In this episode of the podcast neuroscientist Nicholas Wright reveals how, whether we like it or not, the brain is wired for conflict – in the office or on the battlefield. Blending insights from cutting-edge research with stories from across history, Nicholas joins war correspondent David Patrikarakos to explore the past, present, and future of warfare and reveal the truth about why we fight, lose and win wars.

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The son of Stephen and Tabitha King and brother of Owen King, Joe Hill was raised in a uniquely gifted literary family and has long established a reputation of his own as a first rate storyteller across prose fiction, comics, TV and film. Drawing on influences as diverse as The Secret History, The Hobbit, and his father's dark fantasy classic The Gunslinger, his new novel King Sorrow follows six friends as their Faustian pact with the deliciously cruel eponymous dragon unravels over many decades.

Why is horror good for us? How do you write characters readers with fall in love with - and those they will love to hate? Who are the real monsters in American life? Joe Hill reveals the answers to all of these questions and more in this episode of the podcast.

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How do we understand the world and our place in it? Do our lives consist of a small number of dramatic turning points, or is there nothing but a series of gradual changes from infancy to old age? Are political elections genuinely transformational, or merely arbitrary points along a shifting cultural timeline? And in physics, how can the continuities of general relativity coexist with the discontinuities of quantum theory?

In Waves and Stones, Graham Harman shows that this paradoxical interaction – the question of whether reality is made up of sudden jumps, or is laid out along a gentle gradient with no clear divisions between the various things in the world – permeates every area of human life. What’s more, this paradox is as old as human thought itself. In exploring how the continuous and discrete relate to each other, he takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey from the philosophers of ancient Greece, through the writings of the great Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, through architectural and evolutionary theory, the compatibility of religion with science, and the wave-particle duality of matter.

To explore the relationship between the continuous and the discrete, Harman shows, is to consider the very fabric of reality. With this dazzling new book, he proposes a new way of thinking about this ancient problem, with profound implications for our understanding of ourselves and the bewilderingly complex world in which we live.

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Julia Belluz and Kevin Hall reveal the insights you need to better understand what's on your dinner plate, how it got there, and why you eat it.

Award-winning health journalist Julia Belluz and internationally renowned nutrition and metabolism scientist Dr Kevin Hall will unpack the science behind our diets, metabolism, and the food systems that shape them. Together, they will explore how our food environment is the key influence on our eating behaviours, challenge popular myths about diet, and reveal why rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes are not failures of willpower, but symptoms of a system working exactly as designed.

In a world where misinformation thrives and our food system is stacked against us, Julia and Kevin will provide much-needed clarity to help us all make more informed choices about what we eat.

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Though well-known across Europe by name, the real lives of women such as Joan of Arc and Jadwiga of Poland have been buried under banners of nationalistic agendas that have twisted their stories through the ages. Oxford historian Janina Ramirez joins Sir Tony Robinson to illuminate the truth of these incredible women, and disentangle their real stories from the myths imposed on them through time. From Lady Godiva's real name, Godgifu, and how her eroticised image has overshadowed her real survival as a landowning woman in tumultuous times, to Joan of Arc's journey to becoming a warrior in a war-torn and plague-ravaged land, to Catherine of Siena's vivid visions and Jadwiga's reign as monarch of Poland, Professor Ramirez sheds light on truths long enshrouded by myths.

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Today, trauma permeates media, from music and television to films and books. While the increasing openness is welcome, Darren has observed that the webs of digital networks surrounding us and which commodify our most vulnerable experiences often harm us more than help us heal. How did we get here? What role does social media play in commodifying our experiences? And are the stories we’re telling ourselves liberating us or keeping us trapped?

In conversation with Nicola Sturgeon, Darren explores the intersections of trauma, identity, social media, and society, revealing how we can fight back against the larger corporations that are turning our real and vulnerable stories into digital commodities, and truly advocate for marginalised voices.

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In his four Time Travellers Guides to England, historian Ian Mortimer has taken us from the Medieval period all the way to the Regency, revelling not in the business of courts and princes but the minutae of daily life for ordinary men and women. In this podcast, he shares his insights into how the English people have changed over time - and how they have stayed the same. Touching upon liberty and leadership, xenophobia and violence, this whistlestop tour of a thousand years of English life is an unmissable treat for history lovers of all stripes. Who was the worst monarch? Why should you preserve your urine? And do the French really deserve all the credit for inventing champagne? Discover the answers to all of these questions and many more with one of our most beloved national historians.

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Two decades ago, Jimmy Wales founded Wikipedia and transformed the world’s access to knowledge. Today, people view Wikipedia 11 billion times every month in the English language alone. Yet in an age of ‘alternative facts’, conspiracies and disinformation, the foundations of Wikipedia are increasingly under threat. The concept at the heart of it all extends to the whole of society: trust Like water and electricity, our society can’t function without it. Without it, we have no knowledge, and without knowledge, we can’t fight back. Derived from decades of observation, participation and discussion with leaders across the world, Jimmy and Nish share clear, actionable rules for building trust in business, leadership and life.

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Jens Stoltenberg was Prime Minister of Norway from 2005-2013, and when he took office as Secretary General of NATO in 2014, the world was already changing. What followed was a decade marked by war, diplomatic crises, and decisions that helped shape our shared security. Now he joins Adam Boulton to go behind closed doors and offer a rare insight into how the world’s most powerful military alliance handles crises and to share why after all this time, NATO still matters.

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Marie Kondo’s unique approach to organising our lives and our homes has transformed the relationship we have with the objects around us, helping us all to seek out the joy in our daily lives. In the eleven years since The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up made her famous across the globe, journalists, readers and fans have asked her one question more than any other: what role did Japanese philosophy and culture play in shaping her life and thought? Here, Marie shares her principles for living, and reveal how the traditions of her homeland can help all of us to spark joy. She shares personal insights into her upbringing, family and career, and explores how Japanese people often combine an ultramodern lifestyle with deep respect for ancient customs and traditions.

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