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PODCAST

Physical Attraction

Physical Attraction is the show that explores topics in science, technology, and the future - from a physicist"s perspective. From the birth of stars to the end of the world, from interviews with experts to meticulously-researched deep dives, we"ll explore the topics that shape our world.

science physics

All Episodes

37:32

BONUS: Autocracy Now - Commodus

Physical Attraction ·

2018/05/08

This is a bonus episode coming out on the Physical Attraction feed. The topic is even less related to physics than usual, but since it's extra, I hope you'll forgive me. As I mentioned a few episodes ago, this wasn't the first podcast I ever made. In fact, I scripted and recorded about twenty episodes of a show - Autocracy Now - on historical dictators. It's not something I'm an expert in - just a topic of fascination! Then I started the physics show. And it became clear to me that it would be

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48:59

TEOTWAWKI Failed Predictions - Part I (Free Episode)

Physical Attraction ·

2018/05/03

So, it won't come to any surprise to any of you to realise that - while I've researched all of the various ways the world might end - I've found an awful lot of ways the world CATEGORICALLY WON'T END. From Raptures gone wrong to Nibiru, the planet that does not exist and will not crash into Earth, this episode eases the drama a little bit by going through some of the end-of-the-world predictions that didn't come true. The second half of the show will be available via the website as a premium

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25:04

Startup Nectome Promises Immortality or Death: Can...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/04/27

Nectome took the tech social media world by storm when they announced, at Y Combinator, that they'd kill you for $10,000. Well, they'd kill you and preserve your brain, possibly leading to some kind of digital immortality when they upload your brain to a computer. This was met with excitement, skepticism, and - ultimately - MIT severed ties with the company. We look into the science, ethics, and philosophy of Nectome's proposed brain-uploading scheme. Could it really work? Or is it just a

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01:16:18

Stephen Schwartz, Atomic Analyst, on nuclear weapons:...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/04/19

We have a special guest on the show today - Stephen Schwartz. Stephen is an expert on nuclear weapons; he has been studying nuclear weapons policy, particularly in the US, for decades. His book - The Atomic Audit - was the first ever survey of the true financial cost of nuclear weapons; he has been the editor and publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, who manage the famous Doomsday clock and publish scholarly and popular literature on existential threats including nuclear weapons. He

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01:16:22

Simon Ings on Stalin and the Scientists: Triumph and...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/04/12

One of the best and most enjoyable parts of hosting this show is when my favourite authors are kind enough to speak to me. I'd like to thank Simon for an excellent, enlightening, entertaining discussion: if you enjoy listening to it half as much as I enjoyed the conversation, you're in for a real treat. Today, as part of our series on science in the USSR, I'm delighted to say that we have an interview with Simon Ings, the author of a wonderful book on the subject - Stalin and the Scientists. Simon

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44:54

Simon Ings on Stalin and the Scientists: The...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/04/05

One of the best and most enjoyable parts of hosting this show is when my favourite authors are kind enough to speak to me. I'd like to thank Simon for an excellent, enlightening, entertaining discussion: if you enjoy listening to it half as much as I enjoyed the conversation, you're in for a real treat. Today, as part of our series on science in the USSR, I'm delighted to say that we have an interview with Simon Ings, the author of a wonderful book on the subject - Stalin and the Scientists. Simon

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25:19

We Can Always Shoot Them Later - Stalin, Soviet...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/03/29

"Leave the physicists be," said Stalin to his chief of police, Beria. "We can always shoot them later." In this series of episodes, we'll take you inside the world of science in the USSR - with a particular focus on how they developed the atomic bomb. The gulags were not the only prisons in the Soviet Union; in fact, they constructed entire secret cities, called "Atomgrads", to house the scientists working on the bomb project. Technical experts were detained in prisons called sharashka. It was a

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32:33

We Can Always Shoot Them Later - Stalin, Soviet...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/03/22

"Leave the physicists be," said Stalin to his chief of police, Beria. "We can always shoot them later." In this series of episodes, we'll take you inside the world of science in the USSR - with a particular focus on how they developed the atomic bomb. The gulags were not the only prisons in the Soviet Union; in fact, they constructed entire secret cities, called "Atomgrads", to house the scientists working on the bomb project. Technical experts were detained in prisons called sharashka. It was a

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34:52

Stephen Hawking: The Voice of Physics

Physical Attraction ·

2018/03/18

Physics lost a bright star last week when Stephen Hawking, world-renowned cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and science communicator, died at the age of 76. Although he was only given a few years to live when first diagnosed with motor-neurone disease in 1963, aged just 21 and at the beginning of his graduate studies in Cambridge, he defied medical predictions and lived for another fifty years. Somehow, it still doesn’t seem like it was long enough; but few have made such good use of their time.

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32:41

TEOTWAWKI 1, Nuclear Weapons II: In The Shadow of the...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/03/15

Vasili Arkhipov. Stanislav Petrov. Are the names familiar? They should be: these people saved the world by refusing to use nuclear weapons under incredible circumstances of extraordinary pressure. Even if you trust every head of state in every country that has nuclear weapons - and even if you feel confident that all future heads-of-state in nuclear-armed countries can also be trusted - there's still the possibility of nuclear accidents. Over time, this possibility becomes a probability. One of the

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50:44

Martin Pfeiffer (@NuclearAnthro) Interview

Physical Attraction ·

2018/03/08

We have a special guest on the show today! This one was very fun to record. Martin Pfeiffer, perhaps more notorious by his Twitter handle @NuclearAnthro, is a must-follow expert and Anthropology PhD student who studies the history of nuclear weapons, and how human societies interact with them. We discuss folk beliefs about nuclear weapons, the history of the individuals who've wielded them... and just how easy it is for the President to launch a nuclear strike. We built them. We can take them

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31:58

TEOTWAWKI 1 - Nuclear Weapons: A Delicate Balance

Physical Attraction ·

2018/03/01

Ten apocalypses later, we're finally here. It's easy to forget, living our comfortable lives, that there are hundreds of nuclear-armed missiles that could destroy civilisation at the drop of a hat... after just one order. Or maybe - an accident. In this episode, I'll talk about the history of nuclear weapons; some of the incidents when we came closest to annihilation; and what the world would look like after a nuclear war. You can follow us on Twitter @physicspod, and visit the website at

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40:11

Climate Conversation with Ben Franta: Scientist,...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/02/22

We have a guest on the show today - Ben Franta. Ben is a scientist, science historian, science writer, and activist. He studied for a PhD at Harvard working on solar cells; while he was at Harvard, he became involved in the movement to persuade that University to divest from fossil fuels. After finishing his first PhD, he moved to Stanford to take up a PhD in the History of Science, where he now studies the history of climate politics, and the influence of fossil fuel companies on that politics. His

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39:57

Climate Conversation with Ben Franta: Scientist,...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/02/14

We have a guest on the show today - Ben Franta. Ben is a scientist, science historian, science writer, and activist. He studied for a PhD at Harvard working on solar cells; while he was at Harvard, he became involved in the movement to persuade that University to divest from fossil fuels. After finishing his first PhD, he moved to Stanford to take up a PhD in the History of Science, where he now studies the history of climate politics, and the influence of fossil fuel companies on that politics. His

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37:37

TEOTWAWKI: The Psychology of the End

Physical Attraction ·

2018/02/08

Why are we so fascinated with the end of the world? How do we think about it? How do cognitive biases impact how we conceive of it? How can we account for existential risks to humanity? What is millenial thinking, and why do we fall into it? All this and more; it's Physical Attraction, the TEOTWAWKI specials. www.physicspodcast.com - where to go if you want to donate to us, or contact us with your questions. @physicspod on Twitter - another great way to contact us if you can tolerate Twitter

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27:02

Climate Change - Mitigation and Controversies

Physical Attraction ·

2018/01/26

In this episode, I try to explore a little more the politics behind the simple question: why is it that virtually every other proclamation of physicists is accepted, but the consensus around anthropogenic climate change has been so difficult for people to accept? Remember: you can follow us on Twitter @physicspod You can find the website at www.physicspodcast.com And on either one of those, you'll find a sparkly donate button where you can give to us on Paypal if you want to help us cover our

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39:02

Climate Change and the Ozone Layer: Lessons from...

Physical Attraction ·

2018/01/19

You may remember not so long ago the hole in the ozone layer was the major scientific apocalypse story out there in the world. It could have proved devastating for society, but - after the Montreal protocol banned and heavily regulated the substances that were causing the problem, the ozone hole has begun to shrink and the crisis has died down. In this episode, I'll talk about the story of the ozone hole and what - if anything - it can teach us about our own efforts to combat greenhouse gas

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34:15

TEOTWAWKI, Climate Change - Part II

Physical Attraction ·

2018/01/12

In this second part of the climate change episode, I will talk about what climate change is going to do to us - what the worst case scenarios are - and what we can do, as individuals and as a collective, to stop it. Remember; if you enjoy the show, please tell others about it. You can visit the website at www.physicspodcast.com and you can find links there to support us via Patreon or Paypal, both of which will allow you to download bonus episodes at low, low prices.

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30:52

TEOTWAWKI 2.2, Climate Change - Part I

Physical Attraction ·

2018/01/05

Our environment links us all: and we know that we are doing immense harm to that natural environment with our human activities. But where are the weak links? What are the potential pitfalls for the natural world, and for civilisation? In other words - if we don't change our ways - what could happen? We all know that the climate is changing and that humans are responsible for the vast bulk of the change. (If you disagree, I really hope you'll listen to this episode, and I'm happy to take on any

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51:56

TEOTWAWKI 2.1: Ecotastrophe

Physical Attraction ·

2017/12/29

Our environment links us all: and we know that we are doing immense harm to that natural environment with our human activities. But where are the weak links? What are the potential pitfalls for the natural world, and for civilisation? In other words - if we don't change our ways - what could happen? This is a simply huge topic. So, for the sake of clarity, I’m going to split the ecological and environmental catastrophe into two parts. The first will focus on pollution, species extinction, and

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252 results

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