Instant Genius

Clouds aren’t just the harbingers of bad weather. Turns out, they are crucial players in the climate – and so, too, in climate change. In this episode we speak to climate scientist Dr Paulo Ceppi, who contributed to Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book, to learn about how clouds change our world.

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There can be few animals that are as iconic and instantly recognisable as giraffes. But despite their unique, almost mystical appearance and enduring worldwide popularity, their numbers are dwindling. According to researchers, they are undergoing something known as a silent extinction.

In this episode we catch up with Dr Sam Penny, a conservationist and lecturer based at Bristol Zoological Society.

He tells us about the current thinking on the existence of not one but several different giraffe species, how they only have one remaining genetic relative, and goes on to talk about his own conservation work in Cameroon’s Benoue National Park.

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In the first quarter of 2024, infectious diseases including measles, plague, and cholera have all reared their ugly heads again. Are we seeing an unprecedented level of disease re-emergence? Why do they come back? And what would it take for another Black Death to happen? To find out, we spoke to Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine at UEA’s Norwich Medical School.

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Do you often find yourself worrying that people are talking about you behind your back? If so, don’t worry: according to our guest, Prof Daniel Freeman, it’s an extremely common thought pattern – and one you can easily break free from.

Daniel is a Professor of Psychology at Oxford University and author of new book Paranoia: A Psychologist’s Journey Into Extreme Mistrust and Anxiety. In this episode, he explains the link between paranoia and social anxiety, exactly how to tell how paranoid you are – and simple strategies to build self-esteem and reduce your social paranoia.

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Are you feeling demotivated and aimless and struggling to figure out why? If so, it sounds like you might be languishing – a term used to describe the epidemic of listlessness that has spread across the globe in recent years.

In this episode we speak to Dr Corey Keyes, author of Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down.

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The placebo effect is a seemingly wonderful experience, healing people with no apparent cure - but how does it really work? We spoke to Jeremy Howick, an epidemiologist and author of the new book The Power of Placebos to find out.

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We all have a breaking point. But how close we come to it – and how we cope – comes down to our unique blend of genetics and life experiences. In this episode, we speak to health psychologist Prof Vincent Deary about how we’re adapted to get through with tough times, the physiological processes at work when we’re struggling, and how to build yourself back and recover from fatigue.

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It's easy to try to ignore feelings of boredom, but it can actually be trying to tell you something. We spoke to James Danckert, a professor of cognitive neuroscience to find out more about this strange feeling.

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From birdsong to wolf howls, from dolphins’ clicks and whistles to gibbons’ whoops and wows, the natural world is filled with a myriad of animal vocalisations that are as varied as they are numerous. But what is their purpose? How did they evolve? And will we ever be able to understand them?

In this episode we catch up with Dr Arik Kershenbaum, a zoologist based at the University of Cambridge and author of the new book Why Animals Talk.

He tells us why some animals are chattier than others, how wolves have regional accents and how dolphins give themselves names.

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Coffee is a drink favoured by billions of people around the world, but doing it right isn't easy. 

We spoke to Christopher Hendon, a computational materials chemist and coffee expert from the University of Oregon. 

He talks us through how to make great coffee at home, where to spend your money, and debunks the myths of the coffee world.

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