The Howie Severino Podcast

AI Uncovered — From Newsroom to Classroom and Beyond

AI expert Jaemark Tordecilla returns to GMA Network for a wide-ranging conversation with Howie Severino on the technology reshaping journalism, education, and everyday life. They are joined by several dozen high school and college students in the podcast’s first-ever recording with a live audience. Jaemark is the former head of digital operations for GMA News, who led the creation of The Howie Severino Podcast at the start of the pandemic. He later took a year-long study break at Harvard, where he examined AI applications in journalism as well as the technology’s potential risks and unintended consequences. One student in the audience raises the idea of an AI-driven “creative renaissance,” sparking a lively exchange on the enduring value of human intelligence in an increasingly automated world. Tune in for that and much more. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

DUTERTE — ROAD TO THE HAGUE — Rodrigo Duterte’s Early Years

With former President Duterte set to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, we look back at his formative years, long before he rose to power.  “He wished his father saw him become a lawyer.”  Journalist and biographer Earl Parreño tells Howie Severino that Duterte idolized his father, Vicente, a former Cabinet secretary and governor of Davao, and deeply loved his mother.  In his self-published biography, “Beyond Will and Power,” Parreño traces Duterte’s early exposure to violence, drawing on accounts from close friends and relatives, as well as the former president’s own statements. He details some pivotal moments, including a shooting incident while he was a law student at San Beda. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Stone by stone — Saving the heritage houses of Batanes

For this special episode of Howie Severino Presents, the team travels to the northernmost province of the archipelago to look for the last traditional stone houses, a distinctive feature of Batanes that is rapidly disappearing.     Some of these houses have been standing for more than a hundred years, a symbol of Batanes’ rugged ingenuity. But recent restrictions on harvesting local wood and other native materials have hampered their repair. Home owners are shifting to cement and more common shelter designs, erasing a unique cultural treasure.    Racing against time, a collaborative effort by university-based engineers and architects, the DOST, and indigenous builders has created a prototype of a reinforced traditional house.    Is this the solution to a vanishing heritage? Severino and his team journey to a sea-swept corner of Batanes to find out.  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

ONLINE INVASION: How are foreign powers influencing public opinion in the Philippines? | Part 3

Has your feed been invaded — by China, America, or any other foreign power? How can you tell? Open-source intelligence analyst Giano Libot explains how foreigners shape and influence public opinion in the Philippines. He discusses how a recent statement by AFP Chief Romeo Brawner was taken out of context and went viral, showing how narratives can be twisted and amplified online. This is the third and final episode in Howie Severino’s special series on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). Libot and Severino unpack how local influencers and bot networks can spread propaganda that originates from foreign state media. Together, they explore how this kind of online meddling undermines trust, distorts public debate, and threatens our democracy. Don’t miss the full conversation—and stay tuned for a special upcoming episode on heritage conservation! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

ONLINE INVASION: How China is swaying global public opinion — an analyst explains | Part 2

In China's influence operations in the world, the Philippines ranked 7th in 2022, according to the study the China Index. In 2024, the Philippines went down the ranking to number 29. Analyst Janina Santos from Doublethink Lab, a think tank that studies Foreign Information Manipulation Interference or FIMI, unpacks China's online influence in the world and how this has pervaded our everyday lives affecting media, the academe, and domestic politics.   What does China's influence operations threaten? She explains to Howie Severino in this second installment to a special 3-part series on foreign actors and disinformation. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.