Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsOpening Radio and Podcast...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsFetching podcast shows and categories...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsFetching podcast episodes...
'Will my bacon sandwich kill me?', 'Is vaping better than smoking?', 'How do you become an astronaut?' - just some of the Big Questions we ask some of the brightest minds behind Oxford scien...
"It's as likely as winning the lottery." A phrase used in situations where something is, well, pretty near impossible. But is there anything...
Aside from the odd unfamiliar or complicated word, a lot of us won't think twice when it comes to reading. It's a skill we take for granted....
Historically, only two women have ever started a Grand Prix race, and as of the 2026 season, no women are competing in Formula One. This mal...
We're living in an age of rapid technological development which - alongside many benefits - comes at an environmental cost. We speak to Dr S...
This week we are featuring a special bonus episode from our friends at the Milk on the Move podcast. Milk on the Move explores milk's deep c...
If you've had the chance to visit Oxford's History of Science Museum, you may have found yourself gazing upon a rather special blackboard. F...
For this year's Valentine's Day episode, we are getting up close and personal with those most beloved of birds - penguins. Giving us an insi...
How much more money could you earn - doing the exact same role - if you're in possession of some solid AI skills? That's one of the core que...
Are we alone in the Universe? It's surely one of the biggest questions out there. In our first episode of 2026 we chat to Dr Carly Howett, A...
We all know it. We've all sung it. Perhaps we've even answered a quiz question about it*. The Twelve Days of Christmas has become as quintes...
Want to make something feel immediately complicated, inaccessible or downright mysterious? Stick the word 'quantum' in front of it. Or, at l...
Finding a cure for cancer is unarguably one of the biggest medical challenges that we face. But what if we could find a way to prevent cance...
Many of us will be familiar with Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs), perhaps without even realising it. Such behaviours - which incl...
How do you detect a particle that emits no light - in other words, something invisible? This is the intriguing challenge faced by scientists...
What's the best gift you can give? To the millions of people whose lives have been saved by complete strangers, the answer would be simple:...
Whether you've been served an advert for it, or just heard about it in the media, it's likely that 'Ozempic' isn't a totally unfamiliar word...
We've all been there...you're on the train, maybe tired after a long day, and all you can hear is one side of a fellow passenger's not-too-i...
With more than 70% of its surface covered in water, Earth is rightly known as the "blue planet". But where did this water - so essential to...
What do you do when the subject of your research lies deep beneath the waves? Send down an underwater robot, of course! We chat to volcanolo...
"I still don't believe it happened..." What's it like to face the most famous clock on television? We chat to Oxford mathematician Dr Tom Cr...
One in two people will be affected by dementia in their lifetime - whether that is as a patient, or somebody caring for a loved one. But wha...
In popular culture, Tourette's syndrome is wrongly associated solely with outbursts of swearing in the context of lazy jokes. But in reality...
If you were hunting for some fossilised dinosaur footprints, where would you go? To a remote part of North or South America, perhaps? A dese...
Shh...hedgehog! It always feels like a privilege to catch a glimpse of one, as it snuffles away under the garden fence. And come the spring,...
Electric eels are pretty amazing creatures. Their bodies can release powerful electric charges - in some cases reaching 650 volts! So, what...
Whether it's the bottle of water that you hastily grab at the train station, or your favourite guilty-pleasure fizzy pop, you may have notic...
Even if you'd never previously given much thought to the Northern Lights, chances are they were brought to your attention in 2024, when our...
Mistletoe has long been associated with fertility, and even today, its presence hanging from the ceiling can prompt a few blushes. But, did...
Evolutionarily speaking, it makes sense to have a lot of children. At the very least, we might expect a population to replace itself, with e...
Chances are, you didn't notice the week-long wind drought that the UK experienced towards the end of 2023. However, this period of low wind...
Welcome back to the new series of the Oxford Sparks Big Questions Podcast! We are here to answer weird and wonderful questions about our wor...
Summer is here, and with heatwaves forecast, how do we keep our homes cool without relying on air conditioning? In the UK, soaring summer te...
Scientists are returning to the moon, but when they get there, what time is it? Dr Carly Howett from the Department of Physics explains the...
Discover how the ancient art of origami is revolutionising sustainable energy! Researcher Jingyi Yang, from the Department of Engineering Sc...
When you think of fossils, you probably imagine dinosaurs. But did you know that soft body parts, like the brain, can become fossils too? In...
Have you ever had a song stuck in your head that you just can't shake? A few bars or lyrics that just keep looping all day long? Well, we ha...
Are seals the fishermen's friends or foes? The UK is home 35% of the world's grey seals and we know they like to get their flippers on many...
House plants can be a cheerful pop of colour in your home. But do you find after the initial burst of life, your plants start to fade, looki...
Volcanoes are pretty amazing! But how do they work on other planets? Take Mars – it has the largest volcano in the solar system! But volcano...
We are out in the wild today talking to bees! In this behind the scenes episode, we visited Dr Rachel Parkinson's bee recording studio to se...
Cats are pretty adorable! Those big eyes, fluffy paws and cheeky personalities mean that most people find felines cute. But what is the scie...
You might have seen them in a hotel. You might have read about them in the news. Maybe you've seen them star in social media videos filmed o...
Have you ever considered when kissing first started? Who, or what, first decided that this was a good way to show affection? Ancient histori...
How do we battle the energy use and soaring costs required to keep our homes warm? We spoke to Dr Brenda Boardman from the Environmental Cha...
People have been interested in wine growing and quality vintages since the Roman times, but as the climate warms, what does this mean for th...
As we count down to the festive season and the days get colder, will we see a white Christmas this year? In the last episode of the Big Ques...
Lions are iconic species, but they are threatened with extinction. In Zambia, researchers and conservationists are working together to find...
As the UK government proposes new plans to reduce the number of people who smoke, we talk to behaviour change researcher Nicola Lindson from...
Welcome to the new series of the Big Questions podcast, where we ask Oxford scientists to shed light on everyday questions that you really w...
About a year ago, we asked astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst why the James Webb Space Telescope is such a big deal . Her answers were pretty...