Science Shambles

What if being a bit weird is actually entirely normal? What if sharing our internal struggles wasn't a sign of weakness, but strength? Let some experts help you wade through the 'neurotrash' to talk about the science of neurodiversity. Gina Rippon is a Professor of Cognitive NeuroImaging and author of The Gendered Brain and The Lost Girls of Autism. Dr Camilla Pang is the Royal Society Book Prize winning author of Explaining Humans and Perfectly Weird. They join comedian and author of Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal, Robin Ince. Recorded at the the 2025 Latitude Festival. Support us at patreon.com/cosmicshambles to watch an extended edition of this episode

Recorded live at Latitude 2025, join Dr Clara Nellist of CERN, and two astrophysicists, Sky at Night co-host Dr Maggie Aderin-Pock and Sky at Night regular Dr Jen Gupta alongside Dr Helen Czerski to discuss what we know about Dark Matter, and how we're trying to actually find it. Support the show at patreon.com/cosmicshambles and watch the video version of this panel on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles

AI is in the news everywhere you look at the moment. But amongst all of the sensationalist headlines, what’s really going on, and what should we actually be worried about when it comes to AI? Prof Kevin Fong recently took a look at medicine in AI for a BBC series and Elizabeth Black is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at King’s College. They join Dr Suze Kundu to chat about it all. Recorded in The Cosmic Shambles Forest of Science and Culture at the 2025 Latitude Festival. Support us at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Recorded LIVE at the 2022 Latitude Festival, Dr Helen Czerski and Prof Kevin Fong sit down to talk about the merits of space travel in a time where the Earth is gripped by a pandemic and climate change. Should we still be focussing on space travel? What can it teach us that helps with life on Earth? And why are we so enamoured with space, when the oceans are still so ignored? Support the podcast and network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Dr Kit Champman is a life long motorsport fan and as a scientist, he previously worked with Virgin Racing's Formula E team on the chemistry and material science of their cars. Many innovations, first developed for racing, have been incorporated into everyday life across fields of healthcare, fluid dynamics, climate and, obviously, road cars. His latest book is, Racing Green, and looks into these developments and research, and it's out now. If you’d like to directly support what we do at the Cosmic Shambles Network visit https://patreon.com/cosmicshambles

The mantra of 'We're not vaccinated against COVID until the whole world is vaccinated' is now more prevalent than ever. At last year's British MotoGP round at Silverstone Robin Ince went along to meet up with Andrea Coleman and 13 time Grand Prix winner Randy Mamola, founders of the charity Two Wheels for Life. The charity uses motorcycles to deliver healthcare, and now, COVID vaccines to hard to reach rural communities in Africa. Robin, Andrea and Randy chat about their work during the pandemic, how the charity got started and changing the public perception around motorcycles. Special thanks to Dorna and Silverstone. Two Wheels for Life is one of the charities we supported at 2021's Christmas Compendium of Reason, hosted by Robin and Brian Cox. Find out more at twowheelsforlife.org Support the Cosmic Shambles Network for all sorts of extras including an upcoming extended interview with Randy Mamola, at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Recorded live at the 2021 Norwich Science Festival, Dr Helen Czerski is joined by Chris Lintott, co-host of The Sky at Night and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford to talk about the year in astronomy so far. They chat about the discovery of new planets, the Drake equation, missions to Mars and whether Elon Musk is a force for good... Support the show and get all sorts of bonus goodies at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Dr Stuart Clark is a science writer and journalist with a PhD in astrophysics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and his latest book, Beneath the Night: How the Stars Have Shaped the History of Humankind is out now in paperback. Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity at cosmicshambles.com/shop Support The Cosmic Shambles Network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist, futurist, and popular science author and speaker around the world. He is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the City College of New York and his latest book The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything has just been released. Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity at cosmicshambles.com/shop Support The Cosmic Shambles Network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Harry Cliff is a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge working on the LHCb experiment at CERN. He chats to Robin Ince about his new book, How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch, an exhilarating search for the most basic building blocks of our universe, and the dramatic quest to unlock their cosmic origins. If you’d like to directly support what we do at the Cosmic Shambles Network visit patreon.com/cosmicshambles​ Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity (Out Oct 7th) at cosmicshambles.com/bookshop

Nichola Raihani is a Professor of Evolution and Behaviour at UCL. Her research focuses on the evolution of cooperation in nature. Her first book, The Social Instinct, is out now. She joined Robin Ince to talk about it. Support the podcast and Shambles in general by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmichshambles Order Nichola's book The Social Instinct : How Cooperation Shaped the World via Hive or your favourite local bookshop. Pre-Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity (Out Oct 7th) at cosmicshambles.com/shop Tour dates at cosmicshambles.com/100bookshops

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week it's a Helen special as Robin pitches all the leftover Helen questions at Dr Czerski from jam to bubbles to climate to poo... Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Professors Christina Pagel and Sheena Cruickshank to talk of COVID, masks, antibodies and the Loch Ness monster... Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Science Shambles is a science QnA show hosted by Robin Ince and Helen Czerski. Helen is away this week so Robin is doing a live Science Book Shambles with special guest Professor Johnjoe McFadden. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Helen is joined by Michael Marshall and Deborah Hyde to talk about why people believe in conspiracy theories, anti-science and superstition. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Professors Alexandre Antonelli and Juliet Brodie to talk plants, seaweed and general botany. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Dr Karl to talk of COVID, climate and kangaroo poo... Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Jon Butterworth and Dr Clara Nellist from CERN to talk protons, neutrons, electrons and polarised sunglasses. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

This is the second live event we did at the 2021 Latitude Festival when The Cosmic Shambles Network took over The Listening Post for a series of live Science Shambles events on the Sunday afternoon. Dr Helen Czerski is joined by Dr Suzi Gage and Dr Dean Burnett to talk about mental health during the pandemic including issues surrounding grief, coming out of lockdown, pregnancy and much more. To support The Cosmic Shambles Network please subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

At the 2021 Latitude Festival The Cosmic Shambles Network took over The Listening Post for a series of live Science Shambles events on the Sunday afternoon. The first of those events was a panel discussion around climate change and restoring nature and how it's not just as simple as using less plastic bags. Although you should still use less plastic bags. Dr Helen Czerski is joined by climate scientist Dr Tamsin Edwards and ecosystem scientist Professor Yadvinder Malhi. Support The Cosmic Shambles Network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles