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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Recent UN data tells us that currently 670 million people around the world are going hungry. There’s little doubt that food security is one of the most serious problems that the human race is facing. How have we reached this point of crisis and what solutions can we put in place to make sure everyone on the planet has enough nutritious food to eat without causing further harm to the environment?

As part of our four-part miniseries, Future of Food, we’re joined by Dr Dave Chandler, a crop researcher and agricultural scientist based at the University of Warwick.

He tells us how current global food production practices are one of the most significant drivers of environmental damage and biodiversity loss, how climate change is threatening our ability to grow fresh produce to put on our plates and details some of the current thinking on how we can ensure the future of food production worldwide.

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Along with their vast size and habit of jumping playfully out of the water, whales are renowned for their haunting melodic vocalisations. However, after decades of research, scientists still aren’t sure why these mysterious creatures sing their other-worldly songs. Could it be a form of sexual display? Maybe it’s a method of communication? Or is it possible that the giant marine mammals are using these plaintive moans as a form of echolocation?

Behavioural neuroscientist and author of the book Why Whales Sing Prof Eduardo Mercado certainly thinks so.

In this episode, he tells us how whale songs can last for as long as 40 hours and be heard up to 1,000km away, how, acoustically speaking, whale songs have more in common with bat vocalisations than birdsongs and how ocean noise created by increases in fishing and shipping activity may be wreaking havoc on whales’ ability to navigate the ocean depths.

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Over the past several decades nutritional advice from doctors and expert researchers has largely relied on one-size-fits-all approach – eat five portions of fruit and veg a day, limit your intake of sugar and salt, stay away from overly fatty or processed foods as much as possible – but in recent times it has become clear that, while this is all good advice, the real-life picture is much more subtle. The latest research has revealed that the way we respond to the food we eat varies widely from person to person.

As part of our four-part miniseries, Future of Food, we’re joined by Prof Sarah Berry, a nutritional scientist based at King’s College London and chef scientist at the ZOE.

She tells us how the gathering of large-scale datasets on dietary habits is changing the way we think about nutritional science, how some of us are more sensitive to the negative effects of certain foods than others, and the key role that advances in technology are playing in the future of dietary research.

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Throughout our lives we all go through several significant periods of change – puberty, young adulthood, middle age, retirement. Each comes with its own quirks and challenges, but perhaps one of the most underdiscussed of these stages is menopause. The lowering of hormone levels and eventual cessation of ovulation caused by menopause can affect women’s mental and physical health, performance in the workplace and even social life. So why is talking about it still considered so taboo?

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Saleyha Ashan, a journalist, emergency medicine doctor and researcher based at the University of Cambridge.

She tells us what she’s learned from her own life experiences as a woman and medical doctor, the many, varied ways that menopause affects women’s physical and mental health and gives us advice that can help us all navigate this natural period in life more successfully.

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Wikipedia. It needs almost no introduction. Few websites are more well-known, more commonly used and more foundational to the web as we know it than the online encyclopedia. This week, we’re joined by its founder, Jimmy Wales, to talk about how the platform has evolved over the past two decades, the challenges of maintaining trust and neutrality in an age of misinformation, and how AI could shape Wikipedia’s future. Jimmy also shares insights from his new book, The Seven Rules of Trust, exploring what it really takes to build credibility – and why it’s more important now than ever before.

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Hippies, the Beatles, flower power, magic mushrooms, raves and festivals – that’s what most of us associate with psychedelics. But there is mounting evidence that these drugs could also be used medicinally, particularly to treat mental illnesses such as depression.

In this episode, we speak to Prof David Nutt, a psychopharmacologist who has spent decades researching how drugs affect the brain. Now a professor at Imperial College London, David has published more than 500 research papers, eight government reports, and 40 books – including one called Psychedelics, in 2023.

In this conversation, he explains how psychedelics affect the brain, how they alter people’s sense of self and perception of reality, and why they could revolutionise the future of mental health treatments.

Please note that psychedelics are Class A drugs according to UK law. Anyone caught in possession of such substances can face up to seven years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. Information and support for those affected by substance abuse can be found at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

The following conversation specifically concerns psychedelics when used in a clinical context, given at low doses and under medical supervision. Please don’t try this at home.

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