Instant Genius

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Whether you’re curious about getting healthy, the Big Bang or the science of cooking, find out everything you need to know with Instant Genius. The team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine talk to world-leading experts to bring you two bite-sized masterclasses on a new subject each week.

New episodes are released every Monday and Friday and you can subscribe to Instant Genius on Apple Podcasts to access all new episodes ad-free and all old episodes of Instant Genius Extra.

Watch full episodes of Instant Genius on BBC Science Focus Magazine's YouTube channel.

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665 episodes
Updated Sunday

Episodes665

Newest first

Apr 10, 2019 · 33 min
Are video games good for us? - Pete Etchells
Psychologist Pete Etchells explores the benefits and dangers of playing computer games.
Apr 3, 2019 · 31 min
Do you believe in magic? – Gustav Kuhn
Seeing is all believing, but how do magicians fool our brains into thinking we have just witnessed the impossible?
Mar 27, 2019 · 37 min
How can we save our planet? - Sir David Attenborough
We speak to Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and host of the new Netflix show Our Planet, and two of the show’s producers about the essential changes we need to make to save our home.
Mar 20, 2019 · 35 min
Can we slow down the ageing process? - Sue Armstrong
As the size of the ageing population rises, the field of gerontology, the study of ageing, is bursting with discoveries. How and why do we age? What can be done to slow the ageing process, and how do we improve our health spans, rather than our life sp...
Mar 13, 2019 · 31 min
Matt Parker: What happens when maths goes horribly, horribly wrong?
Sums are hard, but imagine the consequences when getting the wrong answer leads to disaster. Comedian and maths whizz Matt Parker explains what happens when rounding errors and miscalculations get the better of our equations.
Mar 6, 2019 · 29 min
Why is the magnetic north pole moving? - Ciaran Beggan
The Earth’s magnetic north pole is rocketing towards Siberia at 50 kilometres per year, making the maps of the magnetic field out of date faster than expected. Why is it moving, what does this mean for us, and what can we expect it to do in the future?
Feb 27, 2019 · 37 min
Are we facing an insect apocalypse? - Brad Lister
When Professor Brad Lister returned to Puerto Rico to track insect populations, he found he was only catching a fraction of the amount he’d seen 40 years ago. When he analysed what he’d caught, he saw a 98 per cent decline in insects on the ground. Wha...
Feb 20, 2019 · 35 min
Is religion compatible with science? - Professor John Lennox
This week, we delve into the complex relationship between science and religion. Why invoke a god to explain the world, the argument goes, when science does a perfectly good job? Professor John Lennox, however, begs to differ.
Feb 13, 2019 · 33 min
What does it mean to be happy? - Helen Russell
What does it mean to be happy? The pleasure of doing nothing, the sense of community from performing a haka, or drinking in your pants? Helen Russell, author of The Atlas of Happiness, explains what happiness means to different people around the world.
Feb 6, 2019 · 25 min
How geology can influence elections - Lewis Dartnell
Astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell is here to talk about how the Earth's ancient geography has influenced the development of human civilisations, and how it still affects our behaviour today.
Jan 30, 2019 · 38 min
The mindset behind the Moon landing – Richard Wiseman
The men and women of the Apollo program needed a particular mindset to land astronauts on the Moon – Richard Wiseman explains how you can harness this mentality to achieve your own Moon shots.
Jan 23, 2019 · 37 min
How technology is changing politics – Jamie Susskind
Jamie Susskind explains how the politics of the future will be shaped by the technology influencing our lives today.
Jan 16, 2019 · 23 min
There’s no such thing as Blue Monday - Sir David Spiegelhalter
Statistician and Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at the University of Cambridge Sir David Spiegelhalter explains the pseudoscience behind Blue Monday, the power of numbers, and how to spot a dodgy stat.
Jan 9, 2019 · 23 min
The most mysterious objects in the Universe - Colin Stuart
From 'Oumuamua to Planet Nine, astronomy writer and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society Colin Stuart counts down the five strangest cosmic enigmas.
Jan 3, 2019 · 40 min
Eating for your genes - Giles Yeo
Dr Giles Yeo studies the relationship between our genetic make-up and how we’re eating, and knows that poor self-control isn’t entirely to blame for the obesity epidemic. He’s here to talk about how our genes influence how hungry we feel and how much w...
Dec 26, 2018 · 30 min
What makes me 'me'? - Aoife McLysaght
Evolutionary geneticist Aoife McLysaght is joining Alice Roberts as a guest at this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Together, they’re exploring where we come from, what makes us human, and what makes each of us unique.
Dec 19, 2018 · 20 min
Why ASMR gives you tingles – Emma WhispersRed
We chat to YouTuber Emma WhispersRed ASMR about how she got into making the videos, why she thinks people find them so soothing, and why she wants to get the phenomenom officially recognised as a form of therapy
Dec 12, 2018 · 55 min
Air pollution is killing us, here’s how you can stop it – Gary Fuller
Pollution scientist Gary Fuller explains how bad our air is, what causes it, and how we can stop this invisible killer.
Dec 5, 2018 · 31 min
Should we be worried about sex robots? – Kate Devlin
AI ethicist Dr Kate Devlin has done a deep dive into intimacy with machines for her new book Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots. She’s looked into society’s gradually changing attitudes towards sex tech and visited the companies making the world’s most...
Nov 28, 2018 · 44 min
Filming a Dynasty - Nick Lyon
The latest Sir David Attenborough-narrated BBC Natural History Unit Landmark Series is called Dynasties, and it tracks power struggles within animal groups. We talk to Nick Lyon, the producer of an episode about Zimbabwe’s Painted Wolves, to see how he...