Modem Futura

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard take to the skies—literally exploring the promise and pitfalls of eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft). From personal…

Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard welcome ASU’s Punya Mishra back to unpack what “agentic AI” could—and shouldn’t—mean in education. After a nostalgic cold open on AOL’s September 30, 2025 dial‑up shutdo…

Summer-mode serendipity turns into a sharp tour of today’s tech hype and what actually matters. Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard open with the rapid-fire AI news cycle—GPT-5 rumors, Claude 4.1, and Open…

In this wide‑ranging summer episode, Sean and Andrew begin with the strange calm of an almost‑empty university campus and ponder how AI‑assisted “digital twins” could let us re‑imagine academic space…

What happens when living organisms become components of our machines—and our machines become partly alive? In fact – how do we tell when or if something is ALIVE? In this episode, hosts Sean Leahy an…

In this episode, Sean  and Andrew dissect the newly released U.S. 2025 AI Action Plan, exploring its three pillars—accelerating innovation, building U.S. AI infrastructure, and leading global AI dipl…

In this “summer session” of Modem Futura, Sean is joined by the newly minted Dr. Rachna Mathur—artist, engineer, dancer, and Senior STEM Strategist at ASU Preparatory Academy—for a candid, big‑pictur…

Episode 40 of Modem Futura is a true summer grab‑bag. Sean and Andrew kick things off a conversation that ricochets from popcorn flicks to philosophical deep dives. First up is a spoiler‑free reactio…

In this laid‑back summer installment, Sean and Andrew sweat it out in the studio to deliver a free‑flowing “potpourri” of future‑focused topics. They compare practical effects vs. CGI through the len…

In this laid-back “summer reading list” edition of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew swap stacks and playlists to prove that great ideas don’t always hide in weighty nonfiction tomes. After comparing the…

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard cover the World Economic Forum’s newly-released “Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025” report, unpacking what makes each breakthrough ma…

Fresh off a 10-day immersion at Osaka’s 2025 World Expo, returning guest Dr. Jamey Wetmore joins Sean and Andrew to unpack the spectacle, surprises, and sociotechnical undercurrents he witnessed alon…

Hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard kick off this episode with a behind-the-scenes reveal: they’re now capturing each conversation in Apple’s easy-to-edit spatial video—and debating what immersive po…

What does it really take to engineer life—and should we? In this wide-ranging conversation, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with ASU colleague Dr. Emma Frow to unpack the promise and perils of…

In this lively round-table, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with renowned educational-technology scholar Dr. Punya Mishra to untangle the hype and hope around AI in education. Together t…

Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard reunite after Sean’s trip to Lisbon’s Future Days conference to riff on everything from testing an Apple Vision Pro on an 11‑hour flight to the Iberian‑Peninsula blackou…

In this episode of Modem Futura, Sean L and Andrew M examine Apple TV+’s hit series Severance, using its mind-bending premise of surgically split consciousness to explore real-world questions around …

In this “student-takeover” episode, hosts Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard sit down with Arizona State University sophomores Caleb Lieberman and Bella Faria to explore what it’s really like to be “AI-na…

In this deep dive of Modem Futura, Sean Leahy and Andrew Maynard tackle the sensational claims surrounding the "de-extinction" of the dire wolf by Colossal Biosciences. Using the hype-heavy headlines…

In this lively, idea‑packed episode of Modem Futura, Sean and Andrew sit down with Taryn O’Neill—filmmaker, futurist, and impact storyteller—whose work bridges entertainment, emerging technology, and…