Chances are that if you open your bathroom cabinet, many of the medicines you find there were first discovered by studying the chemical processes of the plants that grow all around us. But with 450,000 plant species existing in the world, the truth is that we’re only just scratching the surface of this almost limitless resource.

In this episode, we’re joined by Prof Anne Osbourn, a group leader in biosynthesis research based at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, and co-founder of drug discovery platform HotHouse Therapeutics.

She tells us about the long history we humans have of making use of the medicinal properties found in plants, how technological developments over the last several decades have enabled us to identify the genes and naturally occurring processes in plants that we can harness to produce life-saving drugs, and how artificial intelligence shows great promise in our search for new, innovative medicines.

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Currently, around 40 per cent of children in the UK have been diagnosed with an allergy of some form or another – the most common being food allergies, eczema, asthma, and hay fever. Why is this number so alarmingly high, what can we do to treat them, and what measures can we take to ensure that our children don’t develop allergies in the first place?

In this episode, we’re joined by Willem M. de Vos, a professor of microbiology based at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

He tells us how the recent rise in births by caesarean section may be contributing to the increase in childhood allergies, how exposure to microbes in early life can have a profound effect on our immune systems, and how cutting-edge microbial treatments such as faecal transplants are showing promise in our fight against this growing health epidemic.

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It sounds like a theory plucked from the page of a science fiction novel, but according to Enrique Gaztañaga from the University of Portsmouth, our entire Universe could be trapped inside a black hole. It's a mind-blowing theory, but it could help us better understand the fundamental nature of our reality.

But how is it even possible for us to be inside a black hole? Will we ever know for sure? And what could lie beyond its boundaries.

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Chances are that when most of us think of spinosaurs our minds will turn to the hulking, predatory sail-backed dinosaur that famously took down a T. Rex in the Jurassic Park movies. But thanks to their highly fragmented fossil records, in the real world, our knowledge of these fascinating, ancient creatures is far from complete. Where did they live? How did they live? And what did they really look like?

In today’s episode, we’re joined by David Hone, a palaeontologist based at Queen Mary University of London, and Mark P. Witton, a palaeontologist and paleoartist based at the University of Portsmouth, to talk about their latest book, Spinosaur Tales, The Biology and Ecology of the Spinosaurs.

They tell us how palaeontologists piece together details of dinosaurs’ appearances and behaviours by painstakingly poring over fossil records, why we shouldn’t believe everything we see in the movies, and why there’s still so much to learn about these mysterious, and at times controversial, beasts.

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How much control do we have over our actions and decisions? For most of us, it’s likely that the answer is that, of course, all of the choices we make are our own. But it’s long been argued by some scientists and philosophers that this isn’t the case at all. Could it be that the trajectories of our lives are largely already written into our biology, genes and neural circuitry before we’re even born?

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist and author based at the University of Cambridge and recipient of the 2026 Humanist Society’s Rosalind Franklin Medal.

She explains how our personalities, beliefs and actions are deeply influenced by our ancestry, genes and upbringing, what’s happening in our brains when we make a decision, and how current research is showing that accepting our predispositions can likely help us all make the most of who we are.

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It’s likely that if any of us step and of our front doors and take a moment to listen to what’s going on around us, we’ll hear the vocalisations of dozens of different animals. But why are they making these sounds and can we ever really understand what they actually mean?

In this episode, we’re joined by naturalist and author Amelia Thomas to discuss her latest book What Sheep Think About the Weather, How to Listen to What Animals Are Trying to Say.

She tells us how the tone that’s innate in animal vocalisations may be the mother of all communication how dogs may have evolved their barks in order to express their wants and needs to us humans and how we can all enrich our lives by listening to the sounds that naturally occur around us.

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It’s currently thought that around one billion people worldwide aren’t getting enough protein to meet their daily needs. Alongside this, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the large-scale farming of livestock and the overfishing of the Earth’s oceans to provide us with vital sources of protein are causing great harm to the environment. But could the production of more alternative protein sources, such as cultivated meat, plants like algae and duckweed and even insects, help provide us with a neat solution to both of these issues?

As part of our four-part miniseries, Future of Food, we’re joined by a panel of three researchers based at The University of Sheffield: Professor of biomanufacturing Tuck Seng Wong, Professor of plant cell signalling Julie Gray and a Senior Lecturer based at the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering, Dr Kang Lan Tee.

They tell us about the latest technological developments that are helping us to produce healthy, nutritious proteins in novel ways, how many of these methods can make much more efficient use of resources such as energy and water, and why perhaps many of us could benefit from being a little more open-minded when it comes to thinking about what we put on our plates.

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Many of us will have experienced changes in our emotional states after failing to get a good night’s sleep. Maybe we find that we lose our temper more easily or that we’re more likely to feel sad or upset. But what exactly is going on in our bodies and brains when we lack sleep that gives rise to these, often troubling, effects?

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Bogdan Matei, a medical psychiatrist and master trainer for the luxury bed brand Hästens.

He tells us what happens in different areas of our brains when we don’t get enough sleep, how this affects our ability to regulate our emotions and shares some techniques we can use to mitigate the debilitating effects of sleep deprivation.

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According to the United Nations, around one-third of all the food currently produced across the planet is being lost or wasted, oftentimes before it even reaches our plates. As well as the loss of essential sources of nutrition needed to feed the global population, issues in food supply chains are using up other vital resources such as water, labour and energy. So, what can we do to ensure that as much food as possible makes it from farm to fork without being wasted?

As part of our four-part miniseries, Future of Food, we’re joined by Dr Natalia Falagán, an Agricultural Engineer and Senior Lecturer in Food Science and Technology at Cranfield University.

She explains the need for more joined-up thinking to help connect the different stages of our food production systems, the difference between use-by and best-before dates and tells us how growing something as simple as herbs in a kitchen window box can help us all deepen our relationships with the food we eat.

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This episode was recorded on November 6th 2025.

Artificial intelligence has been the movement of the moment in recent years. Since it burst to prominence in 2022, hundreds of millions of people have started using AI systems every day – for everything from writing essays to coding software, generating art and planning their lives.

But with soaring valuations, constant hype, and growing concerns about how much these systems really understand, some experts and investors are starting to ask whether we’re heading for an AI bubble.

One of them is Gary Marcus, a scientist, author, entrepreneur, and one of the AI industry’s most outspoken critics. Over the years, Gary has become a leading voice in debates about artificial intelligence, and many of his predictions about where the technology is heading have proven remarkably prescient.

In this episode, Gary cuts through the noise and digs into hype vs reality, what current systems still can’t, and may never be able to do, and what a more reliable path forward might look like.

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