Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ astrophysics and cosmology explainers • black holes, gravity, time, spacetime limits • Solar System science: Mars, Venus, Mercury, Pluto • missions and exploration: Artemis, astronauts, Voyager, sample returns • space hazards: debris, solar storms, asteroids • stargazing tips and listener Q&A • extraterrestrial-life searches, fast radio bursts, gravitational waves
This podcast is a UK-made space and astronomy show hosted by science journalist Izzie Clarke and astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst, with regular contributions from Dr Robert Massey and occasional appearances from producer Richard Hollingham. Across its episodes, the series mixes explainers on current astrophysics and planetary science with interviews featuring researchers, mission specialists, and other expert guests, alongside listener-driven question-and-answer segments.
A major thread is making sense of big physics ideas—gravity, time, spacetime, cosmic expansion, and open questions in cosmology—often using well-known puzzles such as the “Hubble tension,” the limits set by the speed of light, and how gravitational waves can be measured or used as probes. Another recurring focus is extreme and unusual objects and phenomena, including black holes, fast radio bursts, rogue planets, exotic stars, and the large-scale structure of the universe.
The podcast also spends substantial time on the practical realities of space activity and exploration. Topics include human spaceflight and the Artemis programme, robotic missions and sample returns, spacecraft such as Voyager, and the scientific goals of upcoming planetary missions. Near-Earth risks and space environment hazards appear frequently as well, with discussions of solar storms, asteroids, and the growing challenge of space debris.
Interwoven with the science are observing-oriented segments—stargazing tips, notable sky events, and questions about what can be seen from Earth—plus occasional links to science in culture, such as how films and books portray space and physics.
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Episodes:
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Into the Space Debris Swamp
2026-Apr-30
49 minutes
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Our Artemis II Debrief
2026-Apr-15
33 minutes
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When Space Goes Rogue....
2026-Apr-01
47 minutes
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Black holes in the lab and meeting Ryan Gosling
2026-Mar-18
38 minutes
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What is the Hubble Tension?
2026-Feb-26
65 minutes
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2026: The year in space... And at sea?!
2026-Feb-11
26 minutes
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Q&A: Meteors, Artemis II, and Space Bathtubs
2026-Jan-29
51 minutes
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How to Time Travel
2025-Dec-23
54 minutes
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BONUS - Slingshots, Christmas Presents & Alien Communication
2025-Dec-15
24 minutes
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Protecting Our Dark Skies
2025-Dec-01
49 minutes
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BONUS - Supermassive Gone Rogue
2025-Nov-14
22 minutes
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A Watery History of Mars
2025-Nov-01
47 minutes
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BONUS - Mercury, Gemini and Pringles
2025-Oct-16
32 minutes
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Don't Panic…but a solar storm could be a disaster
2025-Sep-24
47 minutes
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BONUS - Are we Living in a Black Hole?
2025-Sep-09
14 minutes
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Supermassive Q and A...Live!
2025-Aug-26
46 minutes
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BONUS - What Shape is Space?
2025-Aug-12
19 minutes
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Astronauts. Do we need them?
2025-Jul-29
50 minutes
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BONUS - Where are Earth's rings?
2025-Jul-19
12 minutes
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Why isn't Pluto a planet?
2025-Jun-30
50 minutes
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BONUS - Why aren’t stars closer together?
2025-Jun-11
17 minutes
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Is Time Real?
2025-May-28
57 minutes
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BONUS - Mole People on Mars
2025-May-13
16 minutes
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What is Gravity?
2025-Apr-24
53 minutes
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BONUS - Can we gravitationally "hitch hike" out of the Solar System?
2025-Apr-11
15 minutes
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Returning to the Moon - with ESA Astronaut Matthias Maurer
2025-Mar-31
52 minutes
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BONUS - Can A Star Orbit Another Star?
2025-Mar-12
12 minutes
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Sample Return Missions - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
2025-Feb-28
46 minutes
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EMERGENCY BONUS - Asteroid 2024 YR4
2025-Feb-19
13 minutes
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BONUS - Could we capture a primordial black hole?
2025-Feb-12
16 minutes
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The Search for Space Aliens
2025-Jan-29
55 minutes
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Q&A - Space Potatoes and Christmas Stars
2024-Dec-21
53 minutes
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BONUS - Why can't anything go faster than the speed of light?
2024-Dec-13
14 minutes
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The Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts
2024-Dec-05
40 minutes
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BONUS - Nuclear Pasta & G-Astronomy
2024-Nov-19
17 minutes
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Strange Stars and Bizarre Binaries
2024-Nov-06
48 minutes
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BONUS - A Bumper Edition
2024-Oct-19
31 minutes
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Untangling the Cosmic Web
2024-Oct-02
43 minutes
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BONUS - What distorts time?
2024-Sep-26
15 minutes
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We Made It To Mercury!
2024-Sep-04
35 minutes
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BONUS - Galaxy Spin and Saving Herstmonceux Observatory
2024-Aug-21
13 minutes
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Venus aka "Earth's Evil Twin"
2024-Aug-01
42 minutes
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BONUS - Overmassive Galaxies
2024-Jul-20
22 minutes
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Q&A - Black Hole Special
2024-Jul-03
50 minutes
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BONUS - Lumpy Space Potatoes
2024-Jun-21
14 minutes
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The Major Lunar Standstill
2024-Jun-04
47 minutes
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BONUS - Why does the Aurora Borealis look better on my phone?
2024-May-23
19 minutes
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Voyager: Where no-one has gone before...
2024-Apr-29
47 minutes
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BONUS - Wobbly Planets and Baby Names
2024-Apr-10
13 minutes
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Into The Interstellar
2024-Mar-26
45 minutes
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BONUS - Dust, stars and alien streetlights
2024-Mar-13
12 minutes
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Quakes in Space
2024-Feb-28
53 minutes
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BONUS - Double Yolker Galaxies
2024-Feb-12
13 minutes
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The End of the World
2024-Jan-30
47 minutes
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Do We Live In A Multiverse?
2023-Dec-22
48 minutes
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BONUS - Could Space Junk Block JWST's View?
2023-Dec-21
13 minutes
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Neptune... At Last!
2023-Nov-28
49 minutes
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BONUS - Space News Bulletin
2023-Nov-14
28 minutes
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46: Q&A - Spice Girls, Black Holes, and Ice-Cream in Space
2023-Oct-27
40 minutes
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45: BONUS - Have you heard of "Ploonets"?
2023-Oct-13
18 minutes
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45: Uranus the Oddball
2023-Sep-29
52 minutes
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44: BONUS - Team Enceladus or Team Europa?
2023-Sep-18
13 minutes
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44: Here Comes the Sun...with NASA's Head of Science
2023-Aug-28
50 minutes
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43: BONUS - Aimless telescopes & beyond the Milky Way
2023-Aug-11
11 minutes
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43: Most of the Universe is missing...
2023-Jul-28
46 minutes
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42: BONUS – White holes, astrology and why is Venus so hot?
2023-Jul-06
17 minutes
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42: A (brief) History of Astronomy
2023-Jun-22
48 minutes
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41: BONUS - Why do Gas Giants exist?
2023-Jun-13
14 minutes
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41: BIG Observatories
2023-May-27
45 minutes
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40: BONUS - Are Lunar Poles Arbitrary?
2023-May-13
15 minutes
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40: Becky Loves Saturn
2023-Apr-29
50 minutes
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39: BONUS - Do black holes stop time?
2023-Apr-07
13 minutes
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39: Jupiter The Monster
2023-Mar-24
47 minutes
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38: BONUS - More Comets, Less Asteroids
2023-Mar-10
12 minutes
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38: Gettin' Gravitational Wave-y
2023-Feb-24
44 minutes
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37: BONUS - The Supermassive Mailbox
2023-Feb-11
13 minutes
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37: Q&A - Black Hole Burps and Space Station Pacman
2023-Jan-31
48 minutes
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36: Stargazing with Team Supermassive
2022-Dec-21
47 minutes
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Double Astronaut Special: Returning to the Moon
2022-Nov-25
50 minutes
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34: How to Deflect an Asteroid
2022-Oct-27
46 minutes
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33: Q&A - The Year in Space
2022-Sep-30
54 minutes
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32: JWST First Images... FINALLY!
2022-Aug-27
55 minutes
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31: Life on Mars - LIVE from Standon Calling
2022-Jul-29
42 minutes
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30: Rocky Planets Rock
2022-Jul-01
51 minutes
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29: Gas Giants are Weird
2022-May-31
49 minutes
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28: How to Kill a Galaxy
2022-Apr-30
43 minutes
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27: How to Build a Galaxy
2022-Mar-25
44 minutes
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26: The Marvellous Moon
2022-Feb-25
52 minutes
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25: A Supermassive Q&A!
2022-Jan-28
44 minutes
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24: Eclipses & Expeditions
2021-Dec-24
40 minutes
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23: The End of the Universe
2021-Nov-26
43 minutes
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22: JWST - Seeing the First Stars
2021-Oct-29
39 minutes
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21: Icy Worlds
2021-Oct-01
39 minutes
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20: Firey Worlds
2021-Aug-27
43 minutes
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19: Radiation Belts and Billionaires
2021-Jul-30
40 minutes
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18: A Hunk of Space Junk
2021-Jun-25
44 minutes
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17: Hunting for Planet 9
2021-May-28
42 minutes
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16: Mysteries of the Kuiper Belt
2021-Apr-23
41 minutes
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15: Neutron Stars - with Jocelyn Bell Burnell
2021-Mar-26
42 minutes
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14: A Star Is Born
2021-Feb-26
40 minutes
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13: New Year, New Universe
2021-Jan-22
39 minutes
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12: Gamma Rays & Christmas Stars
2020-Dec-18
42 minutes
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11: Radio Skies & Strange Signals
2020-Nov-20
40 minutes
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Humans In Space - with Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
2020-Oct-23
41 minutes
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The Power of Space Probes
2020-Sep-25
41 minutes
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Journey to the Centre of the Earth
2020-Aug-28
35 minutes
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Down To Earth
2020-Jul-23
39 minutes
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Looking for Alien Life
2020-Jun-25
38 minutes
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Exploring Exoplanets
2020-May-21
37 minutes
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Under the Space Weather
2020-Apr-23
36 minutes
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Our Neighbourhood Star
2020-Mar-19
37 minutes
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It's All Relativity...
2020-Feb-20
38 minutes
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Seeing The Invisible Universe
2020-Jan-17
40 minutes
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