#17 Caroline Ashcroft: The Catastrophic Imagination

An episode of the AI and Technology Ethics Podcast podcast, hosted by Roberto Carlos, titled "#17 Caroline Ashcroft: The Catastrophic Imagination" was published on July 24, 2025 and runs 59 minutes.

July 24, 2025 ·59m · AI and Technology Ethics Podcast

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Summary

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Caroline Ashcroft, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford and author of Catastrophic Technology in Cold War Political Thought. Drawing on figures like Arendt, Jonas, Ellul, and Marcuse, Ashcroft explores a powerful yet underexamined idea: that modern technology is not just risky or disruptive—but fundamentally catastrophic. We discuss how mid-century political theorists viewed technology as reshaping the environment, the self, and the world in ways that eroded human dignity, democratic life, and any sense of limits. For more info, visit ethicscircle.org [https://www.ethicscircle.org/].

Episode Description

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Caroline Ashcroft, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford and author of Catastrophic Technology in Cold War Political Thought. Drawing on figures like Arendt, Jonas, Ellul, and Marcuse, Ashcroft explores a powerful yet underexamined idea: that modern technology is not just risky or disruptive—but fundamentally catastrophic. We discuss how mid-century political theorists viewed technology as reshaping the environment, the self, and the world in ways that eroded human dignity, democratic life, and any sense of limits.

For more info, visit ethicscircle.org.

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