Under The Spell

In this episode of Under the Spell, Michael Avery sits down with Professor Andrew Forbes, a distinguished physicist and a central figure in South Africa’s quantum strategy, to go beneath the headlines and the hype surrounding the most successful yet deeply confusing theory in science.
While the world is currently swept up in the fervour of artificial intelligence, we explore the emerging frontier of quantum computing, a technology touted as the next great leap, but one that remains shrouded in a "market storytelling" that blurs the line between genuine innovation and mythology.
In this episode, we explore:
The Narrative Shift: Why quantum computing is being framed as the "next frontier" just as cracks begin to appear in the current AI narrative.
The Nucleus of Measurement: A look at the "mind-bending" reality where objects like a table don't truly exist until they are interacted with through measurement.
Security at Risk: The genuine concern that quantum computers could eventually break current encryption and upend global financial systems.
The Noise Hurdle: A clear breakdown of why having "thousands of qubits" is meaningless if they aren't "useful qubits" free from environmental noise.
A Strategy of Agnostic Software: Why developing nations like South Africa are choosing to build quantum software rather than the hardware itself to stay competitive in a high-stakes global race.
Join us as we go UNDER THE SPELL of the quantum age to see if we can separate the scientific reality from the religion of the hype cycle.

In this episode of Under the Spell, Michael Avery sits down with Professor Johannes Slabber, a titan of nuclear engineering, to deconstruct the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over nuclear power since the atomic age began. While the world searches for a carbon-free future, we explore why our collective memory remains trapped in the shadow of Hiroshima and the persistent myth that atomic energy is inseparable from total catastrophe.
In this episode, we explore:
The Nucleus of Uncertainty: Why even the world's leading physicists still speculate on what truly happens inside the heart of an atom.
Reactor vs Bomb: A clear engineering breakdown of how the physics of power generation differs from the physics of an explosion.
The Legacy of Fear: How the trauma of Chernobyl and Fukushima created a lasting psychological barrier that facts alone cannot break.
Inherently Safe Design: The transition to Generation 4 reactors that rely on the laws of nature rather than human operators for safety.
The Thorium Alternative: Exploring the potential of thorium breeding and why it was historically sidelined in favour of uranium.
Join us as we go UNDER THE SPELL of the atomic age to see if we can finally separate our fears from our future.

In this week's edition of Under the Spell, Michael Avery sits down with David Buckham to dissect the "nerve" they have hit in the global cultural psyche. As the S&P reaches all time highs and markets remain in thrall to artificial intelligence, we look beneath the surface of the "SaaS Pocalypse" to ask if we are merely repeating the stock market madness of the past.
In this episode, we explore:
The SaaS Pocalypse: Why IBM’s recent tumble after the latest AI breakthroughs might be the first tremor in a much larger collapse.
Cynical Endeavours: A look at why the current obsession with Bitcoin and crypto may be a deeply cynical waste of human energy.
The 1929 Mirror: Comparing our current mass market "frothiness" to the eve of the Great Depression and the 1929 stock market crash.
The Death of Critical Thinking: Understanding the tragic plateauing of human IQ in the age of the short form algorithm and the digital echo chamber.
Erosion of Trust: Why the current news stories of the wealthy and failing institutions are causing a fundamental shift in how we value truth and narrative.
This series isn't about the daily news cycle. It is a deep dive into the hidden spells of modern finance and the unbearable lightness of our current digital existence.
Join us as we go UNDER THE SPELL.

The Green Revolution: A double-edged sword
In the third episode of Under the Spell season 2, host Michael Avery and Doctor Tinashe Kapuya peel back the scientific veneer of the Green Revolution to reveal the winners and losers in Africa's food systems.
For decades, the story of modern agriculture has been told as a triumph of science over hunger. We are promised that improved seeds, synthetic fertilisers and global integration are the only path to abundance. But as we look at the reality on the ground, we must ask if this progress is designed for the resilience of the farmer or for the profit of the provider.
In this episode, we explore:
The Myth of Neutral Abundance: Why the promise of higher yields often comes with a hidden cost of dependency and debt for the small scale farmer.
Scale vs Virtue: How the drive for industrial efficiency often ignores the local knowledge and social stability provided by traditional farming systems.
The Shadow of Science: Examining why a model that worked for Asia in the 1960s has produced such uneven and contested outcomes across the African continent.
Who Feeds Africa: A critical look at the tension between big commercial agriculture and the smallholder resilience that actually underpins local food sovereignty.
The Ownership of Systems: Understanding how the tools of "progress" can become instruments of control in the hands of global input providers.
This isn’t a podcast about crop yields. It is a deep dive into the political and human structures that dictate who gets to eat and who holds the power over our most basic necessity.
Join us every week as we go UNDER THE SPELL.

In the second episode of Under the Spell season 2, host Michael Avery and Professor Manoel Bittencourt peel back the layers of global finance to examine the true legacy of the World Bank.
For decades, the World Bank has presented itself as a moral guardian of progress and a champion of poverty reduction. However, as the global South continues to grapple with the weight of "conditional" finance, we must ask if these institutions were designed to foster independence or to secure a specific brand of Western technocracy.
In this episode, we explore:
The Birth of Conditionality: How the 1950s shift from short term stability to long term development changed the relationship between lender and borrower forever.
Technocracy vs Reality: The uncomfortable gap between policies designed in comfortable Washington DC offices and the abject poverty found in remote areas like the Karoo.
The Language of Modernisation: Why the narrative of "growth" often masks a far more complex system of population management and financial control.
The Ghost of the Cold War: Understanding the historical roots of the World Bank as a tool for geopolitical alignment rather than purely economic aid.
Who Really Holds the Power: A look at whether development loans shape thriving economies or simply entrench the dominance of the creditors.
This isn’t a podcast about balance sheets. It is a deep dive into the stories that dictate how the world is governed and who is left behind.
Join us every week as we go UNDER THE SPELL.

Is AGI the new Frontier, or the ultimate grand narrative?
In the premiere episode of Under the Spell season 2, host Michael Avery and author David Buckham dive beneath the surface of the AI frenzy to ask the questions the tech world is too breathless to answer.
At the start of 2026, the global economy is effectively a giant bet on Artificial General Intelligence. But as we race toward a world of "emergent minds" and "machine rights," are we witnessing a genuine scientific breakthrough or a recurring civilizational habit of choosing power over principle?
In this episode, we explore:
The Myth of Emergence: Is consciousness truly a byproduct of "scaling" neurons, or is this a convenient assumption used to justify a $300 billion gamble?
The 1929 Parallel: Why the current intermingling of government and big business feels hauntingly similar to the eve of the Great Depression.
The Geopolitical Stakes: How the hunt for AGI is driving radical manoeuvres, from the "Greenland play" for rare earth minerals to the existential arms race with China.
The "Spell" of Narratives: Understanding how a few billionaires and "high priests of AI" are shaping a reality that may be heading for a massive bailout.
This isn’t a tech podcast about model updates; it’s a series for those who still value the uncomfortable discipline of thinking.
Join us every week as we go UNDER THE SPELL.

There are many who would argue that humanity is at the apex of it’s progression. However, when you dig deeper into those narratives, as David Buckham did while writing The Spell, you start to realise there are several flaws to that logic. Find out more at thespell.co.za

Professor Gumede shares his thoughts on South Africa’s need to innovate – and how reading books like The Spell can help us to think more innovatively. Visit thespell.co.za for more

The problem with apocalyptic thinking. David Buckham, co-author of The Spell, unpacks the cognitive dissonance of so many common day narratives, from climate change to AI. To learn more visit thespell.co.za.

'The Spell' publisher, Tim Richman, shares his thoughts on a fascinating question: "is the story more powerful than the facts?" He offers a publisher's perspective on the core themes of 'The Spell', the journey of what goes into making a book like this, and the delicate line between history and the truth. To learn more visit thespell.co.za.