Can We Have Your Attention?

You can also watch this episode on YouTube! Anyone can buy an ad (well, almost anyone…). But what are some of the tricks of the trade? Are we really suckers for shiny things? And what does Gillian Anderson have to do with it? The answers to the above are yes, and everything, always. Join Claire and James this week as they talk tricks of the trade - live, in the same room, for the first time in twenty years. Can We Have Your Attention? is a podcast all about attention. Join hosts Claire Coady

Ad tech, the backbone of digital advertising, is a lucrative business. But why? Who is profiting from it? And at what cost? Claire and James are joined this week by Claire Atkin, Co-founder and CEO of the Check My Ads Institute. They discuss ad tech: what it is, how it works, why it makes money, for whom it makes money - and what the consequences are. More about Check My Ads: Check My Ads - Public Policy Platform: https://checkmyads.org/policy/ Real-Time Bidding explained: https://checkmyads.o

For the past 25 years, claims on packets of crisps have been subject to more regulation than claims in election campaigns. But that could finally be about to change. Amendments to the Representation of the People Bill promise to apply some of the UK’s strenuous - and effective - advertising standards to election advertising. We are joined by Alex Tait, ad industry veteran and founder of the non-partisan campaign organisation Reform Political Advertising, one of the groups advocating these change

We're told the news is an important part of a functioning society. But is our 24-hour, always-on news culture, with bad news to the fore, actually harming us and our institutions? In this episode, James Wickham and Claire Coady explore the nature of news, its impact on society, and how media practices influence public perception and trust. They discuss whether quality journalism has declined, the rise of social media, and whether regulation would foster a healthier media ecosystem. From the ep

Is AI like steroids for disinformation? Claire Coady and James Wickham are joined by Sam Stockwell from The Alan Turing Institute to discuss their research into AI-generated disinformation – from AI songs and fake rappers, to fabricated forensic "evidence" and chatbots that repeat whatever is popular on social media. They discuss why the real problem isn't just deepfakes but sheer volume, and what governments and AI firms can do about it. And do brands and advertisers, who fund the whole ecosyst