Episode summary: Thrift: Through the strictures of the global financial downturn and its aftermath citizens have been urged to ‘keep calm and carry on’. This slogan, first coined in the 1940s and revived in the 2000s, found its way into political rhetoric and popular culture. Laurie talks to Rebecca...

Episode summary: Galileo tried to teach us that adding more and more layers to a system intended to avert disaster often makes catastrophe all the more likely. His basic lesson has been ignored in nuclear power plants, financial markets and at the Oscars… all resulting in chaos. At the 2017 Academy...

Episode summary: The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts. A note on shownotes. In a perfect world, you go into each episode of the Memory Palace knowing nothing about what’s coming. It’s pretentious, sure, but that’s the intention....

Episode summary: We talk about the impact of different online platforms on the general election campaign, from Twitter and Facebook to WhatsApp and TikTok. Is micro-targeting getting more sophisticated? Is viral messaging getting more important? Or are traditional electioneering techniques still dri...

Episode summary: In a special live edition recorded at the Bristol Festival of Economics we discuss the impact of the technology revolution on democratic politics. Has the rise of automation contributed to the rise of populism? Is China winning the AI wars against the West? And do any democratic pol...

Episode summary: Philosopher Daniel Heller-Roazen tells us the story of Pythagoras and the fifth hammer and how Kant and Kepler both tried (and failed) to record the universal harmonies Pythagoras once heard. Your host sets out to make some money doing experimental medical testing, and gets the chan...

Episode summary: From a broken-hearted granddaughter’s search for understanding to a collective conversation around desire - Josie Long presents short documentaries and adventures in sound about desire, love and heartbreak. ROW-cub Produced by Neena Pathak Texts I’ve Sent The Government Featuring Jo...

Episode summary: Having lost his way, George encounters a mysterious figure who offers to help him, but on one condition. Chaos ensues as the poet ends up travelling 10 years into the future. Written by George The Poet Produced by Benbrick & George The Poet Original music by Benbrick Featured songs:...

Episode summary: Since the beginning of the impeachment proceedings against the President, Donald Trump has insisted he has a right to confront “the whistleblower,” the anonymous member of the intelligence community who set the whole thing in motion. There is a Confrontation Clause in the Sixth Amen...

Episode summary: Evo Morales, Bolivia’s longest-serving leader and first indigenous president, stepped down last week amid weeks of protests sparked by a dispute over a recent presidential election in the country. His opponents say the election was rigged but the embattled former president said it w...