Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Broad science explainers and public lectures • Space missions, astronomy, particle/quantum physics • AI, algorithms, data, statistics, uncertainty • Health and medicine: neuroscience, mental health, genetics, disease, bioinformatics • Climate change, sustainability, materials, energy • Evolution, gender, society, microbiomes, engineering innovations
This podcast is a wide-ranging science series from the Royal Institution that alternates between original interview-led episodes and recordings connected to public lectures and events. Across the catalogue, the focus is on explaining contemporary research and foundational ideas in an accessible way, often by pairing practising scientists, engineers, clinicians, and science writers with practical examples and broader context.
A major thread is how quantitative tools shape modern life. Listeners hear about mathematics and statistics in everyday decision-making, uncertainty and risk, and the promises and limitations of algorithms. Artificial intelligence and data-driven science recur frequently, including how machine learning is changing biology and medicine, what big data means for neuroscience, and how computational approaches influence engineering and energy systems.
Health and the life sciences are another core theme, spanning mechanisms of disease, diagnosis, and emerging treatments. Topics include inherited and infectious conditions, antimicrobial resistance, mental health and the brain–body connection, the effects of exercise on cognition, and how environmental stressors such as heat and climate change can influence neurological outcomes. There is also attention to research gaps and lived experience, such as underrepresentation in medical research and patient perspectives alongside laboratory science.
The physical sciences and space feature prominently, from particle physics and cosmology to gravitational-wave detection and planetary missions. Episodes explore how we learn about distant worlds, how major experiments work, and what current missions aim to reveal about the Solar System.
The podcast also regularly zooms out to examine science as a human enterprise: the history of scientific ideas, efforts to broaden whose contributions are recognised, and conversations about communication and public engagement. Everyday science appears too—food, materials, and technology—linking familiar objects to chemistry, biology, and sustainability debates.
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Episodes:
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The role of inflammation in Alzheimer's Disease - with Tomi Akingbade
2026-Jan-28
33 minutes
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From the Lab: How mathematics is powering medical innovation – with Becky Shipley
2026-Jan-16
33 minutes
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Best of 2025: Science wrapped
2025-Dec-31
45 minutes
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From the Space Park: What will BepiColombo teach us about Mercury? - with Suzie Imber
2025-Dec-10
42 minutes
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Tripping the light fantastic: Space science and 200 years of the CHRISTMAS LECTURES - with Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock
2025-Nov-26
45 minutes
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From the Excel: Upcoming science in 2026 from New Scientist Live
2025-Nov-12
22 minutes
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How mechanical engineering is changing the world - with Shini Somara
2025-Oct-29
38 minutes
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From the Theatre: Should computers run the world? - with Hannah Fry
2025-Oct-08
36 minutes
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The science behind sickle cell disease - with Sara El Hoss and Stephanie George
2025-Sep-23
41 minutes
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From the Theatre: The science of mental health - with Camilla Nord
2025-Sep-09
44 minutes
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Is data failing us? - with Grace Huckins
2025-Aug-26
42 minutes
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What can dogs teach us about the microbiome? - with Bushra Schuitemaker
2025-Jul-29
40 minutes
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The science behind ACL injuries in women's football - with Blake Rivers and Grace Vella
2025-Jun-24
41 minutes
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De-westernizing the history of science - with Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh
2025-Jun-04
29 minutes
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Understanding antimicrobial resistance - with Gabriel Astorga
2025-Apr-30
33 minutes
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How climate change affects the brain - with Clayton Aldern and Sanjay Sisodiya
2025-Mar-26
35 minutes
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Statistical uncertainty in the modern world - with David Spiegelhalter
2025-Feb-26
38 minutes
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Scientists on Scientists: Being the Christmas Lecturer - with Chris van Tulleken and Monica Grady
2025-Jan-29
44 minutes
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Best of 2024: Science wrapped
2024-Dec-18
29 minutes
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Quantum physics and gender equity - with Jess Wade
2024-Nov-27
52 minutes
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Sustainable materials: Trick or treat? - with Mike Shaver
2024-Oct-30
35 minutes
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The search for Earth 2.0 - with Elizabeth Tasker
2024-Sep-26
48 minutes
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The brain on exercise - with Dr Flaminia Ronca
2024-Aug-28
46 minutes
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How women drove evolution - with Cat Bohannon
2024-Jul-31
44 minutes
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The science of cheese - with Bronwen Percival
2024-Jun-26
28 minutes
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Eggs, Evolution, and life on Earth - with Jules Howard
2024-May-29
34 minutes
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The neuroscience of memory - with Charan Ranganath
2024-Apr-24
35 minutes
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Ri on AI: The healthcare revolution – with Dr James Kinross
2024-Mar-27
41 minutes
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Geometry in Everyday Life - with the London Institute of Mathematical Sciences (LIMS)
2024-Feb-28
35 minutes
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Ri on AI: Understanding AlphaFold with Dame Janet Thornton
2023-Dec-13
43 minutes
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Tales from my PhD: Algorithms for energy efficiency – with Karan Mukhi
2023-Aug-24
16 minutes
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Tales from my PhD: Fighting rice blast fungus – with Camilla Molinari
2023-Aug-20
11 minutes
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Tales from my PhD: Researching anxiety and depression through computational models – with Sophie Shang
2023-Aug-10
11 minutes
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Tales from my PhD: Saving manta rays – with Jessica Savage
2023-Aug-02
13 minutes
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How to hear gravitational waves – with Tessa Baker
2023-Jul-31
48 minutes
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Tales from my PhD: What is galaxy evolution? – with Rohan Varadaraj
2023-Jul-26
16 minutes
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How did patriarchy develop across the world? – with Angela Saini and Julia Gillard
2023-Jun-13
80 minutes
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Can science explain emotions? – with Dean Burnett
2023-Apr-30
73 minutes
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Tackling climate change with innovation – with Alyssa Gilbert and Katherine Mathieson
2023-Apr-22
26 minutes
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Existential physics: Exploring life's big questions – with Sabine Hossenfelder
2023-Mar-31
36 minutes
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Bad statistics: How not to be misled – with Jennifer Rogers
2023-Feb-28
34 minutes
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How Peter Higgs proposed the Higgs boson – with Frank Close
2023-Jan-31
62 minutes
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How to handle heart disease – with Samer Nashef
2022-Dec-23
50 minutes
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CHRISTMAS LECTURES special: Inside forensic science – with Dame Sue Black & Katherine Mathieson
2022-Dec-16
28 minutes
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How does proton beam therapy treat cancer? – with Simon Jolly
2022-Nov-21
68 minutes
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How did females evolve? – with Lucy Cooke
2022-Jul-05
78 minutes
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Is the multiverse possible? – with Sean M Carroll
2022-May-31
84 minutes
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How we got to the climate crisis – with Alice Bell
2022-Apr-30
86 minutes
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How to design a rollercoaster – with Brendan Walker
2022-Mar-28
69 minutes
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What is love? – with Laura Mucha & Kate Devlin
2022-Feb-07
57 minutes
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How to make a universe – with Harry Cliff
2022-Jan-06
79 minutes
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Solving crimes with forensic anthropology – with Sue Black
2021-Dec-06
76 minutes
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Handprints on Hubble – with Kathryn D Sullivan
2021-Nov-01
67 minutes
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How advertising works – with Rory Sutherland
2021-Oct-04
96 minutes
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Medical cannabis – with Mike Barnes, Hannah Deacon, Peter Carroll and Susie Mesure
2021-Sep-06
82 minutes
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Einstein on the run – with Andrew Robinson
2021-Aug-02
82 minutes
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Conspiracy theories – with Miriam Frankel, Türkay Salim Nefes, Aleksandra Cichocka and Harry T Dyer
2021-Jul-05
83 minutes
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Can we trust maths? – with Kit Yates
2021-Jun-07
54 minutes
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Life in a mars simulation – with Kate Greene
2021-May-03
77 minutes
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The art of rest – with Claudia Hammond
2021-Apr-06
82 minutes
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Recipe for a Skyscraper – with Roma Agrawal
2020-Mar-30
75 minutes
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Endometriosis: Myths, Symptoms and Future Treatments - with PhD researcher Magda Mareckova, Dr Krina Zondervan and Dr Christian Becker
2020-Mar-04
44 minutes
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A Generalist AI - with Expert Panel
2020-Feb-24
80 minutes
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The Evolution of Truth - with Richard Byrne, Evan Davis and comedian Rachel Wheeley
2020-Jan-27
86 minutes
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Make, Think, Imagine: Engineering a Brighter Future - with Lord Browne and Vivienne Parry
2019-Dec-30
88 minutes
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The Gene Machine - with Venki Ramakrishnan
2019-Nov-25
85 minutes
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The Science of Stress – with Joe Herbert, Julie Turner Cobb, and Shane O’Mara
2019-Oct-28
83 minutes
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How Does Science Actually Work? – with Jeremy Baumberg
2019-Sep-30
80 minutes
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Whats Next? Predictions About Our Future - with Expert Panel
2019-Aug-26
83 minutes
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The Story of Life – with Matthew Cobb and Nick Lane
2019-Jul-29
91 minutes
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Moon, Mars and Beyond - with Astronaut Al Worden and Experts Chris Welch and Stuart Eves
2019-Jun-24
76 minutes
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The Science of Success (and Failure) – with Matthew Syed
2019-May-27
81 minutes
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Monsters, Science and Society - with Expert Panel
2019-Apr-29
78 minutes
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Anatomy of a Conversation - with Elizabeth Stokoe
2019-Mar-25
69 minutes
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The Order Of Time - with Carlo Rovelli
2019-Feb-26
83 minutes
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Homo Deus: a Brief History of Tomorrow - with Yuval Noah Harari
2019-Jan-28
75 minutes
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Half Life: The disappearance of Bruno Pontecorvo – with Frank Close
2018-Dec-24
76 minutes
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The Science Behind Breaking Bad - with Chemist Dave Smith, Psychologist Julian Boon and Screenwriter Paul Viragh
2018-Nov-26
87 minutes
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Quantum Biology - with Nigel Scrutton, Alexandra Olaya-Castro and Jenny Brookes
2018-Oct-29
80 minutes
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Sense of Style: How to Communicate Effectively - with Experimental Psychologist Steven Pinker
2018-Sep-25
84 minutes
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Future Pharma - With Expert Panel
2018-Aug-27
88 minutes
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Interview with a Spaceman – with Astronaut Mike Massimino
2018-Jul-30
81 minutes
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Unruly Memory – with Memory Experts: Vin Walsh, Julia Shaw and Jennifer Wild
2018-Jun-25
85 minutes
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Using Tech to Track Endangered Wildlife – with Kate Jones
2018-May-28
45 minutes
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Technologies That Will Improve and/or Ruin Everything – With Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
2018-Apr-30
88 minutes
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How To Leave The Planet – Dallas Campbell and Kevin Fong
2018-Apr-02
73 minutes
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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and its Legacy – with Experts Phillip Ball, Miranda Seymour, Frank James and Angela Wright
2018-Feb-26
87 minutes
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A Whirlwind Tour of Science - with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
2018-Jan-31
82 minutes
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What Our Brains Want - with Ray Dolan, Wolfram Schultz and Peter Dayan
2017-Dec-22
75 minutes
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Autism: A personal journey – with Dame Stephanie Shirley
2017-Nov-27
70 minutes
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New Genes from Scratch - Aoife McLysaght
2017-Oct-30
85 minutes
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Science at the Extremes - with Greg Foot, Dan Martin and Leigh Marsh
2017-Aug-07
58 minutes
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Epigenetics and Parental Origin Effects - with Anne Ferguson-Smith
2017-Jul-03
57 minutes
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Revolutionary Science and the French Revolution
2017-Jun-05
48 minutes
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The Psychology of Thinking - Richard Nisbett
2017-May-02
56 minutes
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Neuroimaging, Neurononsense and Gender Stereotypes - with Gina Rippon
2017-Apr-03
57 minutes
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The Neuroscience of Addiction - with Marc Lewis
2017-Feb-28
62 minutes
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Catching Gravitational Waves - with Sheila Rowan
2017-Feb-13
53 minutes
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The Neuroscience of Consciousness –With Professor Anil Seth
2017-Jan-26
55 minutes
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Colour and Cancer; Scorpions and Surgery - with Dr Henry Marsh and Dr Jim Olson
2017-Jan-09
57 minutes
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The Science of Sleep - with Russell Foster, Debra Skene and Stafford Lightman
2016-Dec-12
60 minutes
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What Science Tells us About Race and Racism - with Expert Panel
2016-Nov-28
58 minutes
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The Serengeti Rules of Life - with Sean B Carroll
2016-Nov-14
63 minutes
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My Life in Science - with Richard Dawkins
2016-Oct-31
48 minutes
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The Perfect Bet - with Mathematician Adam Kucharski
2016-Oct-17
55 minutes
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Mars Exploration: Curiosity and Beyond with Anita Sengupta
2016-Oct-03
52 minutes
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The Aliens are Coming! - with Ben Miller and Jim Al-Khalili
2016-Sep-19
50 minutes
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