Instant Genius
Whether you’re curious about getting healthy, the Big Bang or the science of cooking, find out everything you need to know with Instant Genius. The team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine talk to world-leading experts to bring you a bite-sized masterclass on a new subject each week. New episodes are released every Monday and Friday and you can subscribe to Instant Genius on Apple Podcasts to access all new episodes ad-free and all old episodes of Instant Genius Extra.
Episodes
March 13, 2025 • 29 mins
We all experience distressing or intrusive thoughts at some point in our lives but for around two to three per cent of us these can be incredibly difficult to ignore and can begin to have a significant debilitating effect on our lives. Clinically this is known as obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD – a condition that many of us will have heard of but few understand.
In this episode, we speak to Dr Marjan Biria, a psychologist and...
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March 9, 2025 • 34 mins
Despite decades of international climate summits, the ongoing work of various campaign groups and open letters signed by some of the world’s most prominent scientists highlighting the crucial need for action, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss and sea level rises are still going up across the globe. So, what are we getting wrong?
In this episode, we speak to leading researcher and author Mike Berners-Lee about his latest book A C...
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March 6, 2025 • 29 mins
These days we’re bombarded with information and claims that purport to explain almost every conceivable aspect of our lives, be it down to the bold assertions made by policymakers, the confidence of anonymity afforded by social media or just our natural human inclination to be fooled by a well-spoken know-it-all. But exactly who are the people making these claims, how do they reach their conclusions, and really, can anyone ever act...
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March 2, 2025 • 26 mins
The human brain is surely one of the most complex and fascinating creations in all of nature. It’s through them that we experience the world around us, develop knowledge and skills, and carry within us memories of events and experiences that occurred decades in the past, which we can later draw on to face new challenges.
But when it comes to understanding exactly what is going on between our ears, we’re only just starting to scrat...
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February 27, 2025 • 34 mins
From the dramatic caves that bring to mind the pirates and smugglers of yore to the rolling sand dunes many of us likely played in as children, our coastlines are home to all manner of fascinating features, forged over centuries by crashing waves and harsh, unforgiving weather. But far from simply being picturesque, these landmarks can teach us about our planet’s past and ultimately, its future.
In this episode, we speak to writer...
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February 23, 2025 • 43 mins
Whether it’s from our friends, workmates or via various media platforms, both social and traditional, these days we’re all faced with a never-ending bombardment of information expressed through numbers, percentages and statistics. But how exactly should we go about interpreting them?
In this episode we catch up with Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician and science communicator based at the University of Cambridge.
He shar...
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February 20, 2025 • 39 mins
The prostate is often misunderstood. And yet, this small part of the body is crucial. However, it is also one of the most common forms of cancer, affecting many men around the world. We spoke to Matthew Hobbs, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK who breaks down the big questions. What is a prostate, what treatments are available for prostate cancer and what does the future of diagnosis look like?
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February 18, 2025 • 35 secs
Have you ever been frustrated when your carefully baked loaves come out of the oven looking more like pancakes? Or wondered why cheese tastes so good even though it’s riddled with mould? Maybe you want to learn more about how fermented foods such as kimchi and kefir are made, and why they’re so good for your gut health.
If so, don’t miss the Instant Genius Food Science miniseries, brought to you by the team behind BBC Science Focu...
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February 16, 2025 • 29 mins
Meteorites are one of the best indicators that we can get of what is out there in Space. Helen Gordon, author of the new book The Meteorites: Encounters with Outer Space and Deep Time, talks us through these mysterious rocks landing on Earth. She touches on their cultural importance, what they tell us about our early Universe and their potential for risk.
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February 13, 2025 • 32 mins
It can be hard to know what is true and false in a world of disinformation. But there are some tricks that people use to frame what they say and learning how to spot these can help you avoid them. We spoke to Mikael Klintman, author of the new book Framing: The Social Art of Influence to better understand how people frame situations and topics and how to not fall for it.
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February 9, 2025 • 36 mins
Whether it’s accepting a work assignment we know we don’t have time for, attending a social occasion even though we’d much rather hunker down at home with a cup of tea, or something more serious such as not speaking up when we witness an act of discrimination, many of us find it difficult to say ‘no’. But why is this?
In this episode, we speak to psychologist Dr Sunita Sah about her latest book Defy, The Power of No in a World tha...
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February 6, 2025 • 28 mins
Dame Judi Dench has recently been in the news speaking about the long-term issue she’s been having with sight loss. The veteran actor has a condition known as age-related macular degeneration that currently affects around 700,000 people in the UK.
In this episode, we catch up with Prof Richard Gale, an ophthalmologist based at Hull York Medical School.
He tells us the early warning signs to look out for if you are starting to dev...
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February 2, 2025 • 37 mins
Over the last century or so neuroscientists around the world have been uncovering more and more about how our very identities are formed by the different cognitive functions carried out by our brains. And we now know that our identities can even be transformed by brain disorders such as stroke, dementia of head injuries.
In this episode, we catch up with neurologist Masud Husain to talk about his latest book – Our Brains, Our Selv...
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January 30, 2025 • 30 mins
Be it a Marvel superhero, a fashion model or a professional athlete, we likely all have an image in our minds of what we wish our bodies looked like. But for some, the pressure of meeting these expectations can lead to the use of anabolic steroids in an attempt to get that Hollywood or magazine cover look.
In this episode, we speak to Dr Orlanda Harvey, a senior lecturer in social work based at Bournemouth University.
She tells u...
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January 26, 2025 • 30 mins
Whether it’s due to deadlines at work, an upcoming exam or a rocky personal relationship, we’ve no doubt all felt stress at some point in our lives. And while a certain amount of stress can help to motivate us and make us more productive, if things get too much, stress can have a significant effect on both our mental and physical health.
In this episode, we speak to Despina Djama, a psychologist and stress researcher based at the ...
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January 23, 2025 • 36 mins
Many of us listen to music every day, perhaps to help us relax in the evening after a hard day’s work, get us through a tough workout or maybe even to allow us to feel closer to absent loved ones. There can be no doubt that music plays a huge part in what it means to be human.
In this episode, we catch up with neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin to talk about his latest book Music as Medicine: How We Can Harness Its Therape...
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January 19, 2025 • 26 mins
Whether it’s a sport, painting or spending hours buried in puzzles, there is a clear link between our experience of hobbies and our mental health. Part of our Healthy Start series, we spoke to Karen Mak, a senior research fellow at UCL about how hobbies can bolster our mental health.
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January 16, 2025 • 44 mins
Most of us like to think we live in an equal society that offers the same opportunities to all. But unfortunately, hundreds of scientific studies say otherwise. Racial bias is essentially everywhere, often hiding in plain sight.
For example, did you know that black people are as much as 50 per cent less likely to be called in for a job interview than a similarly qualified white person? Or that children of colour are more likely to...
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January 12, 2025 • 30 mins
With a smartphone in our pockets at all times, social media is only ever a few clicks away. With this, problematic social media use is easy to fall into. As part of our Healthy Start series, we spoke to Niklas Ihssen, an associate professor at Durham University about what this means and how to avoid it.
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January 9, 2025 • 32 mins
It’s commonly thought that when compared to other members of the animal kingdom we humans have a particularly poor sense of smell. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Modern research has proven that human beings are surprisingly sophisticated sniffers, at least on par with the vast majority of other animals.
In this episode, we catch up with Prof Jonas Olofsson, a psychologist based at Stockholm University, to talk about ...
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