Explore every episode of the podcast The Incomplete Shambles Podcast

Robin Ince poses our missed audience questions from the Cosmic Shambles LIVE show in Melbourne, Australia, to Dr Helen Czerski, Dr Katie Mack, Matt Parker and Professor Lucie Green. There’s questions about black holes, event horizons, flushing toilets and pie flavours.

Robin Ince poses our missed audience questions from Melbourne to Dr Helen Czerski, Dr Katie Mack, Matt Parker and Professor Lucie Green. There’s questions about recreating Sagittarius A out of pies, dark matter and science schools for girls.

On this episode of Science Shambles, Robin Ince chats climate change and the Artic with physicist Dr Helen Czerski, just returned from the Arctic, and sea ice researcher Dr Sammie Buzzard. They chat about melting glaciers, climate change, polar bears and why the thickness of the sea ice is even more important than ever. Support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/bookshambles

At the 2021 Latitude Festival The Cosmic Shambles Network took over The Listening Post for a series of live Science Shambles events on the Sunday afternoon. The first of those events was a panel discussion around climate change and restoring nature and how it's not just as simple as using less plastic bags. Although you should still use less plastic bags. Dr Helen Czerski is joined by climate scientist Dr Tamsin Edwards and ecosystem scientist Professor Yadvinder Malhi. Support The Cosmic Shambles Network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

This is the second live event we did at the 2021 Latitude Festival when The Cosmic Shambles Network took over The Listening Post for a series of live Science Shambles events on the Sunday afternoon. Dr Helen Czerski is joined by Dr Suzi Gage and Dr Dean Burnett to talk about mental health during the pandemic including issues surrounding grief, coming out of lockdown, pregnancy and much more. To support The Cosmic Shambles Network please subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Jon Butterworth and Dr Clara Nellist from CERN to talk protons, neutrons, electrons and polarised sunglasses. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Dr Karl to talk of COVID, climate and kangaroo poo... Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Helen is joined by Michael Marshall and Deborah Hyde to talk about why people believe in conspiracy theories, anti-science and superstition. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Science Shambles is a science QnA show hosted by Robin Ince and Helen Czerski. Helen is away this week so Robin is doing a live Science Book Shambles with special guest Professor Johnjoe McFadden. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Professors Alexandre Antonelli and Juliet Brodie to talk plants, seaweed and general botany. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week Robin and Helen are joined by Professors Christina Pagel and Sheena Cruickshank to talk of COVID, masks, antibodies and the Loch Ness monster... Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 10am BST on our YouTube channel. This week it's a Helen special as Robin pitches all the leftover Helen questions at Dr Czerski from jam to bubbles to climate to poo... Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Nichola Raihani is a Professor of Evolution and Behaviour at UCL. Her research focuses on the evolution of cooperation in nature. Her first book, The Social Instinct, is out now. She joined Robin Ince to talk about it. Support the podcast and Shambles in general by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmichshambles Order Nichola's book The Social Instinct : How Cooperation Shaped the World via Hive or your favourite local bookshop. Pre-Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity (Out Oct 7th) at cosmicshambles.com/shop Tour dates at cosmicshambles.com/100bookshops

Backstage at Nine Lessons Robin Ince catches up with two of the Cosmic Shambles Network's key bloggers, Dr Suzi Gage and Dr Dean Burnett. They chat about the big news of 2018 in their respective fields from new drug research, to bad claims about mental health to the 'differences' between men and women's brains. Support the CSN by visiting and pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

Harry Cliff is a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge working on the LHCb experiment at CERN. He chats to Robin Ince about his new book, How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch, an exhilarating search for the most basic building blocks of our universe, and the dramatic quest to unlock their cosmic origins. If you’d like to directly support what we do at the Cosmic Shambles Network visit patreon.com/cosmicshambles​ Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity (Out Oct 7th) at cosmicshambles.com/bookshop

Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist, futurist, and popular science author and speaker around the world. He is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at the City College of New York and his latest book The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything has just been released. Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity at cosmicshambles.com/shop Support The Cosmic Shambles Network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Dr Stuart Clark is a science writer and journalist with a PhD in astrophysics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and his latest book, Beneath the Night: How the Stars Have Shaped the History of Humankind is out now in paperback. Order signed and dedicated copies of Robin's new book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity at cosmicshambles.com/shop Support The Cosmic Shambles Network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Recorded live at the 2021 Norwich Science Festival, Dr Helen Czerski is joined by Chris Lintott, co-host of The Sky at Night and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford to talk about the year in astronomy so far. They chat about the discovery of new planets, the Drake equation, missions to Mars and whether Elon Musk is a force for good... Support the show and get all sorts of bonus goodies at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

The mantra of 'We're not vaccinated against COVID until the whole world is vaccinated' is now more prevalent than ever. At last year's British MotoGP round at Silverstone Robin Ince went along to meet up with Andrea Coleman and 13 time Grand Prix winner Randy Mamola, founders of the charity Two Wheels for Life. The charity uses motorcycles to deliver healthcare, and now, COVID vaccines to hard to reach rural communities in Africa. Robin, Andrea and Randy chat about their work during the pandemic, how the charity got started and changing the public perception around motorcycles. Special thanks to Dorna and Silverstone. Two Wheels for Life is one of the charities we supported at 2021's Christmas Compendium of Reason, hosted by Robin and Brian Cox. Find out more at twowheelsforlife.org Support the Cosmic Shambles Network for all sorts of extras including an upcoming extended interview with Randy Mamola, at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Dr Kit Champman is a life long motorsport fan and as a scientist, he previously worked with Virgin Racing's Formula E team on the chemistry and material science of their cars. Many innovations, first developed for racing, have been incorporated into everyday life across fields of healthcare, fluid dynamics, climate and, obviously, road cars. His latest book is, Racing Green, and looks into these developments and research, and it's out now. If you’d like to directly support what we do at the Cosmic Shambles Network visit https://patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Recorded LIVE at the 2022 Latitude Festival, Dr Helen Czerski and Prof Kevin Fong sit down to talk about the merits of space travel in a time where the Earth is gripped by a pandemic and climate change. Should we still be focussing on space travel? What can it teach us that helps with life on Earth? And why are we so enamoured with space, when the oceans are still so ignored? Support the podcast and network at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

AI is in the news everywhere you look at the moment. But amongst all of the sensationalist headlines, what’s really going on, and what should we actually be worried about when it comes to AI? Prof Kevin Fong recently took a look at medicine in AI for a BBC series and Elizabeth Black is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at King’s College. They join Dr Suze Kundu to chat about it all. Recorded in The Cosmic Shambles Forest of Science and Culture at the 2025 Latitude Festival. Support us at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Recorded live at Latitude 2025, join Dr Clara Nellist of CERN, and two astrophysicists, Sky at Night co-host Dr Maggie Aderin-Pock and Sky at Night regular Dr Jen Gupta alongside Dr Helen Czerski to discuss what we know about Dark Matter, and how we're trying to actually find it. Support the show at patreon.com/cosmicshambles and watch the video version of this panel on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles

What if being a bit weird is actually entirely normal? What if sharing our internal struggles wasn't a sign of weakness, but strength? Let some experts help you wade through the 'neurotrash' to talk about the science of neurodiversity. Gina Rippon is a Professor of Cognitive NeuroImaging and author of The Gendered Brain and The Lost Girls of Autism. Dr Camilla Pang is the Royal Society Book Prize winning author of Explaining Humans and Perfectly Weird. They join comedian and author of Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal, Robin Ince. Recorded at the the 2025 Latitude Festival. Support us at patreon.com/cosmicshambles to watch an extended edition of this episode

In this episode of Science Shambles, Robin Ince tries to find the bit of the Venn diagram where archaeology and particle physics overlap. He's joined in the studio by archaeologist and one quarter of the Trowelblazers, Dr Brenna Hassett and neutrino physicist Dr Linda Cremonesi. They bounce around from the birth of the Universe to digging up 7000 years of human history in Turkey. Support the CSN by visiting and pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

The ocean is an all too often overlooked part of our natural world, yet it is the blue engine that drives everything. And it is changing in many ways, at an alarming rate. Rising sea levels, warming oceans, increased acidification, plastic pollution... Physicist and oceanographer Dr Helen Czerski will discuss this with oceanographer Professor David Ho and geologist Professor Chris Jackson, looking at what we can do, and why or why not there's reason to be hopeful. Recorded in The Cosmic Shambles Forest of Science and Culture at the 2025 Latitude Festival. Don't forget to support us at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Physicist, writer and broadcaster Professor Paul Davies from Arizona State University was recently in the UK to talk about his new book The Demon in the Machine. So he sat down with Robin Ince to chat about the book, what life actually is, nano refrigerators, epigenetics, embryogenesis and a whole lot more. Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

Robin is joined in studio by Professor Gina Rippon and Dr Julia Shaw to talk about their new science books, The Gendered Brain: The New Neuroscience That Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain and Making Evil: The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side. They dive into topics like the lack of women in STEM, the myth of the male and female brain, false memories, why we are all capable of doing awful things, toxic masculinity, prison libraries and much more. Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

On International Women's Day 2019 we did a live panel at the University of Manchester based around our Cosmic Superheroes exhibition (which you can view online here). The panellists were Helen Czerski, Sheena Cruickshank, Suzi Gage and Ginny Smith chatting about their superheroes, women in STEM, their own research and much more. Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

Science Shambles is back from its mini break and Helen Czerski has taken over hosting duties while Robin is on tour! Today she's joined by two of our favourite mathematicians, Matt Parker and Rob Eastaway to chat about the difference between maths puzzles and maths problems (and which is better), the underlying problems with sports rankings, Matt's new number one bestseller Humble Pi and much more! Then at the end Helen is joined by Eve Cowely of Footprint Theatre, and Shambles producer Trent Burton, to briefly talk about Signals, the radio telescope based comedy on tour through the CSN this year. Tickets and dates for that are at https://cosmicshambles.com/signals Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at http://patreon.com/bookshambles

Helen Czerski is still in the host chair this week and she is joined by cosmologist and best selling science author Marcus Chown. His latest book, Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand, looks at fifty bonkers things about the Universe and the two try to dig into as many as possible. Would it matter if the Sun was made of bananas? Can you fit all of humanity in a sugar cube... Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

Marek Ziebart is a Professor of Space Geodesy (the science and engineering of using satellites). Andrew Steele is a doctor of physics, who moved into computational biology, and is now writing a book on aging. We left it to Helen Czerski to find where all of that intersects on another fascinating episode of Science Shambles with a conversation that goes from Elon Musk to immortality to health research funding to the very simple task of reinventing humanity... Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at http://patreon.com/bookshambles

This week Helen Czerski has two of our favourite nano-scientists in the studio with her. Michelle Dickinson and Suze Kundu join us to chat about the future of nanotechnology, why we need to better educate people about new technology, where nanotech is making your everyday life easier and the upcoming disaster film 'Attack of the Nano Socks'... You can support the CSN by pledging as little as $1 a week and get all sorts of bonus goodies too at http://patreon.com/bookshambles

Backstage, in a small echoey dressing room, before going on stage in Wellington as part of the Cosmic Shambles LIVE Tour, Robin Ince gathers up some of the remaining questions from the Auckland show. With him to the tackles questions of multiple universes, shuttle disasters, shower curtains and maths homework are Matt Parker, Lucie Green, Helen Czerski and Michelle Dickinson.

With the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landings this week, we took the chance to record an episode of Science Shambles at none other than the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Helen Czerski, still in the host chair, chats with our astrophysicist Dr Katie Mack about her research into the impending heat death of the Universe (It's ages away, don't stress) and from the Royal Observatory itself, astronomer  Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder about our fascination with the Moon and the stars. Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at http://patreon.com/bookshambles

Recorded live at the Latitude Festival, on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, as part of our mini Space Shambles show, Robin Ince chats with the first British astronaut, Helen Sharman, and Professor of planetary science, Suzie Imber. They chat about the future of space flight, astronaut training and much more. Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at http://patreon.com/bookshambles

Recorded live at this year's Blue Dot Festival after the play Signals, Helen Czerski is joined by Matthew Cobb, Suzie Imber and Chris Lintott to talk about life. What is life? What are its origins? Why is it on Earth? Where else might it be? What might it look like? Are we alone? What is the cosmological importance of squid rings? Signals is on tour in the UK throughout October. Dates at https://cosmicshambles.com/signals Support the podcast at https://patreon.com/bookshambles

As part of our launch night for Dean Burnett’s latest Book, Why Your Parents Are Driving You Up the Wall, we held an in conversation and audience Q an A event with Dean and Stephanie Merritt at the RI in London. This is that conversation and QnA session as Dean and Stephanie delve into the psychology and neuroscience of teenagers and parents of teenagers. Support the podcast at https://patreon.com/bookshambles

The type of science stories that make the mainstream headlines are usually those that feature big, flashy discoveries or something that means we can spend a few hours pretending we found aliens. But what about that long running research that’s taking place in background. Not in any sinister way, it’s just happily taking small steps and quietly changing the world, it just never gets a bold, all caps ‘A-HA’ headline moment. Helen Czerski, Lucie Green, Suzi Gage and Linda Cremonesi, find out more about some of the most exciting, under-reported science happening in the world today. Support the podcast at https://patreon.com/bookshambles

Recorded live at the Latitude Festival following a performance of the play Signals, Robin Ince, Helen Czerski, Kevin Fong and Helen Czerski discuss the difficulties of searching for alien life out in the cosmos. Interpreting signals, knowing where to look, how to get there and whether it's even worth it... Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

Dr Helen Czerski talks to Two Wheels for Life CEO and co-founder Andrea Coleman about their work in Africa with medical transportation and the sustainability factors involved. Two Wheels for Life is a charity that The Cosmic Shambles Network have supported for the past two years as one of our chosen charities at our Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People shows. Support the podcast, and the Cosmic Shambles Network by pledging at patreon.com/bookshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Brian Cox and Miranda Lowe to talk physics and oceans plus music from Matt Watson. This episode was originally broadcast as part of The Stay at Home Festival. Every Sunday we livestream a brand new episode of Science Shambles on our YouTube channel and so it just makes sense to put them out on the podcast too, surely? Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Brian Greene and Prof Brian Cox to talk a whole lot of physics plus music from Dunja Lavrova. This episode was originally broadcast as part of The Stay at Home Festival. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Jim Al-Khalili and Prof Chris Jackson to talk volcanoes, geologies and quantum physics plus music from Geologise Theatre. This episode was originally broadcast as part of The Stay at Home Festival. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Sat in the green room at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch, Robin Ince, Lucie Green, Helen Czerski, Matt Parker, Michelle Dickinson and Shaun Hendy tackle some audience questions from the Cosmic Shambles LIVE NZ tour. There's experiments for kids, the aurora, pies, the meaning of life and more.

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Chris Lintott and Prof Sarah Parcak to talk aliens, space archaeology and Apollo 13 inspired music from JB Potts. This episode was originally broadcast as part of The Stay at Home Festival. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Richard Wiseman and Prof Sophie Scott to talk psychology and neuroscience plus music from 1201_Alarm. This episode was originally broadcast as part of The Stay at Home Festival. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Prof Matthew Cobb and Prof Brian Cox to talk brains, evolution and physics plus music from 1201_Alarm. This episode was originally broadcast as part of The Stay at Home Festival. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Dr Hannah Fry and Prof Jon Butterworth to talk maths, physics and bubbles plus a chat with science author Kate Cunningham. This episode was originally broadcast as part of The Stay at Home Festival. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

Hosted by Robin Ince and Dr Helen Czerski this episode of the Science Shambles podcast is an audio recording of our weekly Sunday Science Q and A show that goes out at 3pm GMT on our YouTube channel. On this episode Robin and Helen are joined by Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon and Prof Suzie Imber to talk maths, marbles and planetary science and Andrew Holding to talk Chanel. Watch them on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/cosmicshambles and get bonus content and extended conversations with guests by subscribing at patreon.com/cosmicshambles