Madeleine Finlay

Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Saul Newman, an interdisciplinary researcher at University College London and the University of Oxford, who has recently won an Ig Nobel prize – given to scientific research that ‘first makes people laugh, and then makes them think’ – for his work showing that many claims of people living extraordinarily long lives come from places with short lifespans, no birth certificates, and where clerical errors and pension fraud abound

In this episode from August, Madeleine Finlay hears from Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, to find out why scientists (including him) were once so convinced that alcohol had health benefits, and what the actual risks of alcohol are

In this episode from July, Ian Sample talks to the philosopher Julian Baggini, Zoe’s chief scientist, the University of Oxford academic dietician Dr Nicola Guess, and the King’s College London nutrition expert Prof Sarah Berry to find out what we know about blood glucose levels and our health, and whether the science is nailed down on personalised nutrition

Ian Sample hears from Guy Leschziner, a consultant neurologist and sleep physician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London, whose new book, Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human, looks at the neurological basis of behaviours often dismissed as evidence of bad character or lack of willpower

As wildfires continue to cause devastation in Los Angeles, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Albert van Dijk, professor of water science and management at the Australian National University, about how rising temperatures are causing rapid swings in extreme weather

Last year was full of unexpected science news, from a new strain of Mpox emerging in the DRC, to artificial intelligence dominating the Nobel prizes, and two astronauts getting ‘stuck’ in space. So what will this year bring? Ian Sample and science correspondent Hannah Devlin discuss the big stories likely to hit the headlines and share their predictions for 2025

Ian Sample speaks to Chris French, emeritus professor of parapsychology at Goldsmiths University. They discuss how scientists have tried to test telepathy, what else could be behind the apparent ability of some people to read minds, and why the idea is still so popular

Ian Sample speaks to Keon West, a professor of social psychology at the University of London, whose new book, The Science of Racism, explores what science can reveal about racism, the inventive methods scientists have used to study it and the scientifically proven ways of tackling racism and discrimination

Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, has been studying our waning attention spans for 20 years. She tells Madeleine Finlay why she believes our powers of concentration are not beyond rescue, and reveals her top tips for finding focus

We asked for your questions on getting healthy in 2025 and you delivered. In the first episode of our listener questions special, Madeleine Finlay tells Ian Sample what she has uncovered about the scientifically proven ways to cut down on sugar, the truth behind the panic over seed oils, and why it is that some of us seem to have bullet proof immune systems, while others succumb to every bug they encounter