Best The Stupid Scientist Podcasts (2025)

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The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job 30:46

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1d ago30:46

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From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order By Tom Lamont. Read by Elis James. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: The queen of crime-solving 41:55

5d ago41:55

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: forensic scientist Angela Gallop has helped to crack many of the UK’s most notorious murder cases. But today she fears the whole field – and justice itself – is at risk By Imogen West-Knight…

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A critique of pure stupidity: understanding Trump 2.0 25:45

6d ago25:45

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If the first term of Donald Trump provoked anxiety over the fate of objective knowledge, the second has led to claims we live in a world-historical age of stupid, accelerated by big tech. But might there be a way out? By William Davies. Read by Dan Starkey. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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How Horror Movies and True Crime Can Make You Happier 44:57

7d ago44:57

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Halloween isn't just costumes and candy. It's also a time when we indulge our interest in the scary and macabre. But there's also a taboo about gory horror movies and gruesome true crime shows - we often feel that being interested in blood and violence is unhealthy. The opposite is possibly true. Psychologist Coltan Scrivner (author of Morbidly Cur…

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‘Resistance is when I put an end to what I don’t like’: The rise and fall of the Baader-Meinhof gang 36:37

9d ago36:37

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In the 1970s, the radical leftwing German terrorist organisation may have spread fear through public acts of violence – but its inner workings were characterised by vanity and incompetence By Jason Burke. Read by Noof Ousellam. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: Who owns Einstein? The battle for the world’s most famous face 48:46

11d ago48:46

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Thanks to a savvy California lawyer, Albert Einstein has earned far more posthumously than he ever did in his lifetime. But is that what the great scientist would have wanted? By Simon Parki…

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Make Vulnerability Your Superpower (with NBA star Kevin Love) 37:07

14d ago37:07

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Not many elite athletes talk openly about mental health, but five-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love is changing that. After a very public panic attack on the basketball court he was told to "snap out of it". But Kevin decided to discuss his "dark moments" of anxiety and depression and show that vulnerability is actually a strength. The sports star joins…

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The origins of today’s conflict between American Jews over Israel 28:35

13d ago28:35

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In the early years, American Jewish support for Israel was a fraught issue. The turning point was the six-day war of 1967, which solidified a strength of feeling that has only recently begun to fracture By Mark Mazower. Read by Kerry Shale. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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‘I have to do it’: why one of the world’s most brilliant AI scientists left the US for China 54:50

16d ago54:50

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In 2020, after spending half his life in the US, Song-Chun Zhu took a one-way ticket to China. Now he might hold the key to who wins the global AI race By Chang Che. Read by Vincent Lai. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: ‘Infertility stung me’: Black motherhood and me 33:25

19d ago33:25

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: I assumed I would be part of the first generation to have full agency over my reproduction – but I was wrong By Edna Bonhomme. Read by Nerissa Bradley. Help support our independent journalis…

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‘What reconciliation? What forgiveness?’: Syria’s deadly reckoning 42:49

21d ago42:49

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Over a few brutal days in March, as sectarian violence and revenge killings tore through parts of Syria, two friends from different communities tried to find a way to survive By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Read by Mo Ayoub. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Take away our language and we will forget who we are: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the language of conquest 30:27

24d ago30:27

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The late Kenyan novelist and activist believed erasing language was the most lasting weapon of oppression. Here, Aminatta Forna recalls the man and introduces his essay on decolonisation By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o with introduction by Aminatta Forna. Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Aminatta Forna. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.…

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From the archive: The Blackstone rebellion: how one country took on the world’s biggest commercial landlord 44:48

26d ago44:48

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By The Guardian

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How to Make Better Choices (with Barry Schwartz) 40:48

28d ago40:48

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Every choice you make shapes your wellbeing - and the bigger the decision, the greater the impact. So when it comes to life-changing questions like where to live, who to marry, or which career to pursue, how can you tell if you’re making the best decision for your long-term happiness? Economists might argue that you should weigh up every single opt…

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‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster 29:36

28d ago29:36

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Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases – such as the banning of whaling and CFCs – that show humanity can come together to avert disaster By Kate Marvel. Read by Norma Butikofer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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From bank robber to scholar: the Knoxville dropout fighting to change how we see addiction 31:55

1M ago31:55

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Kirsten Smith was 19 when she first tried heroin; within a few years she was in prison. She says she willingly made bad choices and wants society to stop treating addiction as a disease By Xi Chen. Read by Katherine Fenton. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: Divine comedy: the standup double act who turned to the priesthood 45:08

1M ago45:08

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Josh and Jack used to interrogate life via absurdist jokes and sketches. But the questions they had just kept getting bigger – and led them both to embark upon a profound transformation By L…

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Take a Three-Day Weekend Without Losing Any Pay (with Juliet Schor) 55:51

1M ago55:51

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Many of us toil for long hours - and even take work home at the end of the day. That's bad for us in so many ways - but extensive research shows that it just doesn't have to be this way. Many of us could work a four-day week and still get everything done. Economist Juliet Schor has studied every kind of business - from breweries to ad agencies - an…

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‘A climate of unparalleled malevolence’: are we on our way to the sixth major mass extinction? 30:38

1M ago30:38

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Churning quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the rate we are going could lead the planet to another Great Dying By Peter Brannen. Read by Lincoln Conway. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Bland, easy to follow, for fans of everything: what has the Netflix algorithm done to our films? 40:58

1M ago40:58

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When the streaming giant began making films guided by data that aimed to please a vast audience, the results were often generic, forgettable, artless affairs. But is there a happy ending? By Phil Hoad. Read by Adam Sims. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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230: Nikki Weaver - Can you speak your truth and survive it? 1:15:07

1M ago1:15:07

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Nikki Weaver teaches writing, yoga, and self-expression to women in prisons. She is the founder of On The Inside, an organization that builds a creative connection for incarcerated women, both individually and collectively, by telling stories, igniting hearts, and sparking dialogue. They aim to spread creative connections for women on the inside an…

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From the archive: Forgetting the apocalypse: why our nuclear fears faded – and why that’s dangerous 44:32

1M ago44:32

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: The horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made the whole world afraid of the atomic bomb – even those who might launch one. Today that fear has mostly passed out of living memory, and with it we…

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77 | Akiko Iwasaki and the art of creativity maintenance 40:04

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Akiko Iwasaki, a Yale professor and Howard Hughes Investigator, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2024. Together, we reflect on how diverse backgrounds enrich research, allowing people to discover different things in the same data. Akiko explains how leading large collaborations requires managing expectations, not micr…

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How to Spend Your Time and Money Better (with Nobel Prize Winner Richard Thaler) 48:48

1M ago48:48

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We all behave irrationally. We pay for expensive gym memberships and only go once. We spend windfall cash on things we'd never buy with our salaries. We plan to do nice things in the distant future, but don't actually write them down in our calendars. These things can be bad for our happiness, so why do we do them? Economist Richard Thaler won a No…

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‘The forest had gone’: the storm that moved a mountain 46:22

1M ago46:22

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On a small ledge in the Swiss mountains, 200 people were enjoying a summer football tournament. As night fell, they had no idea what was coming By Jonah Goodman. Read by Evelyn Miller. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Life in a ‘sinking nation’: Tuvalu’s dreams of dry land 42:36

1M ago42:36

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With sea levels rising, much of the nation’s population is confronting the prospect that their home may soon cease to exist. Where are they going to go? By Atul Dev. Read by Mikhail Sen Check out Between Moon Tides documentary at theguardian.com. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…

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From the archive: Sewage sleuths: the men who revealed the slow, dirty death of Welsh and English rivers 42:24

2M ago42:24

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: A tide of effluent, broken laws and ruthless cuts is devastating the nation’s waterways. An academic and a detective have dredged up the truth of how it was allowed to happen – but will anyt…

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Eat Like the People Who Live Happily to 100 (with Dan Buettner) 39:21

2M ago39:21

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Your eating habits could be cutting years off the end of your life. But there's a simple solution - eat like the people who live happily and healthily into their 80s, 90s and beyond. Dan Buettner studies the inhabitants of so-called "Blue Zones" - where people live long lives. Food and eating culture seem to play an important role this longevity. D…

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Very British bribery: the whistleblower who exposed the UK’s dodgy arms deals with Saudi Arabia 51:36

2M ago51:36

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When Ian Foxley found evidence of corruption while working at a British company in Riyadh, he alerted the MoD. He didn’t know he’d stumbled upon one of its most closely guarded secrets By David Pegg. Read by Shane Zaza. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational 49:41

2M ago49:41

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Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker reality. By Sam Edwards. Read by Sid Sagar. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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229: Blake Kasemeier - Is art anything you can get away with? 1:00:15

2M ago1:00:15

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Blake Kasemeier tells stories, mostly with words, and also makes videos you've probably watched on your phone before. He is a multifaceted content creator, writer, and poet, and in this chat, we dive into authenticity in art, the journey of content creation, and the importance of perspective. Blake shares his experiences navigating vulnerability in…

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From the archive: ‘We were all wrong’: how Germany got hooked on Russian energy 32:40

2M ago32:40

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Germany has been forced to admit it was a terrible mistake to become so dependent on Russian oil and gas. So why did it happen? By Patrick Wintour. Read by Andrew McGregor. Help support our …

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76 | Can Google’s Co-scientist project give scientists superpowers? 39:44

2M ago39:44

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To answer this question, we speak with Dr. Alan Karthikesalingam and Vivek Natarajan from Google DeepMind about their groundbreaking AI co-scientist project. Beyond their work at Google, Alan is an honorary lecturer in vascular surgery at Imperial College London, and Vivek teaches at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Together, we discuss…

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Why Having the Courage to Defy Makes us Happier (with Dr Sunita Sah) 39:53

2M ago39:53

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We all go along with things we don't want to do... or worse, things that make us feel uncomfortable or morally uneasy. We comply for lots of reasons. We don't want to make trouble, or upset our friends, our bosses or people in authority. But Dr Sunita Sah says we should be more ready to defy. Defy: the Power of No in a World That Demands Yes is one…

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Dancing with Putin: how Austria’s former foreign minister found a new home in Russia 34:56

2M ago34:56

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Karin Kneissl made headlines around the world when she invited the Russian president to her wedding in 2018. Five years later, she moved to St Petersburg. The scandal revealed a dark truth about the ties between Vienna and Moscow By Amanda Coakley. Read by Avena Mansergh-Wallace. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpo…

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Don’t call it morning sickness: ‘At times in my pregnancy I wondered if this was death coming for me’ 30:44

2M ago30:44

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The Victorians called it ‘pernicious vomiting of pregnancy’, but modern medicine has offered no end to the torture of hyperemesis gravidarum – until now. By Abi Stephenson. Read by Nicolette Chin. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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From the archive: ‘We need to break the junk food cycle’: how to fix Britain’s failing food system 33:47

2M ago33:47

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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: From ultra-processed junk to failing supply chains and rocketing food poverty, there are serious problems with the way the UK eats. Will the government ever act? By Bee Wilson. Read by Elino…

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The rise and fall of the British cult that hid in plain sight 51:55

2M ago51:55

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Philippa Barnes was a child when her family joined the Jesus Fellowship. As an adult, she helped expose the shocking scale of abuse it had perpetrated By Barbara Speed. Read by Robyn Addison. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Best of 2025 … so far: ‘The Mozart of the attention economy’: why MrBeast is the world’s biggest YouTube star 37:14

2M ago37:14

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Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from June: he’s spent 24 hours immersed in slime, two days buried alive – and showered vast amounts of cash on lucky participants. But a…

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Best of 2025 … so far: ‘Look, they’re getting skin!’: are we right to strive to save the world’s tiniest babies? 45:49

2M ago45:49

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Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from January: doctors are pushing the limits of science and human biology to save more extremely premature babies than ever before. But …

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Stop Caring What Other People Think of You (Bruce Hood on 10% Happier with Dan Harris) 1:08:23

2M ago1:08:23

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Bruce Hood was a mentor of Dr Laurie early in her academic career and now teaches a course on happiness based on her famous Yale class. Hear him discuss his top tips on 10% Happier with Dan Harris. Find out more about Dan Harris and 10% Happier at https://www.danharris.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

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The go-between: how Qatar became the global capital of diplomacy 43:05

2M ago43:05

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The tiny, astonishingly wealthy country has become a major player on the world stage, trying to solve some of the most intractable conflicts. What’s driving this project? By Nesrine Malik. Read by Sulin Hasso. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Best of 2025 … so far: an English gentleman, a crooked lawyer: the secrets of Stephen David Jones 56:55

2M ago56:55

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Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from June: with his brilliant mind and impeccable credentials, it’s little wonder that wealthy clients trusted him with their fortunes. …

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Best of 2025 … so far: Kahane’s ghost: how a long-dead extremist rabbi continues to haunt Israel’s politics 48:46

2M ago48:46

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Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from April: a violent fanatic and pioneer in bigotry, Meir Kahane died a political outcast 35 years ago. Today, his ideas influence the …

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“Can You Train Your Mind to Be Happier?” (with Dr Tal Ben-Shahar) 1:27:14

3M ago1:27:14

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How do you train your mind to be happier? That was the question posed to Dr Laurie by Dr Tal Ben-Shahar at a live webinar for his Happiness Studies Academy. Tal is a leading expert in positive psychology and co-founded the academy to share his knowledge online with students from around the world. Dr Laurie is just one of the scientists he invited t…

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Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights? 46:39

3M ago46:39

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Many of his supporters hoped the prime minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has been curiously mixed By Daniel Trilling. Read by Simon Darwen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpodBy The Guardian

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Best of 2025 … so far: The savage suburbia of Helen Garner: ‘I wanted to dong Martin Amis with a bat’ 41:00

3M ago41:00

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Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from March: over 50 years, she has become one of the most revered writers in Australia. Is she finally going to get worldwide recognitio…

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Best of 2025 … so far: ‘I am not who you think I am’: how a deep-cover KGB spy recruited his own son 51:52

3M ago51:52

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Every Wednesday and Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2025, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from May: for the first time, the man the KGB codenamed ‘the Inheritor’ tells his story By Shaun Walker. Read by James Faulkner. Help su…

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"Human Minds Are Stupid!" (with Rich Roll) 2:22:45

3M ago2:22:45

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On his podcast, Rich Roll seeks to give his listeners the knowledge to unleash their best selves. He invited Dr Laurie on his show to explain the science-backed "rewirements" she recommends to make us happier. The wide-ranging interview covers lots of topics - but tackles the tricky question of why the human mind often encourages us to do things th…

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How Pakistan fell in love with sushi 33:52

3M ago33:52

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Once upon a time, Pakistanis scorned raw fish. Now sushi is everywhere from Ramadan meals to wedding buffets – and it all started with one man and a dream By Sanam Maher. Read by Amina Zia The Oath documentary: to be a Palestinian doctor in Israel’s healthcare system. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod…