Little Atoms
By Neil Denny
To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to download and subscribe to podcasts.
Podcast Description
Little Atoms is a weekly show featuring the worlds of science, journalism, politics, religion, academia, human rights and the arts in conversation. Produced and presented by Neil Denny, Padraig Reidy, Richard Sanderson and special guests. It's broadcast in London every Friday from 19:00 GMT on Resonance 104.4 FM. The podcast is graciously hosted for peanuts by Positive Internet.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Stuart Clark – The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth Trilogy | Dr Stuart Clark is one of the UK’s most widely read astronomy journalists. He talks to Neil Denny about his series of fiction, The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth Trilogy, now on it’s second book, The Sensorium of God. A former editor of Astronomy Now, He has a PhD in astrophysics and until 2001 was director of public astronomy education at the University of Hertfordshire. In 2001 the Independent ranked him alongside Stephen Hawking and Sir Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, as one of the ‘stars’ of British astrophysics teaching. A regular contributor to such magazines as New Scientist and BBC Focus, he is the author of several nonfiction books, including Galaxy, The Sun Kings and The Big Questions: The Universe. http://www.stuartclark.com/ | 3 2 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
Prof Chris Barnatt – Explaining the Future | Christopher Barnatt talks to Little Atoms about his latest book: 25 Things You Need to Know About the Future. Chris is Associate Professor of Computing & Future Studies in Nottingham University Business School, and the author of ExplainingComputers.com, ExplainingTheFuture.com and their popular YouTube channels. He has written five previous books on computing and future studies including A Brief Guide to Cloud Computing, and lectures and consults widely on cloud computing and Web 2.0. http://www.explainingthefuture.com/ | 27 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
Nick Cohen – You Can’t Listen to This Podcast | Nick Cohen is a columnist for the Observer. In this show Nick talks about the fight for free speech in the UK and about his latest release; You Can’t Read this Book. He does occasional pieces for many other publications, including Standpoint and The Spectator. Cruel Britannia: Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous, a collection of his journalism, was published by Verso in 1999, and Pretty Straight Guys, a history of Britain under Tony Blair, was published by Faber in 2003. Nick’s next book What’s Left?: How Liberals Lost Their Way, an examination of the agonies, idiocies and compromises of mainstream liberal thought was published in 2007. Waiting for the Etonians: Reports From the Sickbed of Liberal England was published by 4th Estate in February 2009. Ascerbic, funny and uncompromising, Nick Cohen’s forensic political journalism makes him one of the sharpest writers on the British left. | 20 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
Stephen Trombley – A Short History of Western Thought | Stephen Trombley is a writer, editor and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. He collaborated with Alan Bullock on the second edition of The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (1988), and was editor of The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought (1999). His books include The Execution Protocol, The Right to Reproduce, and ‘All That Summer She Was Mad’: Virginia Woolf and her Doctors . Stephen’s latest book is A Short History of Western Thought. http://www.stephentrombleyproductions.com | 13 1 12 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People 2011 | Extended Christmas specials recorded backstage at “Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People”, the “Variety version of the Royal Institute Christmas Lectures”, at the Bloomsbury Theatre. The nights were curated by comedian Robin Ince, and featured a huge roster of comedians, musicians, scientists and others in a festive celebration of science and rationalism. Interviews with Robin Ince, Adam Rutherford, Matt Kirshen, Helen Keen, Simon Singh, Alex Bellos, Richard Vranch, Chris Addison, Aleks Krotoski, Dean Burnett, Andrea Sella, Neil Hannon and Mark Thomas. Interviews by Neil Denny with Padraig Reidy and Becky Hogge. The shows were recorded on 18th & 19th December 2011. | 24 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
Nigel Warburton – A Little History of Philosophy | Nigel Warburton is a contemporary philosopher. As well as being Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at The Open University, he is a presenter of the Philosophy Bites podcast, and teaches a popuar course on art and philosophy at Tate Modern. He is the author of several popular introductions to philosophy including Philosophy: The Basics and Free Speech: A Very Short Introduction. His latest book is A Little History of Philosophy. http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/philosophy/warburton.shtml | 9 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
Mark Forsyth – The Etymologicon | Mark Forsyth is a writer, journalist and blogger and pedant. Every job he’s ever had, whether as a ghost-writer or proof-reader or copy-writer, has been to do with words. He started The Inky Fool blog in 2009 and now writes a post almost daily. The blog has received worldwide attention and enjoys an average of 4,000 hits per week. Mark is the author of The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language. http://blog.inkyfool.com | 2 12 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
Kitty Ferguson – Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work | Kitty Ferguson was born in San Antonio, Texas. She now divides her time between South Carolina and Cambridge. An experienced science writer, her previous books include The Fire in the Equations, Measuring the Universe, The Nobleman and his Housedog, Stephen Hawking: Quest for a Theory of Everything and Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe. Her latest book is Stephen Hawking: His Life and Work. Kitty Ferguson‘s homepage on Icon books. | 30 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
Adam Macqueen – 50 Years of Private Eye | Adam Macqueen has been a hack at Private Eye magazine (on and off ) for 14 years. He was assistant, deputy and finally acting editor of The Big Issue between 1999 and 2002. He’s on the editorial team of Popbitch.com, and was an associate producer on Adam Curtis’s BBC series All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace. Adam is the author of various books including The King of Sunlight, and his latest is Private Eye: The First 50 Years. http://www.adammacqueen.com | 18 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
Lisa Randall – Knocking on Heaven’s Door | Professor Lisa Randall is a theoretical particle physicist and cosmologist at Harvard University. Randall’s studies have made her among the most cited and influential theoretical physicists. She also has a public presence through her writing, lectures, and radio and TV appearances. Her book Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions was included in the New York Times’ 100 notable books of 2005. Professor Randall was included in the list of Time magazine’s ’100 Most Influential People’ of 2007 and was featured in Newsweek’s ‘Who’s Next in 2006′ as ‘one of the most promising theoretical physicists of her generation’. Randall has received numerous awards and honors for her scientific endeavors. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Randall is an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics. Her latest book is Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World. http://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/randall.html | 11 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
11 |
Manjit Kumar – 100 years of the Solvay | Manjit Kumar was the founding editor of Prometheus, an interdisciplinary journal that covered the arts and sciences, described by one reviewer as ‘perhaps the finest magazine that I’ve ever read’. He has written and reviewed for various publications including the Guardian, The Times, The Independent and New Scientist. Manjit’s book Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality was Shortlisted for the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize, and was one of the top ten science books of 2010 on Amazon.com. Manjit has been our guest on Little Atoms three times. http://manjitkumar.blogspot.com | 4 11 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
12 |
Little Atoms Live: What’s behind the Built Environment? | This was the first in a series of events at the Bishopsgate Institute curated by Little Atoms under the theme Whose Mind is it Anyway? The modernist architecture espoused by communism explicitly promoted the ethos of collective living. It could also be argued that shopping centres encourage you to shop, parks persuade you to linger, local shops enhance communities and gated buildings create restrictions. So are we more directed by what surrounds us than we think? This discussion explores the affect of urban building and design on our lives and questions whether there are motivations behind it. Chair: Neil Denny Speakers: Anna Minton is a writer and journalist and the author of ‘Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the Twenty-First Century City‘. She spent a decade in journalism, including a stint on The Financial Times, and is the winner of five national journalism awards. She is the author of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Viewpoint on fear and distrust and is currently working on a new chapter of ‘Ground Control’, focusing on the Olympics, which will be published in a new edition in January 2012. The idea for ‘Ground Control’ emerged from a series of three agenda setting reports. The first focused on gated communities and ghettoes in the US, questioning to what extent these trends are emerging in the UK. The second, ‘Northern Soul’, looked at polarisation and culture in one British city, Newcastle, and the third, ‘What kind of World Are We Building?’ investigated the growing privatisation of public space. Professor Alan Penn is the Dean of the Bartlett faculty of the Built Environment at UCL. He was the founding Chair of the RIBA’s Research and Innovation Committee, and served in that role until 2006 He was the lead academic on the £5m Urban Buzz: Building Sustainable Communities knowledge exchange programme which promoted more sustainable forms of urban development and intensification in London and the greater South East Region of the UK Alan was also a founding director of Space Syntax Ltd, Space Syntax has Space Syntax is a theory of architecture and town planning, and Space Syntax Ltd has developed a set of advanced software tools that evaluate the role of spatial layout in shaping patterns of human behaviour. Jonathan Meades has written and performed in some sixty television shows on predominantly topographical subjects such as self-built shacks, the utopian avoidance of right angles, the lure of vertigo, the architecture of Hitler and Stalin, and the everyday surrealism of Belgium: certain of these are available on ‘ The Jonathan Meades Collection’ DVD. A series on France which is unknown to most Britons (and many French) will be transmitted early in 2012. Jonathan is the author of several books including three works of fiction – Filthy English, Pompey and The Fowler Family Business – and two anthologies of journalism; Peter knows What Dick Likes, and Incest and Morris Dancing. His next book will be published by Unbound, an experiment in crowd-funded publishing. It’s a collection of essays entitled Museum without Walls. Subscribe at Unbound.co.uk . | 24 10 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
13 |
Misha Glenny – DarkMarket | Misha Glenny is a distinguished journalist and historian. Misha’s latest book is DarkMarket: CyberThieves, CyberCops and You. As the Central Europe Correspondent first for the Guardian and then for the BBC, he chronicled the collapse of communism and the wars in the former Yugoslavia. He won the Sony Gold Award for outstanding contribution to broadcasting. The author of four books, including the acclaimed McMafia, he has been regularly consulted by the US and European governments on major policy issues and ran an NGO for three years, assisting with the reconstruction of Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo. http://www.darkmarketinsider.com/ | 14 10 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
14 |
John Mitchinson & Keith Kahn-Harris: Unbound | On this week’s show QI’s Director of Research John Mitchinson returns to Little Atoms to talk about Unbound, his exciting new crowd-funded publishing venture. Joining John is Keith Kahn-Harris. Keith is a sociologist, researcher, writer and music critic. He is also an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, an associate lecturer for the Open University and the convenor of New Jewish Thought. Keith’s book ‘The Best Water Skier In Luxembourg: Tales of Big Fishes in Small Ponds’ is one of the first Unbound publications. http://kahn-harris.org/ http://unbound.co.uk/books | 7 10 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
15 |
Russell Foster – Seasons of Life | Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Chair of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophtalmology and a Senior Kurti Fellow at Brasenose College at the University of Oxford, and a leading expert on the neuroscience of biological time. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society. Russell is the co-author with Leon Kreitzman of the books Rhythms of Life and Seasons of Life. http://www.neuroscience.ox.ac.uk/directory/russell-foster | 30 9 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
16 |
Nessa Carey – The Epigenetics Revolution | Nessa Carey is the author of The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance. She has a PhD in virology from the University of Edinburgh and has worked in the biotech industry for nearly ten years. She was previously a Senior Lecturer at Imperial College School of Medicine in London. http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/authors/nessa-carey | 23 9 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
17 |
Jim Al-Khalili – Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science | Jim Al-Khalili OBE is a theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is currently Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey, where he also holds the first Surrey chair in the public engagement in science. He was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for science communication in 2007, elected Honorary Fellow of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and has also received the Institute of Physic’s Public Awareness of Physics Award. http://www.jimal-khalili.com/ Jim is the author of numerous popular science titles, including Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines, Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed and the book we talk about in this interview, Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science. | 16 9 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
18 |
Mark Lynas – The God Species | Mark Lynas is an author and environmental activist who focuses on climate change. He is a Visiting Research Associate at Oxford University’s School of Geography and the Environment. In 2009 he was appointed advisor on climate change to the President of the Maldives, which aims to be the first carbon neutral country on Earth by 2020. http://www.marklynas.org/ Mark is the author of The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans, published in July 2011. He has previously written two major books on climate change – High Tide: News from a warming world and Six Degrees: Our future on a hotter planet. | 12 9 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
19 |
Heather Brooke – The Revolution Will be Digitised | Heather Brooke is a freelance journalist and Freedom of Information campaigner famous for uncovering the MPs’ expenses scandal. She has written for most of the national papers and has worked as a consultant and presenter for Channel 4′s Dispatches. She is a visiting professor at City University’s Department of Journalism and is the author of Your Right to Know and The Silent State. She has won numerous awards, including the Judges’ Prize at the 2010 British Press Awards. Heather’s latest book is The Revolution Will be Digitised: Dispatches From the Information War. http://heatherbrooke.org/ | 2 9 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
20 |
Becky Hogge – Barefoot Into Cyberspace | Becky Hogge is a technology journalist and author of Barefoot into Cyberspace: Adventures in Search of Techno-Utopia. Her writing on information politics, human rights and technology has appeared regularly in the New Statesman, and she has also been published in, among others, Index on Censorship, the Guardian, Prospect, Dazed and Confused and The Face. In 2007, she became the executive director of the Open Rights Group. For two years, she led the organisation into battle against electronic voting, online censorship and mass communication surveillance before passing on the campaign baton in 2009 and moving to rural East Anglia. http://barefootintocyberspace.com/book/ | 26 8 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
21 |
Brian Switek – Written in Stone | Brian Switek is a science writer and research associate at the New Jersey State Museum. Brian is the author of Written in Stone: The Hidden Secrets of Fossils and the Story of Life on Earth. He writes the blog Laelaps for Wired Science, and Dinosaur Tracking for Smithsonian. He has been a guest on BBC Radio 4′s Material World and written for The Times and the Guardian, as well as the Wall Street Journal and Scientific American. http://brianswitek.com/ | 26 8 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
22 |
John Mullen: Great Thinkers – In their own words | John Mullen is a BBC producer and director, who makes films about art, history and popular culture. He has made several films exploring the BBC archive, including the award-winning ‘Kenneth Williams In His Own Words’. He is appearing on Little Atoms to discuss his most recent series, ‘Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words’, which features rarely-seen and newly-discovered archive of the likes of Freud, Jung, Maynard Keynes, Hayek and Raymond Williams. http://bbc.in/nPvZ75 | 12 8 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
23 |
Conor Woodman – Unfair Trade | Conor Woodman is an economist, author and presenter. His latest book is Unfair Trade: How Big Business Exploits the World’s Poor – and Why it Doesn’t Have to. His passion is to unravel global economic issues in an accessible way – with a sense of fun and adventure. http://conorwoodman.com Conor is also the author of Around The World in 80 Trades - which had an accompanying four-part television series for Channel 4. | 5 8 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
24 |
Duncan Watts – Everything is Obvious… Once You Know the Answer | Duncan Watts is a principal research scientist at Yahoo! Research, and a former professor of sociology at Columbia University. His research on social networks and collective dynamics has appeared in a wide range of academic journals, including Nature, Science, and the American Journal of Sociology. Duncan’s latest book is Everything is Obvious* *Once you Know The Answer: How Common Sense Fails. http://bit.ly/mPV9Ts He is also the author of two previous books, Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age; and Small Worlds: The Dynamics of Networks between Order and Randomness. | 29 7 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
25 |
Anita’s Adventures in Wonderlands | Anita Sethi is an award-winning journalist, writer and broadcaster, who has written for the Guardian, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent, Granta, Times Literary Supplement, and BBC, among others. In broadcasting she has appeared as a regular guest panelist and commentator on shows including the BBC’s Richard Bacon Show, Simon Mayo Show, the World Today, and Up All Night. http://www.anitasethi.co.uk She has written dispatches from around the world including the Baluchestan desert, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Kenya, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, the United States, the Great Outback, and from a 15, 000 mile overland adventure from London to Sydney, for leading newspapers and magazines. She was awarded a Travelling Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. Her travel reportage, fiction, criticism and poetry have been published in several anthologies and books including From There to Here, Roads Ahead, The Book Club Bible, and she is working on a novel. | 22 7 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
26 |
Little Atoms Live: Tarek Shahin | Padraig Reidy interviews Egyptian cartoonist Tarek Shahin. This event was part of Shubbak Festival 2011. http://alkhancomics.com/ This year has seen unprecedented moves for democracy across the Middle East. But what role has satire played in this? Can humour thrive under tyranny? And can dictators allow themselves to be laughed at? Is there such thing as “Arab comedy”? Tarek Shahin is an Egyptian cartoonist. A vocal dissident in pre-revolution Egypt, Shahin is the author of the edgy comic strip Al Khan, which ran in The Daily News Egypt. The Al Khan comics published in the lead-up to the recent uprising are compiled in his book “Rise: The Story of The Egyptian Revolution As Written Shortly Before It Began.” Recorded Wednesday 20th July 2011 at The Free Word Centre. | 22 7 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
27 |
Dr Michael Brooks – Free Radicals | Dr Michael Brooks is the author of Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science. Michael is a journalist, broadcaster, and a consultant at New Scientist. His previous books include the acclaimed non-fiction title 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense and the techno-thriller Entanglement, as well as The Big Questions: Physics. http://www.michaelbrooks.org His writing has also appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Observer, the Times Higher Education, the Philadelphia Inquirer and (his proudest byline) Playboy. He has lectured at New York University, The American Museum of Natural History and Cambridge University. As well as contributing to traditional outlets for science, such as BBC Radio 4′s Today Programme and Material World, he has a regular live slot on the George Lamb Show on BBC’s 6 Music radio station, where he is regularly asked to explain everything in the universe. | 15 7 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
28 |
Angela Saini – Geek Nation | Angela Saini is the author of Geek Nation and an award-winning independent journalist based in London. Her book is about a journey through India, to find out whether the country is set to become the world’s next scientific superpower. http://www.angelasaini.co.uk/ Angela’s work focuses on science, technology and their impact on society. Her writing has been published in New Scientist, Science and Wired, and she’s a regular reporter on BBC radio science shows,. She was shortlisted for the best feature award from the Association of British Science Writers in 2010 and named European Junior Science Writer of the Year by the Euroscience Foundation in 2009. Before going freelance, she was a reporter for BBC News in London, where her investigation into bogus universities won the Prix Circom Award for European television journalism. In 2011 she was nominated under the media professional category at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. | 8 7 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
29 |
Ian Stewart – Mathematics of Life | Ian Stewart’s is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at Warwick University where he maintains an active research program. His latest book is Mathematics of Life. Ian is know for his ability to popularise mathematics, and in 2001 he was awarded the Royal Society’s Michael Faraday Medal for furthering the public understanding of science. His bestselling books include Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities and Professor Stewart’s Hoard of Mathematical Treasures. Ian is a regular contributor to New Scientist. http://freespace.virgin.net/ianstewart.joat/ | 1 7 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
30 |
Marc Abrahams – Improbable Research | Marc Abrahams is editor and co-founder of the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research, its website Improbable.com, and is the founder and master of ceremonies of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – honouring achievements that make people LAUGH, and then THINK. The Prizes are handed out by genuine Nobel Laureates at a gala ceremony held each October at Harvard University and broadcast on National Public Radio and on the Internet. Marc writes a weekly column for the Guardian, and is the author of numerous books about the Ig Nobel awards and improbable research. This show was guest hosted by Dan Schreiber. Dan Schreiber is the co-creator & producer of BBC Radio 4′s Museum of Curiosity, occasional QI Elf, Chinese Standup & expert on all things Brian Blessed. http://www.improbable.com | 24 6 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
31 |
Jim Baggott – The Quantum Story | Jim Baggott has been studying and writing about the history of physics for nearly 20 years. Jim’s latest book is The Quantum Story: A History in 40 Moments. His previous books have been widely acclaimed and include A Beginner’s Guide to Reality, Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy and the Meaning of Quantum Theory, and Atomic: The First War of Physics and the Secret History of the Atom Bomb, 1939–1949. | 17 6 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
32 |
200th show – Martin Rees: From Here to Infinity | Martin Rees is Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics and Master of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Martin’s latest book is From Here to Infinity: Scientific Horizons, which expands on hIs 2010 BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures. He was the President of the Royal Society until 2010, and is the Astronomer Royal. A member of the House of Lords, he is a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His awards include the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Einstein Award of the World Cultural Council and the Crafoord Prize (Royal Swedish Academy). He was the recipient of the 2011 Templeton Prize. THIS PROGRAM WAS THE 200TH EDITION OF LITTLE ATOMS. First broadcast on 3rd June 2011. | 3 6 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
33 |
Dorian Lynskey – 33 Revolutions Per Minute | Dorian Lynskey is a music writer for the Guardian. His latest book is 33 Revolutions Per Minute:A History of Protest Songs. He was the Big Issue’s music critic for three years and has freelanced for a host of titles, including Q, Word, Spin, Empire, Blender and the Observer. He is also the author of The Guardian Book of Playlists. http://33revolutionsperminute.wordpress.com/ | 31 5 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
34 |
Little Atoms Live: Which Way to Techno-Utopia? | Recorded Monday 23rd May 2011 at The Free Word Centre. Chair: Becky Hogge, with Gia Milinovich, Angela Saini and Ken Hollings. Over the last century technology has evolved exponentially and has changed our lives in ways that are too numerous to count. But what effect does technology have on wider society? How has it changed the ways we interact and communicate? Does technology have the capacity to change fundamentally who we are as human beings? Has technology freed us, or have we become its slaves? And what of the future? Will technology save or harm the planet? Discussing these questions and more are: Gia Milinovich is a presenter, writer and blogger, specializing mainly in new media and film. She has an acute knowledge of computers, technology, the Internet and science. She has worked in a technical capacity on major blockbusters including The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and 28 Weeks Later, and created the ‘behind the scenes’ website for the critically-acclaimed sci-fi film Sunshine. She advised on and appeared in the 2009 BBC programme Electric Dreams. Angela Saini is an independent science journalist based in London, she has written for New Scientist, Wired, The Economist and leading scientific journals in the UK and the US. Her first television science documentary aired in November 2008, and she can be regularly heard reporting on technology issues for the BBC World Service radio show ‘Digital Planet’. She was named European Young Science Writer of the Year in 2009. bilingual English and Hindi speaker, she previously worked in India for The Hindu newspaper group. Angela is the author of Geek Nation: How Indian Science is Taking Over the World. Ken Hollings is a writer based in London. His work draws freely upon trash culture, weird science, political intrigue and strange connections to reconfigure reality and demolish common assumptions. His work appears in a wide range of journals and publications, including The Wire, Sight and Sound and Strange Attractor. He has written and presented critically acclaimed programmes for BBC Radio 3, Radio 4, Resonance FM, NPS in Holland and ABC Australia. He is the author of Welcome to Mars: Science and the American Century 1947-1959 and Destroy All Monsters. Ken’s most recent project for Radio 3 was Requiem for The Network, a series of essays on the history, power and revolutionary change of information networks. | 23 5 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
35 |
Adam Curtis – All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace | Adam Curtis is a producer, writer and director. Adam’s latest series, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace begins on BBC2 on 23rd May 2011. He has produced and directed television documentaries such as Pandora’s Box, The Mayfair Set, The Century of the Self, The Power of Nightmares and The Trap. Curtis’ programs, though always about serious issues, maintain a sense of tongue-in-cheek humour and are characteristic in their extensive use of archive footage. In his film making, Curtis strives to find meaningful connections between historical situations and often focuses on the impact different ideologies have had on modern society. | 20 5 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
36 |
Jon Ronson – The Psychopath Test | Jon Ronson is an author, broadcaster and journalist. His latest Radio 4 series of Jon Ronson on… is currently airing, and he continues to be a regular contributor to The Guardian. Jon’s latest book is The Psychopath Test. Jon Ronson began his journalistic career as an award-winning columnist for Time Out. He has made numerous TV Documentaries including Secret Rulers of the world, Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes and the multi award-winning Tottenham Ayatollah. Jon’s books include Them: Adventures with Extremists and The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was subsequently adapted into a film starring among others George Clooney. | 13 5 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
37 |
Brian Clegg – Inflight Science | Brian Clegg is a science journalist and writer. He runs www.popularscience.co.uk and is the author of Inflight Science: A Guide to the World From Your Airplane Window. Brian’s other books include Armageddon Science, Before The Big Bang, and A Brief History of Infinity. http://www.brianclegg.net | 6 5 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
38 |
Martin Nowak – SuperCooperators | Martin Nowak is the author of Supercooperators: Evolution, Altruism and Human Behaviour or Why We Need Each Other to Succeed. Martin is Professor of Biology and Mathematics at Harvard University and the recipient of a raft of international prizes. He has held major research posts at the University of Vienna, Oxford University, Princeton and now Harvard and has published over 300 papers and has been widely praised for revolutionising the mathematical approach to biology. SuperCooperators is co-authored by Roger Highfield, PhD, the editor of New Scientist magazine. | 29 4 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
39 |
Masha Gessen – Perfect Rigour | Masha Gessen is author of Perfect Rigour: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century. She is a journalist who has written for Slate, Seed, the New Republic, the New York Times, and other publications. Her previous books include Blood Matters: A Journey Along the Genetic Frontier. | 22 4 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
40 |
John Lanchester – Whoops! | John Lanchester is the author of: Whoops! Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay. As a journalist and novelist, he was winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award for his debut The Debt to Pleasure. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books and The New Yorker, and a restaurant critic for the Guardian. He also writes a monthly column form Esquire. John’s article on our love affair with the City “Cityphilia” generated much response on its publication in January 2008, and indeed predicted a worldwide crash based on the misuse of financial derivatives. In October 2008 he charted the financial crisis as it had developed over the year in “Citiphobia”. | 15 4 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
41 |
David Eagleman – Incognito | David Eagleman is is a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, where he directs the Laboratory for Perception and Action and the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law. He is best known for his work on time perception, synesthesia and neurolaw. His book on neuroscience include Wednesday is Indigo Blue, and the recently published Incognito. He writes regularly for the New York Times, Wired, Discover, Slate, and New Scientist, and is a repeat guest on NPR, discussing both science and literature – his twin passions. He also recently published an iPad only book, Why the Net Matters. David is also a fiction writer. His novel Sum: Forty Tales From the Afterlives, was named a Best Book of The Year by Barnes and Noble, and inspired Brian Eno to write twelve new pieces of music, which he performed, with Eagleman, at the Sydney Opera House. http://www.eagleman.com/ | 8 4 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
42 |
Tim Wu – The Master Switch | Prof Tim Wu is an author, policy advocate and author of The Master Switch. Tim is a professor at Columbia Law School, the chairman of media reform organization Free Press. Wu was recognized in 2006 as one of 50 leaders in science and technology by Scientific American magazine, and in 2007 was listed as one of Harvard’s 100 most influential graduates by 02138 magazine. He has written for the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Forbes, Slate magazine, and others. Tim Wu’s best known work is the development of Net Neutrality theory, but he has also written about copyright, international trade, and the study of law-breaking. Tim has recently joined the Federal Trade Commission as a Senior Policy Advisor. | 1 4 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
43 |
Richard Wiseman – Paranormality: Ghosts, the devil and a talking Mongoose | Richard Wiseman is Britain’s only professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology and has an international reputation for his research into unusual areas including deception, luck, humour and the paranormal. He is the psychologist most frequently quoted by the British Media and his research has been featured on over 150 programmes. He is regularly heard on Radio 4 and featured articles about his work have appeared throughout the national press. Richard’s books include Quirkology, :59 Seconds, and the recently published Paranormality: Why we See What Isn’t There. Richard has been our guest on Little Atoms twice. | 25 3 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
44 |
Mark Stevenson – The Optimist’s Tour of the Future | Mark Stevenson formerly worked as an expert in both prime number cryptography and computer aided systems engineering. Today he combines two other careers – one as a successful writer/ comedian (writing for TV, radio and print) and another as a speaker and consultant on future narratives, institutional innovation, engineered serendipity and learning. He is co-founder and director of the cultural learning agency Flow Associates and the science communication agency ReAgency. A new mobile project, engendering conversations and stimulating learning and direct action within an audience of 30 million users, The Age of Smart, is coming in mid 2011. Mark is a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Mark is the author of An Optimist’s Tour of the Future. http://anoptimiststourofthefuture.com | 18 3 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
45 |
Alok Jha – How to Live Forever | Alok Jha is science and environment correspondent at the Guardian. In addition to writing news and comment, he presents the Science Weekly podcast and runs the Guardian’s science website. Alok’s first book is How to Live Forever and 34 Other Really Interesting Uses of Science. http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alokjha | 11 3 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
46 |
Manjit Kumar: Ernest Rutherford – 100 Years of the Atom | Manjit Kumar was the founding editor of Prometheus, an interdisciplinary journal that covered the arts and sciences, described by one reviewer as ‘perhaps the finest magazine that I’ve ever read’. He has written and reviewed for various publications including the Guardian, The Times, The Independent and New Scientist. Manjit’s book Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality was Shortlisted for the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize, and was one of the top ten science books of 2010 on Amazon.com. | 4 3 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
47 |
Henry Nicholls – The Way of The Panda | Henry Nicholls is a freelance science journalist writing regularly for Nature, New Scientist and BBC Focus as well as the broadsheets. His first book Lonesome George told the story of the last giant tortoise of Pinta in the Galapagos and was shortlisted for the 2007 Royal Society General Book Prize. Henry’s latest book is The Way of The Panda: The Curious History of China’s Political Animal. www.henrynicholls.com First broadcast on 25th February 2011 | 25 2 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
48 |
Joanne Baker – 50 Universe Ideas You Really Need to Know | Joanne Baker studied Physics at the University of Cambridge and took her PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Sydney in 1995. She is the author of the best selling 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need to Know and is an editor at Nature magazine, where her speciality is space and Earth science. Her latest book is 50 Universe Ideas You Really Need to Know. | 18 2 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
49 |
Chris Petit – An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and other stories | Chris Petit is a film and video-maker and an author. His films include Radio On, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and Chinese Boxes, and his video work has covered weather, surveillance and the M25. His novels include The Hard Shoulder, The Human Pool and The Passenger. Chris also writes regular reviews for The Guardian. First broadcast on 11th February 2011 | 11 2 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
50 |
Johann Hari – Taxing Issues | Johann Hari is an award-winning journalist who writes twice-weekly for the Independent, and the Huffington Post. He is a contributing writer for Slate, and regularly appears on the BBC’s Newsnight Review. His work has also appeared in a wide range of other international newspapers and magazines. http://www.johannhari.com First broadcast on 4th February 2011 | 4 2 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
51 |
Evgeny Morozov – How Not to Liberate the World | Evgeny Morozov is the author of The Net Delusion: How Not to Liberate the World. He is a contributing editor to Foreign Policy and runs the magazine’s “Net Effect” blog about the Internet’s impact on global politics. http://www.evgenymorozov.com Morozov is currently a visiting scholar at Stanford University and a Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation. He was formerly a Yahoo! fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and a fellow at George Soros’s Open Society Institute, where he remains on the board of the Information Program. Morozov’s writings have appeared in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, Times Literary Supplement, Le Monde, Dissent and many other publications. | 3 2 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
52 |
Free Word Special – Don’t Dumb Me Down | @littleatoms live event with @marcusdusautoy @AdamRutherford @bengoldacre & Liz Bonnin Recorded at the Free Word Centre, London on Wednesday 26th January 2011 | 30 1 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
53 |
Natalie Haynes – The Ancient Guide to Modern Life | Natalie Haynes is an author and an award-winning stand-up comedian. A regular panellist on the BBC’s Newsnight Review, Saturday Review and Front Row. She has been a guest columnist for The Times since 2006. Natalie has written a book for children, The Great Escape, and her latest is The Ancient Guide to Modern Life. http://www.nataliehaynes.com/ First broadcast on Resonance FM on 28th January 2011 | 28 1 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
54 |
Francis Spufford – Red Plenty | Francis Spufford, a former Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, has edited two acclaimed literary anthologies and a collection of essays on the history of technology. His latest book is Red Plenty. http://www.redplenty.com First broadcast on 14th January 2011 His first book, I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination, was awarded the Writers Guild Award for Best Non-Fiction Book of 1996 and a Somerset Maugham Award, and also inspired a Frankfurt Ballet production and a clown show at the Edinburgh Festival 2001. His second, The Child that Books Built, was described as ‘witty, compelling and elegant’ by the New Statesman. His third, Backroom Boys, was called a ‘beautifully written book’ by the Daily Telegraph and was shortlisted for the Aventis Prize and longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. | 14 1 11 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
55 |
The Best of Little Atoms 2010 | Listen to all the best bits of our 2010 radio show in this one hour-long special edition. Featuring interviews with Prof Brian Cox, Dara O’Briain, Ian McEwan, Lynn Barber, Cory Doctorow, Timothy Garton Ash , Rebecca Skloot, Jonathan Ross and Alan Moore. http://www.littleatoms.com/ | 27 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
56 |
John Mitchinson – QI: Quite Interesting | John Mitchinson is Director of Research at QI, and the co-author with John Lloyd of various QI books, the latest of which is The Second Book of General Ignorance. If you’ve heard of QI, the chances are that you’ve heard of the BBC2 comedy panel quiz of the same name, hosted by Stephen Fry. Permanently installed guest Alan Davies develops the intellectual counterpoint and, as Stephen puts it, “rushes headlong like a puppy into the wall of ignorance.” For the ten years before QI, Mitchinson was a book publisher, Prior to that he spent six years as Marketing Director of Waterstone’s. John is a Vice-President of the Hay Festival, a director of Jonathan Burrows contemporary dance group, a Fellow of the RSA and one of Trustees of the London Centre for International Storytelling. http://www.qi.com First broadcast on 17th December 2010 | 25 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
57 |
Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People 2010 | Extended Christmas specials recorded backstage at “Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People”, the “Variety version of the Royal Institute Christmas Lectures”, at the Bloomsbury Theatre on the 16th December 2010. The nights were curated by comedian Robin Ince, and featured a huge roster of comedians, musicians, scientists and others in a festive celebration of science and rationalism. 2010 show interviews with Isy Suttie, Jim al-Khalili, Richard Wiseman, Josie Long, Chris Addison, Helen Arney, Matt Parker, Ben Moor, Simon Singh and Stewart Lee. Interviews by Neil Denny and Guest host Helen Keen. | 25 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
58 |
Richard Elwes – How to Build a Brain… | Dr Richard Elwes is a writer, teacher, and researcher in Mathematics, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Leeds. He Contributes to New Scientist and Plus Magazine and has publishes research on model theory. Dr Elwes is passionate about the public understanding of maths, which he promotes at talks and on the radio. His books include Maths 1001: Absolutely Everything you Need to Know About Mathematics in 1001 Bite-sized Explanations, and most recently, How to Build a Brain and 34 other really interesting uses of mathematics, to be published early in 2011. http://richardelwes.co.uk First broadcast on 3rd December 2010 | 18 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
59 |
Kitty Ferguson – Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe | Kitty Ferguson was born in San Antonio, Texas. She now divides her time between South Carolina and Cambridge. An experienced science writer, her previous books include The Fire in the Equations, Measuring the Universe, The Nobleman and his Housedog and Stephen Hawking: Quest for a Theory of Everything. Her latest book is Pythagoras: His Lives and the Legacy of a Rational Universe. http://kittyferguson.com First broadcast on 26th November 2010 | 14 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
60 |
Jonathan Meades & Will Alsop: Little Atoms Live: Urban Renaissance? | Little Atoms Live: Urban Renaissance? with Jonathan Meades & Will Alsop Jonathan Meades is a broadcaster and the author of several books including three works of fiction – Filthy English, Pompey and The Fowler Family Business – and two anthologies of journalism. He is currently working on a book entitled An Encyclopaedia of Myself. Professor Will Alsop is one of Britain’s most renowned architects. He is currently a professor at the Technical University of Vienna. Recorded Friday 19th November 2010 at The Free Word Centre. | 5 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
61 |
Giles Sparrow – Hubble: Window on the Universe | Giles Sparrow is the author of The Universe and How to See It and The Planets and he was also a major contributor to Dorling Kindersley’s Universe. His latest book is Hubble:Window on the Universe, published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope. He studied Astronomy at University College London, and Science Communication at Imperial College. http://www.gilessparrow.co.uk First broadcast on 19th November 2010 | 1 12 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
62 |
Dan Hind – The Return of The Public | Dan Hind is a journalist and publisher. In 2009 he left the industry to develop a program of media reform centred around public commissioning. His journalism has appeared in the Guardian, New Scientist, Lobster and the Times Literary Supplement. His first book was The Threat to Reason:How the Enlightenment Was Hijacked and How We Can Reclaim it. Dan’s latest book is The Return of The Public. http://thereturnofthepublic.wordpress.com First broadcast on 5th November 2010 | 27 11 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
63 |
Lewis Dartnell – Life in the Universe: A Beginner’s Guide | Lewis Dartnell is an astrobiologist at CoMPLEX (Centre for Mathematics & Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology) based at UCL. He is currently working at working in the Centre for Planetary Sciences, researching in the field of astrobiology and the possibility of microbial life surviving in the surface dust of Mars in the face of the constant rain of radiation from space. He has won three national prizes for science writing, and his articles have appeared in publications including The Daily Telegraph and New Scientist. Lewis is the author of Life in the Universe: A Beginner’s Guide. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/complex/ First broadcast on 29th October 2010 | 10 11 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
64 |
TAM London 2010 – The interviews | The Little Atoms TAM London special featuring interviews with Jonathan Ross (wossy), Graham Linehan (glinner) and Andy Nyman (andynyman). First broadcast 21st October 2010. | 31 10 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
65 |
Kat Banyard – The Equality Illusion | Kat Banyard is author of The Equality Illusion and is a founder and Director of UK Feminista - an organisation supporting grass-roots feminist activism. She is also the founder of FEM Conferences – an acclaimed series of national feminist conferences. Kat was previously Campaigns Officer at the Fawcett Society - the UK ‘s leading campaign for women’s rights, and was a regular spokesperson for the organisation in national print and broadcast media. In 2007 she was profiled in Observer Woman magazine as one of ‘The New Feminists’. Prior to her work at Fawcett, Kat worked for the Northern Refugee Centre in Sheffield setting up women’s groups. http://www.katbanyard.org First broadcast on 15th October 2010 | 24 10 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
66 |
Tracy King, DC Turner & Tim Minchin – Storm | Neil and Rebecca are joined by Tracy King and DC Turner, and special guest Tim Minchin. Tracy King is the Managing Director of February Marketing is the organiser of TAM London and co-organiser of The Big Libel Gig. She speaks on a range of topics including viral marketing, advertising psychology and using marketing in science communication and critical thinking. She is the Producer of Tim Minchin’s “Storm” movie, a regular writer for Skepchick andThe Skeptic Magazine (UK), and her work has appeared in the prestigious journal Nature. DC (Dan) Turner is a designer and animator with a unique style of character design. He has worked for brands including Sony, Vodafone, Barclays, ITV, PKR, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, T Mobile and Woolworths. As well as animated shorts, he designs and builds award-winning Flash games and composes soundtracks. Tim Minchin is… well you know who Tim Minchin is. First broadcast on 8th October 2010 | 15 10 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
67 |
Michael Brooks – The Big Questions | Dr Michael Brooks is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is a consultant at New Scientist, and the author of the acclaimed non-fiction title 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense and the techno-thriller Entanglement. Michael’s latest book is The Big Questions: Physics. His writing has also appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Observer, the Times Higher Education, the Philadelphia Inquirer and (his proudest byline) Playboy. He has lectured at New York University, The American Museum of Natural History and Cambridge University. As well as contributing to traditional outlets for science, such as BBC Radio 4′s Today Programme and Material World, he has a regular live slot on the George Lamb Show on BBC’s 6 Music radio station, where he is regularly asked to explain everything in the universe. http://www.michaelbrooks.org This show was guest hosted by Dr Stuart Clark. First broadcast on 1st October 2010 | 10 10 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
68 |
Nicholas Carr – The Shallows | Nicholas Carr is the author of The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. He is a contributor to the New York Times, Guardian, Financial Times and Wired and was formerly the executive editor of the Harvard Business Review. In 2008 he wrote an article for The Atlantic called Is Google Making Us Stupid? This was recently expanded into a book, The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember. http://www.roughtype.com First broadcast on 24th September 2010 | 23 9 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
69 |
Alex Bellos – Adventures in Numberland | Alex Bellos is a mathematician and philosopher. He has worked for the Guardian in London and Rio de Janeiro, where he was the paper’s foreign correspondent. In 2002 he wrote a critically acclaimed book about Brazilian football, and in 2006 he ghost-wrote Pele’s autobiography, which was a number one bestseller. His latest book is Alex’s Adventures in Numberland: Dispatches From the Wonderful World of Mathematics. http://www.alexbellos.com First broadcast on 17th September 2010 | 16 9 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
70 |
Cordelia Fine – Delusions of Gender | Dr Cordelia Fine is an academic psychologist and writer. She is the author of A Mind of Its Own: How your brain distorts and deceives, and writes regularly for the press. She wrote the introduction for the Britannica Guide to the Brain, and her most recent book is, Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Difference. Cordelia studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, followed by an M.Phil in Criminology at Cambridge University. She was awarded a Ph.D in Psychology from University College London. From 2002 to 2007 she was a Research Associate at Monash University, and then at the Australian National University. She is currently a Research Associate at the Centre for Agency, Values & Ethics at Macquarie University, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne. http://www.cordeliafine.com First broadcast on 10th September 2010 | 9 9 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
71 |
Lynn Barber – An Education | Lynn Barber is an multi-award winning writer. Her interviews have won five British Press Awards and a What the Papers Say award. There are two published collections, Mostly Men and Demon Barber, both from Viking. She has also written books on Victorian naturalists, and sex – her first book was called How To Improve Your Man in Bed. Born in 1944, she read English at Oxford before working for Penthouse magazine for seven years, then the Sunday Express, The Independent on Sunday, Vanity Fair, The Daily Telegraph and the Observer. She currently writes for the Sunday Times. Lynn’s memoir, An Education, was recently turned into a film, with script by Nick Hornby. http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/lynnbarber First broadcast on 3rd September 2010 | 4 9 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
72 |
Arthur I Miller – 137: The pursuit of a Scientific Obsession | Arthur I Miller is a professor emeritus of history and philosophy of science at University College London. He is the author of several acclaimed books, the most recent of which are Einstein, Picasso, and Empire of the Stars, which was shortlisted for the 2006 Aventis Prize for Science Books. An experienced broadcaster, lecturer and biographer, he is particularly interested in the relationship between science and creativity, and noted for being able to write engagingly about complex social and intellectual dramas, weaving the personal with the scientific to produce page-turners that read like novels. Arthur’s latest book is 137: Jung, Pauli and the pursuit of a Scientific Obsession. http://www.arthurimiller.com First broadcast on 13th August 2010 | 25 8 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
73 |
Ian Sample – Massive | Ian Sample is an award-winning science correspondent at the Guardian. He was named investigative journalist of the year in 2005 by the Association of British Science Writers. He was previously a feature writer for New Scientist and holds a PhD in biomedical science from Queen Mary, University of London. Ian’s first book is Massive: The Hunt for the God Particle. http://www.iansample.com First broadcast on 6th August 2010 | 6 8 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
74 |
Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club | Robin Ince is a comedian and writer. For the last two years he has been the host of Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People. His Radio 4 show with Professor Brian Cox, The Infinite Monkey Cage, has just finished it’s second series. Robin has recently written a book, Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club, which casts a critical eye over Don Estelle’s autobiography, tales of giant killer crabs, and romance novels set in the Antarctic. http://www.robinince.com First broadcast on 30th July 2010 | 30 7 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
75 |
Vic Stenger – The New Atheism | Victor J. Stenger is emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii and adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado. Stenger was a pioneer in the emerging research focused on neutrino astronomy and very high-energy gamma rays. His final research project prior to retirement as an experimental physicist was participating in the Japan based Super-Kamiokande underground experiment, which demonstrated that the neutrino had mass, and which won its leader the 2002 Nobel Prize for Physics. Nowadays Stenger is principally known as a critic and skeptic of Intelligent Design and other ideas of pseudoscience. He is also skeptical about fine-tuning of cosmological constants. He has published a number of books intended for general audiences on the subjects of physics and cosmology, philosophy, religion, and pseudoscience featuring God the Failed Hypothesis, Not by Design and most recently, New Atheism. http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/ First broadcast on 23rd July 2010 | 27 7 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
76 |
Helen Keen – Starstruck! | Helen Keen is a stand-up comedian and writer, she was a finalist in the 2005 Funny Women competition and the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition and has been nominated for the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year award. She won the first Channel 4 New Comedy Writing Award in 2005. Since then she has written for, among others, Channel 4′s Friday Night Project and BBC Radio 4′s The Now Show and is currently developing scripts with BBC3, Channel 4 and BBC Radio 4. Helen’s award winning show about space, It is Rocket Science!, is being re-launched at this years Edinburgh Festival and is currently being developed into a show for Radio 4. Helen is also co-hosting a new show, Starstruck!, at Edinburgh with Astrophysicist Dr Sophia Khan. http://www.helenkeen.com First broadcast on 16th July 2010 | 25 7 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
77 |
Timothy Garton Ash – Facts Are Subversive | Timothy Garton Ash is the author of eight books of political writing or “history of the present”. They include The Magic Lantern, The File, History of the Present and Free World. His latest is Facts Are Subversive: Political Writing From a Decade Without a Name. He is Professor of European Studies and Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His essays appear regularly in the New York Review of Books and his weekly column for the Guardian is widely syndicated in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Garton Ash has received many awards for his writing, including the Somerset Maugham Award and the George Orwell Prize. http://www.timothygartonash.com First broadcast on 9th July 2010 | 8 7 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
78 |
Rebecca Skloot – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot is a science writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Discover, and many other publications. She is the guest editor of The Best American Science Writing 2011, a contributing editor at Popular Science magazine, and has worked as a correspondent for WNYC’s Radiolab and PBS’s Nova ScienceNOW. Skloot served for eight years on the Board of Directors of the National Book Critics Circle, where she was a vice president and judge for their yearly book awards. She has a B.S. in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, her debut book, took more than a decade to research and write, and instantly became a New York Times best-seller. http://rebeccaskloot.com First broadcast on 2nd July 2010 | 2 7 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
79 |
Danny Dorling – Injustice: Why Social Inequality Exists | Danny Dorling is a Professor of Human Geography in the University of Sheffield, leading the Social and Spatial Inequalities research group. He is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Canterbury, NZ, and Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, UK. In 2003 Danny was appointed an Academician of the Academy of the Learned Societies in the Social Sciences. In 2008 Danny was appointed Honorary President of the Society of Cartographers. In 2009 he was awarded (for work with colleagues) the Gold Award of the Geographical Association and the Back Award of the Royal Geographical Society for his work on national and international public policy. Danny was a founder the Worldmapper.org project and is a co-author of The Atlas of The Real World and has recently released Injustice: Why Social Inequality Exists. First broadcast on 25th June 2010 | 25 6 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
80 |
Anil Ananthaswamy – The Edge of Physics | Anil Ananthaswamy is a consultant editor of New Scientist in London. He has worked at the magazine in various capacities since 2000, most recently as deputy news editor, and has written more than 250 news and features articles. He is also a contributor to National Geographic News. He studied electronics, electrical and computer engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Bachelor of Technology), and the University of Washington, Seattle (Master of Science), and worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley before training as a journalist in the University of California Santa Cruz’s renowned science writing programme. Anil is the author of The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth’s Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe. First broadcast on 18th June 2010 | 18 6 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
81 |
Ted Vallance – A Radical History of Britain | Edward Vallance is a Reader in Early Modern History at Roehampton University. After reading History at Balliol College, Oxford, he was DeVelling Willis Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield. He writes a historical blog, and is a regular contributor to the New Statesman and BBC History Magazine. Ted’s books include The Glorious Revolution, and most recently, A Radical History of Britain. http://edwardvallance.wordpress.com First broadcast on 11th June 2010 | 11 6 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
82 |
James Hannam – God’s Philosophers | James Hannam is a historian of science specialising in the relationship between science and Christianity in the Medieval and Early Modern eras. He took Masters (2003) from Birkbeck College, University of London and a PhD (2008) in the History and Philosophy of Science at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. James’ reviews and articles have been published in the academic journals British Journal of the History of Science, Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliography Society, Science and Christian Belief and Perspectives on Science and Faith. James Hannam is the author of God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science. First broadcast on 4th June 2010 | 4 6 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
83 |
Sue Armstrong – A Matter of Life and Death | Sue Armstrong is a science writer and broadcaster living in Edinburgh. As a foreign correspondent she worked for a variety of media including the New Scientist and BBC World Service. She has also undertaken a variety of assignments writing reports for the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS. Sue’s latest book is A Matter of Life and Death: Inside the Hidden World of the Pathologist. First broadcast on 28th May 2010 | 28 5 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
84 |
Martin Robbins – The Lay Scientist | Martin Robbins is a researcher and science writer. He currently works in R&D solving scientific problems for a small software company, and previously worked as an ecological modeller for the British Antarctic Survey. The common research theme in Martin’s career to date has been understanding complex systems in various domains. Martin is the proprietor of the Lay Scientist blog, and a regular contributor to the Guardian’s Comment is Free. He is currently writing a book about Bad Science in the Developing World. This show was guest hosted by Richard Wilson. First broadcast on 21st May 2010 | 21 5 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
85 |
Philippe Legrain – Aftershock | Philippe Legrain is a journalist and writer, based in London but interested in the whole world. He is fascinated by how economics, politics and culture combine to form the big picture and how the world is coming together through globalisation while becoming ever more diverse through cultural mixing and individual choice. Philippe writes primarily about globalisation, migration and European issues, but through this his blog and his contributions to the Guardian’s Comment is free he is now ranging more widely. Philippe is also a contributing editor to Prospect and as of September 2007, is a Visiting Fellow at the European Institute of the London School of Economics. His first book, Open World: The Truth About Globalisation has been followed up with, Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them, making the case for freer international migration (immigration). His latest book is Aftershock: Reshaping the World Economy After the Crisis. First broadcast on 14th May 2010 | 14 5 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
86 |
Jonathan Balcome – Second Nature | Jonathan Balcome is an independent animal behaviour research scientist and a consultant for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. He is the author of Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good, and most recently Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals. This show features guest host, Christine Ottery. Christine Ottery is a journalist and blogger published on Guardian.co.uk and Comment is Free, Timesonline.co.uk, Newscientist.com and Theecologist.co.uk. She is also a researcher for George Monbiot and multimedia Science Journalism MA student at City University. http://jonathanbalcombe.com First broadcast on 30th April 2010 | 30 4 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
87 |
Iain Sinclair – City of Disappearances | Ian Sinclair is a British writer, documentarist, film maker, poet, flaneur, psychogeographer, metropolitan prophet and urban shaman, keeper of lost cultures and futurologist. His books include Downriver, White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings, Lights Out for the Territory, Dining on Stones, London Orbital, and most recently, Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire. He is the editor of London: City of Disappearances. He lives in Hackney. http://www.iainsinclair.org.uk First broadcast on 23rd April 2010 | 23 4 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
88 |
Alex Butterworth – The World That Never Was | Alex Butterworth is a writer, dramatist and researcher who has worked across a wide range of media; his projects include television drama-documentaries, virtual online communities, educational websites for major cultural institutions and action-adventure games. He is the co-author with Ray Laurence of Pompeii: The Living City, which won the Longmans-History Today New Generation Book of the Year prize. Alex read English at the University of Oxford, holds an MA in Interactive Media from the Royal College of Art and is currently an Honorary Fellow at the University of Birmingham. Alex’s latest book is The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents. First broadcast on 16th April 2010. | 16 4 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
89 |
Prof Paul Davies – Are we alone in the Universe? | Paul Davies is an internationally acclaimed physicist, cosmologist and astrobiologist at Arizona State University, where he runs the pioneering BEYOND Centre for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He also chairs SETI‘s Post-Detection Taskgroup, so if scientists succeed in finding intelligent life, he will be among the first to know. In addition to his many scientific awards, Davies was the recipient of the 1995 Templeton Prize – the world’s largest annual prize for intellectual endeavour – and a Glaxo Science Writers’ Fellowship. He is the author of more than twenty books, including The Mind of God, About Time, How to Build a Time Machine and The Goldilocks Enigma. The asteroid 1992OG was officially renamed Pauldavies in his honour. Paul’s latest book is The Eerie Silence: Are we alone in the Universe? http://cosmos.asu.edu First broadcast on 9th April 2010 | 9 4 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
90 |
Cory Doctorow – Open Rights | Cory Doctorow is a science fiction novelist, blogger and technology activist. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing, and a contributor to Wired, The Guardian, Popular Science, the New York Times, and many other newspapers, magazines and websites. A visiting senior lecturer at the Open University, he was formerly Director of European Affairs for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit civil liberties group that defends freedom in technology law, policy, standards and treaties. He is currently on the advisory council of the Open Rights Group. His novels are published in print and simultaneously released on the Internet under Creative Commons licenses that encourage their re-use and sharing, a move that increases his sales by enlisting his readers to help promote his work. He has won the Locus and Sunburst Awards, and been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and British Science Fiction Awards. His most recent novel was Makers, and his previous novel Little Brother, made it to the New York Times Bestsellers. A new young-adult novel, For the Win, will be published in May 2010. http://craphound.com/ http://boingboing.net/ First broadcast on 2nd April 2010 | 2 4 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
91 |
Vadim Jean – In the Land of the Free | Neil Denny talks to Vadim Jean about his upcoming film, In the Land of the Free. In the Land of the Free is a documentary feature that examines the story of Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox and Robert King. They are known as The Angola 3 and have spent almost a century between them in solitary confinement in Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary in the USA. Herman and Albert are still held in solitary confinement after thirty-six years. Vadim’s previous films are Leon the Pig Farmer and Hogfather. http://www.inthelandofthefreefilm.com First broadcast on 26th March 2010 | 26 3 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
92 |
Ian McEwan – Solar | Ian McEwan has written two collections of stories, First Love, Last Rites and In Between the Sheets, and 12 novels including The Cement Garden, The Child in Time, The Innocent, Enduring Love, Atonement and Saturday. He won the Booker Prize for Amsterdam in 1998. Ian’s latest novel is Solar. This show featured Adam Rutherford as a guest host. http://www.ianmcewan.com First broadcast on 19th March 2010 | 19 3 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
93 |
ExplicitThe Big Libel Gig | On the evening of 14th March 2010 the Palace Theatre in London was host to The Big Libel Gig, a fundraiser for the Libel Reform Campaign. Rebecca Watson and Neil Denny were present for Little Atoms and recorded interviews with: Simon Singh, Tim Minchin, Marcus Brigstocke, Tracey Brown, Richard Wiseman, Brian Cox, Ben Goldacre, Dara O’Briain, Ariane Sherine, Ed Byrne, Shappi Khorsandi and Robin Ince. The show contains some bad language and a whole load of libel. Music credit: Change the Libel Laws by Sly and Reggie, The Suburban Pirates. The Libel Reform Campaign is supported by Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense About Science. http://www.libelreform.org/the-big-libel-gig | 14 3 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
94 |
S.J. Parris – Heresy | Stephanie Merritt is a writer for the Observer. She has contributed to a variety of newspapers and magazines as well as radio and television. She is the author of two novels, Gaveston ( 2002) and Real ( 2005), one non-fiction, The Devil Within, (2008) and the screenplay for Real, commissioned by Gabriel Byrne’s Plurabelle Films. She also previously curated the Talks and Debates programme at Soho Theatre. Stephanie’s latest book, written under the pseudonym S.J. Parris is Heresy, a historical murder-mystery starring heretic astronomer Giordano Bruno. www.guardian.co.uk/profile/stephaniemerritt First broadcast on 12th March 2010 | 12 3 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
95 |
Tom Standage – An Edible History of Humanity | Tom Standage is the business editor of The Economist. He started his career as the Science and Technology Editor at the Guardian, and has written several books which merge popular science and history including Victorian Internet, The Neptune File and The Mechanical Turk and A History of the World in 6 Glasses. His latest book is An Edible History of Humanity, an account of the key role food has played in our history. http://www.tomstandage.com First broadcast on 5th March 2010 | 5 3 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
96 |
Stuart Clark – Galaxy | Neil Denny and special guest presenter Marcus Chown talk to Stuart Clark. Stuart Clark is one of the UK’s most widely read astronomy journalists. A former editor of Astronomy Now, He has a PhD in astrophysics and until 2001 was director of public astronomy education at the University of Hertfordshire. In 2001 the Independent ranked him alongside Stephen Hawking and Sir Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, as one of the ‘stars’ of British astrophysics teaching. A regular contributor to such magazines as New Scientist and BBC Focus, he is the author of several books, but it was his first work of narrative nonfiction, The Sun Kings, that established him as a popular science writer par excellence. His most recent book is Galaxy. http://www.stuartclark.com First broadcast on 19th February 2010 N.B. Marcus Chown’s first book, Afterglow of Creation, has just been re-published in paperback. | 19 2 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
97 |
Christopher Hird – The End of the Line | Christopher Hird is a leading figure in UK independent documentary making. He is chair of the Channel Four Britdoc Foundation; a trustee of the Grierson Trust, the Wincott Foundation and Index on Censorship. In January 2008 Christopher Hird started Dartmouth Films, and has produced such films as Cameron’s Money Men, Inside the Saudi Kingdom, Black Gold, and most recently, The End of The Line. A former journalist working on The Economist, the New Statesman (of which he was deputy editor) and the Sunday Times, where he was editor of the investigative section, Insight. A casualty of the Murdoch regime, he moved into television starting as a reporter on Channel Four’s current affairs programme before co-founding Fulcrum TV, of which he was joint managing director for more than 20 years before it closed in 2007. http://www.dartmouthfilms.com First broadcast on 5th February 2010 | 5 2 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
98 |
Dr Karen James – The HMS Beagle | Karen James is a post-doctoral research assistant in the Department of Botany of the Natural History Museum, working on the development of a DNA-based identification system for plant species. She also coordinated the museum’s Darwin bicentenary science campaign including a survey of the museum’s Darwin specimens and a Galapagos mockingbird conservation genetics project. She is the director of science for The HMS Beagle Trust which aims to build a modern seafaring version of HMS Beagle for scientific research, public engagement and learning. http://kejames.com First broadcast on the 5th February 2009 | 5 2 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
99 |
Stewart Brand – Whole Earth Discipline | Stewart Brand initially started out as an ecologist. His legendary Whole Earth Catalogue (1968-1985) won the US National Book Award in 1972. Brand, whose previous books include The Media Lab, How Buildings Learn, and The Clock of the Long Now, is president and co-founder of the Long Now Foundation and co-founder of the Global Business Network. Stewart’s latest book is Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. http://web.me.com/stewartbrand First broadcast on 29th January 2010 | 29 1 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
100 |
David Stubbs – Fear of Music | David Stubbs is a freelance British music journalist and author. Between 2004 and 2006 he was reviews editor for The Wire, the UK based magazine dedicated to avant garde and experimental music of all genres. Between 1987 and 1988 he was staff writer at Melody Maker, before going on to join the staff of the NME. As well as music, he also covers sport, film, literature and TV – his work regularly appears in The Guardian, Arena, The Wire, Uncut and When Saturday Comes. David’s latest book is Fear of Music: Why People Get Rothko But Don’t Get Stockhausen. http://www.mr-agreeable.net/ First broadcast on 15th January 2010 | 29 1 10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 100 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
The antidote to chat shows (for skeptics and believers alike)
It’s great see Little Atoms standing resolute in the fight against the irrational and championing good old-fashioned reason here on iTunes. Here’s hoping the new platform will give the show the wider audience it deserves. After all, Little Atoms isn’t just a radio show, it’s a public service.
Little Atoms is ace.
Well researched, brilliant guests, sharp and funny. In two years of listening to the show, I have never once been disappointed. Neil does an excellent job.
Best skeptic podcast out there
Utterly fantastic podcast - unmissable for anyone with any interest in sceptical ideas. Long form, big name interviews... can't be beaten.
Listeners also subscribed to
- For Good Reason
- D.J. Grothe
- View In iTunes
- Irreligiosophy
- Irreligiosophy
- View In iTunes
- Token Skeptic Podcast
- Kylie Sturgess
- View In iTunes
- The Pseudo Scientists
- The Young Australian Skeptics
- View In iTunes
- Richard Wiseman » AfternoonTea
- Richard Wiseman
- View In iTunes
