Podcasts – Views & Research

India remains neutral on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Peter Foley/EPA

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Neutrality: why countries choose not to join a war and what responsibilities come with it – podcast

Russia threatened to withdraw from the International Space Station over sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine. 3Dsculptor via Shutterstock

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Ukraine invasion threatens international collaboration in space and shows how power structures are changing – podcast

An artistic impression of Indonesia’s new presidential palace, designed by the artist Nyoman Nuarta. nyoman_nuarta via Instagram

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

A tale of two cities: why Indonesia is planning a new capital on Borneo – and abandoning Jakarta. Podcast

People in the Kalash valley in Pakistan during the Joshi festival. thsulemani/Shutterstock

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

How culture informs people’s emotional reaction to music – podcast

The Countess of Coventry, Maria Gunning, was rumoured to have died of lead poisoning from her makeup. Jean-Étienne Liotard via Wikimedia

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Could lead makeup really kill you? A scientist recreated centuries-old skin whitening recipes to find out – podcast

🎧 The Anthill Podcast

COP26: billions are being spent tackling climate change – where is it all going? Climate Fight podcast part 1

Boundary Dam coal-fired power station, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dave Reede/All Canada Photos/Alamy Stock Photo

🎧 The Anthill Podcast

How world leaders hope to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – and why some experts are worried. Climate Fight podcast part 2

🎧 The Anthill Podcast

The fossil fuel era must end – so what happens to the communities it built? Climate Fight podcast part 3

🎧 The Anthill

Where does the youth climate movement go next? Climate Fight podcast part 4

Huddling: John Kerry, US climate negotiator is surrounding at the COP26 Glasgow summit. Tiffany Cassidy

🎧 The Anthill

The art and chaos of negotiating the Glasgow Climate Pact – Climate Fight podcast part 5

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. Ellen Duffy

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy at 50: the history of an ongoing protest for Indigenous sovereignty in Australia – podcast

Image of shoppers at the self-service fresh meat cabinets in a Southampton branch of Sainsbury’s in 1954. Donald S. Herbert/Sainsbury archive

🎧 In Depth Out Loud

A history of shopping: how pop-ups, home delivery and fast fashion go back as far as the 1800s – podcast

Ukrainian soldiers killed in the war are buried in Lviv in early March 2022. Mykola Tys/EPA

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

The history and evolution of Ukrainian national identity – podcast

🎧 Climate Fight

Climate fight: the world’s biggest negotiation – a podcast series from The Anthill

🎧 Medicine Made for You

These scientists are using DNA to target new drugs for your genes – Medicine made for you part 1

🎧 Recovery

How Europe recovered from the Black Death – Recovery podcast series part one

🎧 Expert guide to conspiracy theories

How to spot a conspiracy theory – Expert guide to conspiracy theories part one

March 24, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

How has Emmanuel Macron changed France? Podcast

Plus, the long history of humanity’s love of bees. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

A protester outside an immigration detention facility in Melbourne, Austraila. FiledIMAGE/Shutterstock

March 10, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

The trauma of life in limbo for refugees and asylum seekers in immigration detention – podcast

Plus, Russia’s history of using refugees from Ukraine as geopolitical tools. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.

Will Smith won the best actor Oscar for his performance in ‘King Richard.’ (Shutterstock)

March 30, 2022

🎧 Don't Call Me Resilient

Will Smith’s Oscar slap reveals fault lines as he defends Jada Pinkett Smith against Chris Rock: Podcast

In this special edition of ‘Don’t Call Me Resilient,’ we chat about how “the slap heard around the world” is part of a layered story of racism, sexism, power and performance.

Europe relies on Russia for about 40% of its natural gas. Victoria Viper B/Shutterstock

February 10, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

If Russia invades Ukraine, what could happen to natural gas supplies to Europe? Podcast

Plus, the Beijing Winter Olympics are using 100% artificial snow: what does that mean for the environment, and the athletes? Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

March 3, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Climate change: IPCC scientists on the narrowing window to adapt – podcast

Plus, a section of a rocket is about to crash on the Moon. What scientists hope to learn from it. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Nuclear fusion is what generates the energy of the sun: scientists are getting closer to controlling a sustained fusion reaction on Earth. Marko Aliaksandr/Shutterstock

February 24, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Nuclear fusion record broken – what will it take to start generating electricity? Podcast

Plus, the social pressure some people feel to be happy in the world’s happiest countries. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba is sworn in as head of state in Burkina Faso on February 16 after the January military coup. EPA

February 17, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Sahel security: what a wave of military coups means for the fight against jihadi groups in West Africa – podcast

Plus, why do people with a foreign accent get a hard time – and how to prevent it. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

After South African scientists sounded the alarm about the new omicron variant, countries around the world closed their borders. Kim Ludbrook/EPA

February 3, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

South African scientists on the inside story of discovering omicron – and what their experience offers the world about future variants. Podcast

Plus, is the human emotional response to music innate or is it shaped by a person’s culture? Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Uyghurs and other Muslims pray at a mosque in Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region during a state-organised visit by foreign journalists in April 2021. Wu Hong/EPA

January 27, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

China’s plans for Xinjiang, and what it means for the region’s persecuted Uyghurs – podcast

Plus, what toxic heavy metals are lingering in household dust around the world? Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Where does our love of sugar come from? Magdalena Kucova/Shutterstock

January 20, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

The science of sugar: why we’re hardwired to love it and what eating too much does to your brain – podcast

Plus, a lawyer explains the legal battle over Canada’s discriminatory First Nations child welfare system. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.

Banking on bitcoin: El Salvador announced plans to build a Bitcoin City in November 2021. Rodrigo Sura/EPA

January 13, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Crypto countries: Nigeria and El Salvador’s opposing journeys into digital currencies – podcast

Plus, a philosopher explains the history of the idea that we might all be living in a simulation. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Cherine Fahd, Being Together: Parramatta Yearbook, 2021-2022. Produced by C3West on behalf of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in partnership with Parramatta Artists’ Studios, an initiative of the City of Parramatta. Courtesy of the artist

December 16, 2021

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

How the arts can help us come back together again – podcast

Three stories from Australia and the UK exploring the role of art in helping people deal with the challenges life throws at them. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

200 units or 10cc of insulin from the 1930s manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis - USA. Walter Cicchetti / Alamy Stock Photo

January 14, 2022

🎧 In Depth Out Loud

The discovery of insulin: meet the feuding scientists who all lay a claim – podcast

The audio version of an in-depth article on the feuding scientists who battled for credit over the discovery of insulin.

mRNA vaccines: not just for COVID. Cryptographer/Shutterstock

January 6, 2022

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

mRNA vaccines, asteroid missions and collaborative robots: what to watch in science in 2022 – podcast

Experts give us a science preview for 2022, plus what lies in store for global inequality. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

December 9, 2021

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

James Webb Space Telescope: what astronomers hope it will reveal about the beginning of the universe – podcast

Plus, the tactics the food industry is using to boost sales of ultra-processed foods in middle-income countries. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.

December 2, 2021

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Planet pharma: what the industry got out of COVID – podcast

Listen to experts discuss the business practices of pharmaceutical companies in The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Waiting for SCOTUS: pro-choice activists outside the US Supreme Court on November 1. Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

November 25, 2021

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

US abortion bans back before the Supreme Court – but globally more countries are liberalising access than restricting it. Podcast

Plus, a forensic scientist explains how he uncovered the mysteries behind deadly lightning strikes. Listen to The Conversation Weekly.

Solar reflectors in space reflect sunlight. Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

October 11, 2021

🎧 In Depth Out Loud

How science fiction can inspire humanity’s response to the climate crisis – podcast

The audio version of an in-depth article on how science fiction’s hopes and fears can inspire humanity’s response to the climate crisis.

Alok Sharma, COP26 president at the climate summit in Glasgow. Robert Perry/EPA

November 18, 2021

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Glasgow Climate Pact: what happened at COP26 and what it means for the world – podcast

Experts from around the world react to the COP26 Glasgow climate summit. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Afraid, sad and anxious: what climate change is doing to young people. Stephen Bell / Alamy Stock Photo

November 11, 2021

🎧 The Conversation Weekly

Ten years to 1.5°C: how climate anxiety is affecting young people around the world – podcast

Experts explain the latest evidence on eco-anxiety in The Conversation Weekly.

India Tomorrow part 1: fake news and the battle for information

India Tomorrow part 2: the politics of Hindu nationalism

India Tomorrow part 3: Kashmir

India Tomorrow part 4: women, gender and love

India Tomorrow part 5: economic growth, inequality and jobs

India Tomorrow part 6: what young Indians want

India Tomorrow part 7: what Narendra Modi’s landslide victory means for India

The Anthill Podcast

In Depth Out Loud Podcast

January 27, 2021

How to listen to The Conversation’s podcasts

There are lots of different ways to listen to The Conversation’s podcasts.

July 3, 2019

🎧 To the Moon and Beyond

Part 1: What we learned from landing on the moon and why we stopped going

CC BY-NC42.5 MB (download)

The first episode of a brand new podcast series to mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landings looks back at what going to the moon taught us and why we stopped sending people there.

July 10, 2019

🎧 To the Moon and Beyond

Part 2: how humanity reacted to the moon landing and why it led to conspiracy theories

CC BY-ND46.8 MB (download)

In episode 2 of The Conversation's new podcast series, we look at how people reacted to the moon landing – and why some still believe it was a hoax.

July 17, 2019

🎧 To the Moon and Beyond

Part 3: The new space race and what winning it looks like

CC BY-ND44.7 MB (download)

Episode 3 of the To the moon and beyond podcast takes a look at who some of the key players are in the 21st century space race and what they are competing for.

July 24, 2019

🎧 To the Moon and Beyond

Part 4: What’s the point of going back to the moon?

CC BY-ND49.4 MB (download)

In the fourth episode of our podcast series, we look at the practical, legal and ethical questions about going to set up base on the moon – and mining its resources.