The natural world is filled with a rich tapestry of creatures, each occupying a unique evolutionary niche that helps to keep the ecosystems they live in functioning healthily. But the truth is, over the centuries, we humans have treated some of them better than others. Our tendency is to prefer cute, cuddly animals such as pandas or donkeys, or beautiful, majestic beasts such as elephants, eagles or tigers. Is it time that we had a long, hard look at this viewpoint, and extended our care and attention to the animals that we’ve traditionally viewed as ugly, creepy or even dangerous?

In this episode, we’re joined by Jo Wimpenny an author and specialist in animal behaviour, to talk about her latest book, Beauty of the Beasts – Rethinking Nature’s Least Loved Animals.

She tells us how the latest research is showing that snake venom can potentially give rise to a new category of medicinal drugs, how the insects we typically find disgusting such as maggots and cockroaches play a vital role as the natural caretakers of the environments they live in, and how, by rethinking our in-built prejudices, we can more deeply appreciate the richness and variety found in the natural world.

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There’s an entire cosmos hidden from our human eyes. The only way to see it is by looking at the Universe with a radio. We talk to Dr Emma Chapman about how she uses radio telescopes to reveal the cosmic mysteries of the Universe.

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How can we tell if someone we’re speaking to is being economical with the truth? Oftentimes, we’re told that the primary telltale signs lie in the use of body language – maybe someone is avoiding eye contact, touching their face a lot, or fidgeting and squirming. But there’s also a whole world of clues to look out for in the type of language that someone uses when they’re telling us lies.

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Kirsty King, a lecturer in communication based at University College London, to talk about her latest book, The Language of Lies – How to Uncover the Liar in Your Life.

She tells us that when people try to hide the truth, they tend to use language that distances themselves from the act they’re talking about or the people involved in it, how when we’re relating a false account of an event we tend to omit words that describe how we actually felt during it, and how even the way liars structure their sentences can be a signal that they are trying to deceive us.

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Chances are that if any of us are looking to drop a bit of excess weight, the first thing we’ll attempt is to cut down the number of calories we’re consuming. For decades, we’ve been told that balancing the number of calories we put into to our bodies with the energy that we burn can help us to maintain a healthy weight. While this is true, could it be that we’re putting our attention and effort in the wrong place and that taking a bigger picture view of the factors that motivate our appetite is likely to be a much more successful strategy?

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Jason Fung, a physician and best-selling author based in Toronto, to talk about his latest book, The Hunger Code – Resetting Your Body’s Fat Thermostat in the Age of Ultra-processed Food.

He talks us through the three key drivers that control our feelings of hunger, how our hormones are deeply connected with our appetites, and how the environments we live in have a profound effect on the food we eat.

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Around the world, more than 50 million people are living with some form of dementia – a number expected to triple by 2050 as populations age. But the thing is, dementia is often talked about as a kind of genetic lottery. You either get lucky and escape it, or unlucky and develop it. But what if that framing is wrong? What if far more of our brain health is within our control than we’ve been led to believe?

Our guest today is Dr Majid Fotuhi, a neuroscientist who has spent decades treating and studying people with cognitive impairment. His message is a bold one: dementia is largely preventable – not with a miracle pill or silver-bullet treatment, but through the way we live.

The 12-week programme he and his team have developed has helped his patients improve their memory, regain independence, and even grow new brain connections. Today, he talks us through the essentials of the programme – and what it really takes to stay sharp for life.

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Statistics show that half of us will experience a mental health condition of some kind by the time we turn forty. Could this be due to the increasing pressures and looming crises we’re currently facing in the modern world, overstimulating natural responses in our brains and bodies that have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to protect us from threats?

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Joanna Cheek, a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and clinical professor based at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine, to talk about her latest book, It’s Not You, It’s the World – A Mental Health Survival Guide for Us All.

She tells us how the system of alarm signals in our brains is being increasingly triggered by the rapidly changing circumstances we find ourselves in, how this is hijacking the push and pull of our natural risk/reward systems, and why connecting more deeply with the rich tapestry of the people and cultures we share the world with can help us all bring our lives back into balance.

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Whether we’re working at a desk in an office, running a marathon or even asleep in bed, our bodies are host to thousands of chemical processes that are continually converting the food we eat into energy and repairing our bones, muscles and organs. Collectively these processes are known as the metabolism. But how are they affected by our genes, lifestyles and diet, and what can we do to make sure everything stays running smoothly?

In this episode, we’re joined by Javier Gonzalez, a professor of nutrition and metabolism based at the University of Bath.

He breaks down the links between our metabolisms and body types, tells us why our metabolisms aren’t necessarily fixed for life, and explains why it’s almost impossible to out exercise a poor diet if you’re looking to drop a few kilos.

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The human face contains more than 40 muscles, giving us an ability to visually express our thoughts and emotions that is unique in the animal kingdom. This has perhaps led to a long-held obsession to uncover the many mysteries of our faces that has persisted in everyone from artists, scientists and even anthropologists for thousands of years. But where is this trend heading? And is it doing more harm than good?

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Fay Bound-Alberti, the founder of the Centre for Technology and the Body at King’s College London, to talk about her latest book, The Face: A Cultural History.

She tells us how the idea of the perfectly proportioned face that began in classical art continues to persist in today’s social media beauty trends, the various attempts that have been made over the years to determine a person’s good or bad qualities based on their facial characteristics, and explains the challenges we’re currently confronted by thanks to the rise of new technologies such as facial recognition.

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We often think of our planet as an isolated island, solitary and cut off from the cosmic ocean it resides in. But the truth is, Earth is intimately connected with the Universe surrounding it. What’s more, by learning more about the Solar System around us, humanity has changed its own view of the world as well. Dr Dagomar Degroot from Georgetown University spoke to us to explore this idea in more detail.

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For the last several billion years, all life on Earth has progressed according to the rules of evolution by natural selection – a step-by-step process that has given rise to the fascinating complexity and beauty of all the living things we share our planet with. But now, due to advances in our knowledge of genetics and the rise of artificial intelligence, we’re on the brink of being able to design living organisms from scratch. This new field of research is known as generative biology.

In this episode, we’re joined by Adrian Woolfson, a researcher who specialises in synthetic genome design, to talk about his latest book On the Future of Species – Authoring Life by Means of Artificial Biological Intelligence.

He tells us how this fascinating area of research is bringing us closer to a genuine scientific revolution that could change the way we think about how life is created, the vast implications that this may have on human health and the health of our planet, and why we all need to be aware of this powerful new technology and its potential.

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