The Big Questions with Adam Spencer

Barbara Arrowsmith Young spent years being told there was something wrong wth her ability to learn, until she figured out she just learns differently to everyone else - and she's not alone. Adam finds out the fascinating story of the woman who changed her brain  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's two podcasts in one, as comedian Wil Anderson and Adam interview each other to look at how we may take a more mathematical approach to everything we do in a post pandemic world - dating, working and even boarding planes.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Big Questions, hosted by author and broadcaster Adam Spencer is a place to talk to smart interesting people about smart interesting stuff that they're passionate about. We speak to writers, scientists, comedians and just thinkers who really know their craft and hear about the way they shape the amazing world in which we live. The idea is pretty simple - we ask some big questions and find some big experts to help answer them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How long does it take to perfect a joke? Matt Okine goes through his comedic journey both in life and in developing his creative process.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Founder of the website 'Have I Been Pwned' takes you through the hacks on how not to get hacked.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whats the secret to saving the planet? Film maker Damon Gameau talks about his film 'What's you're 2040?' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While he is best known as an academy award winning director of the two greatest grossing films of all time, in this conversation recorded at the Vivid Festival in 2018, James Cameron would much rather speak about the engineering challenges involved in designing, building and piloting a vessel to the lowest point at the bottom of the sea. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of Australia's best known and most controversial artists Ben Quilty speaks to Adam about his life, his motivation, art meeting politics and how even children in regions devastated by war can find expression in art. Follow Adam Spencer on Twitter Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the world's most famous and respected dj's Neil Armstrong (no not THAT Neil Armstrong, the other one) opens up about the realities of life on the road and on the decks. Follow Adam Spencer on Twitter Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Toby Walsh is one of the world's leading experts on Artificial Intelligence and has surveyed a lot of experts in the field in his book 2062: The world that AI made. What do they say about the future of humanity? Professor Walsh is an advisor to the Federal Government on the impact of AI on all industries, and is considered one of the most important digital innovators in Australia. Follow Adam Spencer on Twitter Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam speaks with former Baltimore Ravens Centre John Urschel who is even more at home creating “eigensolvers for minimal Laplacian eigenvectors” than he is crashing into players in the NFL! Follow Adam Spencer on Twitter Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Big Questions, we talk big … big, big, bigger than big … how about about infinitely big! Dr Eugenia Cheng is Scientist In Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has tenure in Pure Mathematics at the University of Sheffield, UK. She holds a PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge, is a concert pianist, pioneer of math on YouTube and author of math books, “How to Bake Pi” and “Thinking Better: The Art of Logic in an Illogic World”. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We live in a complex, interconnected globalised world - but how interconnected and how complex and what are the impacts of how connected our world is? A new study and paper outlines the work of Australian scientists, and their attempts to truly measure the environmental and social footprints of international trade. This is a big topic and such fascinating research that we couldn't resist the chance to ask Professor Manfred Lanzen some Big Questions.  Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

James Maskalyk is an emergency doctor, an ER doctor with a difference. He splits his time between the first world emergency rooms in Toronto, Canada and working in emergency rooms in southern Africa. He is also the author of a couple of highly celebrated books on the topic of being a doctor in ER, the most recent of which is called ‘Life on the Ground Floor'. This interview was recorded when James was in Australia for the Sydney Writers Festival in 2018.  Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does applying technology to biology, genetics, medicine and agriculture effect every one of us? Adam speaks to Raymond McCauley, a thinker & do-er, bioninformaticist, computer scientist, engineer and entrepreneur working at the forefront of biotechnology. Raymond is co-founder and Chief Architect for BioCurious, the hackerspace for biotech, where professional scientists, DIYbio hobbyists and entrepreneurs come together to design the next big thing to come out of a Silicon Valley garage. Raymond is one interesting cat ... Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louise Mercer is the Director of Innovation for Everledger, an emerging technology enterprise that tracks the provenance of authenticated high-value assets on a global digital ledger. Everledger has been well-recognised as a leader in the real-world application of blockchain technology, winning many innovative technology awards. Lisa is a creative thinker & leader who helps translate strategic business risk into innovation and opportunity Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mandy Simpson is a professional director, consultant and speaker, with a particular focus on the human and business impacts of changing financial technologies. Mandy has held roles as CFO at technology consultancy Fronde, COO at the New Zealand Stock Exchange, where she was an advocate for the use of blockchain technology. Mandy is the Singularity University speaker on information security and blockchain technology. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia film director Leigh Whannell, is probably best known for being one of the co-creators of the SAW franchise and the visionary behind the horror film, INSIDIOUS. His new film UPGRADE first premiered at SXSW, winning the festival's Midnighters Audience Award. It's the first feature length film Whannell's directed in his hometown, Melbourne. The film is set in a believable near future, where technology controls nearly everything from cars to crime-surveillance. It poses the question on society's dependence on technology and the moral implications of AI, which I thought might be an interesting perspective to discuss with Whannell. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Daniel Kraft is a Stanford and Harvard trained physician-scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, and innovator. With over 20 years of experience in clinical practice, biomedical research and healthcare innovation, he has chaired the Medicine Track for Singularity University since SU's inception, and founded and is Executive Director of Exponential Medicine, a program that explores convergent, rapidly developing technologies and their potential in biomedicine and healthcare. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2011 Michael Hull survived a life-threatening grass fire while competing in an ultramarathon in the Kimberley, WA. He has since gone on to become the only Australian to ever complete the 566 km non stop footrace through the Yukon, Canada. His next challenges are taking him to the South Pole and Nepal (Mt Everest). Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you protect yourself against Cyber Crime? Marc Goodman is a New York Times Best-Selling author and global strategist focused on the profound change technology is having on security, business and international affairs. He is the founder of the Future Crimes Institute and has built his expertise in international cyber-crime and terrorism working with organisations including INTERPOL, the UN Counterterrorism Task Force, NATO and the US Government. We chatted to Marc at Singularity U* and asked him, What does future crime look like? *The Singularity University is a global community using exponential technologies to tackle the world's biggest challenges, like what impact will Artificial Intelligence, robotics etc. have on the world in which we live? Adam recently MC'd the Singularity U event in Sydney, and got access to a bunch of big brains from around the world, in a big hall discussing big ideas … we went along and asked them some Big Questions. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that any gold you own was formed from a star exploding? These are the things you learn when Professor David Christian teaches his 'Big History' - a history of humanity.  As a university lecturer Professor Christian pondered on how do we tell the story of the heritage of all humans with some of the grandeur and awe of the great national histories? He realised the human race needed an origin story - And if history is the past, how far back should you look for this origin story? You go all the way back. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First up in the Singularity University* series that we'll be rolling out over the coming weeks, is Professor Sarah Bergbreiter who heads up the Microbotics Laboratory at the University of Maryland, USA. Prof Sarah and her team develop technologies that progress medicine, electronics and other sciences. The team uses 3D printers and two photon lithography [don't worry she explains it] to make robots the size of a grain of sand and, that can do extraordinary tasks. Bring on the future. *The Singularity University is a global community using exponential technologies to tackle the world's biggest challenges, like what impact will Artificial Intelligence, robotics etc. have on the world in which we live? Adam recently MC'd the Singularity U event in Sydney, and got access to a bunch of big brains from around the world, in a big hall discussing big ideas … we went along and asked them some Big Questions. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Josh Clark is the co-host of the research-based, general knowledge podcast Stuff You Should Know that is loved around the world. Having faithfully released two episodes each week since 2008, SYSK released their 1000th episode in 2017. Adam Spencer spoke to Josh Clark recently and asked him a Big Question … If there was one thing that you could truly understand “How it works” what would that be? Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you represent the Milky Way Galaxy with a grain of sand? What happens when thousands of people send a message to the Juno satellite destined for Jupiter? And, what on earth does a Visual Strategist for NASA do? Our guest in this episode is Dan Goods from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory - JPL at NASA. He heads up an amazing team developing creative ways of communicating. They work to transform complex science & engineering concepts into meaningful stories that can be universally understood. See Dan Goods' work at: http://www.directedplay.com/a-bit-about-dan/ Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode of The Big Questions we chat with Dave Sobel, the Janis Joplin of science writing and author of 'Longitude' and 'Galileo's Daughter' and most recently, 'The Glass Universe'. In the 19th-century Harvard College Observatory began employing women as 'human computers' to interpret the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. These women changed the history of astronomy, making extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim - what stars are made of, how to categorise them and discovering a way to measure distances across space by starlight. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia has an amazing track record when it comes to the prestigious Nobel prizes. One of our very brightest is Peter Doherty, who in 1996 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his breakthrough understanding in how our cells protect themselves from danger. As humble as Peter is brilliant, Adam was delighted to ask him Whats it like to win a Nobel Prize? Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiSTNRau See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you combine crushing it on your socials with posts from outer space and also being an astronaut with a perfect mustache, you get Commander Chris Hadfield. The astronaut that other astronauts look at and think, "Now that's an astronaut!" Adam sat down with the man who famously sang 'Ground control to Major Tom' from the International Space Station and to ask, how does shaving work in space to maintain such a perfect mustache? As well as some other important space related questions. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you hurt yourself you feel pain. And we assume the bigger the injury, the more intense the pain? But what if you didn't even realise you were hurt, would the pain be the same? What about when pain isn't related to an injury like exercising pain & period pain? Why does that hurt? To answer the question how it works and why we feel it, Adam sits down the 'Dr. of Pain', Professor Lorimer Moseley. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Neutron stars are amazing. They are so tightly packed with matter that a single teaspoon of neutron star weighs about a billion tonnes. So when two collide things really go BANG. In fact space-time itself wobbles noticeably. Adam chats with two scientists from the University of Sydney who made history when they observed this phenomenon. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're in the middle of an obesity epidemic and weight loss is one of the most talked about topics on the planet. Yet most people still think that when you lose weight it turns into heat and energy. Bow-bowww, not true. In this episode of The Big Questions, we speak to the Surfing Scientist Ruben Meerman, author of Big Fat Myths, to find out where exactly the fat goes? Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've heard people described as "like a tiger between the sheets" or "hung like a horse" but if someone called you "as impressive as a barnacles penis" Would you be flattered or offended? Turn the lights down low and let go of all your inhibitions as Adam asks Dr Carin Bondar; How sexy do animals get? Find Dr Carin Bondar at https://twitter.com/carinbondar Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The phrase lifesaver is bandied about pretty easily In some cases. But Ian Frazer is the real deal. It is no exaggeration to say that his medical discovery will save millions of lives worldwide. Meet the remarkable and remarkably humble Professor Ian Frazer Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may have watched Bill Nye's Emmy award winning science show or you might have caught his recent Netflix series. But did you know that he holds a patent for his design of womens' ballet shoes? Or that his mum worked on cracking Nazi codes during World War II? Host Adam Spencer asks the big questions of Bill Nye to learn how he went from being Bill Nye -The Mechanical Engineer, to Bill Nye - The Science Guy. Find Bill Nye at: https://twitter.com/BillNye Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australians love sport. We REALLY love sport. But why? And do we actually love it more than anyone else? Host Adam Spencer asks the Big Question "Why do we love sport?" and gets answers from one of Australia's most respected sports journalists, Tracey Holmes and AFL Richmond Tigers tragic Mick Molloy. Dig deep, ride every bump, get ready to give 110% and savour the cocktail of excitement and fear in Mick Molloy's voice as his Tigers make an historic run towards the AFL Grand Final. Connect with Adam Spencer at: https://twitter.com/adambspencer Find LiSTNR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiSTNRau/ Follow LiSTNR on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/listnrau/ Follow LiSTNR Australia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/listnrau Download the LiSTNR app from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Or go to listnr.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.