In what would turn out to be the first of many media interviews, Brian Cox hopped off the plane from Geneva and found himself on Jeremy Paxman’s sofa arguing the case for the Large Hadron Collider against the UK’s most senior scientist. It was the beginning of a broadcasting career which has led to him being described as the natural successor to David Attenborough. He speaks to James about what society, and in particular the politicians who run our nations can learn from physics. Tickets for his 2022 tour, Horizons – A 21st Century Space Odyssey are available now.