logo
episode-header-image
Jul 2021
27m 15s

Dare to Repair: How we broke the future

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Materials engineer Professor Mark Miodownik looks back to the start of the electronics revolution to find out why our electronic gadgets and household goods are less durable and harder to repair now. As he attempts to fix his digital clock radio, he reveals that the drive for cheaper stuff and advances in design and manufacturing have left us with a culture of throwaway technology and mountains of electronic waste.

Image: Apron housewife at kitchen dish washer, Credit: George Marks/Getty Images

Producer: Fiona Roberts

Up next
Apr 13
Dark Breath
In July 2024 a startling scientific paper was published.Headlined ‘Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor’, scientists told how they had discovered oxygen being made two and a half miles down, at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.Their claim centred on small pol ... Show More
26m 28s
Apr 6
Superbugs: Resistance Rising Part 3
The rapid spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is already claiming lives - and a far greater global crisis is on the horizon.In this three part series for Discovery, reporter Roland Pease traces how we reached this point, uncovers the forces driving resistance ever faster, and ... Show More
29m 22s
Mar 30
Superbugs: Resistance rising, part 2
The rapid spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is already claiming lives and a far greater global crisis is on the horizon.In this three part series for Discovery, reporter Roland Pease traces how we reached this point, uncovers the forces driving resistance ever faster, and m ... Show More
26m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
Gene editing breakthrough
We look at a gene editing breakthrough, a new technique to correct genetic errors in sick patients. Roland speaks to Professor David Liu to learn about the base editing technology. Also, we look into the complex causes of last year's post-pandemic spike in child hepatitis. Profes ... Show More
33m 14s
Jul 2021
Fighting for the right to repair
US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order asking the Federal Trade Commission to “limit powerful equipment manufacturers from restricting people’s ability to use independent repair shops or do DIY repairs”. This could mean manufacturers can no longer require repairs on ... Show More
42m 26s
Feb 2023
Coming soon: The Quantum Revolution
<p>Tech companies and labs around the world are building a revolutionary new computer. Quantum computers harness the mysteries of quantum physics to perform calculations that seem impossible. The people building them say they’re going to change the world.</p><br><p>In a new seaso ... Show More
1 m
Apr 2024
Predicting the future of tech
The internet plays an important role in most of our lives today. What will it, and other tech, look like in the future ? We take a long view with a veteran of the tech industry. Also on Tech Life this week, some of the biggest social media platforms have been accused of obstructi ... Show More
26m 29s
Feb 2019
Is Recycling All Our Waste at Home Possible?
Waste, trash, garbage – whatever you call it, unwanted materials have become a major presence in many of our lives and our environment. Every year it is estimated that humans around the world produce 2 billion metric tonnes of waste. Listener Clare from Devon in the UK wants to s ... Show More
30m 38s
May 2023
Recycling
In this special edition of Inside Science, Vic Gill prepares to rummage through our rubbish, to peek behind the curtain of the UK's recycling habits and see how well prepared we are as a nation to further our efforts of sustainable waste management.Presenter: Vic Gill Producer: E ... Show More
27m 54s
Dec 2020
The best tech stories of 2020
This week Digital Planet looks back on some of the stories we’ve covered in 2020; electricity from Lake Kivu on the Rwandan/DRC border, internet shutdowns across the world, contact tracing apps during the pandemic and how technology has changed digital death rituals and allowed u ... Show More
43m 4s
Dec 2020
In Machines We Trust: Attention Shoppers: You’re Being Tracked
Cameras in stores aren’t anything new—but these days there are AI brains behind the electric eyes. In some stores, sophisticated systems are tracking customers in almost every imaginable way, from recognizing their faces to gauging their age, their mood, and virtually gussying th ... Show More
28m 50s
Jan 2022
In Machines We Trust: The AI of the beholder (Encore)
Computers are ranking the way people look—and the results are influencing the things we do, the posts we see, and the way we think. Ideas about what constitutes “beauty” are complex, subjective, and by no means limited to physical appearances. Elusive though it is, everyone wants ... Show More
22m 37s