The Scouse Science Podcast

For this, the last episode in the current series hosted in Westminster by Professor Tom Solomon and Holly O’Dea, the former Secretary of State for Health, the Rt. Hon Matt Hancock discusses the critical collaborative role of the Government and its’ agencies including the NHS and the MHRA with academia and the private sector together with public engagement in the UK’s response to Covid-19. Matt answers a range of viewers questions about Covid-19 transmission in care homes and the value of the Nightingale hospitals during the pandemic.

In this, the first music science edition hosted Professor Tom Solomon with Holly Ellis, our guests were International DJ, producer, promoter and Circus co-founder Yousef with Dr Eduardo Coutinho, founder and Director of the Applied Music Research Lab at the University of Liverpool which aims to harness the power of music to improve people’s lives.

In this episode, Yousef, a pivotal player in ‘The First Dance’, the official trial event forming part of the Governments’ Covid-19 Event Research programme tells us about how he and the team were told they had only 3 weeks to bring these first large-scale, public events together.

Eduardo speaks about his experience and research into music acting as an ‘emotional contagion’ and its role in our earliest forms of human communication and how it might have underpinned mating success.

Meanwhile Tom brings the exhilarating soundscape created by Yousef directly to the Scouse Science podcast attendees.

Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain. The majority of cases are caused by either a viral infection or the patients’ own immune system attacking their own brain tissue. Actress and impressionist Jan Ravens joins Professor Tom Solomon, who is the President of the Encephalitis Society, to raise public awareness about this devastating disease, sharing her own harrowing experience of the onset, and aftermath of herpes simplex encephalitis in her husband Max. The first female producer in the ‘old boy network’ culture of BBC TV’s Light Entertainment department in the 1980s and elected the first female President of the famous Cambridge Footlights Comedy Club, Jan is best known for her impressionist work with Spitting Image and Dead Ringers. In this episode Jan also discusses her new comedy project about her personal explorations into the world of internet dating.

In this episode, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Williams discusses her initiatives for more compassionate policing in the community and the value of health, schools and other scientific data in a holistic approach to youth crime. We also welcome Dr Curly Moloney, CEO and creator of the new system developed to analyse our subconscious drives; ‘The Cambridge Code’. Also the founder of Moloney International Executive Search, Dr Moloney brings her unique insight into the importance of family in the development of human motivation, integrity and trust.

In this edition, Liverpool Football Club doctor, Jim Moxon outlines the latest strategies used to improve the players muscle strength and power on the pitch while Professor Anne McArdle discusses her latest research initiative; growing muscles in the International Space Station!

In this, the first climate change edition, guests; former Conservative MP Edwina Currie and Professor Ric Williams discuss the issues of global policies addressing acute climate changes, the potential impact of the recent COP26 meeting and the merits of Tesla electric cars with Professor Tom Solomon.

This special episode of the Scouse Science podcast was held in conjunction with the Liverpool Literary Festival. This episode was the first in the series to take place in front of a live audience. Best selling authors; Dr Rachel Clarke and Dr Gavin Francis with Prof Tom Solomon explored the impact of the pandemic from an NHS front-line perspective including the harrowing impacts on public mental health but also how red tape and bureaucracy were by-passed to house the homeless in Edinburgh in 24 hours.

Professor Tom Solomon is joined by guests:

Dame Louise Ellman who became Labour group leader in 1977,  served as MP served MP for Liverpool Riverside from 1997 to 2019 and was awarded a Damehood in 2018 and as Professor William Hope, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Infectious Diseases Research (CEIDR) which focuses on infection therapeutics.

The podcast features a discussion about the need for Covid-19 booster shots for over 70s and the socio-political parallels between the pandemic and antimicrobial resistance.

Professor Tom Solomon CBE is joined by Rory Bremner, political satirist impressionist and comedian best known for his work on Mock the Week and Bremner Bird and Fortune, and also, The University of Liverpool’s Professor Helen Sharp, a Professor in Perinatal and Clinical Child Physiology.

In this episode: Masks, on or off?  ADHD, the impact of lockdown on children, wellbeing and mental health.

Professor Tom Solomon is joined by guests, Fi Glover: BBC journalist who hosts the Fortunately podcast alongside previous Scouse Science guest, Jane Garvey, as well as The Listening Project for BBC Radio4 and My Perfect Country for the BBC World Service. Also, Professor Iain Buchan who leads the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Population Health and pursues data-intensive public health research for major societal challenges, most recently the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and COVID-19 responses.

The podcast features a discussion about vaccines for under 18’s, the planned opening up on July 19th (freedom day) and public trust in the science and testing regime.