New Scientist The Big Interview

Philip Pullman had been writing books for years before he became a global sensation with the His Dark Materials trilogy. The story of two children crossing into parallel worlds in a quest to understand the nature of reality and humanity, the novels draw on fantasy as well as theology, physics and neuroscience, and are strongly influenced by the work of William Blake and John Milton. He is following up the trilogy with three more books, the second of which, The Secret Commonwealth, was published in 2019. New Scientist’s Rowan Hooper met with Pullman at his home in Oxford. https://www.newscientist.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have one decade left to change our ways, to curb carbon emissions and unsustainable practices that are heating the planet and destroying biodiversity. Rebecca Shaw is chief scientist of conservation charity WWF, and as a graduate student she set up the world’s first climate change ecology experiment, in the Rocky Mountains. Big Interview host Rowan Hooper met her in London before the coronavirus lockdown to talk about staying positive amid the inaction on climate change and biodiversity, about her life in biology and about her hopes for the future. https://www.newscientist.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caroline Criado-Perez is a British feminist, activist, author and journalist. Last year, she made waves with her book, Invisible Women. In that, she described how women get overlooked in many different areas of life, from government policies and urban planning, to transport algorithms and even medical research. She showed that there’s an underlying assumption that the male body and the male experience is the default, and the female experience is some kind of unusual outlier - rather than representing half the world’s population. Our reporter Clare Wilson wanted to know how these systematic biases are impacting on women as the world copes with coronavirus. For example, as Criado Perez says, coronavirus affects men and women differently, and many countries are not collecting sex-disaggregated data on covid-19. https://www.newscientist.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The latest episode of The big interview features climate activist Greta Thunberg. Arguably one of the world’s most influential people, and certainly one of the most famous teenagers, Greta launched the school strikes for climate in 2018, which have since gone global. Her strike started outside the Swedish parliament when she was 15. Since then she’s addressed the United Nations and been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, because of the global threat of coronavirus, she’s taken her activism, and the strikes, online. In a wide-ranging and intimate conversation, New Scientist's Adam Vaughan spoke to Greta about coronavirus, her dawning understanding at eight years old about the climate crisis, how she was raised, and what it’s like being so famous. https://www.newscientist.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist. Despite tackling some of the most ‘out there’ questions in science, Brian is able to break down his work into relatable information. A multiple bestselling author, his latest book is ‘Until The End of Time: Mind, Matter and our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe’. In this engaging conversation, Brian explains his belief that there is no definitive meaning to life, and suggests that people should focus on how incredible it is that we exist at all. Despite acknowledging that many of the questions he raises in his career will probably remain unanswered for centuries, Brian says the hope of gleaning some insight into the universe’s big unknowns is what keeps him going. He digs into every area of existence imaginable, from questions of life, religion, the flow of time and the origin of the universe. This conversation will make you question everything you know about yourself – Do you have free will? Are you truly conscious? – and yet you’ll still come away feeling empowered. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac are two of the most influential people in the global climate movement, and led the negotiations for the historic Paris Agreement in 2015. In their new book, ‘The Future We Choose’, they set out the best and worst case scenarios for the future of our planet, based on the decisions we make now on carbon emissions. In this passionate conversation, Christiana makes it clear that the power to change the world is in our hands, saying. “We have to unleash our stewardship of this planet, to bring it back into the safe zone.” Tom explains the excitement of being at the fulcrum of such an urgent cause, with the chance to do something remarkable, adding that “people need to realise the privilege of living at this moment”. Christiana and Tom tell host Rowan Hooper how they met, how they both came to practice Buddhism, and what their hopes are for the future of the planet. Find out more at www.newscientist.com. And you can hear Christiana and Tom’s podcast, Outrage & Optimism, here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.