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EscapePod Podcasts

Shows worth your time, picked up where you left off.

SW

Science

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news

296 episodes

The incredible science of memory manipulation 1 Oct 2026 · 21 min Madeleine Finlay hears from Steve Ramirez, an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University, whose book How to Change a Memory was shortlisted for t…

Are household cleaning products damaging our health? 29 Sept 2026 · 18 min Our use of cleaning products has increased since the pandemic, but do we understand what they could be doing to our health? The journalist Rebecca Seal recently wrote for the Guar…

Are baby girls more sociable? Super El Niño, meningitis outbreak explained 24 Sept 2026 · 22 min Madeleine Finlay sits down with her co-host and Guardian science editor, Ian Sample, to discuss three science stories from the week, including a study that offers a clue in the ag…

From paleo to intermittent fasting: are any diets actually good for us? 22 Sept 2026 · 17 min As diet trends proliferate on social media, it can be hard to work out which are backed by science and which should be ignored. From paleo to keto, raw food to intermittent fastin…

The week that changed maths for ever 17 Sept 2026 · 16 min In early September, OpenAI announced it had solved a major mathematics problem that has stumped humans for nearly a century. The news left mathematicians reeling, and many express…

Is collagen all hype? 15 Sept 2026 · 19 min Collagen powders, gummies and pills have boomed in popularity in recent years boosted by claims that they smooth wrinkles, promote glossy hair and help with joint pain. Amid the n…

Live episode: how AI is reshaping our minds 13 Sept 2026 · 1 hr 23 min In this episode of Science Weekly, recorded in front of an audience at the London podcast festival on 3 September, Ian Sample hears from Michael Safi, the host of the Guardian’s c…

‘One of the biggest discoveries in science’: have scientists found dark matter? 10 Sept 2026 · 17 min For decades physicists have been puzzling over the enigma of dark matter. We think it makes up 85% of the matter in the universe, but the mysterious substance cannot be seen or de…

Are rich people really worse behaved? Here’s the science 8 Sept 2026 · 18 min Who’s more likely to steal sweets from a child? According to science, it’s the rich. A study seemingly confirming our suspicions about the moral behaviour of the wealthy was one o…

Introducing Black Box: The Chatbots 6 Sept 2026 · 40 min From the Guardian Investigates team: Across the world, hundreds of people have come to believe they have made extraordinary scientific discoveries with AI chatbots such as ChatGPT…

There’s a quick way to slow climate change. Why isn’t everyone doing it? 3 Sept 2026 · 14 min Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps more than 80 times as much heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and causes 25% of global heating today. We definitely don’t…

Could humans ever communicate with whales? 1 Sept 2026 · 17 min Ever since the earliest known recording of whale song was made in 1949, researchers have been captivated by the wails, rumbles, clicks, grunts and squeals of their communication.…

Everyone hates datacentres. Do we really need them? 27 Aug 2026 · 17 min AI companies have promised us world-shifting technology. But there’s a cost: loud, unsightly datacentres that drain environmental resources. As the government pushes their rapid g…

Creatine: is there truth behind the hype? 25 Aug 2026 · 16 min Creatine has become the go-to supplement for anyone wanting to give their fitness a boost and build muscle. It’s even made it out of the gym, with influencers touting its cognitiv…

It’s finally raining. Will it be enough to end the drought? 20 Aug 2026 · 16 min After a summer that has seen England and Wales experience the driest July since records began, rain is finally on the horizon. But with reservoirs at ‘exceptionally low’ levels, w…

The ultra rich are collecting fossils, and that’s bad for science 18 Aug 2026 · 15 min One of the UK’s best fossil collections has been sold overseas in what experts have called a loss to the nation. The collection, which is now on display at the Natural History Mus…

The immortal jellyfish and other mindblowing invertebrates 13 Aug 2026 · 15 min Each year the Guardian runs a competition to find the invertebrate of the year. To find out more about the 2026 nominees science editor Ian Sample hears from climate reporter Petr…

We’re reading less. And it’s making us stupid 11 Aug 2026 · 20 min Books have never been trendier, but studies show that as more and more things compete for our frazzled attention spans, we’re reading less and less. This is a problem because read…

Four types of thinker, the cyclosporiasis outbreak, and the UK’s biggest telescope threatened 6 Aug 2026 · 22 min Madeleine Finlay is joined by Ian Sample, Guardian science editor, to discuss three eye-catching science stories including an investigation that has identified four distinct types…

The fight to save a historic English landscape 4 Aug 2026 · 17 min Madeleine Finlay travels to the Rothbury estate in Northumberland, in north-east England. It’s a piece of land that has been in the same family for 700 years, but now it has been…

Revisited: Saunas and cold plunges, where does the evidence stand? 30 Jul 2026 · 16 min Saunas and cold plunge pools are popping up everywhere in the UK, bringing fiery heat and icy cold to a beach, city farm or park near you. Their users will be ready with all the r…

Revisited: The surprising science of dreams and nightmares 28 Jul 2026 · 22 min In this episode from January 2026, Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions about dreams and nightmares to Dr Michelle Carr, the director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory in Montre…

Revisited: A Scottish tea mystery, episode three – a bag for life 23 Jul 2026 · 20 min Science correspondent Nicola Davis investigates the strange story of Tam O’Braan and his attempts to grow tea in Scotland. In episode three of this mini-series first broadcast in…

Revisited: A Scottish tea mystery, episode two – the list 22 Jul 2026 · 23 min Science correspondent Nicola Davis investigates the strange story of Tam O’Braan and his attempts to grow tea in Scotland. In episode two of this mini-series first broadcast in Oc…

Revisited: A Scottish tea mystery, episode one – green shoots 21 Jul 2026 · 22 min Science correspondent Nicola Davis investigates the strange story of Tam O’Braan and his attempts to grow tea in Scotland. In episode one of this mini-series first broadcast in Oc…

Can a world-first gene therapy reverse ageing? 16 Jul 2026 · 18 min The first person has been treated with a highly anticipated new gene therapy that aims to turn back the clock on ageing cells. The trial is aimed at retinal cells, with the hope t…

Fungi: the invisible force protecting our planet 14 Jul 2026 · 16 min Scientists often talk about the importance of flora and fauna to the health of our planet, but Dr Toby Kiers, an evolutionary biologist and founder of the Society for the Protecti…

Is male testosterone in freefall? 9 Jul 2026 · 14 min Men’s average testosterone levels have halved over the past 50 years, according to scientists who say society is facing a male fertility crisis. Rising levels of obesity and diabe…

‘A break from scrolling’: how Gen Z fell in love with birding 7 Jul 2026 · 17 min In the last 50 years, Britain has lost an astonishing 73 million wild birds from its landscape, according to the British Trust for Ornithology. Habitat loss, pesticides, disease,…

‘Beautiful blobs’: can scientists build life from scratch? 2 Jul 2026 · 17 min Researchers claim they are closer to creating life from nothing after building tiny, quivering blobs that use lab-made DNA to feed, grow and multiply in a dish. To find out how si…