In an age of polarisation and misinformation, ARC Laureate Professor Terry Flew of the University of Sydney explores what can be done to rebuild the public’s trust in our most vital institutions.

Time for Trust podcast is on Acast

Governments, the economy and civil society depend on the public’s trust to work effectively – but this trust is declining in an age of polarisation and misinformation. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that this “malady of mistrust” is as damaging as COVID or climate change.

We don’t talk much about trust – but we certainly notice when it breaks down, in corporate scandals or political coups. But in a time when many are losing faith in our most vital institutions, how can the bonds of trust be rebuilt?

In Time for Trust, Terry Flew will explore these themes with leading experts on trust, from academics and journalists to community leaders, both from Australia and around the world.

Professor Flew holds a prestigious Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council. He’s particularly interested in “mediated trust” – that is, forms of trust and mistrust as they are expressed in and through the digital media technologies we use to make sense of the world.

From trust in news to trust in digital platforms, from trust in corporations and governments to trust in AI, “Time for Trust”  will ask – who, and what, do we trust, have we lost that trust, and can we get it back? And are technologies bringing us together or driving us apart?

Join us for a fascinating journey through one of the most important issues facing people and societies everywhere. Because Billy Joel was right – it is a matter of trust.

Time for Trust is brought to you by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, and the Australian Research Council. It’s produced by Dominic Knight, and recorded on unceded Gadigal Land.