Realistic Robots, Tiny Drones, Smart Hiring

What this episode covers

Best of the season to you! Cathi and I are back with some fun for the holidays. This time on the podcast, Cathi Bond talks about Affetto, this startlingly realistic android robot. Cathi wonders about having something like this, or Rock Hudson, say, as a home companion. Personally, I (Nora) find it kinda creepy. What do you think? We take a quick look at the city of Helsinki's decision to go for a hiring system that removes all personally identifying info (eg sex, age, mother tongue) in an effort to get beyond bias in hiring. It seems to have worked for orchestras; could it work for city governments? Cathi is also pretty obsessed with drones these days, like the tiny dji Mavic Pro (see the review at New Atlas) Would you like a drone of your own? How should they be regulated in light of the recent events at Gatwick airport? And as always this time of year, the greatest Christmas movie ever, The Thin Man!

PodParley-generated summary based on available episode metadata and transcript content.