“Fundamental science is crucial.” – In this short conversation, recorded shortly after his Nobel Prize in Physics was announced, Giorgio Parisi reflects on the value of asking basic questions. But what sort of questions does he address? “My mentor, Nicola Cabibbo,” he says, “was usually saying that we should work on a problem only if work on that problem is fun!” He then talks with Adam Smith about his hopes for science funding and the need to communicate. “It’s important that the people who in the end pay the bill for science have some understanding of what science is going on.”

From October 4-11, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2021 Nobel Prize laureates.

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"Why is this happening?" – Establishing a firm scientific basis for predicting what will happen to the climate, and in the shorter term to weather, has been the challenge that has occupied Syukuro Manabe's entire working life. In the interview with Adam Smith, recorded amidst the happy chaos resulting from the early morning announcement of his Nobel Prize in Physics, Manabe reflects on the importance of fundamental research. As he says, "The prediction of climate change without accompanying understanding of it is no better than the prediction of a fortune teller."

From October 4-11, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2021 Nobel Prize laureates.

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"We've been warning against climate change for about 50 years or so" – Caught entirely unawares by the call from Stockholm, Klaus Hasselmann's surprise is evident in this brief interview with Adam Smith, recorded just minutes after the news of his Nobel Prize in Physics had been announced. "I'll wake up tomorrow morning and find out," he says! Pleased that the prize focuses attention on the problem, he discusses the challenges in convincing people that "something that is going to happen in 20 or 30 years is something that you have to respond to now."

From October 4-11, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2021 Nobel Prize laureates.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"The reason that we were able to do it is because we started looking at the natural world." – Turning to some natural product pharmacology was one key to David Julius' success in unlocking the mysteries of how we sense temperature. As he describes in this brief interview with Adam Smith, news that Stockholm was calling reached him in a rather roundabout route in the middle of the night, via a call from his sister-in-law and then a message sent to his wife, Holly Ingraham. Here, to the backdrop of making coffee to help prepare for the busy day ahead, he talks about the possibilities arising from his discoveries, what great scientists taught him about the best way to approach research, and what his mother said when she heard the news!

From October 4-11, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2021 Nobel Prize laureates.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"In science many times it’s the things that we take for granted that are of high interest." – As Ardem Patapoutian says, sometimes the familiar can yield the best surprises. When it comes to figuring out how our senses work, the sense of touch "was kind of the big elephant in the room." Patapoutian had his phone on Do Not Disturb when Stockholm tried to call him but got the news, via his Dad, just in time to watch the press conference, sitting in bed with his son Luca. Adam Smith caught him there to record this brief call moments after the public announcement of his Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and he describes how finally finding the sensors that allow cells to detect pressure has opened up whole new unexpected vistas of phenomena that are governed by sensitivity to touch. As he reflects, "Nobody ever could have thought that pressure sensing is related to these processes."

From October 4-11, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2021 Nobel Prize laureates.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Each year in October, Adam Smith takes on the challenge of reaching the brand new Nobel Prize laureates for a telephone interview. In this bonus episode of Nobel Prize Conversations, Adam takes us behind the scenes of these calls and has collected some of his favourite moments. The host for this episode is Karin Svensson, the producer of Nobel Prize Conversations.

From October 4-11, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2021 Nobel Prize laureates.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I guess I was halfway content with the idea that somehow I’d become an economist.” – 2020 Laureate in Economic Sciences Robert Wilson didn’t really see himself as an economist until he reached the age of 50. Hear Wilson speak about his journey to becoming an economist.

In this ‘Nobel Prize Conversations’ episode, Wilson also speaks about how he received the news about his Prize in Economic Sciences and the culture shock he experienced when he started to study at Harvard University. 

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In the newest episode of ‘Nobel Prize Conversations’, physics laureate Frank Wilczek tells us about his hope to make a mark on the world.

Wilzcek recently released a new book, ‘Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality’, where the readers get to follow Wilzcek on a “simple yet profound exploration of reality”. In this podcast episode, he discusses his new book. Another topic that is up for discussion is how to reach scientific results and Wilzcek shares his thoughts on the matter. 

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Failure is an inevitable part of doing science.” – Even as one of the best-of-the-best young doctors in the country, Robert Lefkowitz’s research career kicked off in 1968 with a demoralizing string of failures at the now-legendary NIH Associates Training Program.

Together with Adam Smith, 2012 Chemistry Laureate Robert Lefkowitz shares his experience of dealing with failure. In addition, they discuss the importance of mentoring, the crucial role of collaboration in scientific development and the writing of Lefkowitz’s new memoir “A funny thing happened on the way to Stockholm”.

Lefkowitz’s research training class, the class of 1968, yielded no fewer than four Nobel Prize Laureates – a track record that’s hard to fathom. Listen to this episode of Nobel Prize Conversations.

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