Exciting news: I have a new book coming out! It’s called In Search of Now: the science and mystery of the present moment, and I’d love to share some of the ideas in it with you, so here is a one-off special episode to ask: What is Now?

The present moment has always fascinated me because on the one hand it’s all around us: everything we do, everything we are. We feel that Now is where we meet the world, where stuff happens, where we feel, think, choose, act. But physicists can’t find it anywhere, and some insist it doesn’t exist at all. So if there’s no physical Now out in the universe, where does our sense of each unfolding moment come from? And is it really an illusion, or could it be a clue that reality is very different from what we thought?

Rather than me interviewing a guest this week, I’ve asked my good friend, Ian Sample, to come on as guest host and grill me for a change! You might know him as the host of the Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast, although he’s here in a personal capacity.

In Search of Now is out in the UK on 12 February, published by Canongate, and in the US in March, published by Liveright.

In Search of Now (UK edition)

https://canongate.co.uk/books/4351-in-search-of-now-the-science-and-mystery-of-the-present-moment/

In Search of Now (US edition)

https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324097488

Do follow the show so you don't miss season 2, when we’ll be talking to scientists – and perhaps some philosophers as well – who’ll be helping us to stretch our minds, rethink our assumptions and imagine very different worlds.

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*** Edited highlights on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhB4lyBDyjTliuz_h5oHwN6H8HoxS7qWL

Hosted by Jo Marchant:

https://jomarchant.com

Produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada:

https://www.yada-yada.net/

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