Instant Genius Podcast

Instant Genius Podcast

From the creators of BBC Science Focus, Instant Genius is a bite-sized masterclass in podcast form. With each episode, a different world-leading expert will help you understand the latest ideas and research in the world of science and tech. We want to make you an expert in everything.

Do you have synaesthesia? Why some of us can taste words

Do you experience sounds or music visually as certain shapes? Or 'hear' colours?
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Why you’re not actually addicted to your phone

Not all social media is unhealthy – here's how to rethink your relationship to it.
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How personalised medicine is about to change healthcare forever

The new power of precision treatments, explained.
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How some of the best discoveries in space were made by accident

Science isn't all lab coats and lightbulb moments.
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The surprising role of clouds in climate change

They're much more than rainmakers.
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Why giraffes are undergoing a silent extinction

The world's tallest land animal is facing extinction despite its fame.
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Why we are seeing the return of infectious diseases

Measles, plague, and cholera are re-emerging – is this a sign of a coming pandemic?
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How to overcome social paranoia and anxiety

A psychologist explains simple ways to crush social paranoia by building your self-esteem.
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How to reclaim your motivation

Feeling aimlessness? Listless? If so, you could be languishing.
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How the Placebo effect actually works

How people can be healed without actual treatment.
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How to get better at being bored

What boredom is actually signalling to your body, explained by a neuroscientist.
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How animals speak to each other

Fun fact: Dolphins give themselves names.
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The strange science of why humans need laughter

The connection between laughter and your immune system, and what really happens when you get the giggles.
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The world's hidden hedgehog crisis

Why their numbers are falling – and how we can help them recover.
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How to actually lose weight, according to science

Simple ways to transform unhealthy eating habits and master your metabolism.
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Is the avocado a nutritional superfood or environmental disaster?

Just how healthy – both to your body and planet Earth – is the ever-popular fruit?
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How to pace yourself in an exhausting world

Science-proven tips for having more energy throughout your day.
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The science of the paranormal

Why we see ghosts, UFOs and visions of our past lives.
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Has the Moon entered a new epoch?

Here's how humans could have changed the lunar surface forever.
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Instant Genius Podcast: How to finally master your email inbox

The worrying impact of an overflowing inbox on your mental health – and what to do about it.
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Instant Genius Podcast: The new potential of smart materials

Inside the science of shape-shifting clothes, heat-absorbing roof tiles and everything in between.
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Solving the world’s plastic pollution problem

How widespread plastic pollution is – and what we can do to finally tackle the problem.
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How can we make our food more secure?

Prof Tim Benton, research director at Chatham House, explains how our food sources impacts the planet.
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What mass extinctions can teach us about the future of life on Earth

Inside the surprising and numerous mass extinctions in our planet's history.
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