Hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir made waves when first launched – quicker to work and with fewer side effects than existing drugs, but it came with a hefty price tag

Meera Senthilingam makes a welcome return to the podcast with a drug that gives hope to the many sufferers of drug-resistant TB – still one of the world's biggest killers

This summer's extreme weather prompts Katrina Krämer to investigate the history of sunblock and the ingredient blamed by some for bleaching coral reefs

From Lavoisier’s experiments with plaster of paris to the the ‘Sistine Chapel of crystals’ in Mexico, Mike Freemantle explores the history of gypsum

Originally developed to treat flu and marketed in Japan as Avigan, promising Covid-19 trial results have seen countries stockpiling this medication by the millions

Tannic acid in green acorns can kill wild animals and livestock, but in this podcast Mike Freemantle makes plain that you can prevent poisoning with pannage pigs.

Common in the US but banned in the EU, this animal feed additive makes for muscular pigs and beefy international trade disputes. 

Brian Clegg discovers what a six-membered silicon ring can tell us about alien life

Frances Addison on the aromatic compound found in both buttered popcorn and the bearcat’s scent glands, and responsible for the distinctive smell of both

News that this cheap, ubiquitous steroid drug may reduce deaths in Covid-19 cases has been greeted with cautious optimism. Ben Valsler looks at the history of dexamethasone and the promising Recovery trial results.