23. The metaverse: A bright future, or clear as mud?

Clear as Mud is on a short hiatus while Ray and Lawrence work on a new concept for season 3. In the meantime, Ray was interviewed for radio to talk about LinkedIn's 20th birthday and the buzz topic of the moment, artificial intelligence. With the cooperation of Radio 107.3 2SER, we've reproduced the full interview for a special episode of Clear as Mud.

We speak to ChatGPT, AI and CX researcher and expert Liam Bray to explore whether robots are going to take our jobs or make them more interesting. Can he convince Ray that we're not headed for the singularity? You'll have to listen to find out.

Who knew that Tim Berners-Lee came up with a way to combat online misinformation more than 25 years ago? You'll never guess what killed it off! Also, Ray and Lawrence try to extricate themselves from goblin mode to discuss words of the year, worrying TikTok trends and the only thing that is keeping up with inflation.

In which polymath metaverse pioneer Sami Tauber tries to convince a couple of old cynics that the next phase of digital development is not going to end in tears  (Spoiler alert: she does a great job!)

Despite shrinking attention spans, storytelling remains a powerful way to get your message across. We speak with corporate communications coach Arabella McPherson about how telling a story helps you get straight through to the emotional part of someone's brain, so your communication is NOT clear as mud!

In which we discuss Hollywood affairs, a promising development in the fight against ad tech, a triggering stumble from KFC and - surprise, surprise - lying politicians. And who knew Ray was a punk rock aficionado?

For most people around the world, the initials that come to mind when conversation turns to Donald Trump are not MAGA, but WTF? To try and understand how this blustering bankrupt became the leader of the free world and how he continues to hold sway over so many people, Ray speaks to the woman who wrote the book on Trump's use of rhetoric and language, Professor Jennifer Mercieca at Texas A&M University. We dive into her book Demagogue for President and discuss the method behind Trump's seemingly rambling rhetoric, and how he managed to take over the Republican party. And yes, Hitler gets mentioned, though not exactly as you might think!

In which we discuss the relationship between college athletics and OnlyFans, how TikTok is changing the entire social media landscape and over-reactions to wrong weather forecasts. Meanwhile, Ray digs up a long-forgotten comedy routine that pre-dates the carbon footprint debate.

In which we decry Big Tech's most viral activity - copying each other - as well as examining Ukraine's nation branding efforts, a kind/not kind viral trend and ageism and sexism on the international stage.

Ray casts aspersions on the 18th century structure of the scientific publishing industry, while Springer Nature global VP Stephen Pincock points out how researchers have embraced story-telling as part of their ambit in the 21st century, and suggests Ray is suffering PTSD from his journalistic-inspired efforts at research. He just might have a point!