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3. Are You Not Engaged?

The high point of technological optimism. Arab Spring, Barack Obama. Social media seems like it's transforming everything. But then, it all starts to crumble.

The tech pioneers were right: all this connectivity and sharing is creating a new age of freedom and democracy. A global consciousness.

Arab Spring, Barack Obama – both fuelled by social media - make the possibilities feel limitless.

But, just as the dream to connect everyone is being realised - at the height of technological optimism - everything starts to fall apart.

Producer: Caitlin Smith
Sound Designer: Eloise Whitmore
Mix: Gav Murchie
Composer: Jeremy Warmsley
Story Consultant: Kirsty Williams
Executive Producer: Peter McManus + Heather Kane-Darling
Research: Rachael Fulton, Elizabeth Ann Duffy and Juliet Conway
Commissioned by Dan Clarke

Archive: C-NET Jan 2007; The Obama White House Archive, April 2011; C-Span, December 2008; C-Span 1996.

New episodes released on Mondays. If you’re in the UK, listen to the latest episodes of The Gatekeepers, first on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds: bbc.in/3Ui661u

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29 minutes

Last on

Tue 25 Jun 2024 15:00

Broadcasts

  • Mon 19 Feb 2024 11:00
  • Tue 25 Jun 2024 15:00

Podcast