Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
CultureLab is an array of delights from the world of culture and the arts. Sometimes we interview the world’s most exciting authors about their fascinating books, other times we delve into the science behind a movie or TV show. New episodes every other Tuesday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Science and culture interviews • Books and science-informed arts • Marine bioacoustics • Adolescent psychology • Science TV and sci‑fi • Quantum ideas • Plant behaviour • Space, Mars sounds, exoplanets • Climate narratives • Racism, health inequities • AI bias • Menstruation scienceThis podcast explores the meeting point of science, culture and the arts through interviews and discussions that use books, film and television as entry points into current scientific ideas and debates. Across episodes, hosts speak with scientists, science journalists, and writers about how research reshapes the way we understand ourselves and the world, and how cultural narratives in turn influence public understanding of science.
A recurring focus is the hidden or hard-to-sense dimensions of nature, from the acoustic lives of marine animals and the physics of sound underwater to the surprising capabilities and adaptive behaviours of plants. Space and planetary science also feature prominently, with conversations about using rover data to translate Martian environments into music, the search for life on other worlds, and the ways Earth’s moon has shaped climate, evolution and human history.
The show also regularly tackles science as a human enterprise embedded in society. Topics include how adolescence affects development and behaviour; how racism and medical bias can influence health outcomes and access to care; and why trust in artificial intelligence is complicated by error, marketing, and discrimination. Climate change appears as both a scientific and communication challenge, examining uncertainty, risk and the stories people use to make sense of planetary change.
Alongside these themes, the podcast engages with science fiction and science-driven screen culture—looking at what contemporary TV and speculative storytelling get right, what they invent, and how imagination, ethics and scientific thinking inform each other.
