The Boring Talks

The artist and designer Kate McLean leads us, nose first, on a smell walk across the world. This podcast may include the odours of cooking sausages, carbolic soap, shattered dreams and bins.

Presenter: James Ward

Can you change your name to your existing name? And, more importantly, why would you bother? James Michael Ward explains what happened when he tried to become James Michael Ward.

Presenter: James Ward

Is basalt really the most boring type of rock in the world? Not according to Dr Anne Jay.

Presenter: James Ward

Rhodri Marsden is underwhelmed by British earthquakes. He thinks it's time to reassess how we report these 'tremors'. Is he right? Maybe.

Presenter: James Ward

Since 2007 Peter Fletcher has been counting and documenting all of his sneezes. Every single one. Now he tells us why, and what he has learned along the way.

Presenter: James Ward

Are you for or against lampposts? The author and design historian Dr Eleanor Herring looks at the controversial history of the lamppost, and those that have railed against them.

Presenter: James Ward

What exactly is a 'Sounding Gestalt'? And how can you make music from a Gentleman's cravat or E. coli? The artist Laurence Jordan will explain.

Presenter: James Ward

From brick making to motorbikes, Dr Claire Thomson celebrates the golden age of Danish Public Information Films (that's 1935 to 1965, in case you were wondering).

Presenter: James Ward

Once called 'Green Girdles', today's Green belts are strange and relatively unknown places. Follow the writer John Grindrod on his guided tour through a world of naturists, cavemen and rancid pies.

Presenter: James Ward

The artist Louise Ashcroft takes us inside the mysterious portal that is the Argos catalogue, and examines what it reveals about people’s desires and aspirations.

Presenter: James Ward