl
Food shortages in Central Florida due to government shutdown mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2025/10/15/central-florida-food-banks-step-up-as-government-shutdown-impacts-families
Further Reading:
James Bacchus bio: cigionline.org/people/james-bacchus/
James Bacchus books: google.ca/search?sca_esv=4ee06a5b294f010f&hl=en&q=inauthor:%22James+Bacchus%22&udm=36
Credits:
Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our supervising producer is Tim Lewis, with technical production by Henry Daemen and Luke McKee. Show notes are prepared by Rebecca MacIntyre, Libza Manna and Isabel Neufeld, who also handles social media engagement, brand design and episode artwork by Abhilasha Dewan and Sami Chouhdary, with creative direction from Som Tsoi. 
Original music by Joshua Snethlage. 
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault. 
Be sure to follow us on social media. 
X: @_policyprompt
IG: @cigionline
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt on all major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at [email protected]

The playing field for modern scams is bigger than ever. Entire guarded compounds are dedicated to online and phone fraud, and the network of influence and intimidation these organizations hold grows daily, facilitated by emerging technology such as artificial intelligence and mass automation. An epicentre has emerged in East and Southeast Asia; Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China and more are both sources and victims of organized scams. Local governments have been cracking down to an extent, but this hydra has heads at all levels of public influence — a stronger, more coordinated approach is needed to conquer this beast.
This episode features experts Mark Bo and Ivan Franceschini in conversation with Paul on the scam industry and its victims, how organized scam syndicates can start to take over local economies through corruption and human trafficking, and what most people misunderstand about how these organizations operate. Based in East and Southeast Asia for two decades, Mark is a researcher who utilizes his background in corporate and financial mapping to investigate Asia’s online gambling, fraud, and money laundering industries. Ivan, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Asia Institute, focuses his research on globalization, labour, and the evolving dynamics of crime in the digital age, particularly on the cyber-fraud industry.
Mentioned:
Sihanoukville, Cambodia: https://www.britannica.com/place/Sihanoukville
Pig butchering scam - a common crypto investment scheme: https://dfpi.ca.gov/news/insights/pig-butchering-how-to-spot-and-report-the-scam/#:~:text=Pig%20butchering%20is%20an%20investment,exchange%20to%20purchase%20crypto%20assets.
Scam centres in Cambodia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scam/_centers/_in/_Cambodia#
Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation: https://www.bluedragon.org/
Chen Zhi, the young tycoon accused of masterminding a multibillion-dollar international fraud network: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/asia/cambodia-scams-chen-zhi-prince-group-intl-hnk
Federal Trade Commission data shows US consumers lost over $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/03/new-ftc-data-show-big-jump-reported-losses-fraud-125-billion-2024#:~:text=Newly%20released%20Federal%20Trade%20Commission,all%20other%20payment%20methods%20combined.
UNODC 2025 Technical Policy Report: Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centres, * Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia: https://www.unodc.org/roseap/uploads/documents/Publications/2025/Inflection_Point_2025.pdf
UNODC 2023 Policy Report: Casinos, cyber fraud, and trafficking in persons for forced criminality in Southeast Asia: https://www.unodc.org/roseap/uploads/documents/Publications/2023/TiP_for_FC_Policy_Report.pdf
South Korea sanctions 15 individuals, 132 entities over online scams in Southeast Asia: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/s-korea-sanctions-15-individuals-132-entities-over-online-scams-in-southeast-asia/ar-AA1RfgLi?apiversion=v2&domshim=1&noservercache=1&noservertelemetry=1&batchservertelemetry=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1
More than 1,000 arrested in Cambodian cyber-scam raids: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/16/more-than-1000-arrested-in-cambodian-cyber-scam-raids
Further Reading:
Mark Bo’s bio: https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/blogs/authors/bo-mark?srsltid=AfmBOopSu7unvmVdZYFG2%5C_BC4teQZsQYrGpPia8vYTx-YfTjZ91h3Ib4
Ivan Franceschini’s bio: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/1108680-ivan-franceschini
Mark Bo, Ivan Franceschini and Ling Li, Scam: Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds (Verso, 2025)
Credits:
Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our supervising producer is Tim Lewis, with technical production by Henry Daemen and Luke McKee. Show notes are prepared by Rebecca MacIntyre, Libza Manna and Isabel Neufeld, who also handles social media engagement, brand design and episode artwork by Abhilasha Dewan and Sami Chouhdary, with creative direction from Som Tsoi. 
Original music by Joshua Snethlage. 
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault. 
Be sure to follow us on social media. 
X: @_policyprompt
IG: @cigionline 
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt on all major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at [email protected]

Neurotechnology is a dual-use technology transforming lives — from implantable devices that use deep brain stimulation to ease tremors from Parkinson’s disease to commercial wearables that promise more effective meditation. But without the necessary legal, ethical, and regulatory safeguards, the misuse and abuse of neurotechnology and the data it collects becomes inevitable.
In this episode, hosts Vass Bednar and Paul Samson speak with Jared Genser about neurotechnology, its implications for humanity, and the emerging dilemmas around neuro-rights, freedom of thought, and mental privacy. Jared is an international human rights lawyer and managing director of the law firm Perseus Strategies. He is a co-founder and general counsel to the Neurorights Foundation, and a special adviser on the Responsibility to Protect to the Organization of American States.
Mentioned:
Neuralink: neuralink.com/
Chile: Pioneering the protection of neurorights: courier.unesco.org/en/articles/chile-pioneering-protection-neurorights
Brain-computer interface: cumming.ucalgary.ca/research/pediatric-bci/bci-program/what-bci
Brain implant and AI gives a woman with paralysis her voice back (research led by Dr. Edward Chang): youtu.be/iTZ2N-HJbwA?si=u6d05795MdJ_3uO2
EMOTIV and Rodrigo Hubner Mendes drive an F1 car using electroencephalography (EEG): youtu.be/NhmXaeaHkDc?si=GX5hrjnyCfS2yR3h
Robotic exoskeleton helps paralyzed person kick first ball of 2014 World Cup: youtu.be/ClRqZbRxcNI?si=7Gdqjq6MRpJiM3Pi
President Obama’s Brain Initiative: obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/node/300741
Meta acquires CTRL-labs for wristband technology that allows people to control devices using their brains: cnbc.com/2019/09/23/facebook-announces-acquisition-of-brain-computing-start-up-ctrl-labs.html
EEG scanners in Apple AirPods: https://tinyurl.com/ypk72f8h
Australian device decodes thought-to-text with 40% accuracy: uts.edu.au/news/2023/12/portable-non-invasive-mind-reading-ai-turns-thoughts-text?
DreamConnect guides dreams with AI (decoding dreams into images): eurekalert.org/news-releases/1096544
Boston University brain scientist shows that electrostimulation can restore a 70-year-old’s working memory to that of a 20-year-old: bu.edu/articles/2019/electrostimulation-can-improve-working-memory/
Kernel, a wearable device that delivers information on brain function: kernel.com/
Werner Herzog’s documentary Theater of Thought: neurorightsfoundation.org/media/herzog-film
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: pascalhealthinstitute.com/why-crps-is-called-the-suicide-disease/
Further Reading:
Jared Genser’s bio: perseus-strategies.com/team/jared-genser-english/
Neurorights Foundation: neurorightsfoundation.org/
Freedom of Thought: Reviving and Protecting a Forgotten Human Right, special report by Susie Alegre and Aaron Shull cigionline.org/publications/freedom-of-thought-reviving-and-protecting-a-forgotten-human-right/
Credits:
Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our supervising producer is Tim Lewis, with technical production by Henry Daemen and Luke McKee. Show notes are prepared by Rebecca MacIntyre, Libza Manna and Isabel Neufeld, who also handles social media engagement, brand design and episode artwork by Abhilasha Dewan and Sami Chouhdary, with creative direction from Som Tsoi. 
Original music by Joshua Snethlage. 
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault. 
Be sure to follow us on social media. 
X: @_policyprompt
IG: @cigionline 
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt on all major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at [email protected]

Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on science, from data analysis to scenario simulation and predicting protein structure — its full potential is still unknown. Today, many scientists are dedicated to better understanding AI and how to integrate it into research to accelerate the pace of scientific discoveries without compromising rigour and principle. Is there a future where AI will make new scientific discoveries on its own?   
Join hosts Vass Bednar and Paul Samson as they speak with Rebecca Willett about the role machine learning and AI play in scientific research now and how she sees it impacting scientists in the future. Rebecca is a professor of statistics and computer science at the University of Chicago and faculty director of artificial intelligence at the University’s Data Science Institute. Her research focuses on machine learning and making sense of complex, large-scale datasets, as well as data science. Rebecca completed her PhD in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University and is a member of the Computer Science Study Group at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 
In-Show Clips:
00:15:03: NOVA scienceNOW, "What Will the Future Be Like?": FoldIt: A Protein Puzzle Game (PBS LearningMedia, 2013)
00:15:17: Nature Video: Foldit: Biology for gamers (YouTube, August 4, 2010)
Mentioned:
Google DeepMind AlphaFold: deepmind.google/science/alphafold/
Protein folding computer game Foldit: fold.it/
The COVID-19 Citizen Science Study: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8407439/
People-powered research platform Zooniverse: zooniverse.org/
Further Reading:
Rebecca Willet, professor of statistics and computer science at the University of Chicago and faculty director of artificial intelligence at the University’s Data Science Institute. Find her bio and works here: willett.psd.uchicago.edu/
Credits:
Policy Prompt is produced by Vass Bednar and Paul Samson. Our supervising producer is Tim Lewis, with technical production by Henry Daemen and Luke McKee. Show notes are prepared by Rebecca MacIntyre, Libza Manna and Isabel Neufeld, who also handles social media engagement, brand design and episode artwork by Abhilasha Dewan and Sami Chouhdary, with creative direction from Som Tsoi. 
Original music by Joshua Snethlage. 
Sound mix and mastering by François Goudreault. 
Be sure to follow us on social media. 
X: @_policyprompt
IG: @cigionline 
Listen to new episodes of Policy Prompt on all major podcast platforms. Questions, comments or suggestions? Reach out to CIGI’s Policy Prompt team at [email protected]