Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC’s technology correspondent, weaves the story of the smartphone era with his own personal experience of the good and bad ways technology has touched and affected us all.

We live at a time when billions have access to unbelievably powerful technology. The most extraordinary tool that has been invented in the last century, the smartphone, is forcing radical changes in the way we live and work – and unlike previous technologies it is in the hands of just about everyone. Coupled with the rise of social media, this has ushered in a new era of deeply personal technology, where individuals now have the ability to work, create and communicate on their own terms, rather than wait for permission from giant corporations or governments. At least that is the optimistic view.

Cellan-Jones takes a characteristically entertaining ride through this turbulent era and examines the dramatic impact of hyperconnectivity, the smartphone and social media on everything from our democracy to our employment and our health. He also discusses his personal experience with technology and medicine, considering how COVID-19 made us look again to computing in our battle to confront the greatest challenge of modern times.

In conversation with Andrew Kelly.