Podcast appearances and mentions of annabel bligh

As we are starting to reimagine life after the coronavirus pandemic, The Anthill's podcast ‘Recovery: how the world rebuilt after past crises’ looks for lessons of the past to rebuild our disrupted societies

Lessons from history, the life-changing power of confidence, lots of Scotch and a 90s revival all play big roles in this week’s podzine. Annabel Bligh of The Conversation UK and The Anthill Podcast tells Mickey about new podcast series Recovery, a fascinating six-parter looking at key crises through history, and society’s subsequent recovery, to see if any parallels can be drawn with what’s happening today. Hannah talks to Kate Nation, founder of Turtle Dove, a charity aiming to empower young women not in education, employment or training – NEETs – about what they do and the incredible difference self-confidence can make. And grab yourself a scotch and your best John Motson costume, as Dunleavy Does Disaster discusses the word “classic” in regards to 1979’s Meteor. Oh, and there’s not even the tiniest apology for Mick’s terrible Sean Connery impression. Plus there’s fat fighting, fundraising and a continuing lack of empathy on Twitter in the Bush Telegraph. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The 2008 financial crisis resulted in the worst global recession since the second world war. The collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008 caused a meltdown of the global financial system. Money markets froze and there was a major credit crunch as the ability to borrow money suddenly dried up. To stop contagion and make sure other major financial institutions didn't collapse, governments stepped in to shore up the system by bailing out the banks. Anastasia Nesvetailova, professor of international political economy at City, University of London, explains what these bailouts involved and why they were so necessary. Aidan Regan, associate professor at University College Dublin, tells us how the crisis spread across the eurozone and why some countries rebounded a lot more quickly than others. We also discuss how the austerity policies that many governments adopted following the 2008 financial crisis hampered economic growth. And we explore how emerging markets such as Brazil and China were affected by the 2008 financial crisis. Carolina Alves, fellow in economics at the University of Cambridge, outlines how they were shielded from some elements of the crisis but also left vulnerable to the large reduction in finance that followed. You can read more research into the 2008 financial crisis and what lessons we can learn from it for today's coronavirus recovery alongside other articles in our Recovery series, which accompany this podcast.This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The Anthill is a podcast from The Conversation UK. We're an independent news media outlet that exists purely to take reliable, informed voices direct to a wide audience. If you're able to to support our work, please consider donating via our website. Thanks to everyone who has already done so. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this fifth episode of Recovery, a series from The Anthill Podcast exploring key moments in history when parts of the world recovered from a major crisis or shock, we're looking at what happened in the former Soviet Union during the transition from communism to capitalism in the 1990s.When the USSR was finally dissolved at the end of 1991 it was a massive shock to the system for millions of people. The transition from a state-controlled command economy to a market-driven capitalist one was a hugely complex structural change. What followed was what's come to be known as “shock therapy” – post-communist states were suddenly subject to mass privatisation and market reforms. Price controls were lifted. State support – which had been such a fundamental part of everybody's way of life in the former Soviet Union and eastern bloc – was withdrawn.Jo Crotty, professor of management and director of the Institute for Social Responsibility at Edge Hill University, was living in between Belarus and Russia in the early 1990s. She describes the hyperinflation and economic breakdown she witnessed during this period. Companies tried to keep people employed, but these were jobs in name only and there was a huge problem of hidden unemployment – which she says offers a warning as coronavirus furlough schemes end today.Some parts of the former Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries recovered quicker than others. Lawrence King, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a research associate at Cambridge University's Judge Business School, explains why, and what political upheaval the drastic economic reforms provoked. He also describes the devastating impact that waves of privatisation had on mortality rates in Russia in the 1990s.And Elisabeth Schimpfössl, lecturer in sociology and policy at Aston University, talks about a new group of oligarchs emerged in Russia during the transition in the 1990s, benefitting from the waves of privatisation and shift to a capitalist system. She describes the enduring legacy this period has had on wealth inequality in Russia.You can read more about the post-Soviet transition and its legacy alongside other articles in our Recovery series accompanying this podcast.This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh with sound design by Eloise Stevens.The Anthill is produced by The Conversation UK. We're an independent news media outlet that exists purely to take reliable, informed voices direct to a wide audience. We're a charity, with no wealthy owner nudging an editorial line in one direction or another. The only opinion we hold is that knowledge is crucially important, and must be made widely available to help as many people as possible understand the world and make informed decisions. If you can help us do what we do, please click here to donate. And if you've already supported what we do, thank you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this fourth episode of Recovery, a series from The Anthill Podcast exploring key moments in history when the world recovered from a major crisis or shock, we're looking at what happened in the UK after the second world war.The second world war decimated landscapes, killed tens of millions of people and left many more unable to work, in need of long-term healthcare and help to rebuild their lives.In the UK, some had been calling for action to deal with poverty, squalid housing and better education since before the conflict, but the particular circumstances of the war seemed to provide the impetus needed to get things moving. The recovery project that followed the end of the war in 1945 transformed the nation into one that provided free healthcare for all, better education and massive housing regeneration.Pat Thane, visiting professor of history at Birkbeck College, takes us through the recommendations of a landmark government report written by William Beveridge that got the whole project moving. This set out a comprehensive cradle-to-grave welfare system designed to tackle the five giants of want, squalor, idleness, ignorance and disease.Bernard Harris, professor of social policy at the University of Strathclyde, reveals how this report turned into a series of changes to the law that ultimately constructed the welfare state. That included establishing the world-famous National Health Service. He explains how the shared trauma of the war helped people imagine a different future in which a greater number of people would be cared for by the government.Pippa Catterall, professor of history and policy at the University of Westminster, discusses the political context of the post-war period in the UK. After the suffering of the conflict, it was the left-wing Labour party that grasped how urgently the public wanted bold new thinking. The recovery promised by Labour Party leader Clement Attlee was based around a total restructuring of the state, and voters were prepared to take the plunge – not least because more of them had been exposed to hardship during the war.Finally, the panel explore what lessons this unique period in history can offer us today, as governments look to rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic. After years of retreat, states are stepping in on an unprecedented scale to offer rescue packages. Could we be witnessing the rebirth of the welfare state?You can read more about the aftermath of the second world war and the welfare state as well as other articles in our Recovery series to accompany this podcast.This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh, with sound design by Eloise Stevens.The Anthill is produced by The Conversation UK. We're an independent news media outlet that exists purely to take reliable, informed voices direct to a wide audience. We're a charity, with no wealthy owner nudging an editorial line in one direction or another. The only opinion we hold is that knowledge is crucially important, and must be made widely available to help as many people as possible understand the world and make informed decisions. We're in the middle of a donations campaign so if you can help us do what we do, please click here. And if you've already supported what we do, a massive thank you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this third episode of Recovery, we're looking at what happened after the combined shocks of the Spanish flu and world war one.It was called the Spanish flu because the first reports of the virus were in Spanish newspapers, due to wartime censorship restrictions elsewhere. The 1918-19 flu was the worst pandemic in human history. More than half the world's population was infected. Estimates for the number of people who died range from between 20 and 50 million. And this off the back of a devastating world war in which 9.7 million military personnel and another 10 million civilians died.To find out about the recovery after these combined shocks of war and pandemic, we hear from three experts in this episode who study the period.Caitjan Gainty, lecturer in the history of science, technology and medicine at King's College London, explains what measures were put in place to recover from the Spanish flu and how the pandemic lead to a rethink in the way cities and buildings were designed, and a focus on fresh air.Tim Hatton, professor of economics at the University of Essex, outlines how an economic boom followed the end of the war due to pent up demand, but it was followed by a severe economic slump and high unemployment. He explains what policies were introduced to help the recovery and why that recovery was patchy in the UK.And Chris Colvin, senior lecturer in economics at Queen's University Belfast, tells us why it's so hard to unpick the economic impact and recovery from the Spanish flu from the recovery from WW1. And he explains why in their desire to return to what they thought of as “normal”, some politicians decided to re-introduce the gold standard in the early 1920s, with mixed consequences.You can read more about the Spanish flu on The Converasation here as well as other articles in our Recovery series to accompany this podcast.This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh, with sound design by Eloise Stevens.The Anthill is produced by The Conversation UK. We're an independent news media outlet that exists purely to take reliable, informed voices direct to a wide audience. We're a charity, with no wealthy owner nudging an editorial line in one direction or another. The only opinion we hold is that knowledge is crucially important, and must be made widely available to help as many people as possible understand the world and make informed decisions. We're in the middle of a donations campaign so if you can help us do what we do, please click here. And if you've already supported what we do, we want to say a massive thank you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this second episode of Recovery, a series from The Anthill Podcast exploring key moments in history when the world recovered from a major crisis or shock, we're looking at what happened after the earthquake, tsunami and fires that devastated Lisbon in 1755 and shocked Europe.In 1755, the grand and prosperous city of Lisbon was devastated by a huge earthquake. The Portuguese capital we see today is a product of the reconstruction and recovery after this catastrophic event. But the impact of the earthquake went far beyond the city it destroyed. It affected politics, trade, philosophy and religion across Europe. It has been described as the first modern disaster.We talk to three academics whose expertise covers the impact and recovery from the Lisbon earthquake in the days, months and years that followed.Mark Sabine, associate professor in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies at the University of Nottingham, tells us about the relief efforts immediately after the quake and how the city was rebuilt. The decisive actions of one of the king's ministers – Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis of Pombal – fundamentally changed Portuguese politics, religion and society.David McCallum, reader in French 18th century studies at the University of Sheffield, outlines the media sensation caused by the earthquake. News of the disaster followed the shockwaves across Europe. In its wake, Enlightenment philosophical beliefs like optimism, which claimed that the world is the best version of itself it could be, suddenly seemed untenable.Finally, we hear from Katie Cross, research fellow in the school of divinity, history and philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. She explains the questions about divine judgement the earthquake prompted in a profoundly Catholic population, and how it shaped ideas about religion and punishment in 18th century Europe.This episode was produced by Grace Allen, Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh, with sound design by Eloise Stevens.The Anthill is produced by The Conversation UK. We're an independent news media outlet that exists purely to take reliable, informed voices direct to a wide audience. We're a charity, with no wealthy owner nudging an editorial line in one direction or another. The only opinion we hold is that knowledge is crucially important, and must be made widely available to help as many people as possible understand the world and make informed decisions. We're in the middle of a donations campaign so if you can help us do what we do, please click here. And if you've already supported what we do, we want to say a massive thank you! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We all want the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic to be swift and painless. But history tells us that isn't always possible.When the world has suffered a massive shock to its system before – be that a pandemic, a war, an economic crisis – the rebuilding can take decades. There will be missteps along the way. More people will suffer.But past recoveries can also offer us lessons about what's possible. About the choices people make, whether the choices of politicians and their advisers, or people just trying to find their feet in a new reality. And these moments of crisis have also provided opportunities to make a better world.In a new six-part series called Recovery, The Anthill Podcast will explore key moments of recovery from history. Hosted by Annabel Bligh, in each episode we'll take one major crisis or shock and speak to a panel of leading academics who have researched its legacy.This will not be a series about coronavirus. It's a series about rebuilding. About what works and what doesn't, and how our world has been shaped by big moments of crisis and the way our ancestors have reacted to them. We'll be drawing some parallels to what's going on around us now, but mostly we'll be telling the stories of past recoveries.Listen on The Conversation from June 3 or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.The Anthill is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Sound design by Eloise Stevens. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode of The Conversation’s In Depth Out Loud podcast, features the work of David Vincent, historian at the Open University. He has spent the last few years looking into how people in the past managed to balance community ties and solitary behaviours. With the coronavirus crisis forcing many to self-isolate and limiting our sociability, this has never seemed more relevant.Solitude used to be restricted to enclosed religious orders and was thus a privileged experience of a male elite. It was treated with a mixture of fear and respect. Change was only set in motion by the Reformation and the Enlightenment, when new ideologies took hold and solitude slowly became something that anyone could acceptably seek from time to time. Most people in the West are now used to some regular form of solitude – but the reality of lockdown is making this experience far more extreme.The history of solitude has lessons for us in differentiating between being alone and feeling lonely. Similarly, it offers lessons for navigating the fragile boundary between life-enhancing and soul-destroying forms of solitary behaviour. You can read the text version of this in depth article here. This audio version is read and produced by Annabel Bligh. This story came out of a project at The Conversation called Insights. Sponsored by Research England, our Insights team generate in depth articles derived from interdisciplinary research. You can read their stories here, or subscribe to In Depth Out Loud to listen to more of their articles in the coming months.The music in In Depth Out Loud is Night Caves, by Lee Rosevere. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A number of conspiracy theories have sprung up in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. The false idea that the virus is somehow linked to the rollout of 5G technology has led to a number of attacks on broadband infrastructure and engineers. We explore this and many others in the sixth and final part of our Expert guide to conspiracy theories.Media expert Marc Tuters talks us through the main coronavirus conspiracy theories that are doing the rounds and how they differ on various social media platforms. He tells us how they started to circulate back in January on the fringe message board website 4chan. We also discuss what social media platforms are doing to limit the spread of this misinformation – and how effective this can be.Psychologist Karen Douglas is also on hand to explain why the different coronavirus conspiracy theories gained so much traction, so quickly. She outlines the three main psychological reasons why people find solace in these alternative explanations for what's going on. And what research tells us about how dangerous these conspiracy theories can be for public health and society.The Anthill podcast is produced by Annabel Bligh and Gemma Ware for The Conversation. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, with original music from Neeta Sarl and audio from Epidemic Sound. Thanks to Clare Birchall, Michael Butter and Peter Knight for support in making this podcast and the COST action COMPACT for helping to fund it. Also thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Conspiracy theories might be entertaining but they can also be dangerous. Sadly, what often starts off as a bit of fun can turn sour quite quickly – even if it's laughing about the idea that Rihanna or Katy Perry are part of the Illuminati. We find out how.This episode delves into some of the psychology behind what makes conspiracy theories dangerous. It also explores the relationship between conspiracy theories and the radicalisation of extremists. And we find out the best ways to talk to people who believe in conspiracy theories.Psychologist Steve Lewandowsky tells us there is a strong link between people who endorse conspiracy theories and reject climate science. What makes this dangerous is the way that conspiracy theories are used by climate change deniers to justify not acting to reduce carbon emissions.We also find out more about the links between conspiracy theories and extremism. Political scientist Eirikur Bergmann tells us how populist politicians use conspiracy theories to their advantage, particularly one called the Great Replacement theory. This is the idea that white people in the west are at threat of invasion and being replaced by non-white immigrants.We also learn how to engage with conspiracy theorists and how difficult it is to convince hardline believers that they are wrong. Psychologist Karen Douglas tells us that it's easier to inoculate people against believing in conspiracy theories in the first place.And anthropologist Ela Drazkiewicz shares insights from her research into attitudes toward HPV vaccination in Ireland. She explains how mistrust of the health authorities led to a dramatic 30% fall in vaccination uptake between 2014 and 2017. But she also offers hope, describing how the Irish health service managed to turn this around and restore trust in the vaccine.The Anthill podcast is produced by Annabel Bligh and Gemma Ware for The Conversation. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, with original music from Neeta Sarl and audio from Epidemic Sound. Thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios. Special thanks to Clare Birchall, Michael Butter and Peter Knight who helped bring this podcast into being, and to the COST Action COMPACT for funding it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Part four of the Expert guide to conspiracy theories from The Anthill podcast explores whether the internet has been a game changer in helping conspiracy theories go viral. First, though, we find out how conspiracy theories spread before platforms like Facebook and YouTube came along and gave everyone the power to broadcast their thoughts to the world.It's important to differentiate between the producers of conspiracy theories and the consumers, which philosopher Quassim Cassam talked about in part one of the series. The producers often push a political ideology. They are also very good at dressing up their theories in academic language. This can make it difficult for the non-expert to recognise a conspiracy theory as bogus and is important for their initial spread.But what makes these ideas really take hold is the people that buy into them – the consumers. Annika Rabo, an anthropologist from Stockholm University in Sweden, tells us how people enjoy spreading conspiracy theories because it can make them seem funny or clever. Most people don't just spout a conspiracy theory as they hear it, they will often adapt it to their situation – and their audience.Michael Butter, American studies scholar at the University of Tübingen in Germany, gives us some insight into the history of how conspiracy theories spread in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some were preached from pulpits and incited riots. Then, advances in printing technology made it easier for conspiracy theories to spread. Publishers made money selling fanciful stories – some that were openly fictional, others that were fake exposés.We also delve into the world of conspiracy theories as entertainment. Clare Birchall, reader in contemporary culture at King's College London, talks us through literature in the 1960s, 70s and 80s that engages with conspiracy theories in a playful way and uses them as a device to tell stories. We find out how The X-Files did something similar in the 1990s.The internet has changed the game for communication in terms of how quickly information travels and how it gives everyone a platform to broadcast their views. But Stef Aupers, professor of media culture at the University of Leuven in Belgium, explains that this doesn't necessarily mean conspiracy theories reach more people. In large part, this is because most people end up in echo chambers online. Nonetheless, these echo chambers help solidify people's views.Correction: this podcast refers to the 2019 mass shooting targeting Mexicans in El Paso, Texas, as happening in El Paso, New Mexico.The Anthill podcast is produced by Annabel Bligh and Gemma Ware for The Conversation. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, with original music from Neeta Sarl and audio from Epidemic Sound. Thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios. Special thanks to Clare Birchall, Michael Butter and Peter Knight who helped bring this podcast into being, and to the COST Action COMPACT for funding it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How are the origins of the French Revolution connected with Beyoncé, Jay Z and Rihanna? The answer lies with one of the world's most mysterious – and misunderstood – secret societies, the Illuminati. The strange evolution of the conspiracy theory surrounding this short-lived secret society, mirrors the modern history of conspiracy theories. We find out how in part three of our podcast series.The Illuminati was a real secret society of intellectual elites in the late 18th century. Michael Butter, professor of American literary and cultural history at the University of Tübingen in Germany, tells us their goal was to promote Enlightenment thinking – ideas such as rational thought and the separation of church and state.The society only lasted a few years before being forced to disband by the conservative authorities of the time. But conspiracy theorists say the Illuminati never really disappeared. They were accused of orchestrating the French Revolution, which started in 1789. Andreas Önnerfors, associate professor of intellectual history at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, says it was such a violent revolution and caused so much upheaval across Europe that people looked for someone to blame.We find out how the Illuminati then became the bogeyman for dark forces at work in the world. The conspiracy theory dramatically morphed in the 20th century, particularly following the publication of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fake transcript of a secret meeting of Jewish leaders plotting world domination. Then, after the second world war, it was picked up by conservatives in the US and played a part in fuelling anti-communist witch hunts.Researcher Lindsay Porter explains how things take a weird turn in the 1960s when elements of the counterculture began to parody the conspiracy theory. And how today, certain pop stars are accused of being part of this secret society that rules the world.The Anthill podcast is produced by Annabel Bligh and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, with original music from Neeta Sarl and audio from Epidemic Sound. Thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios. Special thanks to Clare Birchall, Michael Butter and Peter Knight who helped bring this podcast into being, and to the COST Action COMPACT for funding it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Polls show that most people believe in at least one conspiracy theory. Considering the number of conspiracy theories there are, perhaps this isn't surprising. But research shows that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in others.Part two of the Expert guide to conspiracy theories, a series from The Conversation's Anthill podcast, discovers who these people are. We find out what psychological factors influence whether you believe in conspiracy theories or not. And how things like the time and place that you live, who your friends are and who holds political power makes you more open to certain conspiracy theories.Jan-Willem van Prooijen, associate professor of psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands, explains his theory that humans are hardwired to believe in conspiracy theories. He says the circumstances of hunter gatherer life meant that our ancestors adapted to be overly suspicious.Times have changed but humans are stuck with this hangover from hunter gatherer times that we sometimes struggle to shake. We speak to psychologists Karen Douglas and Aleksandra Cichocka at the University of Kent in the UK to find out why certain people today are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than others.We find out how political beliefs influence whether or not people believe in conspiracy theories. Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami in the US, talks us through his theory that people who vote for the losing side in an election are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than those on the winning side.For a slightly different perspective on who believes in conspiracy theories, we talk to anthropologist Annika Rabo from Stockholm University in Sweden. She spent many years in Syria doing fieldwork and tells us how talk about conspiracies permeates society – it's unavoidable. There are all sorts of conspiracy theories and they relate to the US, to Israel but also their own government.Jovan Byford, a social psychologist at the Open University in the UK, explains why it's important to understand the historical context in which certain conspiracy theories emerge and flourish. He points out that the status conspiracy theories are given in society influences how popular they are and that not everyone engages with them in the same way. Some take conspiracy theories seriously, but others don't and engage with them for fun.The Anthill podcast is produced by Annabel Bligh and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, with original music from Neeta Sarl and audio from Epidemic Sound. Thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios to record. Special thanks to Clare Birchall, Michael Butter and Peter Knight who helped bring this podcast into being, and to the COST Action COMPACT for funding it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

78# The Psychology of conspiracy theories | Interview with Annabel Bligh from the Anthill podcast to discuss there new podcast series the experts guide to conspiracy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/neverastraightanswer/message

The three of us finally reunite for yet another show featuring an update on the COVID-19 situation and the GWuP cancelling SkepKon 2020. Then, after an interview with Annabel Bligh of the Anthill Podcast, we return with Pontus poking the Pope again for worsening the pandemic with his irrational approach to church-going. Our news segment covers all sorts of topics including a distant world where it's raining iron, the Strasbourg Court rejecting case of anti-abortion midwives, homeopathy suggested as a valuable asset in times of crisis and Boiron closing down 13 sites, firing a quarter of their employees in the process. If you want to help ongoing research into fighting SARS-CoV-2, you can try Folding@Home, then you can turn your eye towards Sweden where the acupuncturer who killed a client is back to court after having been acquitted. And finally, we mention a few social media awards that went to skepticism related contents in Germany. Our Really Wrong award goes to Andrzej Dziega, Archbishop of Szczecin-Kamien for claiming that holy water and the holy communion can not spread the virus. Enjoy!

There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there. Some are bizarre – like the idea that Elvis faked his own death. Or that Britain's royal family are actually shape-shifting alien lizards. A growing number of people believe the world is flat.A lot of conspiracy theories relate to politics. That 9/11 was orchestrated by the US government so it could start wars in the Middle East. Or that powerful groups like the Illuminati are pulling the strings behind the scenes, plotting to establish a New World Order. Or that the new coronavirus is a bio-weapon engineered by the CIA.Part one of the series explores what these many different ideas have in common and grapples with what actually makes something a conspiracy theory. We speak to Peter Knight, professor of American studies at the University of Manchester. He says there are three important characteristics to conspiracy theories:First, that nothing happens by accident. The idea that in history, there are no coincidences, no cock-ups. The second idea is that nothing is as it seems. The suggestion that you need to look beneath the surface to detect the actions and the intentions of the evil conspirators. And the third idea is that everything is connected.One of the difficulties with defining conspiracy theories is the fact that history is littered with real plots and conspiracies. Jovan Byford, senior lecturer in social psychology at the Open University, tells us how to spot the difference. We also speak to Clare Birchall, reader in contemporary culture at King's College London. She challenges us to consider who we label a conspiracy theorist and why. We find out how many conspiracy theories that sound outlandish make a lot more sense when you scratch beneath the surface of why people believe in them.Andrew McKenzie-McHarg, senior research fellow at the Australian Catholic University, explains how the term conspiracy theory evolved from simply being a neutral theory about a conspiracy to a more loaded term. And Quassim Cassam, philosophy professor at the University of Warwick, argues that conspiracy theories are always a form of political propaganda. He says we must be aware of what ideology they are pushing and we must differentiate between the producers of conspiracy theories and those that believe in them.The Anthill is produced by Annabel Bligh and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, with original music from Neeta Sarl and audio from Epidemic Sound. A big thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Conspiracy theories no longer feel like a fringe phenomenon, with people claiming that Elvis isn't dead or the royal family are shape-shifting alien lizards, put down as crackpots. Now presidents push them and major events are regularly followed by a slew of sinister ideas involving dark forces at work behind the scenes. Coronavirus is just the latest.Some conspiracy theories may be harmless entertainment or a sign of healthy scepticism, but others are dangerous because they can fuel racism, violence, terrorism and chaos. With the prominence of conspiracy theories seemingly on the rise, we set out to better understand them.Over five episodes, we speak to dozens of academics who have spent their careers researching different elements of conspiracy theories. Most are part of Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories, an international network of conspiracy theory researchers, which supported the making of this podcast.Psychologists tell us why some people are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than others, and why there's a spectrum ranging from the conspiracy curious to hardcore believers. Anthropologists explain why conspiracy talk is commonplace in some parts of the world but not others.Conspiracy theories have evolved over the centuries, from ancient times to the present day. We discover how conspiracy theories were at the birth of the United States and how the idea of the Illuminati – a purported secret organisation pulling the puppet strings of major organisations and governments – evolved from the French Revolution and which now supposedly counts Jay-Z and Beyoncé among its members.We find out how conspiracy theories spread and the extent that the internet has changed the game. We also investigate how dangerous conspiracy theories can be and why – whether it's climate change denial, anti-vaxxers or political extremists.All that and much more coming up on The Conversation's Expert guide to conspiracy theories.Original music by Neeta Sarl and sound design by Eloise Stevens. The Anthill is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. A big thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Medicine made for you is a series from The Anthill, a podcast from The Conversation. Across three episodes we're taking a deep dive into the future of healthcare – to find out how it could soon get a lot more personal.In this third and final episode of the series, we're exploring how treatment offered by your doctor could become more tailored to you in the future.In the past, if you walked into a pharmacy and told them you weren't feeling well, the pharmacist would probably have made up a powder for you – your own personalised medicine. But with the introduction of antibiotics and modern medicine which is much more regulated, this personalised service fell away.Come the 21st century, some researchers are looking at ways to introduce more personalisation back into pharmaceuticals in the future – using 3D printing. We find out more.This episode also explores other ways researchers are looking to personalise the treatment options available to patients, from new ways of doing cancer screening trials, to social prescribing – programmes where GPs refer patients to a host of other services in the community to help improve their health and wellbeing.Featuring interviews with Professor Robert Forbes at the University of Central Lancashire, Professor Mike Messenger at the University of Leeds, Dr Alison Fixsen from the University of Westminster and Chris Dayson, principal research fellow at Sheffield Hallam University.The music in this episode is Is That You or Are You You? by Chris Zabriskie, Hallon and FB-01_#2 by Christian Bjoerklund and Serenade for String Orchestra, No 20 by Edward Elgar performed by US Army Strings. Medicine made for you is produced and reported by Holly Squire and Gemma Ware, and hosted by Annabel Bligh for The Anthill podcast. A big thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios.Read more about precision medicine and the personalisation of health in our series of articles on The Conversation. You can sign up to get a daily digest of facts each day by signing up to our newsletter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the second episode of Medicine made for you we're looking at the food we eat and how dietary advice could soon get a lot more personalised. Listen to our producer Gemma Ware go through a two-week experiment with her identical twin sister, aimed at trying to better understand which factors influence the way people react to particular foods. The PREDICT study involved eating lots of special muffins, and doing lots of blood tests. But the results are surprising – and show that everybody reacts differently to different foods, even identical twins.We also explore what role a person's microbiome has in their health and whether it will ever be possible to personalise dietary advice based on the bacteria in your gut. And we look at wider questions about what kind of personalised nutritional advice actually gets people to change their behaviour.Featuring interviews with Professor Tim Spector from King's College London and Professors Glenn Gibson and Julie Lovegrove at the University of Reading.The music in this episode is Is That You or Are You You? by Chris Zabriskie and Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund. Medicine made for you is produced and reported by Holly Squire and Gemma Ware, and hosted by Annabel Bligh for The Anthill podcast. A big thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios.Read more about the personalisation of healthcare in our series of articles on The Conversation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of The Conversation’s In Depth Out Loud podcast, we bring you the history of Ritalin by Matthew Smith, professor in health history at the University of Strathclyde.Just over 75 years ago, a new stimulant drug with the generic name of methylphenidate was born in the Swiss lab of chemical company Ciba. Like many drugs, its therapeutic purpose was unclear. But these were the days a scientist could take a drug home and test it on their spouse, which is exactly what Ciba scientist Leandro Panizzon did. Panizzon’s wife, Rita, reported that the drug gave her tennis game a real fillip. And so Panizzon originally named the drug Ritaline in his wife’s honour.Over the next three-quarters of a century, Ritalin would go on to wear many hats, including antipsychotic, tonic for worn-out housewives, drug to treat disruptive children, street drug and smart drug.But what does the future hold?You can read the text version of this in depth article here. The audio version is read by Annabel Bligh and edited by Laura Hood. You can read more in depth articles by academic experts on The Conversation.The music in In Depth Out Loud is Night Caves, by Lee Rosevere. A big thanks to the Department of Journalism at City, University of London for letting us use their studios to record. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Medicine made for you is a brand new series from The Anthill, a podcast from The Conversation. Across three episodes we're taking a deep dive into the future of healthcare – and find out how it could soon get a lot more personal.In this first episode, we look at genes, clinical trials and how possible it might be for the NHS to take on a more personalised approach when it comes to our health. And we find out why Scotland, a country of 5.4 million people, with one of the lowest life expectancies in western Europe, is a pioneer of this kind of research.Taking a much more precise approach to treatment means that for some diseases, doctors can prescribe drugs based on a person's DNA. Known as precision medicine, this kind of approach is breaking new ground in the treatment for some diseases. And it could change medicine for good.Featuring interviews with Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, Dr Susie Cooke, Professor Andrew Biankin and Professor Iain McInnes at the University of Glasgow, and Professor Stephen MacMahon at the University of Oxford.The music in this episode is Is That You or Are You You? by Chris Zabriskie. Medicine made for you is produced and edited by Holly Squire and Gemma Ware, and hosted by Annabel Bligh. A big thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios.Read more about precision medicine and the personalisation of health in our series of articles on The Conversation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In Medicine made for you, a new series from The Anthill podcast, we'll be taking a deep dive into the future of healthcare – and find out how it could soon get a lot more personal.We'll hear from leading academics about the personalisation of healthcare, how it's changing the way we think about our bodies, and the choices we might make about our health in the future.The Anthill is a podcast produced by The Conversation, hosted by Annabel Bligh. The Medicine made for you series is produced by Gemma Ware and Holly Squire. The first episode will launch on 18 February. Listen via The Conversation, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from.The music in this trailer is Is That You or Are You You? by Chris Zabriskie. A big thanks to City, University of London, for letting us use their studios. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What will space exploration look like in 2069, a century after the first moon landing? In the fifth and final episode of podcast series, To the moon and beyond, we speak to space scientists about the missions they are dreaming about and planning for the future. In episode four we heard about plans to establish a base on the moon, potentially mining the lunar surface for minerals and even water that could be turned into rocket fuel. Episode five finds out what happens when this is built. How could a base on the moon help us travel to other parts of the solar system? And where should we go? These are some of the questions we investigate. We start by finding out why the moon is seen as such a great place from which to launch missions further into space. Ultimately it’s down to the fact that the hardest part of any space journey is getting a rocket out of Earth’s gravity. Alex Ellery, an associate professor of Space Robotics and Space Technology at Carleton University in Canada, explains the different ways it’s possible to exploit the moon’s weak gravity. One way is to build a new space station that orbits the moon – something that NASA and other international space stations are already planning. Another way is to build a base on the moon’s surface using lunar resources. This would be much more ambitious but could ultimately be safer and more sustainable, according to Ellery: In fact, there is a veritable host of useful stuff on the moon. Iron, aluminium, titanium, silicon, ceramics, reagents, regolith gases of various kinds, and so on, from which it is possible to build an entire infrastructure and to do this robotically. This is how we get the true value of using the moon as a stepping stone towards Mars and elsewhere. While different people have different views about when we’ll actually make it back to the moon and how, most academics we’ve spoken to are confident it will happen. Monica Grady, professor of planetary and space sciences at the Open University in the UK, told us where she would go, once a moon base is set up. For her, it’s all about travelling to the places where life might be. This could be Mars, Jupiter’s moon, Europa, or Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. Europa and Enceladus are unusual in the sense that they have huge internal liquid oceans buried under a thick sheet of ice – heated by the gravitational tug of the huge planets they orbit. Grady says: If I had to really pick one place where I thought there was definitely going to be life – a living life – I would say Europa. Because Europa has had all those building blocks, it’s had all the ingredients, it’s had plenty of time. I imagine that the ocean floor, Europa’s ocean floor must be a relatively stable environment [for life to develop]. Grady also explains how scientists would go about finding life on another planet – when that life is probably not going to be visible aliens walking around above ground. In cold places like Mars, Europa or Enceladus, it’s more likely to be some sort of microorganism that’s not visible to the naked eye and is deep below the surface. MORE ON THE MOON AND BEYOND Join us as we delve into the last 50 years of space exploration and the 50 years to come. From Neil Armstrong’s historic first step onto the lunar surface to present-day plans to use the moon as a launchpad to Mars, hear from academic experts who’ve dedicated their lives to studying the wonders of space. When it comes to finding life elsewhere in the solar system, a big concern is the extent that humans (and robots built by humans) may contaminate alien ecosystems in the process. At the same time, futurists warn that space exploration is a necessary part of human survival. Anders Sandberg, from the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, says the financial cost of space exploration is a worthwhile investment: In terms of cost effectiveness, space is maybe not in the cheapest way of saving humanity. There are many other important things we can and should do down here. But it’s not a competition. It’s not like the space budget is always eating into the budget of fixing the environment. In fact they’re quite complementary. One of the best ways of monitoring the environment is after all from space. Sandberg predicts that humans could be living on Mars in 30 to 100 years time. Going beyond our solar system to exoplanets will be much trickier, but this is the next step. And there are scientists working on far flung missions to explore them. Frédéric Marin, an astrophysicist at the University of Strasbourg in France, is one. He tells us about ideas for a giant, multi-generational spaceship that could go the distance: You have to find a way to keep your crew alive for centuries-long missions and part of my work is to investigate if this is feasible in biological terms, in terms of physics, chemistry, food production and energy production, artificial gravity, and so on. So I’m currently working on simulations of multi-generational space travels, in which a population will live inside a vessel and procreate, die and the new generation will continue this cycle until the population reaches an exoplanet. While this kind of mission may get off the ground in the next 50 years, current technology would not see it arrive at the nearest exoplanet until well beyond 2069 into future centuries. So watch this space. Credits To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Additional reporting by Nehal El-Hadi and Aline Richard. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios. Picture source: Shutterstock. Music: Even when we fall and Western Shores by Philipp Weigl; An Oddly Formal Dance by Blue Dot Sessions; Traverse Night Sky (Non Dreamers) by epitomeZero. All via Free Music Archive. Take it all in via Zapslat. Archive footage: Apollo 11 and 17 audio from NASA. Miriam Frankel works for The Conversation.Martin Archer receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

It’s been 47 years since the last time a man stepped on the moon, and yet now a host of countries – from the US, to Russia and China – are racing to send astronauts back there, and set up base. In the fourth episode of The Conversation’s To the moon and beyond podcast, we delve into why there’s a renewed drive to put humans back on the surface of the moon. What’s there to go back for? And what are the practical, legal and ethical questions facing those who want to set up a base there – and potentially start mining the moon. We find out that while no one country owns the moon – a principle set out in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 – the question of who owns the resources on the moon is more complicated. Tanja Masson-Zwaan, an assistant professor of space law at Leiden University in The Netherlands, explains that another international agreement, the Moon Treaty, which entered into force in 1984, has only been ratified by 18 countries, and by none of the major space powers. The big sticking point is the principle that the moon and its natural resources are the “common heritage of mankind” – the exact meaning of which is unclear. Does it mean that everything that a company could have in profits from exploiting resources in outer space has to be split among all countries? What exactly it means is unclear and that is why many states don’t don’t like it and will not ratify it. Masson-Zwaan says that while a new international treaty is unlikely, a new set of guidelines are needed to govern exploitation of the moon’s resources. Part of the attraction of going back lies in what’s under the moon’s dusty surface. Katherine Joy, a Royal Society university research fellow at the University of Manchester in the UK, explains some of the elements that could potentially be found on the moon – from water and oxygen to Helium 3 – and what they could be used for. The great question we have next is not so much in terms of how can we go to mine the moon but first of all we need to understand the potential resources and where they’re located, how they’re accessible and we need to also develop the technology to be able to detect them and extract them to make them into usable products. She explains that she’d love to get her hands on a piece of water ice from the moon’s surface back in her lab – but that this might not be so simple as no mission so far has plans to bring one back cryogenically. But even if a country or company could overcome the many technical hurdles of mining on the moon, there’s no global police force able to punish those breaking any new rules. We asked Frans von der Dunk, professor of space law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the US, whether he could envisage a space war breaking out and what it might look like. It will probably start first on the level of a trade war … but that can already do a lot of damage to everyone around. But if things further escalate as we’ve seen in the past, economic wars can also then escalate into real fighting and I can only say I hope that never happens. He also discusses some of the other questions raised by mining on the moon – including whether it’s ethical that those who can afford to go and mine the moon do it, and those who can’t, don’t. And even if all these practical and legal challenges are overcome, what would it actually be like to live there? Frédéric Marin, an astrophysicist at the University of Strasbourg in France, explains just how inhospitable it would be to live in an environment with such low gravity, covered in abrasive dust. And Rowena Christiansen, a medical educator and doctor at the University of Melbourne in Australia, talks through some of the side effects that spending prolonged amounts of time in space can have on the human body. Your muscles start to lose mass because they don’t have to work against gravity anymore and that includes the heart, which is basically just made up of muscle. And also your bone mineral density tends to decrease. To the moon and beyond is a global collaboration between different editions of The Conversation around the world, hosted by Miriam Frankel and Martin Archer. You can listen via The Conversation, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by hitting the “Listen and Subscribe” button at the top of this page. And please do give us a review on Apple Podcasts. Credits: To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios. Picture source: An imagined base on the moon, by Naeblys via Shutterstock. Music via Free Music Archive: Even when we fall and Western Shores by Philipp Weigl. Di Breun, Pencil Marks and Li Font by Blue Dot Sessions. Space Travel by Borrtex, Vagus by Lee Rosevere and Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund. And As time passes marimba and sound effects via Zapslat. Archive footage: Apollo 11 and 17 audio from NASA. Miriam Frankel works for The Conversation.Martin Archer receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Today, we're asking two astrophysicists and a planetary scientist: what's the likelihood we'll be living on Mars or the Moon in future? Pixabay/WikiImages, CC BYYou’ve probably heard that this week marks 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon – a feat that still boggles the mind given the limitations of technology at the time and the global effort required to pull it off. If you’re as fascinated as we are about the history and future of space exploration, check out The Conversation podcast, To the moon and beyond, a five-part podcast series from The Conversation. We’ve featured a little taste of it on Trust Me today. Through interviews with academic experts around the world – from space scientists to historians, lawyers, futurists and a former astronaut – science journalist Miriam Frankel and space scientist Martin Archer look at the past 50 years of space exploration and what the 50 years ahead have in store. Episode two features Australia’s own space archaeologist, Alice Gorman, in conversation with Sarah Keenihan about why Apollo 11 landing spots could become heritage sites for future generations of visitors to the Moon. Read more: To the moon and beyond 2: how humanity reacted to the moon landing and why it led to conspiracy theories But today, The Conversation’s Molly Glassey sits down with a panel of astrophysicists to ask the big questions about space, like: what’s the next big thing that’s happening in space research, the thing that will blow us away or bring us together the way the Moon landing did back in 1969? And what’s the likelihood we’ll be living on Mars or the Moon in future? Today, Molly chats to astrophysicists Jonti Horner and Belinda Nicholson from the University of Southern Queensland and planetary scientist Katarina Miljkovic from Curtin University. You can find all the episodes of To the moon and beyond on your podcast app, or on our site here. New to podcasts? Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click here to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts). You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert. Credits: To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for allowing use of their studios for To the moon and beyond, and to . Music: Even when we fall by Philipp Weigl, via Free Music Archive Fallen Stars by Ketsa, via Free Music Archive Apollo 11 and 17 audio from NASA Additional audio Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks. Images Pixabay/WikiImages

From Algeria to Vietnam, there are 72 countries with some sort of space programme. And the new space race involves a number of private companies too, that are becoming increasingly crucial to national missions. In the third episode of To the moon and beyond, we find out who some of the key players are in this new space race, what they are competing for and what winning looks like. Space exploration has long been driven by competition. As we heard in the first episode of this podcast series, the success of NASA’s Apollo missions to the moon was driven by the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. After the US had won this space race, they soon stopped sending manned missions to the moon because of the cost and the risks involved. But, for all the similarities with 50 years ago, John Horack, who holds the Neil Armstrong chair in aerospace policy at Ohio State University in the US, says today is very different. There are still significant national prestige and pride factors associated with spaceflight. But there are many many things going on in space that have absolutely nothing to do with national prestige. They’re about economics. They’re about philanthropic activities, they’re about testing new business models. So it’s less of a race and more of an explosion. MORE ON THE MOON AND BEYOND Join us as we delve into the last 50 years of space exploration and the 50 years to come. From Neil Armstrong’s historic first step onto the lunar surface to present-day plans to use the moon as a launchpad to Mars, hear from academic experts who’ve dedicated their lives to studying the wonders of space. Still, only three countries have successfully sent astronauts into space: Russia, the US and China. And one of the most exciting developments in space exploration, which took place earlier this year, was China’s successful Chang’e 4 mission. In January 2019, Chang’e 4 made a soft landing on the mysterious far side of the moon – the first time this has been done. Yang Gao, professor of space autonomous systems at the University of Surrey, tells us why this was a remarkable feat of engineering. She also explains some of China’s plans to conduct scientific research on this south side of the moon – where there is evidence of an abundance of hydrogen and water ice. These are really very exciting for us because those resources can potentially provide in the future the life support for human habitation or long-term existence on the moon, instead of us transporting those resources from Earth. China’s success seems to have put rocket boosters under the US government’s space plans. Donald Trump’s administration has talked a lot about increasing NASA’s budget in order to send a manned mission to the moon in the next five years, looking to use it as a base for exploring Mars and beyond. As well as new countries getting involved in space, the explosion of space activity that’s taken place in recent years has come from a number of commercial players entering the fray. The world’s first space tourist was an American billionaire called Dennis Tito who paid US$20m for an eight-day trip to the International Space Station in 2001. But the space tourism industry is still struggling to get off the ground. We talk to Louis Brennan, a business professor at Trinity College Dublin who researches space businesses, about whether the industry will ever take off. If you imagine civil aviation and the way civil aviation evolved from being one which very few people partook in to one in which it became an activity engaged in by the masses. If space were to evolve in a similar way, space travel, then one could envisage these companies becoming quite profitable. Read more: How Luxembourg is positioning itself to be the centre of space business It’s not just tourism, though. There are myriad opportunities to make money through space now. Brennan talks us through the business models of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Blue Origin, which was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Both are successfully reducing the costs of space travel by developing reusable rockets. And riding on their coat tails are a number of other new and innovative companies. So for all the talk of a new space race, today’s competition doesn’t to be a zero sum game where some groups win and others lose. From scientific projects to business endeavours, we find out how different countries and businesses are collaborating to push the boundaries of human discovery. To the moon and beyond is a global collaboration between different editions of The Conversation around the world, hosted by Miriam Frankel and Martin Archer. You can listen via The Conversation, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by hitting the “Listen and Subscribe” button at the top of this page. Credits: To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Additional reporting by Johnathan Gang. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios. Picture source: SpaceX Falcon rocket, SpaceX on Unsplash Music via Free Music Archive: Even when we fall and Western Shores by Philipp Weigl. An Oddly Formal Dance and Bedroll by Blue Dot Sessions. Canada, by Pictures of the Floating World, and Awake by Scott Holmes. And As time passes marimba via Zapslat. Archive footage: Dennis Tito making history, BBC World Service, Fifth meeting of the National Space Council, NASA, President Trump announces plan to send NASA back to the moon, PBS Newshour, Dark side of the moon: China’s Chang'e 4 probe makes historic landing, by Guardian News, Chinese Chang'e-4 lunar probe makes first landing on far side of the moon, CGTN, The International Space Station: The next hot tourist destination, Al Jazeera, The New Space Race,Google Lunar XPRIZE, Israel’s Beresheet Spacecraft to Enter Moon’s Orbit, i24NEWS English. Apollo 11 and 17 audio from NASA. Martin Archer receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.Miriam Frankel works for The Conversation.

In the second episode of The Conversation’s To the moon and beyond podcast series, we take a look at the impact going to the moon had on humanity – and why it generated so many conspiracy theories. While an estimated half a billion people tuned in to watch the moon landings on television in late July 1969, what about those who didn’t have access to one? We hear from Keith Gottschalk, a political scientist at the University of the Western Cape, who explains what it was like to learn about the moon landings in apartheid South Africa – one of the few countries in the world where people couldn’t watch the moon landings. The apartheid regime banned TV so we would have seen the newspaper posters tied up to all the lampposts on the road and the SABC radio (South African Broadcasting Corporation) – in those days the apartheid regime banned all radios except the SABC – would have broadcast extracts. Gottschalk also explains how the news that the US had beaten the Soviet Union to the lunar surface was met in a country where Cold War rivalry was central to politics and foreign affairs. We also hear from Alice Gorman, senior lecturer in archaeology and space studies, at Flinders University in Australia. She studies the heritage of what’s been left by humans on the moon’s surface and what it means for people back on Earth. She laments what was lost when astronauts stopped going to the moon in 1972. We lost a tradition. We lost the continuity of technologies and cultures that enable people to survive on other planets. So now we’re kind of reinventing those again. Gorman tells us why she thinks the Apollo 11 sites could become heritage sites for future generations of visitors to the moon. To find out more about her work as a space archaeologist, researching the various debris that humans have left in space, you can also read a write-up of Gorman’s interview with Conversation science editor Sarah Keenihan here. MORE ON THE MOON AND BEYOND Join us as we delve into the last 50 years of space exploration and the 50 years to come. From Neil Armstrong’s historic first step onto the lunar surface to present-day plans to use the moon as a launchpad to Mars, hear from academic experts who’ve dedicated their lives to studying the wonders of space. One of the enduring legacies of the moon landings has been the conspiracy theories it generated, which claim that the Apollo missions were all a hoax orchestrated by the US government. Peter Knight, a professor of American studies and an expert in conspiracy theories at the University of Manchester in the UK, explains the cultural moment in which these sprang up in the mid 1970s. The immediate context that we need to think about is the Vietnam War and a sense of disillusionment with the official version of events and, in effect, the lies that Americans felt their government had been telling them. Knight also tells us how, in many parts of the world, a large number of people still believe that the moon landings were a hoax – ranging from between 5-10% of Americans and 12% of Britons, to 20% of Italians and 57% of Russians. But what can be done about it? We hear from Viren Swami, a professor of social psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK and Centre for Psychological Medicine at Pedana University in Malaysia, who has carried out psychological experiments testing belief in moon landing conspiracy theories. He explains some of his findings: When you already believe in a conspiracy or a conspiratorial world view – when you see patterns in data that make you believe that there are conspiracies in the world – you’re more likely to adopt different conspiracy theories. Even if they are sometimes contradictory, or even if they don’t make sense. Swami also explains how promoting analytical thinking can help reduce belief in conspiracy theories. To the moon and beyond is a global collaboration between different editions of The Conversation around the world, hosted by Miriam Frankel and Martin Archer. You can listen via The Conversation, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts by hitting the “Listen and Subscribe” button at the top of this page. Credits: To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Reporting by Nontobeko Mtshali, Sarah Keenihan and Johnathan Gang. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios. Picture source: Jack Weir via Wikimedia Commons. Music via Free Music Archive: Even when we fall and Western Shores by Philipp Weigl Tapoco and Bedroll by Blue Dot Sessions Hallon by Christian Bjoerklund As time passes marimba, Zapslat Archive footage: Apollo 11, 13 and 17 audio from NASA Miriam Frankel works for The Conversation. Martin Archer receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

blank Welcome to the first episode of To the moon and beyond, a brand new global podcast series from The Conversation marking 50 years since the first moon landing in July 1969. Humanity has the moon landings to thank for a lot. But what did we actually learn from exploring the lunar surface? Why did we stop going there after just a few short years? And when – and who – will be going back next? In this first episode, Bonnie J. Dunbar, a retired NASA astronaut who is now a professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University, explains what it’s like being in space. I think the closest that anyone can actually get to experience it on the ground here on Earth is if you’re in an IMAX theatre in the front row or close to the front row with surround sound. But that doesn’t capture everything, that only captures part of the visual. It doesn’t capture being weightless. It doesn’t capture actually orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes. Dunbar also explains how a mission to the moon would be done differently today, with communications being far more efficient, for example. But despite the technological progress we’ve made over the past few decades, humans haven’t actually been back to the the moon since 1972, with Apollo 17. John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University and a former member of the NASA Advisory Council, explains why NASA stopped sending astronauts to the moon and why no other country has since. By defining Apollo as a race to the moon, once you win the race there is no strong urge or compelling reason to continue to race. You’ve already won. And there was that sense not only within NASA and within the White House but in the general public. MORE ON THE MOON AND BEYOND Join us as we delve into the last 50 years of space exploration and the 50 years to come. From Neil Armstrong’s historic first step onto the lunar surface to present-day plans to use the moon as a launchpad to Mars, hear from academic experts who’ve dedicated their lives to studying the wonders of space. Logsdon explains that after a few years of watching the Apollo missions, TV audiences weren’t tuning into the moon landings in large numbers, and the danger of the missions meant NASA chose to quit while it was ahead. The Apollo missions were never really about science, according to Logsdon. But the trips to the lunar surface nevertheless did a lot to help scientists understand the moon’s geology. Daniel Brown, associate professor of astronomy and science communication at Nottingham Trent University, explains how going to the moon helped answer questions about where the moon’s craters came from. He also talks us through how some of the technological advances sparked by the race to the moon in the 1960s helped humanity back on Earth – and busts some myths about inventions that came out of the space programme. To the moon and beyond is a global collaboration between different editions of The Conversation around the world, hosted by Miriam Frankel and Martin Archer. You can listen via The Conversation, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from by hitting the “Listen and Subscribe” button at the top of this page. Click here to subscribe to the To the moon and beyond podcast series Credits: To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Reporting by Jonathan Gang. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios. Picture source: Buzz Aldrin on the moon, NASA Music via Free Music Archive: Even when we fall and Western Shores by Philipp Weigl Li Fonte, by Blue Dot Sessions The Idea of Space, Lee Rosevere Archive footage: Apollo 11, 13 and 17 audio from NASA President Kennedy’s Speech at Rice University, NASA via YouTube Miriam Frankel works for The Conversation. Martin Archer receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

It’s been 50 years since Neil Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind by becoming the first person to set foot on the lunar surface. While the historic event was followed by six further crewed missions – five of which landed – nobody has been back to the moon since the astronauts of Apollo 17 bid their goodbyes in 1972. A growing number of countries and private companies have since started exploring the moon with robotic spacecraft and landers, with China recently becoming the first country to land a rover on the far side of the moon. These players are now in a new space race to put people back on the moon in the next few years. But who will be first and where will it all take us? These are some of the questions we’ll explore in To the moon and beyond – a five part global podcast series created by the different editions of The Conversation around the world. We’ll investigate the past 50 years of space exploration and the 50 years ahead of us by talking to academic experts across the world, ranging from space scientists and psychologists to historians, lawyers and futurists. Starting in 1969, we’ll speak to an astronaut-turned-academic about what it must have been like for Armstrong to take that first small step. And we’ll find out from historians why we suddenly stopped sending people to the moon in 1972. We’ll also discover what impact the moon landings have had on humanity and why they have generated so many conspiracy theories. We’ll then travel all the way to 2069, looking at plans to use the moon as a staging post for future space exploration. This could take humans as far as Mars and the habitable icy moons surrounding the gas giant planets. The first episode will launch on July 3. You can listen via The Conversation, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from by hitting the “Listen and Subscribe” button at the top of this page. MORE ON THE MOON AND BEYOND Join us as we delve into the last 50 years of space exploration and the 50 years to come. From Neil Armstrong’s historic first step onto the lunar surface to present-day plans to use the moon as a launchpad to Mars, hear from academic experts who’ve dedicated their lives to studying the wonders of space. Credits: To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios. Picture source: Buzz Aldrin on the moon, NASA Music: Even when we fall by Philipp Weigl, via Free Music Archive News archive: China lands a rover on the far side of the moon, CBS News Apollo 11 and 17 audio from NASA Miriam Frankel works for The Conversation.Martin Archer receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Welcome to Episode 63! We welcome Gemma and Annabel from the Anthill Podcast back to Flixwatcher to review Gemma’s choice the 2009 Neill Blomkamp film District 9. Billed as a Peter Jackson presents District 9 was the breakout film for Sharlto Copley. Filmed and set in Johannesburg it mixes (fake) found footage and documentary styles and is was inspired by the true life events of District Six from the apartheid era. The film, despite providing some genuine comic moments, addresses themes of racism, xenophobia, bureaucracy and refugees and immigrants while moving between sci fi, body horror and action genres. District 9 has aged pretty well and it’s themes are still relevant today and it’s all held together by Copley’s performance and interaction with the ‘prawns’. Scores [supsystic-tables id='65']Our guests and Flixwatcher scored District 9 highly across most categories bringing the overall score to 4.1 (despite Kobi’s low score for repeat viewing!). Highly recommended What do you guys think? Have you seen District 9? What did you think? Please let us know in the comments below! Episode #063 Crew Links Thanks to the Episode #063 Crew of Annabel Bligh @kabligh  and Gemma Ware @waresgemma from The Anthill Podcast. Find their website online here: https://theconversation.com/uk Please make sure you give them some love Flixwatcher Spotify Playlist It has to be Putting on the Ritz, but there is no Gene Wilder version so we have added the Mel Torme Version! More about District 9 For more info on District 9, you can visit the District 9 IMDB page here or the District 9 Rotten Tomatoes page here. Final Plug! Subscribe, Share and Review us on iTunes If you enjoyed this episode of Flixwatcher Podcast you probably know other people who will like it too! Please share it with your friends and family, review us, and join us across ALL of the Social Media links below.

Annabel Bligh joins Jack and Freddie to talk about The Comedian's Comedian, The Moth, and Chips With Everything.

Its Episode 51, Annabel and Gemma from the Anthill podcast join us to review Annabel’s choice, the Oscar nominated 2017 film Mudbound. A 2017 American period drama directed by Dee Rees based on the novel of the same name by Hillary Jordan. Mudbound was acquired by Netflix following its Sundance Film Festival premiere and it earned itself four Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song for Mary J. Blige, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography - making Rachel Morrison the first woman ever nominated in the category and Blige became the first person to ever be nominated for an acting and song award during the same year. YES, thats Mary J. Blige, in case you were wondering and she is pretty excellent playing the matriarch of the black family. Featured alongside a lot of actual mud is a strong supporting cast including Carey Mulligan, Garett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jonathan Banks and Jason Mitchell that all give solid performances, with both families being affected by the aftermath of war against the backdrop of the deep racist Ku Klux Klan. Scores [supsystic-tables id='53'] Mudbound scores low on repeat viewing - it is not an easy watch - not necessarily rewarding but historically interesting and relevant. Overall it scores 3.25, high on recommendability but not so high on repeat viewing, if its on your list move it to the top now. What do you guys think? Have you seen Mudbound? What did you think? Please let us know in the comments below! Episode #051 Crew Links Thanks to the Episode #051 Crew of Annabel Bligh @kabligh  and Gemma Ware @waresgemma from The Anthill Podcast. Find their website online here: https://theconversation.com/uk Please make sure you give them some love Flixwatcher Spotify Playlist Nothing for this week More about Mudbound For more info on Mudbound, you can visit the Mudbound IMDB page here or the Mudbound Rotten Tomatoes page here. Final Plug! Subscribe, Share and Review us on iTunes If you enjoyed this episode of Flixwatcher Podcast you probably know other people who will like it too! Please share it with your friends and family, review us, and join us across ALL of the Social Media links below.