Zimbabwe is on the cusp of abolishing the death penalty after its Death Penalty Abolition Bill was approved by the senate on December 12. The bill is now sitting on the desk of Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a known opponent of the death penalty, waiting for his assent. In this episode, we speak to two experts on the death penalty, Carolyn Hoyle and Parvais Jabbar from the University of Oxford's Death Penalty Research Unit, who explain how Zimbabwe got here and what abolition means fo...
Dec 19, 2024•26 min
Surveys suggest that in many western democracies, political trust is at rock bottom. But is it really such a bad thing for people living in a democracy to distrust their government? In this episode, we talk to political scientist Grant Duncan , visiting scholar in politics at City St George's, University of London, about why he thinks a certain level of distrust and scepticism of powerful politicians is actually healthy for democracy. And about how populists, like Donald Trump, manage to use peo...
Dec 12, 2024•28 min
An orca that pulled along the corpse of its baby for 17 days. An opposum that plays dead to fool predators. And a chimpanzee that cleaned the teeth of its dead baby. Observations of behaviours like these suggest animals have a complex relationship with death. In this week’s episode, we speak to Susana Monsó , an associate professor of philosophy at the National Distance Education University in Madrid, Spain, about the different ways animals understand death. This episode was written and produced...
Dec 05, 2024•27 min
The online retail giant Amazon is known for its resistance to unions. In this week’s episode, we tell the story of what happened at one warehouse in Coventry in the UK when its workers tried to gain official recognition for the GMB union, one of the country’s biggest labour unions. We talk to Tom Vickers , a sociologist at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, who spent weeks observing workers’ efforts to unionise at the warehouse as part of a research secondment with the GMB. And John Logan , ...
Nov 28, 2024•33 min
It's been 50 years since the American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson discovered the fossil of ancient hominin 'Lucy' in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The find took the story of human evolution back beyond 3 million years for the first time. Yet, despite largely centring on the African continent as the "cradle of mankind", the narrative of hominin fossil discovery is striking for its lack of African scientists. In this week's episode, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, director of the Institute of Huma...
Nov 21, 2024•28 min
For generations, cod fishing was a way of life in Newfoundland and Labrador, the easternmost province in Canada. But in 1992, after cod stocks in the north Atlantic plummeted, the federal government imposed a moratorium on cod fishing. It was to last for 32 years until June 2024, when the government lifted the ban in a controversial decision. In this episode we speak to Tyler Eddy , a research scientist in fisheries science at Memorial University of Newfoundland, to shed light on what’s happened...
Nov 14, 2024•26 min
What happens when a gangster leaves their life on the street? How do they transition to something new? We find out through the life stories of two people who joined them as young men and came out the other side. Featuring an interview with Gaz, a former gang member in Sierra Leone, and Dennis Rodgers , a research professor at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland who leads a global research project on gangs. This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Sound design was by M...
Nov 07, 2024•32 min
Amid deep political polarization and extreme campaign rhetoric, the U.S. presidential election on November 5 is likely to be decided by a small number of voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. But why is it so close? In this episode Naomi Schalit, senior politics editor at the The Conversation U.S., speaks to Jesse Rhodes , associate professor of political science at UMass Amherst, who has been surveying Americans on the issues that matter to them, and their concerns as the el...
Oct 31, 2024•32 min
Take a walk along a beach in parts of South Australia, and you may come across unusual patches of pink sand. When a team of geologists began analysing samples of this mysterious sand to find out where it comes from, their search took them back through time to a previously undiscovered mountain range in Antarctica. In this episode Sharmaine Verhaert , a PhD candidate in earth sciences at the University of Adelaide, explains how the discovery was made. This episode was produced by Gemma Ware, Kati...
Oct 24, 2024•22 min
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded the 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their discovery of microRNA, tiny biological molecules that tell the cells in our body what kind of cell to be by turning on and off certain genes. In this episode, we speak to Ambros , who is professor of natural sciences at UMass Chan Medical School in the US, about the discovery that led to his Nobel prize and find out what he’s researching now. And we hear from Justin Stebbing , professor of biomedi...
Oct 17, 2024•25 min
In an extra episode this week, we're running the first part of Know Your Place: what happened to class in British politics, a new series from The Conversation Documentaries. Host Laura Hood, senior politics editor at The Conversation in London, explores when the relationship between class and voting in the UK broke down and why. Featuring John Curtice , professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Centre for Social Research, Paula Surridge , p...
Oct 14, 2024•33 min
The Middle East is perilously close to all-out war. In the year since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel , millions of people have been displaced from their homes in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and now Lebanon, and tens of thousands killed. In this episode, we speak to two experts from the Middle East, Mireille Rebeiz and Amnon Aran , to get a sense of the strategic calculations being made by both Israel and its neighbours at this frightening moment for the region. Rebeiz is chair of Midd...
Oct 10, 2024•36 min
A new drug to prevent HIV infection is showing hugely promising results in clinical trials when injected every six months. In this episode, we speak to South African HIV doctor and scientist Linda-Gail Bekker at the University of Cape Town about her involvement in one of the trials for lenacapavir and why she thinks it could be so ground-breaking. This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany and sound design was by Michelle Macklem. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music...
Oct 03, 2024•27 min
What makes some people more likely to feel disproportionate sympathy to people facing accusations of sexual misconduct – a concept known as himpathy? In this episode, we speak to a human behaviour expert whose research seeks to understand the psychological factors behind it. Featuring Samantha Dodson , assistant professor of organizational behaviour and human resources at the University of Calgary in Canada, and an introduction form Eleni Vlahiotis, business and economy editor at The Conversatio...
Sep 26, 2024•24 min
A rare and ancient plant has been waiting for its long-lost mate. The only known specimens of Encephalartos woodii , a rare and ancient species of cycad, are male, all clones of the same plant found over 100 years ago deep in a South African forest. Now a team of researchers is on a mission to find an elusive female version of the plant with the help of drones and artificial intelligence. In this episode we speak to Laura Cinti , a research fellow at the University of Southampton in the UK, abou...
Sep 19, 2024•20 min
An epidemic of mpox in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is spreading quickly, particularly among young children. Mpox is a serious, at times fatal, virus – and the world knows how to prevent it. There are effective vaccines stockpiled in many western countries. Yet, after an earlier global epidemic in 2022 was largely brought under control in Europe and North America, the ongoing battle to protect people in Africa from mpox was ignored. In this episode we ask a virologist and a paediatr...
Sep 12, 2024•30 min
Dating apps are having a rocky moment, with some of the biggest struggling to attract paying users. In this episode, we hear from researchers exploring how dating apps have changed modern dating and the expectations around it. And we find out why some dating app users aren’t actually there looking for love, but keep on swiping anyway. Featuring Treena Orchard , associate professor at the School of Health Studies at Western University in Canada, and Carolina Bandinelli associate professor in medi...
Sep 05, 2024•29 min
In the second of two episodes on geoengineering, we hear the case against trying to reflect sunlight to cool the Earth. Solar radiation modification has attracted attention and investment in recent years as a way to potential reverse the effects of climate change, but it remains a controversial idea. We hear from researchers pushing a non-use agreement for solar geoengineering who explain why they believe these types of technologies are a dangerous distraction from what needs to be done to reduc...
Aug 30, 2024•32 min
Geoengineering, the modification of the climate using technological interventions to reverse climate change, is a hugely divisive issue and we’ve decided to explore it in two episodes. In this first episode, we talk to scientists working on potential geoengineering technologies who argue the case for conducting research into these interventions. We speak to Shaun Fitzgerald , director of the Centre for Climate Repair at the University of Cambridge in the UK and Hugh Hunt , deputy director at the...
Aug 29, 2024•29 min
As we take a short production break in August, we're re-running an episode from 2023 about Neanderthals, and what new discoveries about their research could tell us about Homo Sapiens . For generations, Neanderthals have been a source of fascination for scientists. This species of ancient hominim inhabited the world for around 500,000 years until they suddenly disappeared 42,000 years ago. Today, the cause of their extinction remains a mystery. Archaeologist Ludovic Slimak at the University of T...
Aug 22, 2024•27 min
As The Conversation Weekly takes a short production break in August, we're bringing you a recent episode from our partners at the Borders and Belonging podcast about Japan’s evolving stance on immigration. With a rapidly ageing population and a shrinking workforce, Japan is facing an unprecedented crisis: by 2030, it's projected to have a shortfall of nearly 6.4 million workers. But despite Japan’s reputation for being closed off to migrants, there are signs that the country’s national immigrati...
Aug 15, 2024•41 min
A chance to hear an episode from the first season of The Conversation's Curious Kids , a new podcast where kids from around the world get to ask their questions direct to experts. In this episode: do you think your dog is the cutest thing you've ever seen? Ten-year-old Grace does! But why? She joins our host Eloise and psychologist Deborah Wells from Queen's University Belfast to find out! You can read an article of this episode here or explore more articles from our Curious Kids series on The C...
Aug 08, 2024•20 min
Momentum is growing against clauses in investment treaties that permit companies to sue a state if it decides to keep fossil fuels in the ground. In this episode, we revisit the secretive world of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which some experts are worried could jeopardise global efforts to save the climate and cost countries billions of dollars in the process. Kyla Tienhaara , Canada research chair in economy and environment at Queen's University, Ontario in Canada, comes back on T...
Aug 01, 2024•28 min
Chronic pain affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. But the opioid crisis in North America led many health care providers to realize they relied too heavily on drugs to help patients manage their pain. In this episode, a pain management specialist discusses new developments in pain treatment and why there’s hope for patients with chronic pain. Rachael Rzasa Lynn Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus speaks to Amanda Mascarelli Sen...
Jul 25, 2024•24 min
Across the world, fans will soon be tuning in at all hours of the day and night to watch the Paris Olympics. In a world where on-demand media streaming is now increasingly the norm, sport is something of a rarity. It’s watched live, often with other people. Can something as simple as watching a sporting competition at the same time bring people closer together? In this episode, we explore this question with a Garriy Shteynberg an associate professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee i...
Jul 18, 2024•25 min
A few days after Labour leader Keir Starmer was elected British prime minister on July 4 with a landslide victory, ending 14 years of Conservative-led rule, a coalition of left-wing parties came out on top in the French legislative elections. It was a good week for the left in this corner of Europe. In this episode, we’ve brought together an expert from each country to help analyse the results and what they tell us about the right in French and British politics. Featuring Tim Bale , Professor of...
Jul 11, 2024•40 min
Seagrass, a marine plant that flowers underwater, has lots of environmental benefits – from storing carbon to preventing coastal erosion. In this episode, we speak to Isabel Key , a marine ecologist at the University of Edinburgh in the UK, about her work recording the soundscape of Scottish seagrass meadows to uncover more about the creatures living within them. She also explains how this is the first step in the development of a seagrass sound library and potentially even artificial intelligen...
Jul 04, 2024•18 min
We’re bringing you an extra episode this week from Don’t Call Me Resilient , another podcast from The Conversation. Hosted by Vinita Srivastava at The Conversation in Canada, Don’t Call Me Resilient is your weekly dose of news and current events through a sharply-focused anti-racist lens. In this episode Vinita talks to Nisrin Elamin about the ongoing war in Sudan, which has displaced more than 10m people. Elamin, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at th...
Jul 01, 2024•39 min
3D-printed guns are now appearing the world over, including in the hands of organised criminals in Europe and anti-junta rebels in Myanmar. Made using a 3D printer and a few metal parts that can be easily sourced online, these shadow guns are untraceable, and becoming a popular choice for extremists too. In this episode, we talk to researcher Rajan Basra at King's College London about this clandestine world, and about his hunt to uncover the real identity of the man who designed the world's most...
Jun 27, 2024•27 min
A controversial British government plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda has been central to the UK’s response to a recent sharp increase in the number of people making the dangerous journey across the English Channel in small boats. But if the Conservative party lose the general election in early July, the Rwanda plan is likely to be abandoned. In this episode, two experts in UK immigration policy explain how the Rwanda plan became such a crucial part of the immigration debate in the UK. And ho...
Jun 20, 2024•31 min
