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Instant Genius

Whether you’re curious about getting healthy, the Big Bang or the science of cooking, find out everything you need to know with Instant Genius. The team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine talk to world-leading experts to bring you a bite-sized masterclass on a new subject each week. New episodes are released every Monday and Friday and you can subscribe to Instant Genius on Apple Podcasts to access all new episodes ad-free and all old episodes of Instant Genius Extra. Watch full episodes of Instant

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All Episodes

34:19

Inside the hunt for life-changing medicines

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/28

Chances are when we’re treated with medicines in hospital or pick up our prescriptions at the pharmacy, we don’t give much thought about how the drugs that are so vital for our health and wellbeing came to be. The fact is the journey that a new medicine takes from its beginnings in the laboratory to finally being administered to patients can be long and arduous. It typically takes the work of countless scientists, researchers and technologists toiling away behind the scenes for decades and is often

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35:24

From asteroids to aliens - how space is threatening...

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/25

Is our planet under threat from the depths of space? In this episode, we talk to solar physicist Dr Ryan French. Normally, Ryan is busy unravelling the mysteries of our Sun, but today we’ll be delving into a slightly darker topic – the many risks posed to our delicate planet from space. In his recent book, "Space Hazards: Asteroids, solar flares and cosmic threats”, Ryan covers all the many dangers our planet faces from space rocks, the Sun and the farthest reaches of the Universe. We run through

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25:05

Why we treat our pets and possessions like human beings

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/21

Many of us treat our pet dogs or cats with the same love and attention that with give to our human babies, some of us give our cars or other prized possessions human names and may even, at times, talk to them. This is known as anthropomorphism – the tendency within many of us to assign human qualities to non-human animals and even inanimate objects.In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Justin Gregg to talk about his latest book, Human-ish – How Anthropomorphism Makes Us Smart, Weird and

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29:46

How bats became one of the planet’s most successful...

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/18

It’s a little-known fact that bats are one of the most successful animals on Earth, with almost 1,500 different species currently identified. Their agility in flight and prowess as hunters, wide-ranging diversity in size and behaviour and ability to adapt to almost any environment have allowed them to conquer almost every corner of the globe. But despite their success, many species of bats are now under threat. In this episode, we’re joined by ecologist and neurobiologist Prof Yossi Yuval to talk

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25:51

Why penguins are one of the planet’s most unique bird...

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/14

Thanks to their comical waddle-like way of walking, striking tuxedo-patterned plumage or graceful ability to seemingly ‘fly’ beneath the water, penguins are without doubt one of the planet’s most instantly recognisable animals. But the fact is that they are also one of its most endangered species of bird.In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Peter Fretwell, lead scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, to talk about his latest book The Penguin Book of Penguins – An Expert’s Guide to the World’s

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42:19

Busting the biggest myths in neuroscience

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/11

Relatively speaking neuroscience and psychology are young fields of scientific research that only really got going over the last hundred years or so. However, during this time several stubborn myths have arisen that, zombie-like, just don’t seem to go away.In this episode, we speak to neuroscientist, best-selling author and long-time BBC Science Focus contributor Dr Dean Burnett. He tells us how much of our brain we really use, explains whether polygraphs can really tell if we’re lying, and

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28:11

The positive tipping points that can help us solve...

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/07

When it comes to climate change, we often think of tipping points as having a huge negative effect. Be it the loss of ice sheets in the Arctic, the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest or the alteration of ocean currents, scientists have identified several key systems on the Earth that will be impossible to reverse if they cross a critical threshold. But if we look at the situation from the opposite side, there are also several positive tipping points that, given the correct momentum, can

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27:13

How cats became one of our most-loved domestic pets

Instant Genius ·

2025/09/04

From Lewis Carrol’s mysterious grinning Cheshire Cat and Jim Davis’s lazy, lasagne-loving comic strip tabby Garfield to the depictions of big cats found in palaeolithic cave art and the ancient Egyptian’s practice of worshipping cat-like deities, it’s clear we humans have had a long-standing fascination with felines. But how did this obsession with these charismatic animals begin?In this episode, we’re joined by Jerry D Moore, a professor of anthropology at California State University, Dominguez

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34:07

How the health of the oceans is vital for the health...

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/31

Despite being a land-based species, the fact is that we humans live on a planet that is largely covered by oceans. The oceans play a key role in regulating the Earth’s climate and provide us with many of the resources essential for our continued survival – even down to the oxygen we breathe. The sad truth is our oceans aren’t in good shape. But there is still hope. With directed effort we can all help to preserve this vital resource and improve the health of the planet and all who live on it. In

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35:15

The tiny molecules tackling the planet’s biggest...

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/28

In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Omar Yaghi – a pioneer of materials chemistry whose inventions are shaping the future of clean energy, clean air, and even clean water. He’s best known for creating metal–organic frameworks, or MOFs, and covalent organic frameworks, COFs – ultra-porous materials that can capture carbon, store hydrogen, and even pull drinking water out of desert air. His work has opened up an entirely new field of chemistry, and his breakthroughs are now being developed into

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31:59

How to build a healthier, longer-living society

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/24

The most commonly held narrative states that we’re all ultimately responsible for our own health and wellbeing. While there’s undoubtedly truth in this idea, the bigger picture shows that the societies we live in and the policies shaped by our governments also play a huge role in our quality of life and longevity.In this episode, we’re joined by Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health based at the University of Edinburgh, about her latest book, How Not to Die (Too Soon) – The Lies We’ve

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29:40

The psychology of making the most of your time

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/21

Be it due to an increasingly demanding workload or responsibilities that need fulfilling at home, these days many of feel that there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything we need to get done. For many of us this can have a significant impact on our health and wellbeing. So, what can we do to improve our relationship with time?In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Ian Taylor, a psychologist based at Loughborough University, to talk about his latest book Time Hacks – The Psychology of Time

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33:56

How to overcome fear, according to a neuroscientist

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/17

We all know the feeling: thoughts racing through your mind, nervous flutters in your belly, your heart beating hard in your chest. When your whole body is screaming at you that you’re in danger, it can feel impossible to not listen. But fear doesn’t have to hold you back.In this episode, we speak to Professor Abby Marsh, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University, in the US, who recently starred in National Geographic’s new series, Limitless: Live Better Now. In this series, scientists – including

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36:35

How connecting with nature can help neurodivergent lives

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/14

It’s estimated that as many as one in five of the world’s population are neurodivergent. Be it ADHD, autism or dyslexia, these differences in brain function can make everyday life more difficult for many. But maybe the natural world can provide some much-needed relief.In this episode, we speak to naturalist and author Joe Harkness about his latest book Neurodivergent by Nature – Why Biodiversity Needs Neurodiversity. He tells us why many neurodivergent people don’t receive an accurate diagnosis

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36:44

The science behind PMS, and how to beat it

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/10

The luteal phase of the menstrual cycle has a really bad reputation. It’s known for premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, when many menstruating people experience low mood, bloating, food cravings and sluggishness before their period arrives. In stark contrast, we think of earlier phases in the cycle as times when we feel energetic, motivated and self-confident.In this episode, we speak to Dr Sarah Hill, an evolutionary psychologist whose research focuses on women, relationships and health, and the

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34:27

How the world needs to adapt to a changing climate

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/07

We’re no longer living in a world before climate change. Its impacts – from rising sea levels to more extreme weather – are already upon us, and will almost certainly get worse before they get better. But beyond cutting our emissions as fast as possible, what do we need to do to survive, and hopefully thrive, in this new world? Today’s guest, researcher and author Susannah Fisher, joins us to explore that question. In her new book Sink or Swim, she lays out two possible futures: one where we fail

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34:57

How humans learned to speak and why

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/03

Humans’ unique ability to communicate through complex systems of language is one of the key attributes that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. But how did this complex behaviour arise?In her latest book, The Origin of Language – How We Learned to Speak and Why, evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman argues that our ability to speak arose due to the need to take care of our children. She tells us how early human’s anatomy changed dramatically when our ancestors came down from the

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38:21

The biggest unsolved mysteries in cosmology

Instant Genius ·

2025/08/01

For thousands of years humans have looked out into the night sky and pondered on the mysteries of the vast cosmos that we find ourselves part of. From Copernicus’ discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun to Einstein’s revelation that gravity is the result of the curvature of spacetime, we’ve learned much about how the universe operates. But we’re still only scratching the surface. In this episode, we speak to Marcus Chown, an award-winning science writer and broadcaster and long-time

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33:50

The hidden ways money has shaped human civilisation

Instant Genius ·

2025/07/27

If most of us were asked what we thought was meant by the word ‘technology’ chances are the first thing that would come to mind are inventions such as cars, medicine and computers.But economist and author David McWilliams would argue these are all physical technologies and that there’s also a whole world of social technologies out there that have shaped human progress in a similarly profound way that most of us are largely unaware of. Chief amongst these, he says, is the invention of money. In

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35:28

A neuroscientist’s guide to living with dementia

Instant Genius ·

2025/07/24

Dementia doesn’t have to be terrifying. We tend to think of neurocognitive decline as something to be feared and avoided, but as the population ages, more and more of us are being diagnosed with dementia – so it might be helpful to know more about it. In this episode, we speak to Dr Sabina Brennan, a neuroscientist, psychologist, bestselling author and host of the Super Brain podcast. Her new book, Still Me: a neuroscientist’s guide to caring for someone with dementia, offers practical advice for

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