Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Leading scholars in History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (HPS) introduce contemporary topics for a general audience. Developed by graduate students from the HPS program at the University of Melbourne.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ history/philosophy/social studies of science • knowledge production, trust, expertise, objectivity • values, social responsibility, public controversies • experimentation, modelling, measurement, replication • gender equality, fatherhood policy • medicine/psychiatry, public health, anthropology, geosciencesThis podcast features conversations with leading scholars in the history, philosophy, and social studies of science, aimed at a general audience and produced through the University of Melbourne’s HPS community. Across the episodes, the show uses interviews to explore how scientific knowledge is made, justified, challenged, and communicated, with attention to the institutions, methods, and social relationships that shape what counts as evidence and expertise.
A recurring theme is the idea that science is not simply a set of results but a collection of practices: experimentation and “experimental systems,” measurement in the human sciences, modelling and representation, and the dynamics of collaboration, disagreement, consensus, and replication. Several discussions focus on objectivity, values, trust, and responsibility—asking how social and political commitments enter scientific work, whether science can or should be value-free, and what obligations scientists and institutions have to the public.
The podcast also examines science in its wider cultural and historical settings, including classic case studies from early modern natural philosophy and reflections on how historical archives and historiography change what we think we know about iconic figures and foundational episodes. It regularly engages contemporary public-facing issues, such as controversies that involve both scientific claims and public debate, the communication of science, and the role of ignorance and doubt in political life.
In addition, some content bridges HPS with adjacent areas like medicine, psychiatry, public health, psychology, geosciences, and anthropology, highlighting how categories such as gender, stigma, race, and the “human” are shaped through scientific and social processes. Occasional special formats include conference-focused conversations and mini-series that connect scholarship to policy questions, such as work, caregiving, and fatherhood.
| Episodes: |
S5 E11 - Steven Shapin on the Social Life of Scientific Knowledge2025-Oct-19 50 minutes |
S5 E10 - Cordelia Fine on "Patriarchy Inc"2025-Oct-03 52 minutes |
S5 E9 - Miriam Solomon on How Stigma Shapes Psychiatry2025-Sep-19 26 minutes |
S5 E8 - Philip Kitcher on Philosophy for Science and the Common Good2025-Sep-11 47 minutes |
S5 E7 - Lydia Patton on HOPOS2025-Aug-28 34 minutes |
S5 E6 - Sarah Blaffer Hrdy on ‘Rethinking our Starting Assumptions’2025-Aug-21 29 minutes |
S5 E5 - Cristian Larroulet Philippi on Measurement in the Human Sciences2025-Aug-13 28 minutes |
S5 E4 - Heather Douglas on Rethinking Science’s Social Contract2025-Aug-07 46 minutes |
S5 E3 - Hans-Jörg Rheinberger on 'Epistemic Things'2025-Jul-31 29 minutes |
S5 E2 - Surekha Davies on Humans: A Monstrous History2025-Jul-24 19 minutes |
S5 E1 - Samara and Thomas: Reflections and Roads Ahead2025-Jul-17 30 minutes |
Audience Faves: Daston & Harrison on 'Scientists and History'2025-May-09 30 minutes |
Audience Faves: Hasok Chang on 'Epistemic Iteration'2025-May-09 35 minutes |
Audience Faves: Rachael Brown on 'Values in Science'2025-May-09 25 minutes |
Audience Faves: Kristian Camilleri on 'The Disunity of Science'2025-May-09 24 minutes |
S4 Ep 12 - Joshua Eisenthal et al. on 'Philosophy of Science in Practice'2024-Dec-04 28 minutes |
S4 Ep 11 - Redux: Fiona Fidler on 'Collective Objectivity'2024-Nov-27 20 minutes |
S4 Ep 10 - Erika Milam on 'Colloquial Science'2024-Nov-20 30 minutes |
S4 Ep 9 - Holden Thorp on 'Teach History and Philosophy of Science'2024-Nov-13 30 minutes |
S4 Ep 8 - Nicole C. Nelson on 'Ethnographies of Science'2024-Nov-06 27 minutes |
S4 Ep 7 - Naomi Oreskes on 'Writing on Ignorance'2024-Oct-30 35 minutes |
S4 Ep 6 - Jen Martin on 'Communicating Science'2024-Oct-23 28 minutes |
S4 Ep 5 - Edouard Machery on 'Experimental Philosophy'2024-Oct-16 28 minutes |
S4 Ep 4 - Darrin Durant on 'Expertise'2024-Oct-09 28 minutes |
S4 Ep 3 - Simon Schaffer on 'Leviathan and the Air-Pump: 40 years later' (Part 2)2024-Oct-02 26 minutes |
S4 Ep 2 - Simon Schaffer on 'Leviathan and the Air-Pump: 40 years later' (Part 1)2024-Sep-25 26 minutes |
S4 Ep 1 - Sam and Carmelina on 'Studying Humanities and Science'2024-Sep-18 20 minutes |
Working Fathers Mini-series. Ep 5 - What's Next?2024-Sep-04 37 minutes |
Working Fathers Mini-series. Ep 4 - Give Dads a Break2024-Sep-02 39 minutes |
Working Fathers Mini-series. Ep 3 - Are Fathers Free?2024-Aug-28 46 minutes |
Working Fathers Mini-series. Ep 2 - What Gave Rise to the Breadwinner?2024-Aug-26 36 minutes |
Working Fathers Mini-series. Ep 1 - Where's Dad?2024-Aug-21 27 minutes |
Working Fathers Mini-Series. Introduction.2024-Aug-21 4 minutes |
S3 Ep 12 - Sabina Leonelli on 'The Philosophy of Open Science'2024-May-29 39 minutes |
S3 Ep 11 - Uljana Feest on 'What is Missing in Replication Debates'2024-May-22 28 minutes |
S3 Ep 10 - Aja Watkins & Miguel Ohnesorge on 'Philosophy of the Geosciences'2024-May-16 26 minutes |
S3 Ep 9 - Emma Kowal on 'Haunting Biology'2024-May-09 26 minutes |
S3 Ep 8 - Haixin Dang on 'Disagreement in Science'2024-Apr-24 30 minutes |
S3 Ep 7 - Sophie Ritson on 'Collaboration in Science'2024-Apr-18 22 minutes |
S3 Ep 6 - Kirsten Walsh on 'Rethinking Isaac Newton through his Archive'2024-Apr-10 26 minutes |
Throwback Thursday - Greg Radick on 'Counterfactual History of Science'2024-Apr-03 29 minutes |
S3 Ep 4 - Dan Hicks on 'Public Scientific Controversies'2024-Mar-27 27 minutes |
S3 Ep 3 - Anna Alexandrova on 'Philosophy of Well-Being Science'2024-Mar-20 28 minutes |
S3 Ep 2 - Kate Lynch on 'Causal Explanation in Science'2024-Mar-13 24 minutes |
S3 Ep 1 - Lorraine Daston & Peter Harrison on 'Scientists and History'2024-Mar-06 30 minutes |
S3 - Samara & Carmelina on 'Seeing Science Differently'2024-Mar-06 19 minutes |
BOOK LAUNCH - Mauricio Suárez on 'Inference and Representation'2023-Dec-27 30 minutes |
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S2 Ep 12 - Highlights from the 2023 AAHPSSS Conference 2023-Dec-20 32 minutes |
S2 Ep 11 - Hasok Chang on 'Epistemic Iteration'2023-Dec-13 35 minutes |
S2 Ep 10 - Katherine Furman on 'The Philosophy of Public Health'2023-Dec-06 22 minutes |
S2 Ep 9 - Carl Bergstrom on 'Science and Misinformation'2023-Nov-29 27 minutes |
S2 Ep 8 - Gerhard Wiesenfeldt on 'The Unknown Scientist'2023-Nov-22 17 minutes |
S2 Ep 7 - Ian Hesketh on 'Science History in Science'2023-Nov-15 20 minutes |
S2 Ep 6 - Sarah Qidwai on 'Science and Colonialism'2023-Nov-08 23 minutes |
S2 Ep 5 - Adrian Currie on 'Opportunistic Methods'2023-Nov-01 28 minutes |
S2 Ep 4 - Duane Hamacher on 'Indigenous Science'2023-Oct-25 18 minutes |
S2 Ep 3 - Kristian Camilleri on 'The Turn to Practice'2023-Oct-18 22 minutes |
S2 Ep 2 - David Kaiser on 'Scientific Training'2023-Oct-11 31 minutes |
S2 Ep 0.5 - Season 2 Intro Episode2023-Oct-04 12 minutes |
S2 Ep 1 - Rachel Ankeny on 'Research Repertoires'2023-Oct-04 28 minutes |
BONUS EPISODE - Joshua Eisenthal & HPS Chat2023-Sep-28 30 minutes |
BONUS EPISODE - Simine Vazire on 'Making Science Better'2023-Aug-18 23 minutes |
S1 Ep12 - Fiona Fidler on 'Collective Objectivity'2023-Aug-16 21 minutes |
S1 Ep 11 - James McElvenny on 'Language and Science'2023-Aug-09 21 minutes |
S1 Ep 10 - Martin Bush on 'Knowledge Circulation and Visualisation'2023-Aug-02 19 minutes |
S1 Ep 9 - Caleb Hazelwood on 'Scientific Metaphysics'2023-Jul-26 21 minutes |
S1 Ep 8 - Samara Greenwood on 'Social Change and Science'2023-Jul-19 21 minutes |
S1 Ep 7 - Rachael Brown on 'Values in Science'2023-Jul-12 25 minutes |
S1 Ep 6 - Fallon Mody on 'Biography in Science'2023-Jul-05 23 minutes |
S1 Ep 5 - Greg Radick on 'Counterfactual History of Science'2023-Jun-28 29 minutes |
S1 Ep 4 - Cordelia Fine on 'Sex Difference Research'2023-Jun-21 21 minutes |
S1 Ep 3 - Alan Love on 'Purpose in Biology'2023-Jun-14 28 minutes |
S1 Ep 2 - Kristian Camilleri on 'The Disunity of Science'2023-Jun-07 24 minutes |
S1 Ep 1 - Donna Haraway on 'Storytelling in Science'2023-May-31 10 minutes |
S1 Ep 0.5 - Introduction to the Podcast2023-May-31 7 minutes |