As space tourism becomes a reality, we talk to author Nick Schmidle about his new book “Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut.”
Black resistance and racist policing w/Adam Elliott-Cooper
How have certain types of crime been racialised in the United Kingdom? What are the colonial origins of institutional racism within the British police force? And how has whiteness been mobilised to divide different communities across Britain? Samira Shackle spoke with Adam Elliott-Cooper, sociologist at Greenwich University, whose book, Black Resistance to British Policing, was […]
(M)otherhood and choice w/Pragya Agarwal
What does it mean to contemplate ‘motherhood’ in a world that values some bodies – and some decisions – over others? Behavioural scientist Pragya Agarwal tells Alice Bloch about her experiences as a woman of South Asian heritage – from abortion, to pregnancy, to surrogacy – and the social, historical and scientific factors that shape […]
Quantum physics and philosophy, w/ Carlo Rovelli
Carlo Rovelli, the globally celebrated physicist and bestselling storyteller of science, talks to Niki Seth-Smith about the history, and sheer wonder, of quantum theory. How did a feverish young man named Werner Heisenberg, working alone on the North Sea island of Helgoland in 1925, develop a radical insight that would shake the world of physics? […]
Why our minds need the wild w/Lucy Jones
For centuries, we’ve had an intuitive sense that connecting with “nature” is good for our wellbeing. But what’s the hard evidence? What exactly is “nature” anyway? Should we be wary of it being prescribed as a catch-all cure for complex problems? And what impact does nature writing itself actually have? Science writer Lucy Jones talks […]
Learning from our ancestors w/ Alice Roberts
Alice Roberts, one of the UK’s leading public scientists and President of Humanists UK, talks to our editor Samira Shackle about what we can learn from the burial sites of the earliest Britons, as explored in her new book Ancestors. What does our prehistory – cannibalism and all – tell us about who we are? […]
How to fix the internet w/ Chris Bail
Polarisation is seen as a threat to democracy – and social media is seen as a cause. But what can be done? Does the blame really lie with tech alone? And what could the virtual public square look like if we dared to hit “reset” and redesigned our apps from scratch? A radical and counter-intuitive […]
Writing and Recovery, w/ Michael Rosen
The poet, author and broadcaster Michael Rosen almost died of COVID-19. In episode eleven of With Reason, he talks to Samira Shackle about that experience, described in his new book ‘Many Different Kinds of Love’. They discuss the value of kindness, touch and practical atheism, and reflect on liminality in life and literature. Plus, Michael […]
The Cosmos & Us w/ Jo Marchant
What do we gain when we look to the skies? How has cosmology shaped our politics? And why is awe a feeling that we can’t afford to lose? In episode ten of With Reason, acclaimed science writer Jo Marchant takes Niki Seth-Smith on a dazzling journey through the history of science, mythology and our relationship […]
Deporting Black Britons w/ Luke de Noronha
In the last two decades, the UK has deported thousands of people to Jamaica, many of whom left that country as children and grew up in the UK. In this ninth episode of With Reason, Luke de Noronha talks to Alice Bloch about his moving and urgent study of four such young men. How have […]