In this last episode, we invite Cory Doctorow, a science fiction author, activist, and journalist from Canada. He is the author of many books, most recently The Lost Cause , a solarpunk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency. Our conversation touches on digital rights management, social justice and sustainability in the digital world.
Qiufan Chen is an award-winning Chinese speculative fiction writer, author of Waste Tide and co-author of AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future . He is also a research scholar at Yale University and a fellow of Berggruen Institute. Our main discussion centres around artificial intelligence, how we can harness the power of this technology while avoiding the dangers it poses.
This fourth episode invites Fernanda Trías, an award-winning writer from Uruguay and an instructor of creative writing in Colombia. She has published a short story collection and four novels, including the English-translated book Pink Slime. We ask her whether horror can bring about change, and why there is the need to integrate the arts and sciences.
In this third episode, we invite Vandana Singh, a science fiction writer hailing from India, to speak about her views on the science and fiction intersection. She is also a transdisciplinary scholar of climate change and a professor of physics and environment. We discuss the limits of data, the power of narrative, and whether our conception of time could help us think about responsibility in science.
Barbadian writer Karen Lord is an award-winning author of Redemption in Indigo , The Best of All Possible Worlds , and The Galaxy Game . Her latest book, The Blue, Beautiful World , was published in August 2023. We hear from her the lessons from the COVID pandemic, short-termism, and the power of literature to reach through time.
In this first episode, we speak to Kim Stanley Robinson, a New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. He is the author of more than twenty books, including The Ministry for the Future . Listen to our conversation that covers many topics including the dangers of escapism, climate grief, and the myth of scientific objectivity.
In the last episode, we spoke about the many ways that distrust in science is expressed and the need for scientists to consider their own positions, including who they speak to and for. Which leads us neatly into today’s episode, where we focus on the link between communicating science and building knowledge. We need to look at how people process information and their own experiences to make knowledge that they can base decisions on. And the question is, what should science communication be doin...
In this episode, we explore different ways that distrust can be expressed and what drives that historically, situationally, even structurally. We will also look at how competing narratives can mean making sense of the science is an often difficult, complicated task. This is a rerun of our 4-part podcast series 'Unlocking Science', where we discuss everything from social media and trust to identity and knowledge, seeking to discover how we can unlock science for everyone.
In this episode, we explore how our sense of identity affects our willingness to trust certain sources of information. We look at why the authority of traditional gatekeepers of expertise, like science academies, seems to be eroding. Have we misunderstood what social media can do and what might this have to do with the rise of identity politics? And of course, we will also reflect on what should be done by the science community for all of this. This is a rerun of our 4-part podcast series 'Unloc...
In this episode we explore how uncertainties play a role in the process of scientific discovery and why this is such a challenge for the way we need to talk about science – with Courtney Radsch and Felix Bast . This is a rerun of our 4-part podcast series 'Unlocking Science', where we discuss everything from social media and trust to identity and knowledge, seeking to discover how we can unlock science for everyone....
How can we combat malpractice and misconduct in research? And how do we promote trust in scientists and the work they do? This final episode explores the topics of trust, malpractice, and misconduct in scientific research. Guests, Elisabeth Bik and Soumya Swaminathan, discuss publication fraud and the importance of instilling scientific inquiry and critical thinking skills in children.
In this fifth episode, Professor Françoise Baylis (philosopher and bioethicist at Dalhousie University) and Ocean Mercier (Associate Professor at the School of Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington) explore new technologies, the associated risks and benefits they bring in science, considering ethical implications and insights from an indigenous perspective. What do developments in fields like gene editing, machine learning or climate engineering mean for scientific responsibility? T...
In this fourth episode, Sir Peter Gluckman (ISC President and former and former chief scientific advisor to Prime Ministers in New Zealand) and Saja Al Zoubi (Development economist at St Mary’s University in Canada) explore the role of science in resolving conflicts and the respective responsibilities of states and scientists. How do political tensions or wars affect the integrity of science and the lives of scientists? Should countries in conflict collaborate scientifically? Tune in as our gues...
How can we convey accurate scientific information in a world of disinformation, information overload, and politicization? Tune in as our guests, Guy Berger (Professor Emeritus at Rhodes University) and Courtney C. Radsch (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UCLA) discuss how scientists tackle complexity, combat falsehoods, and navigate online harassment while exploring the vital role of collaboration with journalists.
“The current world needs science, to develop well informed decisions. And that can only come from scientific autonomy.” “Scientific autonomy does not mean that individual scientists can or should be able to do whatever they want.” In the second episode, Lidia Borrell-Damián (Secretary General of Science Europe) and Willem Halffman (Associate Professor at Radboud University) delve into the concept of scientific autonomy, addressing how it should be balanced with responsibility to avert ethical is...
This new ISC podcast series explores contemporary perspectives on science's free and responsible practice in the early 21st century while questioning the challenges science faces today. In this first episode, Anne Husebekk (ISC Vice-President for Freedom and Responsibility in Science) and Robert French (Chancellor of the University of Western Australia) question the new threats that scientific freedom faces today — and the responsibilities scientists have to live up to.
In our final fifth episode we explore the importance of informal and non-governmental channels in maintaining and building international scientific collaborations, the role of informal diplomatic channels such as science and culture in building and maintaining peace, the realities of science diplomacy in practice and the importance of ordinary scientists in fostering scientific collaboration.
In this episode, we’ll discuss the impact of crisis, specifically conflict, on an individual scientist, Dr Alaa Hamdon from Mosul, Iraq. Recorded over a series of voice notes during power cuts in Iraq, we spoke to Alaa about his experience before, during and after ISIS’ takeover of Mosul in June 2014. We discuss the impact of the crisis on his personal, academic and professional life, as well as the important rebuilding of what Alaa has labeled ‘the lighthouse of knowledge’, Mosul University’s L...
This episode will unpack the worrying impact that conflict has on the capacity of organized science and scientists to respond to global challenges. Some of the critical spaces in which the most pressing issues of our modern era are being researched and studied are currently being disrupted due to conflict and crisis. In this episode we’ll be discussing two of them, the Arctic and outer space.
In this episode of our series 'Science in Times of Crisis', we will explore two examples of how perceived national interests can impact on the capabilities of collaborative science, the scientific community and society. Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic and AIDS crisis and secondly, Brazil’s tumultuous science-policy nexus on issues such as climate change and the Amazon rainforest.
For our first episode, and the introduction to our series, we delve into contemporary history to explore two examples of science in times of crisis. We’ll be looking at the the Cold War period from 1950 to 1990 and the Apartheid era in South Africa with two expert guests, assessing how each crisis impacted the scientific community, as well as the role of science and scientific organisations during the both crises.
Discover the new podcast series from the International Science Council’s Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science (CFRS), which explores what living in a world of crisis and geopolitical instability means for science and scientists around the world. Episode 1 - Science, Geopolitics and Crisis: What can we learn from history, airing this Thursday December 1st.
In the final episode of Science in Exile, political scientist Radwan Ziadeh shares his story of leaving Syria to continue his research on and advocacy for human rights and democracy. Radwan Ziadeh - who is a member of the Steering Committee for the Science in Exile initiative - shares his insights into the kind of support that displaced and at-risk scholars need to continue their research, and tells us what drives him to continue working for change, and his hopes for the future of Syria. ISC Pre...
Following the February 2021 coup d’état in Myanmar, medical doctors and other scientists have been prominent in resistance movements, with many doctors striking to protest against violence and persecution. In this episode of Science in Exile, Dr Phyu Phyu Thin Zaw shares her perspective on the strikes, and on how the medical and broader scientific community is being affected by ongoing conflict in Myanmar. Phyu Phyu Thin Zaw is a research scientist, epidemiologist and health systems specialist. ...
This episode of Science in Exile features Eqbal Dauqan, a Yemeni biochemist whose research interests include therapeutic nutrition and the antioxidants in food. Eqbal was forced to halt her research work when war broke out in Yemen, and later left the country for Malaysia and then Norway in order to continue her work in safety. In this podcast she shares her dreams for the future and advice for early-career researchers affected by conflict, as well as for the organizations that seek to help them...
In the latest episode of Science in Exile we hear from Alfred Babo, a social scientist whose research focuses on social change, child labour and development, immigration and social conflict, and post-conflict societies. Alfred shares his experience of working as a university lecturer in Côte d’Ivoire when the country fell into a civil war, and later seeking refuge in Ghana, Togo and eventually in the United States, where he's now settled and working in the Sociology and Anthropology department o...
In this episode of the Science in Exile series we hear from Esmeray Yogun, a sociologist whose research focuses on the integration of highly skilled migrants in the labour market. Yogun is originally from Turkey, but was forced to leave for France after having been identified as a political activist. ISC Presents: Science in Exile is a series of podcasts featuring interviews with refugee and displaced scientists who share their science, their stories of displacement and their hopes for the futur...
In the first episode of the Science in Exile series we hear from Feras Kharrat, a PhD Scholar in Molecular Biomedicine, originally from Syria and now based in Trieste, Italy. Feras shares his story of leaving Syria to continue his studies abroad, and gives an insight into the challenges of conducting scientific research during periods of unrest. ISC Presents: Science in Exile is a series of podcasts featuring interviews with refugee and displaced scientists who share their science, their stories...
ISC Presents: Science in Exile is a series of podcasts featuring interviews with refugee and displaced scientists who share their science, their stories of displacement and their hopes for the future. The series has been developed as a contribution to the ' Science in Exile ' initiative, which is run as a collaboration between the International Science Council ( ISC ), The World Academy of Sciences ( UNESCO-TWAS ) and the InterAcademy Partnership ( IAP )....
In the sixth episode of the Diversity in Science podcast series - produced in partnership with Nature - we look at addressing systemic racism in science and science systems. Shirley Malcom and Adam Habib reflect on their long experience of working to tackle racism in higher education, exploring what works and what still needs to change, and Brittany Kamai shares her perspective on what we can all do to contribute to systemic change. Finally, ISC President Daya Reddy shares information on the ISC...
