Only four women have ever received the Nobel Prize in Physics. This episode features two of them! Andrea Ghez unlocked a secret of the universe when she figured out how to prove the existence of a super-massive black hole in the center of our galaxy. Donna Strickland devised a way of producing far more intense and precise lasers. Those lasers have changed m ... Show More
Jul 20
Katie Ledecky: The Call Of The Water
She sent shockwaves through the world of competitive swimming, when she won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, beating out the favorites by a wide margin. She was 15 years old. Katie Ledecky is now training for her fifth Olympics, and is indisputably the greatest female swimmer o ... Show More
53m 20s
Apr 2026
Cindy Sherman: Illusions of Identity
Cindy Sherman, one of the world's most renowned contemporary art photographers, started posing for her own photos in the 1970's, long before the advent of selfies. But she says her images are not self-portraits. Instead, she uses sets, costumes and makeup to create an elaborate a ... Show More
42m 14s
Apr 2025
Unstoppable: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber are both scientists, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about the women that came before them. In Unstoppable, Julia and Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the scientists, engineers and innovators that they wish ... Show More
29m 22s
Jul 2024
Lost Women of Science Conversations: The Exceptions
<p>Dr. Nancy Hopkins, a molecular biologist who made major discoveries in cancer genetics, became an unlikely activist in her early fifties. She had always believed that if you did great science, you would get the recognition you deserved. But after years of humiliations — being ... Show More
34m 59s
Aug 2023
How to get more women in science, with Athene Donald
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books, physicist Athene Donald joins us to discuss her book Not just for the boys, why we need more women in science. We discuss how science has historically excluded women, the barriers to entry and retention that remain prevalent, and wh ... Show More
32m 14s
Jul 2021
Anna Reser and Leila McNeill, "Forces of Nature: The Women who Changed Science" (Frances Lincoln, 2021)
From the ancient world to the present women have been critical to the progress of science, yet their importance is overlooked, their stories lost, distorted, or actively suppressed. Forces of Nature sets the record straight and charts the fascinating history of women's discoverie ... Show More
59m 23s
