“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.”

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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.

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“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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2018 Nobel Physics Laureate Donna Strickland knew she wanted to get a PhD, even as a kid. She didn’t know what it was, but if it was the ultimate in education she was going to get it! In the newest episode of ‘Nobel Prize Conversations’ we meet Donna Strickland and talk about her childhood dream of a PhD, dealing with failure, being a woman in science and being awarded the Nobel Prize.

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“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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“I am very bad at giving up.” – Get to know one of the greatest minds of today, physicist Roger Penrose. At 89, he seems to be working more than ever and is engaged in various research projects. In an intimate conversation with the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith, Penrose speaks about how 2020 was a year that gave him time to reflect and develop even more research ideas – until he was awarded the Nobel Prize! Black holes, magic blackboards and childhood aspirations are other topics that are up for discussion.

Roger Penrose was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity".

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"This is the first time we have had a completely novel virus infection and we are trying to vaccinate our way out of it." In conversation with Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith, Medicine Laureate Peter Doherty speaks about how we should learn from the current corona pandemic to be better prepared for and preferably prevent future pandemics. Doherty was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research on how the immune system recognises virus-ridden cells.

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Known for his contagious energy and sometimes unconventional advice, Paul Nurse talks about Brexit and its effects on scientists and research, and why he has heeded the call to leadership in science – the same science that politicians say they're following. He also recalls his early years in biology as a spider hunter and why he thinks it's vital to ponder the big questions like "What is life?" Paul Nurse received the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle", sharing the distinction with Tim Hunt and Leland Hartwell.

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In this episode we hear 2020 Nobel Chemistry Laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier speak about the drive you need as a researcher and what impact awards can have on a career. Her road to the Nobel Prize was a winding journey, and she recalls how science was her stability. Charpentier shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Jennifer Doudna for discovering key aspects of a naturally-occuring defence mechanism in bacteria, called CRISPR/Cas9, and developing it into one of gene technology's sharpest tools.

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