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The Conversation

A show for curious minds. Join us each week as academic experts tell us about the fascinating discoveries they're making to understand the world, and the big questions they’re still trying to answer. A podcast from The Conversation, hosted by Gemma Ware.

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The Conversation Weekly

Surveys suggest that in many western democracies, political trust is at rock bottom. But is it really such a bad thing for people living in a democracy to distrust their government?

In this episode, we talk to political scientist Grant Duncan, visiting scholar in politics at City St George's, University of London, about why he thinks a certain level of distrust and scepticism of powerful politicians is actually healthy for democracy. And about how populists, like Donald Trump, manage to use people’s distrust in political elites to their advantage.

This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware, Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood with sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. And please do rate and review the show wherever you listen.

Further reading Don’t trust politicians? That may not be such a bad thingWhy people vote for politicians they know are liarsTrusting societies are overall happier – a happiness expert explains why 

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Why distrust in powerful politicians is part of a functioning democracy

Zimbabwe is on the cusp of abolishing the death penalty after its Death Penalty Abolition Bill was approved by the senate on December 12. The bill is now sitting on the desk of Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a known opponent of the death penalty, waiting for his assent.

In this episode, we speak to two experts on the death penalty, Carolyn Hoyle and Parvais Jabbar from the University of Oxford's Death Penalty Research Unit, who explain how Zimbabwe got here and what abolition means for both the country, and the continent. 

This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany with sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. And please do rate and review the show wherever you listen.

Further reading Zimbabwe’s likely to abolish the death penalty: how it got here and what it means for the continentKenyan prisoners on death row weren’t deterred by the threat of the death penalty: new research findingsWhy the death penalty is losing favour in sub-Saharan Africa

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How Zimbabwe reached the point of abolishing the death penalty

In a special episode to start 2025, we’ve brought together three science editors from The Conversation’s editions around the world to discuss what to look out for in the world of science and technology in the coming year. 

Host Gemma Ware is joined by Paul Rincon from The Conversation in the UK, Elsa Couderc from The Conversation in France and Signe Dean from The Conversation in Australia. 

This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware and Katie Flood with sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. And please do rate and review the show wherever you listen.

Further reading and listening Has Nasa found evidence of ancient life on Mars? An expert examines the latest discoverySeveral companies are testing brain implants – why is there so much attention swirling around Neuralink? Two professors unpack the ethical issuesNuclear fusion record broken – what will it take to start generating electricity? PodcastQuantum computers are like kaleidoscopes − why unusual metaphors help illustrate science and technology

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Brain implants, agentic AI and answers on dark matter: what to expect from science in 2025

Every year, 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, and every year, approximately 57 million tons of plastic waste is created. And yet in November, the latest round of negotiations to agree the first legally binding international treaty on plastics pollution collapsed.

So what can we really do about the plastics pollution problem? In this episode we sat down with Mark Miodowonik, professor of materials and society at UCL in the UK, to understand the history of plastic, how it’s shaped our lives, and what can be done to make sure more plastic is recycled and less ends up polluting the planet. 

This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood and Gemma Ware with sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. And please do rate and review the show wherever you listen.

Further reading:Can you trust companies that say their plastic products are recyclable? US regulators may crack down on deceptive claimsThe plastic recycling system is broken – here’s how we can fix itIf plastic manufacturing goes up 10%, plastic pollution goes up 10% – and we’re set for a huge surge in productionTime is running out for a treaty to end plastic pollution – here’s why it matters

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How the world fell in love with plastic without thinking through the consequences

From Gaza to Ukraine, today’s war zones are being used as testing grounds for new systems driven by artificial intelligence. Billions of dollars are now being pumped into AI weapons technology, much of it from Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

In this episode, we speak to Elke Schwarz, a reader in political theory at Queen Mary University of London in the UK who studies the ethics of autonomous weapons systems, about what this influx of new investment means for the future of warfare. 

This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware with sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. And please do rate and review the show wherever you listen.

Further reading:The Silicon Valley venture capitalists who want to ‘move fast and break things’ in the defence industryGaza war: Israel using AI to identify human targets raising fears that innocents are being caught in the netWar in Ukraine accelerates global drive toward killer robots

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Silicon Valley’s bet on a future of AI-enabled warfare

Firefighters in Los Angeles continue to battle devastating wildfires that have killed at least 27 people and left thousands of homes destroyed. Today, we’re revisiting an interview we ran in late 2023 with Emily Lindsey, a paleoecologist who works at the La Brea tar pits archaeological site in Los Angeles, about a wildfire warning from southern California’s ice age history.

The interview originally aired in November 2023. This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and Michelle Macklem. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. And please do rate and review the show wherever you listen.

Further reading:Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning: Welcome to the PyroceneA changing climate, growing human populations and widespread fires contributed to the last major extinction event − can we prevent another?How Santa Ana winds fueled the deadly fires in Southern California

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A wildfire warning from California's Ice Age past

Quantum computers have the potential to solve big scientific problems that are beyond the reach of today’s most powerful supercomputers, such as discovering new antibiotics or developing new materials. But to achieve these breakthroughs, quantum computers will need to perform better than today’s best classical computers at solving real-world problems. And they’re not quite there yet. So what is still holding quantum computing back from becoming useful?

We speak to quantum computing expert Daniel Lidar at the University of Southern California in the US about what problems scientists are still wrestling with when it comes to scaling up quantum computing, and how close they are to overcoming them.

This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware and Katie Flood with production assistance from Mend Mariwany and sound design by Michelle Macklem. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, which is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. And please do rate and review the show wherever you listen.

Further reading:What is quantum advantage? A quantum computing scientist explains an approaching milestone marking the arrival of extremely powerful computersWe’re getting closer to having practical quantum computers – here’s what they will be used forQuantum computers are like kaleidoscopes − why unusual metaphors help illustrate science and technology

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How close are quantum computers to being really useful?

Introducing The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts. Made by the team at The Conversation. Each week we talk to academics to help unpack the context behind the headlines – and hear from scholars carrying out brand new research about how the world works. Hosted by Gemma Ware in London and Dan Merino in San Francisco. 

Produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens and music by Neeta Sarl.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trailer: The Conversation Weekly

Welcome to the first episode of a new podcast from The Conversation, the world explained by experts. This week we’re talking to researchers about Mars – and Belarus.

For the past six months, three different space missions have been on their way to Mars. Now, all three – from the United Arab Emirates, China and the US – are due to arrive at the red planet in February within a few weeks of each other. We talk to three experts, Jim Bell, Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, Stefania Paladini, Reader in Economics and Global Security at Birmingham City University and Nidhal Guessoum, Professor of Astrophysics at the American University of Sharjah. They explain what these probes and rovers are looking for on Mars – including signs of ancient life – and the politics and symbolism behind the three missions.

In our second story we turn to Belarus, where protests continue more than six months after a disputed election. Félix Krawatzek, Senior Researcher at the Centre for East European and International Studies and Associate Member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford, talks through the initial findings from a recent public opinion survey in Belarus – and why he sees similarities between what's happening in Belarus and the protests currently rocking Russia following the detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 

And Ina Skosana, health and medicine editor at The Conversation in Johannesburg, South Africa, gives us her story recommendations.

The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. 

Further reading:

Bringing Mars rocks back to Earth – Perseverance Rover lands on Feb. 18, a lead scientist explains the tech and goals • , by Jim Bell, Professor of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University 
How Mars became the prize for the new space race – and why China is hellbent on winning it • , by Stefania Paladini, Reader in Economics and Global Security at Birmingham City University
Belarus protests: why people have been taking to the streets – new data • , by Félix Krawatzek, Senior Researcher at the Centre for East European and International Studies and Associate Member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford and Gwendolyn Sasse, Professor in Comparative Politics, Professorial Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford
Results from Novavax vaccine trials in the UK and South Africa differ: why, and does it matter? • by Shabir Mahdi, Professor of Vaccinology and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytical Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand
How former president Rawlings pioneered heritage tourism in Ghana – in his own words • , by Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann, Associate Professor & Director, Christiansborg Archaeological Heritage Project & Adjunct Lecturer, University of Massachusetts Amherst 

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Why it's a big month for Mars

Welcome to episode 2 of a new podcast from The Conversation, the world explained by experts. This week we’re talking to researchers about Myanmar – and what it's like looking for COVID-19 in wild animals.

Protests have rocked Myanmar in recent days as people took to the streets demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's de factor leader who was arrested during a military coup on February 1. 

We speak to two academics who study Myanmar, Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer in International Studies in Justice and Society at the University of South Australia, and DB Subedi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of New England in Australia. They explain how the country has changed in the past decade, what events led up to the coup, and what the military's options are now. 

In our second story, we talk to Kaitlin Sawatzki, a virologist at Tufts University who is part of a research project that is searching for the coronavirus in wild animals in the US. She explains how viruses can jump back from humans into wild animals, the times this has happened in the past and the risks – to both people and animals – when it does. 

And Catesby Holmes, international editor at The Conversation in New York gives us some recommended reading on the impeachment trial.

The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. 

Further reading:

Myanmar's military has used surveillance, draconian laws and fear to stifle dissent before. Will it work again? • by DB Subedi, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of New England and Johanna Garnett, Lecturer in Sociology and Peace Studies, University of New England
Myanmar's military reverts to its old strong-arm behaviour — and the country takes a major step backwards • by Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia and Nicholas Farrelly, Professor and Head of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania 
Myanmar coup: how the military has held onto power for 60 years • , by Michael W. Charney, Professor of Asian and Military History, SOAS, University of London
Is COVID-19 infecting wild animals? We're testing species from bats to seals to find out • , by Jonathan Runstadler, Professor of Infectious Disease and Global Health, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University and Kaitlin Sawatzki, Postdoctoral Infectious Disease Researcher, Tufts University
Impeachment trial: Research spanning decades shows language can incite violence • , by Kurt Braddock, Assistant Professor of Communication, American University School of Communication
Congress could use an arcane section of the 14th Amendment to hold Trump accountable for Capitol attack • , by Gerard Magliocca, Professor of Law, IUPUI 

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How close are quantum computers to being really useful?

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