logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
42m 10s

Magic Materials

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

You might think materials are a bit boring and inconsequential but without them we would still be living in the stone age. Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined on stage by material scientists Mark Miodownik and Anna Ploszajski and comedian Ed Byrne to discover the life changing materials that are hidden in plain sight. Which materials have made us human? Which materials do we completely depend on? And how will materials shape our future?

Producer: Caroline Steel Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

Up next
Jul 9
201st Birthday Bonanza - Mel Giedroyc, Deborah Meaden and Nish Kumar
Get ready for a landmark episode of The Infinite Monkey Cage as we celebrate our 201st show! Brian Cox and Robin Ince invite a lively panel of celebrity guests to pose their burning scientific questions to a top-tier team of scientists. Mel Giedroyc is tunnelling into the world o ... Show More
42m 35s
Mar 2025
Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley
Brian Cox and Robin Ince unpick the hidden codes behind the shapes we see in nature with mathematicians Sarah Hart & Thomas Woolley and comedian Dave Gorman.The panel marvel at how evolution so often beats mathematicians to finding the most elegant solutions, after all, it’s had ... Show More
42m 27s
Mar 2025
The Sound of Music - Brian Eno, Sam Bennett and Trevor Cox
Brian Cox and Robin Ince explore the history of music recording, joined by acoustics professor Trevor Cox, music professor Sam Bennett and musician and producer Brian Eno. Together they guide us through the evolution of sound recording, a space in which technology hasn’t stood st ... Show More
42m 43s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2020
Episode 20: Materials Informatics
Materials Informatics is the application of data science tools and techniques to materials research. In this episode, we examine how the uses of machine learning are applied to materials science. We try to give an honest appraisal of the pros and cons of this emerging field to se ... Show More
54m 14s
Nov 2021
A Materials World - Hacks & Gizmos with Jud Ready
How do you invent a new material? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Gary O’Reilly, and Chuck Nice discuss the science of invention, biomimicry, and answer cosmic queries about materials science from our patrons with professor Dr. Jud Ready. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch o ... Show More
47m 47s
Jan 2019
Episode 1: The History of Steel
Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Materialism Podcast! In this episode we cover the most ubiquitous and important engineering material of all time: steel. The story of steel is fascinating and ties into the history of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of capitalism, and ... Show More
41m 7s
Dec 2021
What makes stuff sticky?
What makes things sticky? Listener Mitch from the USA began wondering while he was taking down some very sticky wallpaper. Our world would quite literally fall apart without adhesives. They are almost everywhere – in our buildings, in our cars and in our smartphones. But how do t ... Show More
32m 40s
Jan 2019
Introduction to Materialism
What is materials science? What is the Materialism Podcast? Find the answers to these questions and more in this trailer for what is to come! Each episode includes a brief general introduction to the topic so that any listener can understand the subject matter. We hope you’ll enj ... Show More
3m 29s
Sep 2019
Timothy LeCain, "The Matter of History: How Things Create the Past" (Cambridge UP, 2017)
Timothy LeCain is an award-winning environmental historian whose past work has focused on the connections between open-pit copper mines, technology, and the natural world. LeCain's newest book The Matter of History: How Things Create the Past (Cambridge University Press, 2017) pr ... Show More
1h 6m
Sep 2022
Medieval Animals
Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Tim Wingard and Kiri Pritchard-McLean to look at what we know about animals in medieval Europe. From hunting and farming to companionship and entertainment, animals have long been a part of our culture but how did the beliefs and treatment of animals b ... Show More
58m 55s
Mar 2023
Vital Electricity
Greg Jenner is joined by guests Prof Iwan Rhys Morus and comedian Olga Koch in the 17th century to learn all about "vital electricity". From elaborate party tricks to questionable medicinal claims, we’ll explore the downright bizarre ways that the force of electricity has been ha ... Show More
55m 48s
Feb 2023
The Indus Civilisation: life in Bronze Age South Asia
Greg Jenner is joined by guests Dr Danika Parikh and comedian Ahir Shah in the Bronze Age to explore the ancient Indus civilisation. They take a close look at the terracotta, toilets and even the unicorns of this vast civilisation which was in existence some 2,000 years before Po ... Show More
54m 35s