Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain tackle listeners' conundrums with the power of science!Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ listener questions explained with science • physics/space/quantum/relativity • chemistry/materials (ice, gold, diamonds, fungi) • biology/evolution/animal behaviour • brain, perception, memory, pain, sleep • health/microbes/allergies • probability, psychology, everyday phenomenaThis podcast takes questions from listeners and uses scientific thinking to unpack them, with hosts Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain (and, in some earlier instalments, Fry alongside Adam Rutherford). The tone is curious and problem-solving: everyday observations, pop-culture “what ifs,” and persistent myths become launching points for explanations grounded in research and expert interviews.
Across the episodes, the subject matter ranges widely through the natural sciences, medicine, psychology, and mathematics. Many discussions start with familiar experiences—seeing frost patterns, feeling pain, being bored, laughing, getting bitten by mosquitoes, dropping food on the floor, noticing aches with changing weather, or wondering about luck—and then widen into deeper mechanisms, from chemistry and microbiology to statistics and cognitive science. The show also returns often to the brain and behaviour, exploring how memory can be distorted or influenced, why people lie and how deception functions socially, how love and attachment map onto neurochemistry and evolution, and why unusual perceptual experiences (such as synaesthesia or limited mental imagery) differ between individuals.
A strong through-line is how physical laws and materials shape the world. Episodes look at resonance and vibration in structures and bodies, magnetism and fields, light and invisibility across different wavelengths, and the geometry behind natural patterns such as fractals. Space and fundamental physics recur too, including relativity, cosmology, and open questions about the universe, alongside applied topics like satellite timing or the challenges of teleportation-style ideas in quantum physics.
Biology and evolution also feature prominently, with attention to animal cognition and surprising capabilities (from reptiles and corvids to microscopic extremophiles), as well as large-scale themes like scaling limits on body size, repeated evolutionary “solutions,” viruses’ roles in ecosystems and health, and the prospects and ethics of extending life, cryopreservation, regeneration, and even de-extinction. Throughout, the hosts lean on specialist contributors, demonstrations, and real-world examples to connect abstract concepts to tangible consequences.
| Episodes: |
|
Frosty Fractals 2026-Jan-02 29 minutes |
|
Mining for Gold (GOLD!) 2025-Dec-31 27 minutes |
|
Phantom Pain 2025-Dec-19 28 minutes |
|
Tortoise Tomfoolery 2025-Dec-12 28 minutes |
|
Planetary Wobble 2025-Dec-05 28 minutes |
|
Immortal Jellies 2025-Nov-28 28 minutes |
|
Mysteries from the Final Frontier 2025-Nov-21 28 minutes |
|
Beam Me Up, Scotty! 2025-Nov-14 28 minutes |
|
Going Viral 2025-Nov-07 28 minutes |
|
We Didn't Start the Fire 2025-Oct-31 28 minutes |
|
Just My Luck 2025-Oct-24 28 minutes |
|
Good Vibrations? 2025-Oct-17 28 minutes |
|
To Crab, or Not to Crab? 2025-Oct-10 29 minutes |
|
Trailer 2025-Oct-01 2 minutes |
|
Clever Crows 2025-Jul-04 28 minutes |
|
Memory Swap 2025-Jun-27 30 minutes |
|
Clowns in Spacetime 2025-Jun-20 29 minutes |
|
Colossal Creatures 2025-Jun-13 28 minutes |
|
Nano Sharks 2025-Jun-06 29 minutes |
|
Chuckle, Snigger and LOL 2025-May-30 29 minutes |
|
Don't Bite Me! 2025-May-23 29 minutes |
|
Aches and Rains 2025-May-16 29 minutes |
|
Furnishing with Fungi 2025-May-09 28 minutes |
|
Love Neurons 2025-May-02 28 minutes |
|
Invisibility Quest 2025-Apr-25 29 minutes |
|
Liar, Liar 2025-Apr-18 28 minutes |
|
The Diamond Throwdown 2025-Apr-11 32 minutes |
|
Trailer 2025-Apr-03 1 minute |
|
The Fastest Fly 2025-Jan-04 29 minutes |
|
Bored to Death 2024-Dec-28 30 minutes |
|
Freeze Me When I Die 2024-Dec-21 28 minutes |
|
Night Walkers 2024-Dec-14 28 minutes |
|
A Lemon-Powered Spaceship 2024-Dec-07 29 minutes |
|
Be More Athlete 2024-Nov-30 29 minutes |
|
Invincible Moss Piglets 2024-Nov-23 28 minutes |
|
The Shock Factor 2024-Nov-16 28 minutes |
|
The Taste of Words 2024-Nov-09 29 minutes |
|
In the Groove 2024-Nov-02 30 minutes |
|
Mirror, Mirror 2024-Oct-26 30 minutes |
|
The 5 Second Rule 2024-Oct-19 28 minutes |
|
Space Bubbles 2024-Oct-12 28 minutes |
|
Trailer 2024-Oct-04 2 minutes |
The Impossible Number2023-Feb-14 41 minutes |
The Mind Numbing Medicine2023-Feb-07 43 minutes |
|
The Resurrection Quest 2023-Jan-31 38 minutes |
|
The Puzzle of the Pyramids 2023-Jan-24 36 minutes |
|
The Magnetic Mystery 2023-Jan-17 43 minutes |
|
The Case of the Blind Mind's Eye 2023-Jan-10 43 minutes |
The Puzzle of the Plasma Doughnut2022-Sep-20 39 minutes |
|
The Riddle of Red-Eyes and Runny-Noses 2022-Sep-13 36 minutes |
|
The Problem of Infinite Pi(e) 2022-Sep-06 35 minutes |
|
The Suspicious Smell 2022-Aug-30 38 minutes |
|
The Wild and Windy Tale 2022-Aug-23 38 minutes |
|
The Case of The Missing Gorilla 2022-Aug-16 37 minutes |
|
The Colour Conundrum 2022-Mar-24 35 minutes |
|
The Turn of the Tide 2022-Mar-17 34 minutes |
|
The Shocking White Hair 2022-Mar-10 34 minutes |
|
Surprising Symmetries 2022-Mar-03 33 minutes |
|
The Weird Waves of Wi-Fi 2022-Feb-24 34 minutes |
|
The Mystery of the Teenage Brain 2022-Feb-17 33 minutes |
|
The Venomous Vendetta 2021-Nov-11 42 minutes |
|
The Slippery Situation 2021-Nov-04 37 minutes |
|
The Painless Heart 2021-Oct-28 37 minutes |
|
The Weirdness of Water, Part 2 2021-Oct-21 40 minutes |
|
The Weirdness of Water, Part 1 2021-Oct-14 37 minutes |
|
The Guiding Hound 2021-Oct-07 39 minutes |
|
More Frytful Scares 2021-Feb-23 29 minutes |
|
Back to The Sinister Hand 2021-Feb-16 29 minutes |
|
A Weighty Matter, Part 2 2021-Feb-09 40 minutes |
|
A Weighty Matter, Part 1 2021-Feb-02 43 minutes |
|
The Flying Clock and the Stopped Watch 2021-Jan-26 50 minutes |
|
The Mosquito Conundrum 2021-Jan-19 45 minutes |
|
The Scientific Exploration of Astrology 2021-Jan-12 50 minutes |
|
The Noises That Make Us Cringe 2021-Jan-05 48 minutes |
|
The Pizza Diet 2020-Dec-29 42 minutes |
|
The Good and Bad in Fungi 2020-Dec-22 48 minutes |
|
The Martian Mission 2020-Dec-15 42 minutes |
The Hamster Power Hypothesis2020-Dec-08 38 minutes |
The Space Burrito2020-Jul-14 34 minutes |
|
The Zedonk Problem 2020-Jul-07 40 minutes |
|
The End of Everything 2020-Jun-30 44 minutes |
|
The Sting in the Tail 2020-Jun-23 42 minutes |
|
The Seeded Cloud 2020-Jun-16 33 minutes |
|
The Growling Stomach 2020-Jun-09 34 minutes |
|
The Exotic Wormhole 2020-Mar-06 37 minutes |
|
A Cold Case, Part 2 2020-Feb-28 34 minutes |
|
A Cold Case, Part 1 2020-Feb-21 34 minutes |
|
The ASMRnswer 2020-Feb-14 38 minutes |
|
Adam's ASMR Cocktail 2020-Feb-14 5 minutes |
|
Hannah's ASMR Cocktail 2020-Feb-14 4 minutes |
|
The Power of Love 2020-Feb-07 34 minutes |
|
The Golden Secret 2020-Jan-31 28 minutes |
|
The End of the World 2019-Dec-09 42 minutes |
|
The Trouble Sum Weather 2019-Nov-22 35 minutes |
|
The Heart of the Antimatter 2019-Nov-15 31 minutes |
|
Stephen Fry's Identity Crisis 2019-Nov-08 36 minutes |
|
A Frytful Scare, Part 2 2019-Nov-01 32 minutes |
|
A Frytful Scare, Part 1 2019-Oct-25 31 minutes |
|
Jurassic Squawk 2019-May-03 37 minutes |
|
The Lunar Land, Part 2 2019-Apr-26 29 minutes |
|
The Lunar Land, Part 1 2019-Apr-19 30 minutes |
|
An Instrumental Case 2019-Apr-12 39 minutes |
|
The Periodic Problem 2019-Apr-05 28 minutes |
|
The Mesmerist 2019-Mar-29 35 minutes |
|
The Horrible Hangover 2018-Dec-21 31 minutes |
|
The Good Bad Food 2018-Dec-14 26 minutes |
Two Infinities and Beyond, Part 22018-Dec-07 31 minutes |
|
Two Infinities and Beyond, Part 1 2018-Nov-30 32 minutes |
|
The Stressful Scone 2018-Nov-23 33 minutes |
|
The Viking Code 2018-Nov-16 26 minutes |
|
A World of Pain 2018-Sep-07 33 minutes |
|
The Random Request 2018-Aug-31 26 minutes |
|
The Running Joke 2018-Aug-24 38 minutes |
|
The Alien Enterprise, Part 2 2018-Aug-17 24 minutes |
|
The Alien Enterprise, Part 1 2018-Aug-10 25 minutes |
|
The Dawn Chorus 2018-Jun-01 27 minutes |
|
The Lucky Number 2018-May-25 25 minutes |
|
The Déjà Vu 2018-May-18 25 minutes |
|
The Human Instrument 2018-May-11 27 minutes |
|
The Fifth Dimension 2018-May-04 27 minutes |
|
The Cosmic Egg 2018-Mar-02 30 minutes |
|
The Atomic Blade 2018-Feb-28 23 minutes |
|
The Tiniest Dinosaur 2018-Feb-23 29 minutes |
|
The Enigma of Sex, Part 2 2018-Feb-16 22 minutes |
|
The Enigma of Sex, Part 1 2018-Feb-09 24 minutes |
|
Goldfinger's Moon Laser 2018-Jan-12 24 minutes |
|
The Curious Face Off 2018-Jan-05 25 minutes |
|
The Cosmic Speed Limit 2017-Dec-29 22 minutes |
|
The Dreadful Vegetable 2017-Dec-22 30 minutes |
|
The Baffled Bat 2017-Dec-15 25 minutes |
|
Adventures in Dreamland 2017-Sep-29 24 minutes |
|
The Shocking Surprise 2017-Sep-22 28 minutes |
|
The Sticky Song 2017-Sep-15 24 minutes |
|
The Polar Opposite 2017-Sep-08 19 minutes |
|
The Curious Cake-Off 2017-Sep-01 19 minutes |
|
Kate Bush's Sonic Weapon 2017-Jun-16 21 minutes |
|
Itchy and Scratchy 2017-Jun-15 21 minutes |
|
The Burning Question 2017-Jun-14 18 minutes |
|
The Dark Star 2017-Jun-02 23 minutes |
|
The Cat Who Came Back 2017-May-19 19 minutes |
|
A Code in Blood 2017-Mar-15 11 minutes |
|
The Forgetful Child 2017-Mar-10 16 minutes |
|
The Astronomical Balloon 2017-Mar-10 15 minutes |
|
The World That Turns 2017-Mar-10 15 minutes |
|
The Broken Stool 2017-Mar-10 17 minutes |
|
The Lost Producer 2016-Dec-02 18 minutes |
|
The Bad Moon Rising 2016-Dec-02 14 minutes |
|
The Hunt for Nothing, Part 2 2016-Dec-02 13 minutes |
|
The Hunt for Nothing, Part 1 2016-Dec-02 14 minutes |
|
The Melodic Mystery 2016-Dec-02 15 minutes |
|
The Strongest Substance 2016-Oct-07 15 minutes |
|
The Space Pirate 2016-Oct-05 15 minutes |
|
The Portly Problem 2016-Oct-05 14 minutes |
|
The Sinister Hand Part 2 2016-Oct-04 14 minutes |
|
The Sinister Hand, Part 1 2016-Oct-03 14 minutes |
|
The Counting Horse 2016-Jun-02 15 minutes |
|
The Hairy Hominid 2016-May-30 16 minutes |
|
A Study in Spheres 2016-May-26 16 minutes |
|
The Psychic Tear 2016-May-26 15 minutes |
|
The Tea Leaf Mystery 2016-May-26 18 minutes |
|
The Stellar Dustbin 2016-Feb-18 13 minutes |
|
The Squeamish Swoon 2016-Feb-11 13 minutes |
|
The Aural Voyeur 2016-Feb-11 12 minutes |
|
The Phantom Jam 2016-Feb-11 13 minutes |
|
The Scarlet Mark 2016-Feb-11 13 minutes |