Talking of Science
Tackling big topics with small humans
Episodes
19 episodes
Where do germs and nasties come from?
If germs are everywhere, why aren't we sick all the time? And where do the really nasty bugs come from in the first place?In this episode, Dr C asks a question that feels simple but turns out to have a surprisingly complicated answer. To...
What's up with the moon this month? Throwback episode
This month we'll experience a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse, the peak of the Perseid meteor shower and learn more about what happened to the rocket which seems to have crashed into the moon. In honour of these big sky events, Dr C was joined b...
How can intelligence be artificial?
Artificial intelligence is not new. In fact, its origins go back to ideas that emerged even before the first modern computers. But what we have today seems nothing short of magical.AI chatbots can answer questions, write stories, help do...
What language do animals think in?
What a head-scratcher!Animals probably don't speak our language, but they are constantly communicating through movement, sound, smell, behaviour, and choices. The challenge is learning how to read those signals without assuming they thin...
Do we need a Lorax who speaks for the trees?
Trees clean our air, cool our cities, support wildlife, protect our soils, and quietly keep the world running. But forests are much more than collections of trees. They are also homes, workplaces, supermarkets, pharmacies, and sources of identi...
How come Karen from HR has got Herpes?
Why does Karen from HR have herpes? And more importantly… why do so many of us?In this gloriously inappropriate but scientifically rich episode, Helen and Dr C are joined by Matthew Murray, a virologist at the Danish Cancer Inst...
Series 2 Introduction
Welcome back!We survived series 1 and we're here with another round of interviews with top experts trying to dodge the jargon alarm.Make sure to follow Talking of Science wherever you're listening to this, because in this series w...
How do you win a Nobel Prize?
The question on every helicopter parent's mind!In this special bonus to round off our first season, Dr C sits down with one of the humblest laureates you could imagine, Professor Morten Meldal, to ask what it really takes to win science’...
Why do plants want to grow?
In the tenth episode (already?!), Helen and Dr. C celebrate by going full plant mode with guest Emma Aller, a plant-loving molecular biologist from the University of Copenhagen and co-host of the Plantejagten podcast 🎙️From counting to ...
Is coral a plant or a rock?
Well... no. Or, kinda, maybe.Another chin-scratcher from Dr C in this episode, where we dive into the blue to explore the fascinating world beneath the sea and learn all anyone could want to know about corals and their importance. We are...
If I graze my knee every day, would I eventually run out of blood?
As always, a deceptively simple question that opens the door to a hilarious exploration of how our bodies make blood. Find out what happens when you scrape your knee and how the body keeps itself cleverly supplied with just the right amount of ...
What's the craziest experiment a scientist has ever done?
What's the craziest experiment you could imagine doing? Now go crazier. And you're still probably not thinking about anything as crazy as the experiments that Kristoffer Frøkjær has written about in his book The Man Who Had His Brain Sliced. In...
Can you wake up a frozen mammoth by shocking it with lightning?
Storybooks can impact the imagination of a child in so many ways. In this episode, we meet Professor Eline Lorenzen to try and get to the bottom of whether David Walliam’s award-winning children’s novel The Ice Monster might be even the teensie...
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Why didn’t they play fair?
What do rigged fencing swords, blue grass, and menstrual cycle coaches tell us about human behaviour? Quite a lot, actually! In this episode of Talking of Science, Helen Frost and Dr. C are joined by trivia king James Harkin and a live audience...
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Introduction to Talking of Science
Talking of Science is a spotlight on the mad and hilarious conversations we end up having when we try to talk science with our kids. Learn more about this show and meet the people who bring it to life.To get in contact with us at Talking...
How does a calculator know what 85 + 85 is?
Well, according to Dr C… it just does! But perhaps we can go a little deeper than that. Personally, I suspect that there’s a tiny gremlin inside each device, with many, many fingers to do all those calculations. However, Lucas Casparis tells a ...
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Who is the best at climbing a tree?
We often overlook our hands - their exquisite engineering is easy to miss in the comings and goings of everyday life. This week we meet Stine Keibel Blom who is an expert on the evolution and anatomy of primate hands and feet. Stine helps us to...
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Why can I see the moon during the day?
Is it made of cheese? Does it bring out werewolves? The moon is a fascinating topic! In this episode Dr C meets a titan of astrophysics podcasting, Tina Ibsen, to learn about the moon and its effects on us down here on the earth. During the bed...
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Why are those ants moving their eggs?
Uncovering an ants’ nest is like opening a portal to another world - a tiny and very busy world. In this episode we meet Asta Rødsgaard-Jørgensen who is studying fungus-farming ants, an occupation which brings her face-to-face with angry (and v...
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