Scam factories is a special three-part series taking you inside Southeast Asia's brutal fraud compounds. Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to work in these scam factories. Many were trafficked there and forced into criminality by defrauding people around the world.

The Conversation collaborated for this series with three researchers: Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne, Ling Li, a PhD candidate at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Mark Bo, an independent researcher.

In episode 1, our researchers travel to a village in Cambodia called Chrey Thom to see what these compounds look like. And we hear from two survivors about how they were recruited into compounds in Laos and Myanmar.

The podcast series was written and produced by Gemma Ware with production assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Editing help from Justin Bergman and Ashlynee McGhee.

• Locked in: the inside story of Southeast Asia's fraud compounds

Every day that he was locked up in a scam compound in Southeast Asia, George thought about how to get out. "We looked for means of escaping, but it was hard," he said.

Scam Factories is a podcast series taking you inside Southeast Asia's brutal fraud compounds. It accompanies a series of multimedia articles on The Conversation.

In our third and final episode, Great Escapes, we find out the different ways survivors manage to escape, what it takes for them to get home, and what is being done to clamp down on the industry.

The podcast series was written and produced by Gemma Ware with production assistance from Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Leila Goldstein was our producer in Cambodia and Halima Athumani recorded for us in Uganda. Hui Lin helped us with Chinese translation. Editing help from Justin Bergman and Ashlynee McGhee.

• Getting out of Southeast Asia's scam factories
• From empty fields to locked cities: the rise of a billion-dollar criminal industry
• ‘We could hear the screams until midnight’: life inside Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds

For over 40 years, the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK, has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey, fighting for Kurdish rights and autonomy.

But in late February, Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK’s imprisoned founder, called for the group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. Days later, the PKK, which is labelled as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, Europe and the US, declared a ceasefire with Turkey.

In this episode, we speak to political scientist Pinar Dinc at Lund University in Sweden about what’s led to this moment and whether it could be the beginning of a lasting peace between Turkey and the Kurds.

This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.

• Syria integration deal with Kurds brings relief after days of bitter violence wracks war-torn country
• What’s behind Erdoğan’s calculated shift on Kurds and its potential consequences
• PKK leader’s call to disarm fuels hope for end to Kurdish conflict – but peace is not imminent

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Further reading:

• Bringing Mars rocks back to Earth – Perseverance Rover lands on Feb. 18, a lead scientist explains the tech and goals, by Jim Bell, Professor of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University   
• How Mars became the prize for the new space race – and why China is hellbent on winning it, by Stefania Paladini, Reader in Economics and Global Security at Birmingham City University
• Belarus protests: why people have been taking to the streets – new data, by Félix Krawatzek, Senior Researcher at the Centre for East European and International Studies and Associate Member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford and Gwendolyn Sasse, Professor in Comparative Politics, Professorial Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

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

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

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

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

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

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

Further reading:

• Myanmar's military has used surveillance, draconian laws and fear to stifle dissent before. Will it work again? by DB Subedi, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of New England and Johanna Garnett, Lecturer in Sociology and Peace Studies, University of New England
• Myanmar's military reverts to its old strong-arm behaviour — and the country takes a major step backwards by Adam Simpson, Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia and Nicholas Farrelly, Professor and Head of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania   
• Myanmar coup: how the military has held onto power for 60 years, by Michael W. Charney, Professor of Asian and Military History, SOAS, University of London
• Is COVID-19 infecting wild animals? We're testing species from bats to seals to find out, by Jonathan Runstadler, Professor of Infectious Disease and Global Health, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University and Kaitlin Sawatzki, Postdoctoral Infectious Disease Researcher, Tufts University

This week we’re talking to researchers about how COVID-19 vaccines are manufactured – and a battle over the intellectual property rights surrounding them. And we hear from a researcher looking into why China is closing down coal-fired power stations faster in some places than others. Welcome to episode 3 of a new podcast from The Conversation, the world explained by experts.

While some of the world’s richest countries are racing ahead with large-scale programmes to vaccinate their populations, for much of the developing world, the first doses of the vaccines remain a long way off. For the past few months, a group of countries has been pushing for the intellectual property rules around coronavirus vaccines to be temporarily waived temporarily, arguing this would help expand supply and push down costs. Ronald Labonté, Distinguished Research Chair in Globalization and Health Equity at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa, talks us through the detail. Meanwhile, Mosoka Fallah, Lecturer at the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences at the University of Liberia tells us what the vaccine situation is like on the ground in West Africa, and Anne Moore, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, at University College Cork in Ireland, explains some of the processes behind making coronavirus vaccines.

In our second story, we talk to Hao Tan, Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle in Australia, on his new research on why – and where – China is decommissioning coal-fired power stations. He explains what this shift means for the wider region, and those countries which export coal to China.

And Clea Chakraverty, politics and society editor at The Conversation in France, gives us some recommended reading on a historic child sex abuse scandal shaking France.

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

Further reading:

• Dummy’s guide to how trade rules affect access to COVID-19 vaccines, by Ronald Labonté, Distinguished Research Chair in Globalization and Health Equity at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, and Brook K. Baker, Professor of Law, Northeastern University
• No country is an island: collective approach to COVID-19 vaccines is the only way to go, by Mosoka Fallah, Part-time lecturer at the Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Lecturer at the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Liberia

This week three experts explain why more people are thinking about leaving Hong Kong after China's clampdown on dissent – and the choices they face about where to go. And we hear about a new way to speed up the hunt for one of the universe's most elusive enigmas: dark matter. Welcome to episode 4 of The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts.

Since China imposed a new National Security Law on Hong Kong in mid-2020, the situation for protesters has become much more dangerous. Many of those involved in recent pro-democracy protests are being rounded up and arrested. Some Hong Kongers are now thinking about leaving – and in this episode we hear from experts researching what is influencing these decisions. Sui Ting Kong, assistant professor in sociology at Durham University, tells us what her interviews with Hong Kongers is revealing about the different ways they describe their decision to leave. Peter William Walsh, a researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, explains the details of a new visa route the UK government has opened up those Hong Kongers who hold British National Overseas status. And Tsungyi Michelle Huang, professor of geography at National Taiwan University, talks about her research on migration from Hong Kong to Taiwan, and how Taiwan has become a more attractive destination.

In our second story, we're joined by Benjamin Brubaker, a physicist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who is on the hunt for dark matter. Dark matter is invisible – but it accounts for 85% of the matter in the universe. He explains how he and his colleagues used technology from the quantum computing world to speed up the search.

And Luthfi Dzulfikar, associate editor at The Conversation in Jakarta, recommends a couple of recent stories by academics in Indonesia. 

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

Further reading:

• Hong Kong: China crackdown is likely to boost migration to UK, by Peter William Walsh, Researcher at the Migration Observatory, University of Oxford
• With mass arrests, running for office in Hong Kong is now not only futile, it can be criminal, by Brendan Clift, Teaching Fellow and PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne

This week, two experts explain how melting ice in the far north is bringing more light to the Arctic Ocean and what this means for the species that live there. And we hear from a team of archaeologists on their new research in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge that found evidence of just how adaptable early humans were to the changing environment.

Every summer, the sea ice in the Arctic melts -– but it's melting more and more each year. This dramatic loss is because the Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet. Different scientists are studying what climate change means for the various species that live in the Arctic Ocean. One of the things they’re looking at is light: as the sea ice shrinks, that means more light can get down to the depths, but also more ships can venture into the far north, bringing with them more artificial light. 

We speak to two researchers who study what this increase in light means for the species that live in the Arctic: Karen Filbee-Dexter, Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia and Jørgen Berge, Vice Dean for Research, Arctic and Marine Biology at the University of Tromsø in Norway.

In our second story, we head to the warmer climes of the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, known as the birthplace of humanity. We speak to a team of researchers, Julio Mercader, Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Calgary in Canada, and Pastory Bushozi, Director of Humanities Research Centre and Makarius Peter Itambu, Lecturer in the College of Humanities, both at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, about their recent discoveries in the gorge. They found new evidence of just how adaptable early humans were to the changing environment around them around 2 million years ago. 

And Laura Hood, politics editor at The Conversation in London, recommends a couple of recent stories by academics in the UK. 

The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here.

Further reading

• Arctic Ocean: climate change is flooding the remote north with light – and new species, by Jørgen Berge, University of Tromsø; Carlos Duarte, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Dorte Krause-Jensen, Aarhus University; Karen Filbee-Dexter, Université Laval; Kimberly Howland, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), and Philippe Archambault, Université Laval

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, three experts in global health explain why COVID-19 has been a moment of reckoning for the World Health Organization (WHO), and where it goes from here. And to mark one year since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, we hear from Conversation editors around the world on the situation where they live right now.

The WHO had a torrid 2020. Although it declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern in late January, much of the world was slow to react. And it wasn’t until March 11, when the WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described it as a pandemic, that countries began to take the virus seriously and began locking down. 

In this episode, we talk to three experts about where the WHO goes from here. Peter Gluckman, former scientific advisor to the prime minister of New Zealand and Director of Koi Tū, the Center for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, says world leaders should use this moment as a catalyst for reform. Ana Amaya, Assistant Professor at Pace University and an Associate Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration studies, tells us the current global health system is no longer acceptable to many developing countries in the global south. And Andrew Lakoff, Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California, explains what process of inquiry the WHO went through after the H1N1 and Ebola epidemics, and why apportioning responsibility for failures is crucial in planning for the future.

The Conversation Weekly is hosted by Gemma Ware and Dan Merino. The show is co-produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Visit The Conversation for full credits. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here.

Further reading

You can read a series of articles on The Conversation marking the one-year anniversary of WHO declaring COVID-19 a pandemic here. Meanwhile, here are some of the articles we've mentioned in this episode, plus a few more:

• WHO reform: a call for an early-warning protocol for...

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast we drill down into the impact coronavirus lockdowns had on global carbon emissions – and ask what this means for the fight against climate change as governments turn their focus on the recovery. And we hear how the pandemic exacerbated the hardships faced by migrant workers in Canada. 

Corinne Le Quéré, Professor of Climate Change Science at the University of East Anglia, tells globla carbon emissions dropped 7% in 2020 – by 2.6 billion tonnes. While this was the biggest drop ever, everything is relative. She puts the figures into perspective for us about what was happening before the pandemic, and what needs to happen now for the world to reach its targets under the Paris Agreement. Click here to explore a graphic she's made with her team, exploring this history of emissions around the world.

And we also talk to Steve Westlake, a PhD researcher at Cardiff University, about his research into what influences our behaviour when it comes to reducing carbon emissions -- and why he thinks individual actions still matter.

We’re also joined in this episode by The Conversation’s Vinita Srivastava, host of Don’t Call Me Resilient, a new podcast about race. She introduces a conversation she had with Min Sook Lee, Assistant Professor in Documentary Film at OCAD University in Toronto, on the harsh conditions, isolation and precarious working conditions faced by migrant farm workers in Canada.

And Wale Fatade from The Conversation in Lagos, Nigeria, gives us some recommended reading. 

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

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com

Further reading

• We’ve made progress to curb global emissions. But it’s a fraction of what’s needed, Pep Canadell, CSIRO; Corinne Le Quéré, University of East Anglia and colleagues.
• Climate change: yes, your individual action does make a difference, Steve Westlake, Cardiff...

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly, four experts dissect the impact a year of working from home has had on employees and the companies they work for — and what a more hybrid future might look like. And we talk to a researcher who asked people to sit in bath tubs full of ice cold water to find out why some of us are able to stand the cold better than others.

For many people who can do their job from home, the pandemic meant a sudden shift from office-based to remote working. But a year of working from home, has taken its toll on some. We hear from Marie-Colombe Afota, assistant professor in leadership, IÉSEG School of Management in France on her new research into remote working during the pandemic, and Dave Cook, PhD candidate in anthropology at University College London, explains why burnout has become a public health issue. Jean-Nicolas Reyt, assistant professor at McGill University in Montreal, tells us how the view of chief executives towards remote working shifted over the past year and why. And Ruchi Sinha gives us a view of the conversations going on in Australia where hybrid working is already becoming a reality.

In our second story, we talk to Victoria Wyckelsma, postdoctoral research fellow in muscle physiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, about her new study which revealed how our genes influence how resistant we are to cold temperatures.

And Sunanda Creagh from The Conversation in Australia gives us some recommended reading about the recent floods in Sydney. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here.

Further reading

• COVID a year on: inequalities and anxieties about returning to workplaces are becoming clearer, by Jane Parry and Michalis Veliziotis, University of Southampton

This week, the inside story of how scientists working at Cern’s Large Hadron Collider found tantalising new evidence which could mean we have to rethink what we know about the universe. And an update on the situation for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in Bangladesh after a deadly fire swept through a refugee camp there. Welcome to episode 9 of The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts.

In late March, particle physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a massive particle accelerator at Cern in Geneva, announced, tentatively, that they’d had a bit of a breakthrough. If what they think they’ve seen is proven correct, it could mean evidence for brand new physics – perhaps even a new force of nature. We get the inside story from Harry Cliff, a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge who works on the LHCb, one of Cern's four giant experiments. And Celine Boehm, professor and head of physics at the University of Sydney, explains the bigger picture of where this all fits into the world of theoretical physics, including the ongoing hunt for dark matter.

In our second story, Rubayat Jesmin, a PhD candidate at Binghamton University in New York explains why the situation got even more precarious situation for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, after a fire ripped through one of the camps where many were living in Bangladesh.

And Nehal El-Hadi, science and technology editor at The Conversation in Toronto, gives us some recommended reading. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. And a transcript is available here.

Further reading

• Evidence of brand new physics at Cern? Why we’re cautiously optimistic about our new findings, by Harry...

In this episode, why some economists are worried about a growing army of "zombie companies" with lots of debts – and what this could mean for the shape of our economies. And the researchers who've found a new way to prevent predators from eating the eggs of endangered birds – via a form of biological, psychological warfare. Welcome to episode 10 of The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts.

With interest rates at record lows, many companies have been able to borrow money at very little cost. This cheap cash, which was flooding financial markets before the pandemic began, led some companies to rack up big debts. Economists call these “zombie companies” – firms that may struggle to pay the interest on their large debts. It’s a problem that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic, as revenues dried up in many sectors of the economy. Karl Schmedders, professor of finance at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, explains how zombie companies are born, why the pandemic could have made the problem worse and what might happen next. And Sandy Brian Hager, senior lecturer in international political economy at City, University of London, explains his research about why the size of a company has a bearing on the shape of the recovery ahead.

In our second story, we hear about a new technique to protect endangered birds whose nests are often attacked by invasive predators. Scientists used fake smells to trick predators such as ferrets and hedgehogs into ignoring the birds' eggs. Catherine Price, postdoctoral researcher in conservation biology at the University of Sydney, tells us what happened when they tested the idea in the Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island.

And Luthfi Dzulfikar, associate editor at The Conversation in Indonesia, gives us his recommended reads. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here.

Further reading

• Takeovers: a tidal wave of buyouts is coming in 2021 – here’s what it means, by Karl Schmedders and Patrick Reinmoeller, International Institute for

In this episode, how new discoveries continue to change our understanding of what dinosaurs looked like – and are helping to shed light on bigger questions about evolution. And after Israel’s fourth election in two years ended in another political stalemate, a foreign policy expert explains what this could mean for the Middle East. Welcome to episode 11 of The Conversation Weekly, the world explained by experts. 

Ever since palaeontologists started classifying fossils and bones as dinosaurs in the early 19th century, artists have been using them to try and imagine what dinosaurs looked like. But, however much Hollywood may have instilled a certain vision of dinosaurs into our minds in recent decades, we’re still a long way off having all the answers about what dinosaurs actually looked like. 

We speak to two palaeontologists about what new evidence is emerging and how our dinosaur imaginings have changed. Maria McNamara, professor of palaeobiology at University College Cork in Ireland, explains about the, at times controversial, history of feathered dinosaurs – and what new information is starting to emerge about dinosaur colour. And Nicolas Campione, senior lecturer in palaeobiology at the University of New England in Australia, tells us the two main techniques palaeontologists have used for estimating the size of dinosaurs. 

In our second story, we head to Israel, where coalition negotiations are continuing following elections on March 23. Whatever happens next will have ramifications for Israel’s foreign policy, which is closely tied with domestic politics. Amnon Aran, senior lecturer in international politics of the Middle East, at City, University of London, talks us through how history could inform what happens next, and what the foreign policy stakes are for whoever takes the reins of the next Israeli government. 

And Eva Catalán, associate editor at The Conversation in Spain, gives us her recommended reads.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. A transcript of this episode is available here.

Further reading:

• Prehistoric pigments reveal how melanin has...

In this episode, insurgent groups in northern Nigeria continue to kidnap schoolchildren as the government struggles to protect communities against militants such as Boko Haram. And we speak to a researcher who has interviewed Kenyan women about why they joined the jihadist group Al-Shabaab. Welcome to episode 12 of The Conversation Weekly.

Schoolchildren in northern Nigeria continue to be abducted by insurgents, including the jihadist group Boko Haram, whose name means ‘Western education is forbidden’. In this episode, Wale Fatade from The Conversation in Lagos speaks to two experts to find out why children are still at such risk. Hakeem Onapajo, senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nile University in Nigeria, explains that Boko Haram targets children for us as slaves in its camps, including girls as sex slaves. And Samuel Okunade, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria, laments that the government’s failure to improve the security situation has left communities to fend for themselves. 

In our second story, we cross the continent to Kenya to hear about women who joined the jihadist group, Al-Shabaab. Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the Technical University of Mombasa in Kenya, has been interviewing women who have since left Al-Shabaab about their experiences and why they joined the group. She explains that while some joined willingly, others were forcibly recruited, and the line between voluntary and involuntary is often blurred.

And Bryan Keogh, business editor at The Conversation in New York, gives us his recommended reads. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. And a transcript is available here.

Further reading

• Why children are prime targets of armed groups in northern Nigeria, by Hakeem Onapajo, Nile University of Nigeria
• Nigeria’s poor response to Boko Haram has left border communities feeling abandoned, by Samuel Okunade, University of...

In this episode, as Scotland prepares to vote in landmark parliamentary elections on May 6, we explore why the question of independence from the UK is dominating the debate. And a team of researchers working with fruit flies, has discovered a biological switch that can turn neuroplasticity on and off in the brain. What might that mean? Welcome to episode 13 of The Conversation Weekly.

It's been seven years since Scotland voted to remain the UK in the 2014 independence referendum. Now, as Scotland prepares to vote in elections for the Scottish Parliament on May 6, all eyes are on first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her pro-independence Scottish National Party. If pro-independence parties win a majority in the Scottish parliament – Sturgeon will ask the UK government in Westminster, led by prime minister, Boris Johnson, for a second referendum on Scottish independence. But he's highly unlikely to agree. To find out more about what’s at stake in these upcoming elections, we speak to three experts, including one high-profile politician turned academic, to explain the situation. 

Kezia Dugdale, is director of the John Smith Centre and a lecturer in public policy at the University of Glasgow, and a former leaders of the Scottish Labour Party. She describes the political landscape going into the elections. Darren Nyatanga, a PhD candidate at the University of Liverpool, talks us through the constitutional questions at the heart of the independence debate. And economist Graeme Roy, dean of external engagement at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow, explains Scotland's economic circumstances, and the economic arguments being used by nationalists and unionists.

For our second story, we hear about some new research into neuroplasticity – the brain's ability to change its structure. Sarah Ackerman, postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Oregon, explains what her team has found about what controls these changes.

And Moina Spooner, commissioning editor at The Conversation in Nairobi, Kenya, gives us her recommended reads for the week.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. A transcript of this episode is available here.

Further

In this episode, how Cuba is pushing ahead with the development of its own coronavirus vaccines – and could be nearing vaccine sovereignty. And we hear from a researcher about what he learnt from asking hundreds of people about the biggest decisions of their lives. You’re listening to episode 14 of The Conversation Weekly podcast. 

Throughout 2020, the small island nation of Cuba was able to limit the spread of COVID-19. By early May, 675 people had died from the disease. But case numbers have been increasing in 2021 and there are currently around 1,000 new cases being recorded each day. That makes Cuba’s race to make its own coronavirus vaccine even more urgent. 

This week we speak to three experts to help explain how Cuba’s race for a coronavirus vaccine is going – and where it fits into the wider picture of global vaccine diplomacy: Amilcar Pérez Riverol, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of São Paulo State in Brazil, Jennifer Hosek, professor of languages, literatures and cultures at Queen's University, Ontario in Canada, and Peter Hotez, professor of paediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine in the US.

In our second story, we speak to Adrian Camilleri about his research asking people about the big decisions they've taken in their lives. He tells us that the process of making a big decision can have an impact on how you think about it later in your life.

And Finlay Macdonald, senior editor at The Conversation in New Zealand, gives us his recommended reads for the week.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. A transcript of the episode is available here.

Further reading

• The scene from Cuba: How it’s getting so much right on COVID-19, by Jennifer Ruth Hosek, Queen's University, Ontario

As India’s COVID-19 crisis continues, we look at what’s holding back the country's vaccination rollout and how a shift in distribution and pricing strategy is causing concern. And we speak to a researcher who went hunting for fungi in the world's largest seed bank. Listen to episode 15 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.

The Conversation is a non-profit organisation. If you're able to support what we do, please consider donating here. Thank you.

India's catastrophic COVID-19 crisis shows little sign of improving. By early May, just over 2% of India's population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In this episode, we look at why it's currently so hard to get a vaccine in India and speak to three experts about the situation. Rajib Dasgupta, professor and chairperson at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, tells us that the decision to open up vaccine eligibility to all adults from May 1 had been held back by a shortage of supply. R Ramakumar, professor of economics at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, raises concerns about a shift in pricing and distribution that happened at the same time. And Gagandeep Kang, professor of microbiology at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, explains what we know so far about the vaccines and the variants currently circulating in the country.

In our second story, Rowena Hill, a PhD candidate at Kew Gardens and Queen Mary University of London, explains how she found a hidden world of microscopic fungi living inside the seeds of the world's largest seed bank.

And Carissa Lee, Indigenous and public policy editor at The Conversation in Australia gives some recommended reading on a recent series marking 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Special thanks for this episode go to Namita Kohli in New Delhi. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. And a transcript is available...

In this episode, we look at why millions of Americans are struggling to feed themselves. We explore some of the reasons behind racial disparities in U.S. food insecurity, and hear from experts with their suggested solutions. And the discovery of the bones of a small child, carefully buried in Kenya 78,000 years ago, provide a peek into the minds of ancient humans. Listen to episode 16 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Before the pandemic hit, official food insecurity rates in the U.S. were at an all time low. But there was a big racial divide. In 2019, the official food insecurity rate for Black people was 19% – more than twice as high as it was for white people at just under 8%. It was just under 16% for Hispanic people. To find out why, and what’s been going on during the pandemic, we’ve talked to three experts who study food insecurity and food justice. Caitlin Caspi, associate professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut, explains what happened at a local level during the pandemic, and the role food pantries play in helping people put food on the table. Craig Gundersen, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, talks us through what has happened to food insecurity rates, and where the racial disparities are. And Julian Agyeman, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University, explains what the legacy of racist urban planning policies has meant for access to food in American cities.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Special thanks for this episode go to Matt Williams in New York. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here. A transcript is available here.

In our second story, we talk to Maria Martinón-Torres, director of the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana in Spain, about a landmark archaeological find in a cave in south-eastern Kenya that turned out to be the oldest burial ever discovered in Africa.

And Jonathan Este, international affairs editor at The Conversation in the UK, recommends some recent analysis by experts about the conflict in...

New scientific guidelines have been released this week on embryo research and the use of stem cells. We talk to experts about what’s changed – including a recommendation to relax the 14-day time limit for human embryo research. And we hear about a wave of romantic comedy films emerging from South Africa that are re-imagining the city of Johannesburg. Welcome to episode 17 of The Conversation Weekly.

It's been five years since the last set of guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) were published. Since then, scientists have made significant developments in stem cell and embryo research. Now, new ISSCR guidelines have just been published. In this episode, we look at what's changing in this field of research, and what the new guidelines say. One of the most significant shifts concerns what's called the 14-day rule, a time limit for how long human embryos can be grown in the lab. While these aren't law, they guide the regulations about this kind of research in countries around the world.

We hear from Megan Munsie, deputy director for the Centre for Stem Cell Systems at the University of Melbourne and one of the scientists who sat on the panel that reviewed the guidelines about what's changed. Jun Wu, assistant professor in molecular biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, explains his new research on human embryo models and why it provides an alternative to using human embryos. And César Palacios-González, senior research fellow in practical ethics at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, talks through some of the questions philosophers consider about the ethics of human embryo research.

In our second story (at 25m20), we head to South Africa, where a wave of romantic comedies have hit the big screen in recent years. Many of them are based in Johannesburg. Pier Paolo Frassinelli, professor of communication and media studies at the University of Johannesburg, talks to us about his research into these films and how they are reimagining the city.

And Wale Fatade, commissioning editor at The Conversation in Lagos, Nigeria, gives us his recommended reading. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Special thanks for this episode go to Matt Williams in New York. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here.

Further reading:

In this episode, who is making money from our oceans and is it sustainable? And why Brazilian women who lived through Zika are avoiding getting pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to episode 18 of The Conversation Weekly. 

From deep-sea mining, to fishing, to oil and gas exploration, the ocean economy is booming. A key question is what the economic exploitation of our oceans is doing to the ocean environment. It's important to balance economic growth both with preservation of ocean habitats and the livelihoods of the people who’ve depended on the ocean for generations. 

In this episode, we speak to three experts about the scale of the problem, and what's being done to make the exploitation of the oceans more sustainable. Jean-Baptise Jouffray, post-doctoral researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University, explains the size of the ocean economy and how it’d dominated by 100 large corporations. Anna Metaxas, professor of oceanography at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, tells us what mining of the deep sea floor for precious metals could do the environment. And Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, lecturer in sustainable development at St Andrew's University in Scotland, explains how the pressure on marine resources in West Africa is pushing fishing communities to criminality to survive. 

In our second story, we're heading to Brazil, which remains a global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic -- just a few years after another devastating epidemic, Zika. Catesby Holmes speaks to Letícia Marteleto, professor of sociology at the The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts, about her new research into how Zika and COVID-19 have had a double effect on women’s attitudes about getting pregnant.

And Françoise Marmouyet, editorial coordinator for The Conversation in Paris, tells us about a new podcast series about the state of democracy in France, the US and China.

On World Ocean’s Day, June 8, The Conversation will be holding a webinar about the next ocean decade. Find out more here. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here.

Further reading:

You can read more stories from our Oceans 21 series here, examining the history and future of the world’s oceans.

Iranians are about to get the chance to vote for a new president on June 18. Hassan Rouhani, president since 2013, is stepping down after serving two terms in office. The frontrunner to succeed him is Ebrahim Raisi, an ultra-conservative and head of the judiciary. Getting information about how Iranians view their society and its political leaders is notoriously difficult. In this episode we speak to two academics in The Netherlands who take a different approach – anonymous online surveys. And they’re getting tens of thousands of people to participate.

Ammar Maleki, assistant professor in public law and governance at Tilburg University, and Pooyan Tamimi Arab, assistant professor of religious studies at Utrecht University recently carried out a new survey about voting intentions via the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran, a non-profit, independent research organisation. They found there's been a dramatic decline in those who intend to vote – and we talk to them about why, and what message this will send to the rulers of the Islamic Republic.

Our second story provides advice on how to ensure future generations continue to enjoy one of nature’s greatest wonders: fireflies. We talk to Avalon Owens, a PhD candidate in biology at Tufts University, about her new research into why fireflies need the dark in their search for love.

And Haley Lewis, culture and society editor at The Conversation in Ottawa, gives us some recommended reading about the 215 First Nations children found in a mass unmarked grave in British Columbia, Canada. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

If you'd like to sign up for The Conversation's free daily newsletter, please subscribe here. To get in touch, find us on Twitter @TC_Audio or on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. Or you can email us on podcast@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode can be found here.

Further reading:

• Why Iranians won’t vote: new survey reveals massive political disenchantment, by Pooyan Tamimi Arab, Utrecht University and Ammar Maleki, Tilburg University
• Iran’s secular shift: new survey reveals huge changes in religious beliefs, by Pooyan Tamimi Arab, Utrecht University and Ammar Maleki, Tilburg University
• Why the West must challenge Iran on human rights, by Kyle Matthews, Concordia University
• Iran’s leaders signal interest in new nuclear deal, but U.S. must...

Jair Bolsonaro is openly nostalgic for the era of Brazil’s military dictatorship, which ended in 1985. Since the former army captain was elected president in 2018, he’s packed his government full of military men and maintained a close relationship with the armed forces. But in recent months it’s not always been straightforward. With Brazil heading towards presidential elections in 2022, and Bolsonaro slumping in the polls, some of those military officers who’ve tasted political power may be assessing their options. 

We speak to two experts about the history of relations between politics and the military in Brazil – and what’s at stake. Maud Chirio is a lecturer in history at Université Gustave Eiffel in Paris, is a specialist in Brazil's military dictatorship. And Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho is director of King’s Brazil Institute at King's College London and former member of the army, who studies civilian-military relations. 

And in our second story (24m20s), we travel back to 12th century Islamic Iberia with the help of zooarchaeologist Marcos García García, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of York in the UK. By sifting through ancient household waste at an archaeological dig outside Córdoba in Spain, he’s revealing clues about the people left out of history.

And Nick Lehr, arts and culture editor at The Conversation in the US, tells us about a new series of articles on transgender young people (34m15s). To go alongside it, The Conversation has put together an email newsletter course to help shed light on the issues that transgender young people and their families face. Anyone of any age, gender or sexuality that is interested in learning about the latest research on transgender youth can sign up here to receive the mini-course in the form of four emails over about a week.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Mau Loseto. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter @TC_Audio, on Instagram at theconversationdotcom. or via email on podcast@theconversation.com. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this article available here.

Further reading

• Brazil’s economic crisis, prolonged by COVID-19, poses an enormous challenge to the Amazon, by Peter Richards, George Washington University
• Le Brésil, une démocratie militarisée, by Maud Chirio, Université Gustave Eiffel
• Populism in Brazil: how liberalisation and austerity led to the rise of Lula and Bolsonaro, by Patricia Justino,...

When catastrophes like a pandemic strike, how do we make sure societies learn – and implement – lessons from disaster? We talk to three researchers coming at this question in different ways.

First, a story from northern Australia about how Indigenous knowledge that can help to prevent natural disasters has been with us for thousands of years. We speak to Kamaljit Sangha, senior ecological economist at the Darwin Centre for Bushfire Research at Charles Darwin University in northern Australia.

Second, what happens when a country with a long history of preparing for disasters, faces something it didn't predict. With Elizabeth Maly, associate professor of international research at the Institute of Disaster Science at Japan's Tohoku University.

And third, use the recovery from a disaster like the pandemic as a catalyst for change. We speak to Ian Goldin, professor of globalisation and development at the University of Oxford in the UK.

And Julius Maina, East Africa editor at The Conversation in Nairobi, recommends some analysis of this week's crucial election in Ethiopia.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter @TC_Audio, on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via email on podcast@theconversation.com. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this article available here.

The stories in this episode are tied to two series on The Conversation. Resilient recovery looks at how to recover from the pandemic in a way that makes societies more resilient and able to deal with future challenges. It’s supported by a grant from PreventionWeb, a platform from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. And a second series called Disaster and Resilience focused on the nexus between disaster, disadvantage and resilience, supported by a grant form the Paul Ramsay foundation. 

Further reading:

• Indigenous expertise is reducing bushfires in northern Australia. It’s time to consider similar approaches for other disasters, by Kamaljit K Sangha, Charles Darwin University; Andrew Edwards, Charles Darwin University, and Willie Rioli Sr, Indigenous Knowledge

After the US government released its long-awaited report on unidentified aerial phenomena, we explore the cultural history and scientific taboo around UFOs. And three months after rebels killed the president of Chad in central Africa, we talk to experts about the balance of power there. Welcome to The Conversation Weekly.

In the end, when it finally dropped on June 25, the US government's report on unidentified aerial phenomena didn’t mention the word extraterrestrial once. And nobody had expected it to. We talk to Chris Impey, university distinguished professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, about what it did actually say and why doing serious research into UFOs has been such a taboo for scientists. And Greg Eghigian, professor of history at Penn State University, gives us a cultural history of UFOs and how what started as an American obsession spread around the world.

And in our second story, we head to Chad in central Africa where the country's long-serving president, Idriss Déby was killed suddenly by rebels in April. Line Engbo Gissel, associate professor of global political sociology at Roskilde University in Denmark and Troels Burchall Henningsen, assistant professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, talk us about Chad's 'gatekeeper politics' and why its legacy will live on beyond Déby.

And Naomi Joseph, arts and culture editor at The Conversation in London, gives us some recommended reading. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter @TC_Audio, on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via email on podcast@theconversation.com. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this article available here.

Further reading

Pentagon UFO report: No aliens, but government transparency and desire for better data might bring science to the UFO world, by Chris Impey, University of Arizona

The truth is still out there: why the current UFO craze may be a problem of intelligence failings, by Kyle Cunliffe, University of Salford

Why is it so difficult to prosecute militaries for alleged war crimes? In this episode of The Conversation Weekly, we speak to experts about the legal hurdles.

By hanging around military bases in the US and Israel, Craig Jones managed to meet a usually very secretive group of people: military lawyers. Jones, a lecturer in political geography at Newcastle University in the UK, explains what he learnt from these conversations – including the way different militaries interpret international law to suit their own purposes. And why victims and their families have such little recourse to justice.

And Amy Maguire, associate professor at the University of Newcastle Law School in Australia, tells us the history of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and how its investigations into alleged war crimes work. She explains the context of a newly opened ICC investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories.

In our second story we look at why sarcasm is so difficult for children to understand. Penny Pexman, professor of psychology at the University of Calgary in Canada, talks about her new research aimed at making it easier for them to learn.

And Megan Clement, a commissioning editor at The Conversation in Paris, gives us some of her recommended reading. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter @TC_Audio, on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via email on podcast@theconversation.com. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this article available here.

Further reading

• ‘Almost divine power’: the lawyers who sign off who lives and who dies in modern war zones, by Craig Jones, Newcastle University
• Why is accountability for alleged war crimes so hard to achieve in the Israel-Palestinian conflict?, by Amy Maguire, University of Newcastle
• Can the world stop Israel and Hamas from committing war crimes? 7 questions answered about international law, by Asaf Lubin, Indiana University

How do you mimic meat? We take a look at the science behind plant-based and cultured meat in this episode, where it might lead and how ready people are to eat meat grown in a lab.

Mariana Lamas, a research associate at the Centre for Culinary Innovation at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, Canada, talks us through some of the key elements that make a plant-based meat mimic successful. Andrew Stout, PhD candidate in biomedical engineering at Tufts University in Massachusetts, US, explains how he grows meat in a petri dish, and where he sees the future of the field. And Matti Wilks, postdoctoral research associate in psychology at Yale University in Connecticut, tells us what she's found by asking people about their readiness to eat cultured meat.

In our second story (25m30), we hear about new research on cigarette advertising and how it lures in children in Indonesia – ranked in the top 10 countries in the world for the number of adults who smoke. Nurjanah, senior lecturer in health promotion at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro in Semarang City, explains what she and her colleagues found when they mapped the proximity of cigarette advertising to schools.

And Hannah Hoag, deputy editor at The Conversation in Canada, gives us some of her recommended environment stories to dip into this week (34m40).

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter @TC_Audio, on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via email on podcast@theconversation.com. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• How scientists make plant-based foods taste and look more like meat, by Mariana Lamas, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
• No animal required, but would people eat artificial meat?, by Clive Phillips, The University of Queensland and Matti Wilks, The University of Queensland (now Yale)
• Plant-based burgers: should some be considered ‘junk food’?, by Richard Hoffman, University of Hertfordshire
• Lab-grown meat could leave marginalized people in need, by Sarah...

Are there limits to how much faster, higher or stronger humans can get? We talk to researchers in biomechanics, sports technology and psychology, to find out.

Featuring Nicole Forrester, a former Canadian Olympic high jumper and now assistant professor in the school of media at Ryerson University in Toronto, Anthony Blazevich, professor of biomechanics at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia, and Jonathan Taylor, lecturer in sport and exercise at Teesside University in the UK.

In our second story, we hear the story of the troubled 1920 Antwerp Olympics, held in the wake of the first world war and the Spanish flu pandemic from Keith Rathbone, senior lecturer in modern European history and sports history at Macquarie University in Sydney.

And Thabo Leshilo, politics editor at The Conversation in Johannesburg, recommends some analysis on the recent unrest in South Africa following the imprisonment of former president, Jacob Zuma.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further Reading

• Super shoes: Explaining athletics’ new technological arms race, by Jonathan Taylor, Teesside University
• How the COVID-19 delay of the Tokyo Olympics helped some athletes break records, by Jane Thornton, Western University
• The secret formula for becoming an elite athlete, by Nicole W. Forrester, Ryerson University
• Sardines for breakfast, hypothermia rescues: the story of the cash-strapped, post-pandemic 1920 Olympics, by Keith Rathbone, Macquarie University
• Unrest is being used to subvert South Africa’s democracy: giving in is not an option, by Mcebisi Ndletyana, University of Johannesburg
• Why have South Africans been on a looting rampage? Research offers insights, by Guy Lamb, Stellenbosch University

How close is a four-day working week? Over the last few years, companies and governments in a number of countries have begun to experiment with the idea of a four-day work week – and some of the results are in. We talk to experts about these recent trials, explore how they fit into the long history of ever-shrinking work hours, and wonder what this all might mean for the future of work. 

Featuring Anthony Veal, adjunct professor a the Business School, University of Technology Sydney, Jana Javornik, associate professor of work and employment relations at Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds and José-Ignacio Antón associate professor at the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Salamanca in Spain.

In our second story, historian Melissa Wanjiru-Mwita from the Technical University of Kenya explains her research on the history and politics of how informal settlements in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, got their names.

And Catesby Holmes, international editor at The Conversation in New York, recommends two recent stories about immigration in the US.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• The success of Iceland’s ‘four-day week’ trial has been greatly overstated, by Anthony Veal, University of Technology Sydney
• Four-day week: how workplaces can successfully establish it, by Rita Fontinha, University of Reading and James Walker, University of Reading
• Post-pandemic return to work is a perfect opportunity to move to a four-day week, by David Spencer, University of Leeds
• Are we ready to work from only Monday to Thursday?, by José-Ignacio Antón, University of Salamanca (in Spanish)
• Is it becoming easier to be a working mother?, by Jana Javornik, University of Leeds
• The fascinating history of how residents named their informal...

The Conversation Weekly podcast is taking a short break in August. For the next few weeks we'll be bringing you extended versions of some our favourite interviews from the past few months.

This week, the story of researchers who invented an ingenious new conservation technique to protect endangered birds. Catherine Price, postdoctoral researcher in conservation biology at the University of Sydney, is part of a team of researchers who’ve found a better way. They use misinformation – in the form of fake smells – to fool predators into leaving bird nests alone.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly features an extended version of an interview first published on April 9. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• Scientists used ‘fake news’ to stop predators killing endangered birds — and the result was remarkable, by Peter Banks, University of Sydney and Catherine Price, University of Sydney
• South Korea is bringing back bears in a country of 52 million people – I went to find out how, by Joshua Powell, UCL
• ‘Bat boxes’ could help revive Canada’s depleting bat population, by Karen Vanderwolf, Trent University

The Conversation Weekly podcast is taking a short break in August. For the next few weeks we'll be bringing you extended versions of a few of our favourite interviews from the past few months.

This week, we speak to Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, lecturer in the department of social sciences at the Technical University of Mombasa, who interviewed Kenyan women about why they joined the militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab. She explains how she gained the trust of these women and their families, and what her findings mean for their rehabilitation.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly features an extended version of an interview first published on April 22. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• Why we did it: the Kenyan women and girls who joined Al-Shabaab, by Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, Technical University of Mombasa
• Why Somali clan elders could hold the key to opening dialogue with Al-Shabaab, by Mohammed Ibrahim Shire, University of Portsmouth
• Somalia’s toxic political and security order: the death knell of democracy, by Abdi Ismail Samatar, University of Pretoria

The Conversation Weekly podcast is taking a short break in August. In the meantime, we're bringing you extended versions of some of our favourite interviews from the past few months.

This week, how researchers discovered a biological switch that could turn on and off neuroplasticity in the brain – the ability of neurons to change their structure. We speak to Sarah Ackerman, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Oregon, about what she and her team have found and why it matters.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly features an extended version of an interview first published on April 29. The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• 
  
• Astrocyte cells in the fruit fly brain are an on-off switch that controls when neurons can change and grow, by Sarah DeGenova Ackerman, University of Oregon
• Swimming gives your brain a boost – but scientists don’t know yet why it’s better than other aerobic activities, by Seena Mathew, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
• What is brain plasticity and why is it so important?, by Duncan Banks, The Open University

Twenty years after they were ousted from Kabul, the Taliban are now back in control of most of Afghanistan. In this episode, two Afghan experts trace the origins of the Taliban back to the late 1970s, and explain what's happened to the group over the past two decades.

Featuring Ali A Olomi, assistant professor of history at Penn State Abington in the US and Niamatullah Ibrahimi, lecturer in international relations at La Trobe University in Australia.

And Lee-Anne Goodman, politics editor at The Conversation in Toronto, commends some further reading on what the Taliban takeover means for Afghans. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• The Taliban wants the world’s trust. To achieve this, it will need to make some difficult choices, by Niamatullah Ibrahimi, La Trobe University and Safiullah Taye, Deakin University
• The world must not look away as the Taliban sexually enslaves women and girls, by Vrinda Narain, McGill University
• Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley: the last stronghold of resistance to Taliban rule, by Kaweh Kerami, SOAS, University of London
• The Taliban may have access to the biometric data of civilians who helped the U.S. military, by Lucia Nalbandian, Ryerson University
• Taliban’s religious ideology – Deobandi Islam – has roots in colonial India, by Sohel Rana, Indiana University and Sumit Ganguly, Indiana University

As many children head back to school, in this episode we look at what really works to help stop COVID-19 transmission in the classroom. And for those countries where masks remain mandatory in schools, we hear some tips for teachers and students on how to communicate.

Featuring, Brandon Guthrie, an associate professor of global health an epidemiology at the University of Washington in the US and Laura Abou Haidar, a professor of linguistics at the Université Grenoble Alpes in France.

In our second story, we dig into the science behind daydreaming. Thomas Andrillon, research fellow at the Paris Brain Institute in France and an adjunct research fellow at Monash University in Australia, explains his new research on what's happening in our brains when our mind wanders.

And Heather Kroeker, a health editor at The Conversation in London, recommends some recent health stories. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• Schools can reopen safely – an epidemiologist describes what works and what’s not worth the effort, by Brandon Guthrie, University of Washington
• COVID-19 back to school Q&A: Is it safe for unvaccinated children to go to school in person? Is the harm of school closures greater than the risk of the virus? by Joanna-Trees Merckx and Jay Kaufman, McGill University; Catherine Haeck, Université du Québec à Montréal; Dimitri Van der Linden, Université Catholique de Louvain
• Teaching with a masked face: a challenge? by Laura Abou Haidar, Université Grenoble Alpes (in French)
• What is daydreaming? Parts of the brain show sleep-like activity when your mind wanders, by Thomas Andrillon, Inserm; Jennifer Windt, Monash University, and Naotsugu Tsuchiya, Monash University
• Feeling tired? Here’s how the brain’s ‘hourglass’ controls your need for sleep – new research , by Lukas B. Krone, Vladyslav Vyazovskiy and Zoltán Molnár, University of Oxford

From earthquakes, to hurricanes, disease and drug violence, the Caribbean island of Haiti has faced a decade of cascading crises. In this week’s episode of The Conversation Weekly we talk to experts about what Haiti’s history tells us about its political fragility, and what that means for the country’s ability to recover from disasters.

Featuring disaster management expert Louise Comfort, professor of public and international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and Haitian American historian Jean Eddy Saint Paul, professor of sociology at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

In our second story (at 27m40s), we talk to historian Susan Kamei, lecturer in history at the University of Southern California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences about her new research chronicling the experiences of Japanese Americans interned by the US government during the second world war. 

And Kalpana Jain, senior religion and ethics editor at The Conversation in the US, recommends some reading from our coverage marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks (at 41m).

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• Assassinations and invasions – how the US and France shaped Haiti’s long history of political turmoil, by Jean Eddy Saint Paul, Brooklyn College
• Will recent political instability affect Haiti’s earthquake response? We ask an expert, by Louise K. Comfort, University of Pittsburgh
• Earthquake expert who advised the Haiti government in 2010: ‘Why were clear early warning signs missed?’, by Luigi Di Sarno, University of Liverpool
• Haiti: what aid workers can learn from the previous earthquake as they struggle to rebuild the country, by David Alexander, UCL
• The crisis in Haiti reflects the failure of the...

Ahead of Canadian elections on September 20, two experts in Canadian politics profile the current prime minister, Justin Trudeau. They explore why he's so much more popular abroad than at home and assess what his real foreign policy record has been beyond being a celebrity.

Featuring Alex Marland, professor of political science at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Jeremy Wildeman, Research Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Queen's University, Ontario.

In our second story (at 28m55), we hear about research providing new clues on why mosquitoes bite some people more than others. Madelien Wooding, a researcher at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pretoria, explains how her team pinpointed some of the chemical compounds that make our skin more attractive to mosquitoes.

We also hear (25m50) from Clea Chakraverty, politics editor at The Conversation in France about their new podcast series on what it takes to be president of France, Moi président·e, and Moina Spooner, assistant editor at The Conversation in Nairobi, recommends some reading on two concerning recent events in Guinea (39m38).

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• From sunny ways to pelted with stones: Why do some Canadians hate Justin Trudeau?, by Fenwick McKelvey, Concordia University and Scott DeJong, Concordia University
• Rhetoric Check: Historically, how important is the 2021 Canadian election?, by Alex Marland, Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Canada’s non-diplomacy puts Canadians at risk in an unstable Middle East, by Jeremy Wildeman, University of Bath
• We’re a step closer to figuring out why mosquitoes bite some people and not others, by Madelien Wooding, University of Pretoria and Yvette Naudé, University of Pretoria
• Pasha 121: Why we need mosquitoes, featuring Jeremy Herren, Scientist, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology

For decades, scientists have warned that unchecked global warming could bring climate extremes such as severe droughts, flash floods and rising sea levels. We talk to three climate change experts on how predictions of a changing world are holding up against the reality we’re living through. 

Featuring Christopher White, head of the Centre for Water, Environment, Sustainability and Public Health at the University of Strathclyde in the UK, Victor Ongoma Assistant Professor, at Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique in Morocco, and Kewei Lyu a postdoctoral researcher in ocean and climate at CSIRO in Australia.

And Justin Bergman, deputy politics editor at The Conversation in Melbourne, Australia, recommends some recent analysis of the fallout from the recent AUKUS defence pact.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• How summer 2021 has changed our understanding of extreme weather, by Christopher J White, University of Strathclyde 
• Insights for African countries from the latest climate change projections, by Victor Ongoma, Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique
• Pinpointing the role of climate change in every storm is impossible – and a luxury most countries can’t afford, by Friederike Otto, University of Oxford and Luke Harrington, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
• IPCC says Earth will reach temperature rise of about 1.5℃ in around a decade. But limiting any global warming is what matters most, by Michael Grose and Pep Canadell at CSIRO; and Malte Meinshausen and Zebedee Nicholls, The University of Melbourne
• C'est fini: can the Australia-France relationship be salvaged after scrapping the sub deal?, by Romain Fathi, Flinders University and Claire Rioult, Monash University
• After AUKUS, Russia sees a potential threat — and an opportunity to market its own submarines, by Alexey D Muraviev, Curtin...

After Germany’s recent election, coalition talks are now underway to determine the composition of the next government and who will succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor. We speak to three experts about what the results tell us about German voters’ priorities – and dig into the history of the Greens, now one of the kingmakers in coalition negotiations.

Featuring Jasmin Riedl, professor of political science at Bundeswehr University Munich in Germany, Niko Switek, visiting professor for German studies at University of Washington in the US and Chantal Sullivan-Thomsett, PhD candidate in German and politics at the University of Leeds in the UK.

In our second story, we talk to Charles James Steward, PhD candidate at the Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences at Coventry University in the UK, on his research looking at the health benefits of saunas and hot baths, particularly after exercise. 

Plus, Lucía Caballero, environment and energy editor at The Conversation in Madrid gives us some of her recommended reading. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• German election explained: why is it always so hard to form a government?, by Alim Baluch, University of Bath
• Germany election: Olaf Scholz’s social democrats come out on top but smaller parties hold the key to government, by Ed Turner, Aston University
• German election sees centre-left eke out a slim victory over Angela Merkel’s party, by James M. Skidmore, University of Waterloo
• Can’t face running? Have a hot bath or a sauna – research shows they offer some similar benefits, by Charles James Steward, Coventry University
• Why we continue to live near volcanoes despite the risk, by María Belén Benito Oterino , Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) (in Spanish)

What’s happening in our brains to create consciousness? In this episode we hear from two scientists uncovering clues to where dopamine fits into this mystery. It could help the recovery of people with severe brain injuries. 

Featuring Emmanual Stamatakis, who leads the cognition and consciousness imaging group at the Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge in the UK and Leandro Sanz, a medical doctor and PhD candidate in medical sciences at the Coma Science Group at the University of Liège in Belgium.

Plus, the story of how artificial intelligence – and its human helpers – completed Beethoven’s unfinished 10th symphony. Ahmed Elgammal, a professor of computer science and director of the Art and AI lab at Rutgers University in New Jersey, who led the artificial intelligence side of the project, tells us how they did it. 

And Holly Squire, arts and culture editor at The Conversation in Brighton gives us some of her recommended reading from this week. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Consciousness: how the brain chemical ‘dopamine’ plays a key role – new research, by Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Christelle Langley, Emmanuel A Stamatakis and Lennart Spindler, at the University of Cambridge
• Science as we know it can’t explain consciousness – but a revolution is coming, by Philip Goff, Durham University
• How a team of musicologists and computer scientists completed Beethoven’s unfinished 10th Symphony, by Ahmed Elgammal, Rutgers University
• Remembering the Black abolitionists of slavery in Yorkshire, by Emily Zobel Marshall, Leeds Beckett University
• How Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors became an LGBTQ+ anthem, by James Barker, Newcastle University

Six prize announcements later, 12 men and one woman from 11 countries are now settling down to their new lives as Nobel laureates. In this episode, we delve into the scientific discoveries around touch and organic catalysts awarded the 2021 prizes in medicine and chemistry. And we talk to a friend and collaborator of Abdulrazak Gurnah, the Tanzanian writer awarded the Nobel prize for literature.

Featuring Kate Poole, associate professor in physiology, at the University of New South Wales in Australia, David Nagib, associate professor of chemistry at the Ohio State University and Susheila Nasta, emeritus professor of modern and contemporary literatures at Queen Mary University of London.

Plus, Ina Skosana, health editor at The Conversation in Johannesburg, recommends some recent analysis on a huge breakthrough for the African continent: the approval of a malaria vaccine. (At 41m30)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• My PhD supervisor just won the Nobel prize in physics – here’s how his research on complex systems changed science, by Paolo Barucca, UCL
• Nobel Peace Prize for journalists serves as reminder that freedom of the press is under threat from strongmen and social media, by Kathy Kiely, University of Missouri-Columbia
• Nobel winner David Card proves immigrants don’t reduce the wages of native-born workers, by Arvind Magesan, University of Calgary
• Breakthrough malaria vaccine offers to reinvigorate the fight against the disease, by Eunice Anyango Owino, University of Nairobi
• Malaria vaccine is a major leap forward: but innovation mustn’t stop here, by Jaishree Raman and Shüné Oliver, National Institute for Communicable Diseases

As military tensions run high once again across the Taiwan Strait, we talk to two experts about China’s longer-term reunification strategy – and what that means for Taiwan. Featuring Wen-Ti Sung, sessional lecturer in Taiwan Studies at the Australian National University and Olivia Cheung, research fellow at the SOAS China Institute at SOAS University of London. 

Plus, we’re joined by Vinita Srivastava, host of the Don’t Call Me Resilient podcast from The Conversation in Canada. We feature part of their recent episode on the phenomenon of white – or mostly white people – in North America who pretend to be Indigenous. The conversation features two Indigenous scholars: Veldon Coburn, assistant professor in the Institute of Indigenous Research and Studies at the University of Ottawa and Celeste Pedri-Spade an associate professor in Indigenous Studies at Queen’s University. Listen to the full episode here. 

And Luthfi Dzulfikar, education and young people’s editor at The Conversation in Jakarta, gives us some recommended reads from Indonesia.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl and music in the Don't Call Me Resilient section is by Jahmal Padmore. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Why Taiwan remains calm in the face of unprecedented military pressure from China, by Wen-Ti Sung, Australian National University
• Taiwan: how the ‘porcupine doctrine’ might help deter armed conflict with China, by Zeno Leoni, King's College London
• Stolen identities: What does it mean to be Indigenous? Don’t Call Me Resilient Podcast EP 8
• Fostering girls’ education will be challenging under a Taliban regime, but Afghanistan can learn a lot from Indonesia, by M Niaz Asadullah, University of Malaya
• Indonesia’s shrimp paste reigns supreme among others used in Asian cuisine, has potential, but needs a solid export strategy by Widya Agustinah, Universitas Katolik Atma Jaya (In Bahasa Indonesia)

Some economists have long argued that to really save the planet – and ourselves – from the climate crisis, we need a fundamental overhaul of the way our economies work. In this episode, we explore the ideas of the degrowth movement and their calls for a contraction in the world’s consumption of energy and resources. We also compare degrowth to other post-growth proposals for governments to reduce their fixation on economic growth.

Featuring Samuel Alexander, research fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne in Australia, Lorenzo Fioramonti, full professor of political economy at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and also a serving Italian MP, and Beth Stratford PhD candidate at the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds in the UK.

And Veronika Meduna, science, health and environment editor at The Conversation in Wellington, gives us some recommended reading about the coronavirus situation in New Zealand. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Beyond GDP: here’s a better way to measure people’s prosperity, by Henrietta Moore,UCL
• Time for degrowth: to save the planet, we must shrink the economy, by Jason Hickel, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Rediscover the ideas of Jacques Ellul, pioneer of décroissance, by Patrick Chastenet, Université de Bordeaux (in French)
• ‘If you want summer, get vaccinated’ – Jacinda Ardern sets the target for re-opening New Zealand, by Michael Plank, University of Canterbury and Shaun Hendy, University of Auckland
• New Zealand cannot abandon its COVID elimination strategy while Māori and Pasifika vaccination rates are too low, by Collin Tukuitonga, University of Auckland

A year since war broke out in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, conflict in the country is intensifying. In this episode, we talk to two experts about the worsening humanitarian situation in Tigray and the international community’s response to the conflict.

Featuring Emnet Negash, a PhD candidate at Ghent University in Belgium who is tracking the food situation in Tigray, and Mukesh Kapila, professor emeritus of global health and humanitarian affairs at the University of Manchester in England and a former UN official.

In our second story, we hear from Alejandro Gallego Schmid, senior lecturer in circular economy and life cycle sustainability assessment at the University of Manchester, about his findings that reusable food containers aren’t always better for the environment than disposable ones. (Listen at 32m25)

And Nicole Hasham, environment and energy editor at The Conversation in Australia, recommends some analysis tied to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. (Listen at 43m30)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Decades of progress gone in one year: Tigray’s healthcare system has been destroyed, by Berhe W Sahle, Deakin University and Mulu A Woldegiorgis, Swinburne University of Technology
• Following the Tigray conflict, the rocky road to peace in Ethiopia, by Mukesh Kapila, University of Manchester
• Reusable containers aren’t always better for the environment than disposable ones - new research, by Alejandro Gallego Schmid and Adisa Azapagic, University of Manchester and Joan Manuel F. Mendoza, Ikerbasque Foundatio
• Scott Morrison attends pivotal global climate talks today, bringing a weak plan that leaves Australia exposed, by Frank Jotzo, Australian National University
• Global emissions almost back to pre-pandemic levels after unprecedented drop in 2020, new analysis shows, by Pep Canadell, CSIRO and colleagues

We speak to a climate scientist who just updated a clock he created that counts down the seconds until the world reaches 1.5°C of global warming. And we hear from experts about the latest research evidence on climate anxiety – what it is, how common it is around the world and what to do about it.

Featuring Damon Matthews, professor and Concordia University research chair in climate science and sustainability at Concordia University in Canada, Caroline Hickman, lecturer in the department of social and policy sciences at the University of Bath in England, Charles Ogunbode, assistant professor in applied psychology at the University of Nottingham in England and Teaghan Hogg, PhD candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Canberra in Australia.

And Fabrice Rousselot, editor at The Conversation in Paris, gives us some recommended reading from the team in France.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Climate clock reset shows the world is one year closer to 1.5 C warming threshold, by H. Damon Matthews, Concordia University and Glen Peters, Center for International Climate and Environment Research - Oslo
• Feel alone in your eco-anxiety? Don’t – it’s remarkably common to feel dread about environmental decline, by Teaghan Hogg and Léan O'Brien, University of Canberra and Samantha Stanley, Australian National University
• ‘The notion of death is very present’: what we can learn about eco-anxiety from memes, by Leila Elgaaied-Gambier, TBS Business School and Timo Mandler, TBS Business School 
• Why does Eric Zemmour embarrass the right so much? by Emilien Houard-Vial, PhD candidate in political science, Center for European Studies, Sciences Po (in French)
• Vaccination of children against Covid-19: the unprecedented ethical issues, by Emmanuel Hirsch, Professor of medical ethics, Paris-Saclay University (in French)

What did the Glasgow COP26 climate change summit actually achieve? In this episode, we're joined by Jack Marley, energy and environment editor for The Conversation in the UK, as we speak to researchers from around the world to get their views on the negotiations and what needs to happen now. 

Featuring Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate and Development at the Independent University Bangladesh; Richard Beardsworth, professor of international relations at the University of Leeds in England; Rachel Kyte, dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University in the US; Anna Malos, country lead for Australia at ClimateWorks, part of Monash University in Australia; and Intan Suchi Nurhati, a senior scientist at the National Research and Innovation Agency in Indonesia.

And Stephen Khan, global executive editor for The Conversation, based in London, gives us some recommended reading.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• COP26: experts react to the UN climate summit and Glasgow Pact, various authors
• After COP26, the hard work begins on making climate promises real: 5 things to watch in 2022, by Rachel Kyte, Tufts University
• Glasgow Climate Pact: where do all the words and numbers we heard at COP26 leave us?, by Mary Gagen, Swansea University
• Here’s how some of Cape Town’s gangsters got out – and stayed out, by Dariusz Dziewanski, University of Cape Town
• How to function in an increasingly polarized society, by Fiona MacDonald, University of Northern British Columbia

Justices on the US Supreme Court are considering two challenges to abortion restrictions that could have wide-reaching implications for access to abortion across the country. In this episode, we look at what's at stake, and how else abortion laws are changing around the world.

Featuring Amanda Jean Stevenson, assistant professor of sociology, University of Colorado Boulder; Sydney Calkin, lecturer in political geography, Queen Mary University of London and Jane Marcus Delgado, professor of political science, College of Staten Island, CUNY. 

We talk to a forensic scientist, Patrick Randolph-Quinney, Associate Professor of Forensic Science, Northumbria University, Newcastle in England. He explains how he studied bones to help solve the mystery of how to tell if a person was killed by a lightning strike.

And Wale Fatade, commissioning editor at The Conversation in Lagos, gives us some recommended reading. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• The erosion of Roe v. Wade and abortion access didn’t begin in Texas or Mississippi – it started in Pennsylvania in 1992, by Alison Gash, University of Oregon
• Poland’s abortion ruling amounts to a ban – but it will not end access, by Sydney Calkin, Queen Mary University of London
• Study shows an abortion ban may lead to a 21% increase in pregnancy-related deaths, by Amanda Jean Stevenson, University of Colorado Boulder
• Forensic science is unlocking the mysteries of fatal lightning strikes, by Patrick Randolph-Quinney, Northumbria University, Newcastle; Nicholas Bacci and Tanya Nadine Augustine, University of the Witwatersrand
• African marine rules favour big industry, leaving small-scale fishers in the lurch by Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, University of St Andrews; Edward H. Allison, CGIAR System Organisation 
• My formula for a tasty and nutritious Nigerian soup - with termites by Adedayo Adeboye, Osun State...

After nearly two years of COVID, how is the pharmaceutical industry faring? In this episode, we explore where drug companies were before the arrival of COVID and how they performed financially during the pandemic. And we hear about the ongoing tensions between profits and equitable access to vaccines.

Featuring, Ray Moynihan, assistant professor at the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare at Bond University in Australia; Jérôme Caby, professor of corporate finance at Sorbonne Business School in Paris, France; Ana Santos Rutschman, assistant professor of law at Saint Louis University in the US; and Nicole Hassoun, professor of philosophy at Binghamton University, State University of New York in the US.

And Ozayr Patel, digital editor at The Conversation in Johannesburg, South Africa, recommends some reading on the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• COVID vaccines offer the pharma industry a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset its reputation. But it’s after decades of big profits and scandals, by Ray Moynihan, Bond University
• Why Moderna won’t share rights to the COVID-19 vaccine with the government that paid for its development, by Ana Santos Rutschman, Saint Louis University
• The US drug industry used to oppose patents – what changed? by Joseph M. Gabriel, Florida State University
• The hunt for coronavirus variants: how the new one was found and what we know so far, by a panel of experts in South Africa
• Omicron is the new COVID kid on the block: five steps to avoid, ten to take immediately, by Shabir A. Madhi, University of the Witwatersrand

With a mirror six and half metres in diameter, a sun shield the size of a tennis court and an instrument compartment bigger than a phone booth, the James Webb Space Telescope is enormous. After years of delays, it's now set for launch on December 22. We speak to two astronomers about the telescope and the questions they hope it will answer about the beginning of the universe and the conditions on exoplanets orbiting far-away stars. 

Featuring Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester in the UK and chair of the Space Telescope Science Institute Council; and Marcia Rieke, Regents professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona in the US and principal investigator on the near-infrared camera onboard the James Webb Space Telescope.

In our second story, Edwin Kwong, a research fellow at the University of Melbourne in Australia, explains his recent research into the tactics used by the food industry to boost sales of ultra-processed foods in middle-income countries. 

And Luthfi Dzulfikar, an editor for The Conversation in Jakarta, Indonesia recommends some analysis on the recent volcanic eruption on the island of Java.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• James Webb Space Telescope: An astronomer on the team explains how to send a giant telescope to space – and why
• James Webb Space Telescope: what will happen after its launch? (in French)
• How big companies are targeting middle income countries to boost ultra-processed food sales
• Mount Semeru erupts: the history of its eruption (in Bahasa Indonesia)
• How religion influences Indonesian workers to seek work-life balance

In this episode we bring you three stories from Australia and the UK exploring the role of art in helping people deal with the challenges life throws at them. 

We talk to Cherine Fahd, associate professor at the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney about Being Together: Parramatta Yearbook, a photography project in a suburb of Sydney bringing people back together again as COVID-19 restrictions lift.

Angelina Hurley, PhD candidate at Griffith University in Brisbane tell us how art is used to process the trauma of colonisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia, and about the work of her father, the late artist Ron Hurley. And Kirsty Sedgman, a lecturer in theatre at the University of Bristol in England, explains why the second world war led to the birth of public funding for arts buildings in Britain – and how the Bristol Old Vic theatre became the first recipient.

And Gregory Rayko, international editor for The Conversation in Paris, France give us his recommended reading.

This episode of the The Conversation Weekly is supported by the UK/Australia Season Patrons Board, the British Council and the Australian Government as part of the UK/Australia Season, which centres on the theme Who Are We Now? The season's programme reflects on the two countries’ shared history, explores their current relationship, and imagines their future together.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with reporting by Rhianna Patrick and Olivia Rosenman and sound design by Eloise Stevens. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• ‘Art is our voice’: why the government needs to support Indigenous arts, not just sport, in the pandemic, by Angelina Hurley, Griffith University
• Yearning for touch — a photo essay, by Cherine Fahd, University of Technology Sydney
• Arts rescue package: by all means protect Britain’s ‘jewels’ – but don’t forget the rest of the crown, by Kirsty Sedgman, University of Bristol
• Should we be alarmed by the sound of boots on the Russia-Ukraine border?, by Christine Dugoin-Clément, IAE Paris – Sorbonne Business School (in French)
• France-Algeria: the diplomatic impasse, by Luis Martinez, Sciences Po (in French)

From new mRNA vaccines, to space mission and developments in robotic automation, in this episode we talk to three experts about some of the scientific advances they’re watching out for in 2022.

Featuring Deborah Fuller, professor of microbiology at the School of Medicine at University of Washington in the US and an expert on mRNA and DNA vaccines; Monica Grady, professor of planetary and space sciences at The Open University in the UK; Teresa Vidal-Calleja, associate professor at the Robotics Institute at University of Technology Sydney.

We also speak about what 2022 holds in store for global inequality with economist Carlos Gradín, research fellow at United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research in Helsinki in Finland.

And Naomi Schalit, senior politics and society editor at The Conversation in Boston in the US, recommends some reading to mark the one year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol in Washington D.C. 

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• Material from asteroid Ryugu starts to give up secrets of early Solar System, by Monica Grady, The Open University
• Global inequality may be falling, but the gap between haves and have-nots is growing, by Carlos Gradín, United Nations University & colleagues
• The ‘sore loser effect’: Rejecting election results can destabilize democracy and drive terrorism, by James Piazza, Penn State
• American support for conspiracy theories and armed rebellion isn’t new – we just didn’t believe it before the Capitol insurrection, by Amanda J. Crawford, University of Connecticut

We dive into the world of crypto and digital currencies in this episode to take a close look at two countries approaching them in very different ways. In 2021, El Salvador made the cryptocurrency bitcoin legal tender, while Nigeria launched its own central bank digital currency. Experts talk us through why they've taken such radically different paths.

Featuring Iwa Salami, Reader (Associate Professor) in Law at the University of East London in the UK and Erica Pimentel, Assistant Professor at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University, Ontario in Canada.

And if the latest Matrix film has left you wondering whether we are really living in a simulation, we talk to Benjamin Curtis, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics at the Nottingham Trent University in the UK, on the long history of that idea. (At 30m20)

Plus, Rob Reddick, COVID-19 editor at The Conversation in the UK, picks out some recent coverage of the wave of omicron cases sweeping the world. (At 42m10)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can sign up to The Conversation’s free daily email here. Full credits for this episode available here. And a transcript is available here.

Further reading:

• Nigeria’s digital currency: what the eNaira is for and why it’s not perfect, by Iwa Salami, University of East London
• After a big year for cryptocurrencies, what’s on the horizon in 2022?, by Erica Pimentel, Bertrand Malsch, and Nathaniel Loh, Queen's University, Ontario
• Free Guy’s philosophy: could we just be lines of code in a grand simulation, by Benjamin Curtis, Nottingham Trent University
• What are the symptoms of omicron?, by Tim Spector, King's College London
• Why does omicron appear to cause less severe disease than previous variants?, by Paul Hunter, University of East Anglia

What are the evolutionary origins of sugar cravings? What makes something taste sweet? And what does too much sugar do to the brain? This week we talk to three experts and go on a deep dive into the science of sugar.

Featuring Stephen Wooding, assistant professor of anthropology and heritage studies at the University of California, Merced; Lina Begdache, assistant professor of nutrition at the Binghamton University, State University of New York and Kristine Nolin, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Richmond.

And after the Canadian government agreed in principle to pay CAN$40bn (US$32bn) over discrimination against First Nations children by the country’s child welfare system, we talk to Anne Levesque, assistant professor at the faculty of law at the University of Ottawa in Canada, about the long fight for justice. (From 29m20)

Plus, Veronika Meduna, science and health editor at The Conversation in New Zealand, recommends analysis of the recent Tonga volcano eruption. (From 45m45)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here. A transcript is available here.

Further reading:

• Read more from The Conversation's series on sugar's effects on human health and culture
• Making sugar, making ‘coolies’: Chinese laborers toiled alongside Black workers on 19th-century Louisiana plantations, by Moon-Ho Jung, University of Washington
• As a lawyer who’s helped fight for the rights of First Nations children, here’s what you need to know about the $40B child welfare agreements, by Anne Levesque, University of Ottawa
• Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next, by Shane Cronin, University of Auckland
• The Tonga volcanic eruption has revealed the vulnerabilities in our global telecommunication system, by Dale Dominey-Howes, University of Sydney

When the Beijing Winter Olympics open on February 4, diplomats from a number of countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, will not be there to watch. Their diplomatic boycott hinges on concerns about human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. We talk to three experts about China’s long-term vision for Xinjiang, and what its strategy there means for the region’s persecuted Uyghurs. 

Featuring Darren Byler, assistant professor of international studies at Simon Fraser University in Canada; David Tobin, lecturer in east Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield in the UK; and Anna Hayes, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at James Cook University in Australia.

And what toxic heavy metals are lingering in houses around the world? Cynthia Faye Isley, postdoctoral research fellow in environmental science at Macquarie University in Australia, explains what she's found analysing vacuum cleaner dust from around the world.

Plus, Matt Williams, breaking news editor at The Conversation in New York, recommends his picks of recent analysis on the build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here. A transcript is available here.

Further reading:

• How an independent tribunal came to rule that China is guilty of genocide against the Uyghurs
• Can China win back global opinion before the Winter Olympics? Does it even want to?
• House dust from 35 countries reveals our global toxic contaminant exposure and health risk
• It’s just a ‘panic attack’ – Russian media blames US for escalating Ukraine crisis
• The US military presence in Europe has been declining for 30 years – the current crisis in Ukraine may reverse that trend

What is it like to discover a new COVID-19 variant? We hear the inside story from Jinal Bhiman at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases, one of the scientists who first alerted the world to the omicron variant. And Shabir A Madhi, professor of vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand, explains what lessons South Africa's experience can offer the rest of the world about future coronavirus variants. We’re joined by Ozayr Patel, digital editor for The Conversation based in Johannesburg for this story.

And new research finds a person’s emotional reaction to music has a lot to do with their cultural background – we speak to George Athanasopoulos, a musicologist at Durham University in the UK. (From 34m15s)

Plus, Laura Hood, politics editor for The Conversation based in London, recommends some recent analysis on the political pressures facing the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, over parties held during coronavirus lockdowns. (From 47m10s)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here. A transcript of this episode is available here.

Further reading:

• The hunt for coronavirus variants: how the new one was found and what we know so far
• South Africa has changed tack on tackling COVID: why it makes sense
• How your culture informs the emotions you feel when listening to music
• Four key takeaways from the ‘partygate’ investigation into Boris Johnson’s Downing Street
• Boris Johnson pledges to ‘fix’ Downing Street after partygate – but this is a failure of his leadership

As frantic diplomatic efforts continue to avert a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s reliance on Russian gas supplies – and what would happen to them in the case of a war – remains an ever-present threat.

We speak to two experts on the geopolitics of natural gas about the history of the energy relationship between Russia and Europe, and the role gas supplies play in the current diplomatic efforts to avoid war. Featuring Michael Bradshaw, professor of global Energy at Warwick Business School at University of Warwick in the UK and Anastasiya Shapochkina politics lecturer at Sciences Po in France.

And, the Beijing winter Olympics are the first games to use 100% artificial snow. We talk to a Madeleine Orr, lecturer in sport ecology at Loughborough University in the UK about what that might mean for the athletes – and for the environment around the Olympic sites. (Listen from 30m30)

Plus, Haley Lewis for The Conversation in the Canadian capital Ottawa recommends some recent analysis of protests by truckers against COVID-19 restrictions that continue to block the city's streets. (Listen from 42m50)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• Can the US find enough natural gas sources to neutralize Russia’s energy leverage over Europe?
• Natural gas is a fossil fuel, but the EU will count it as a green investment – here’s why
• Beijing’s scant snow offers a glimpse at the uncertainty — and risks — of future Winter Olympics
• How Canada’s ‘freedom convoy’ was overtaken by a radical fringe
• Could Ottawa police be sued for failing to arrest ‘freedom convoy’ protesters?

Military juntas have seized power in a series of coups in recent months in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. We ask three experts what the coups mean for the war against jihadi insurgents in the Sahel – and for the future of French and European soldiers in the region. 

Featuring Folahanmi Aina, PhD candidate at King's College London in the UK, Mady Ibrahim Kanté, lecturer at the University of Legal and Political Sciences of Bamako in Mali and Thierry Vircoulon, a researcher at the University of Paris in France.

And, we talk to researcher looking for ways to alleviate discrimination faced by people who speak English with a foreign accent. Shiri Lev-Ari, a lecturer in psychology at Royal Holloway University of London in the UK, explains why people might discriminate against non-native speakers even if they are not prejudiced – and what to do about it. (From 31m40s)

And Jack Marley, an environment editor for The Conversation in Newcastle, England, recommends some recent articles on the ethical questions raised by eating meat. (From 43m40s)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

Mapping the contours of Jihadist groups in the Sahel

In the Sahel, France is being pushed out (in French)

France has started withdrawing its troops from Mali: what is it leaving behind?

Here’s why people might discriminate against foreign accents – new research

Cow documentary shows the need for fundamental legal rights for animals

The meat paradox: how your brain wrestles with the ethics of eating animals

Scientists at a nuclear fusion lab in the UK just broke the world record for the amount of energy produced in a single fusion reaction. In this episode, we ask two nuclear experts what this means, and how long it’ll take before we can switch on the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant.

Featuring Livia Casali, assistant professor in nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in the US and Angel Ibarra Sanchez, a research professor in fusion technology at the Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research in Madrid, Spain.

And in our second story, we explore why living in a country that scores highly on global happiness rankings might not be all that it's cracked up to be. Brock Bastian, a professor of psychological sciences at the University of Melbourne in Australia, talks to us about his new research on the social pressure some people feel to be happy.

And Eric Smalley, science and technology editor at The Conversation in Boston, recommends some recent analysis on the cybersecurity and technology dimensions of the unfolding Ukraine war.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Nuclear fusion: how excited should we be?
• Nuclear fusion: building a star on Earth is hard, which is why we need better materials
• Research finds countries that focus the most on happiness can end up making people feel worse
• What are false flag attacks – and could Russia make one work in the information age? 
• Technology is revolutionizing how intelligence is gathered and analyzed – and opening a window onto Russian military activity around Ukraine 

Scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just published a stark new warning about the impacts climate change is already having on our planet. Some of these impacts are already irreversible. In this episode, we talk to three of the scientists involved in the report about what the future may hold – and the narrowing window of opportunity to adapt to climate change.

Featuring Mark Howden, director of the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions at Australian National University, Balsher Singh Sidhu, postdoctoral research fellow in resources, environment and sustainability at the University of British Columbia in Canada and Edward R. Carr, professor and director of international development, community, and environment, Clark University in the US.

And a section of a rocket is about to crash on the Moon. Paul Hayne, assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US tells us what he’s hoping to learn from studying the collision. (Listen from 36m)

And Jonathan Este, international politics editor at The Conversation in Cambridge in the UK, recommends some recent analysis on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Listen from 46m30)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Mass starvation, extinctions, disasters: the new IPCC report’s grim predictions, and why adaptation efforts are falling behind
• IPCC report: Half the world is facing water scarcity, floods and dirty water — large investments are needed for effective solutions 
• A rocket is going to crash into the Moon – the accidental experiment will shed light on the physics of impacts in space 
• Putin’s invasion of Ukraine attacks its distinct history and reveals his imperial instincts 
• Putin’s claim to rid Ukraine of Nazis is especially absurd given its history 

The life of limbo for people in immigration detention is often deeply traumatic. In this episode we talk to two experts on immigration detention in Australia and the UK about why people are waiting months, sometimes years, for a decision about their future – and the impact it's having on them. Featuring Madeline Gleeson Senior Research Fellow, Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney in Australia and Blerina Kellezi, associate professor in social and trauma psychology at Nottingham Trent University in the UK.

And as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushes more than two million refugees to flee the country, we speak to sociologist Irina Kuznetsova, associate professor at the University of Birmingham in the UK, about Russia’s history of using refugees from Ukraine as geopolitical tools. (From 32m55)

Finally, Martine Turenne, editor in chief for The Conversation in Montreal, Canada, recommends some recent stories tied to International Women's Day. (From 46m32)

This episode of the The Conversation Weekly is supported by the UK/Australia Season Patrons Board, the British Council and the Australian Government as part of the UK/Australia Season, which centres on the theme Who Are We Now? The season's programme reflects on the two countries’ shared history, explores their current relationship, and imagines their future together.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Mau Loseto. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• The Conversation's Ukraine war coverage
• How people in immigration detention try to cope with life in limbo
• Australia’s asylum policy has been a disaster. It’s deeply disturbing the UK wants to adopt it
• Too few women reach the highest levels in their organisations – it's time to act
• "Stay" : how this love song conveys contempt and violence against women

What does it mean to be a Ukrainian? In this episode, we talk to three experts about the origins of Ukrainian nationalism, and how Ukrainian national identity is changing. Featuring Volodomyr Kulyk, head research fellow at the Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv; Dominique Arel, professor and holder of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa in Canada; and Olga Onuch, senior lecturer in politics, University of Manchester in the UK.

And we hear about a rare archive of Ukrainian dissident literature from the Soviet era. Katja Kolcio, associate professor of dance and environmental studies at Wesleyan University in the US, whose father collected the archive, explains why it's now in danger. (From 36m)

Finally, Moina Spooner, news editor for The Conversation in Nairobi, Kenya recommends some analysis marking the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. (From 48m)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Kyiv has faced adversity before – and a stronger Ukrainian identity grew in response
• Why Ukrainian Americans are committed to preserving Ukrainian culture – and national sovereignty
• How Moscow has long used the historic Kyivan Rus state to justify expansionism
• Wins, missteps and lessons: African experts reflect on two years of COVID response
• How COVID has affected the control of neglected tropical diseases

It's been five years since Emmanuel Macron rocked the French political establishment with his victory in the 2017 presidential elections. France is now returning to the polls for two rounds of voting and Macron is favourite to win a second five-year term on April 24. In this episode, we ask two French politics experts: how has Macron changed the French political system?

Featuring, Gilles Ivaldi, a researcher in political science at Sciences Po Paris in France, and Anne-Cécile Douillet, a professor of political science at the University of Lille.

And, we talk to bee expert Adrian Dyer, an associate professor at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, about humanity’s long love affair with bees – and his research showing how people expressed this appreciation through art for thousands of years. (From 33m55)

And Claudia Lorenzo, culture editor for The Conversation in Madrid, Spain, talks about the Ukrainian cultural heritage at risk from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (From 44m20)

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Thanks to Dale Berning Sawa for the voiceover in this episode. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• War anxiety makes French voters rally round Macron. For how long?
• An assessment of Emmanuel Macron: a neoliberal agenda and pragmatism in the face of crises (in French)
• Is Emmanuel Macron, the secret heir of Nicolas Sarkozy ?
• Film and war throughout time in Odessa (In Spanish)
• A look at the novel 'She came from Mariupol' (In Spanish)

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy – a site of First Nations protest in Canberra, Australia – marks its 50th anniversary this year. In this episode, Carissa Lee, First Nations and public policy editor at The Conversation in Australia, explores its history and hears how the ongoing protest has influenced a new generation of Indigenous activism.

Featuring Bronwyn Carlson, professor of Indigenous studies and director of the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures at Macquarie University in Australia; Lynda-June Coe, a PhD candidate at Macquarie University and her Aunty Jenny Munro, a member of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protest site in Canberra.

Plus, new research into how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of young people born into poverty around the world – and their job prospects. We talk to Catherine Porter, director of the Young Lives study at the University of Oxford. (Listen from 33m46s)

This episode of the The Conversation Weekly is supported by the UK/Australia Season Patrons Board, the British Council and the Australian Government as part of the UK/Australia Season, which centres on the theme Who Are We Now? The season's programme reflects on the two countries’ shared history, explores their current relationship, and imagines their future together.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with reporting from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra by Ellen Duffy. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• A short history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – an indelible reminder of unceded sovereignty
• Who are the ‘Original Sovereigns’ who were camped out at Old Parliament House and what are their aims?
• Whose sovereignty is really being fought for? What happens when First Nations People are dragged into extremist protests
• Hunger, lost income and increased anxiety: how coronavirus lockdowns put huge pressure on young people around the world

Can makeup really kill you? That’s the myth attached to Maria Gunning, the Countess of Coventry, an 18th century socialite who reportedly died from her lead-based makeup in 1760, aged just 27. In this episode, we speak to Fiona McNeill, a professor of physics at McMaster University in Canada, who has recreated some centuries-old recipes for white lead makeup to test how dangerous these cosmetics really were. 

Plus, an extract from a special episode of The Conversation's Don't Call Me Resilient podcast, about Will Smith's Oscar slap.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with reporting from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra by Ellen Duffy. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• Dying for makeup: Lead cosmetics poisoned 18th-century European socialites in search of whiter skin
• There’s a complex history of skin lighteners in Africa and beyond

Indonesia plans to move its capital city from Jakarta on the island of Java to a new forest city on the island of Borneo called Nusantara. We talk to three experts in urban planning and ecology to find out why, what the problems are with Jakarta – and what the environmental impacts of the project could be.

Featuring Eka Permanasari, associate professor in urban design, Monash University Australia, Hendricus Andy Simarmata, lecturer in urban planning at the University of Indonesia and Alex Lechner, associate professor in landscape ecology at Monash University Indonesia.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• How not to build a capital: what Indonesia can learn from other master-planned cities’ mistakes
• Does Indonesia really need to move its capital?
• Assessing Jokowi’s $33-billion project to move Indonesia’s capital for the country’s economic development
• Moving Indonesia’s capital city won’t fix Jakarta’s problems and will increase fire risk in Borneo

How much does your cultural background influence the way you react to music? Or whether you think a piece of music sounds happy or sad? That's what George Athanasopoulos and his colleagues decided to investigate. They travelled to a remote part of northwest Pakistan to spend time with the Kalash and Kho people who live there and find out how they reacted to western music. Athanasopoulos, an ethnomusicologist at Durham University in the UK, tells us what they discovered.

This episode is an extended version of an interview first published on February 3.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading:

• How your culture informs the emotions you feel when listening to music
• The global music community must help Afghan musicians resist a Taliban music ban

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is challenging the structures of international collaboration in space. In this episode, we talk to two experts about how space is entering a new era of international competition – and whether the existing laws are ready for what comes next. 

Featuring Kuan-Wei (David) Chen, executive director of the Centre for Research in Air and Space Law at McGill University in Canada and Svetla Ben-Itzhak, assistant professor of space and international relations at Air University in the US.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here. A transcript is also available to read.

Further reading

• Space Blocs: The future of international cooperation in space is splitting along lines of power on Earth
• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens space co-operation, business and security
• Ukraine war: how it could play out in space – with potentially dangerous consequences
• Russian invasion of Ukraine and resulting US sanctions threaten the future of the International Space Station

We'd love to hear what you think about The Conversation Weekly. Please let us know via our listener survey, which should take about five minutes to complete. Thank you!

When war breaks out, what does it mean for a country to remain neutral? In this episode we explore the advantages and disadvantages of neutrality – and what responsibilities come with the choice not to take sides. We talk to an historian about how an age of neutrality emerged in the 19th century and what lessons it has for the war in Ukraine. And we dig down into the reasons why one country – India – has decided to remain neutral on the conflict. 

Featuring Maartje Abbenhuis, professor of history at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and Swaran Singh, professor of diplomacy and disarmament at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. You can read a transcript on The Conversation's website.

Further reading

• Why India chose a path of ‘proactive neutrality’ on Ukraine
• What does it mean to be ‘neutral’ over Ukraine – and what responsibilities come with it?
• As Ukraine war deepens great-power divisions, a revitalized non-aligned movement could emerge
• Russia’s war with Ukraine: Five reasons why many African countries choose to be ‘neutral’
• History may explain South Africa’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

We'd love to hear what you think about The Conversation Weekly. Please let us know via our listener survey, which should take about five minutes to complete. Thank you!

Parents and doctors have known about childhood ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – for decades, but it is only recently that the medical field has started to recognise, diagnose and seriously study ADHD in adults. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we explore what adult ADHD looks like, how it is diagnosed today and the many new treatments available to help those with the disorder live better lives.

Featuring Laura E Knouse an associate professor of psychology a the University of Richmond in the US, and Tamara May, senior research fellow at Monash University in Australia. 

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Mend Mariwany. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here.

You can also read a full transcript of this episode too.

Further reading

• ADHD looks different in adults. Here are 4 signs to watch for
• Why many women with autism and ADHD aren’t diagnosed until adulthood – and what to do if you think you’re one of them
• ADHD in adults: what it’s like living with the condition – and why many still struggle to get diagnosed
• These strategies and life hacks can help anyone with ADHD, as well as those who struggle with attention problems but don’t have a diagnosis

As Australians prepare to vote in federal elections on May 21, in this episode we explore how the country’s political landscape is shifting – and why it's not looking good for Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Featuring Michelle Grattan, a professorial fellow at the University of Canberra and political correspondent for The Conversation in Australia. Grattan, who is one of Australia's most respected political journalists, also hosts the Politics with Michelle Grattan podcast for The Conversation.

We'd love to hear what you think about The Conversation Weekly. Please let us know via our listener survey, which should take about five minutes to complete. Thank you!

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here.

Further reading

• How does Australia’s voting system work?
• In a year of endless floods, why isn’t disaster governance front and centre in the election campaign?
• If the polls are right, he may soon be the next Australian prime minister. So who is Anthony Albanese?
• ‘His beating heart is a focus group’: what makes Scott Morrison tick?

India and Pakistan have been sweltering under an unprecedented heatwave, the severity of which scientists attribute to climate change. In this episode we explore how much worse heatwaves in the region could get and how farmers can prepare for it.

Featuring Alan Thomas Kennedy-Asser, a research associate in climate science at the University of Bristol in the UK, Andrew King, a senior Lecturer in climate science at the University of Melbourne in Australia and Shruti Bhogal, who's just finished working as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge in the UK.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available shortly.

Further reading

• India heatwave: why the region should prepare for even more extreme heat in the near future 
• How to survive a heatwave 
• A climate scientist on India and Pakistan’s horror heatwave, and the surprising consequences of better air quality
• Young Indian farmers are turning to an ancient crop to fight water stress and climate change

A little update about The Conversation Weekly podcast and what we'll be up to over the next few months.

If you've not yet completed our listener survey, we'd love to hear what you think about the show. It should take about five minutes to complete. Thank you!

As the latest Jurassic World Dominion film hits cinemas, we’re re-running a story originally aired in 2021 about what dinosaurs really looked liked – and how scientists' understanding of their appearance keeps evolving. 

Featuring Maria McNamara, professor of palaeobiology at University College Cork in Ireland and Nicolas Campione, senior lecturer in paleaobiology at the University of New England in Australia.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Read a transcript of the original version of this story.

Further reading:

• Jurassic World Dominion: a palaeontologist on what the film gets wrong about dinosaurs
• Dinosaur embryo discovery: rare fossil suggests dinosaurs had similar pre-hatching posture to modern birds
• Nocturnal dinosaurs: Night vision and superb hearing in a small theropod suggest it was a moonlight predator
• The discovery of two giant dinosaur species solves the mystery of missing apex predators in North America and Asia

M was a double agent during the cold war, working on the side of the west. But when the Iron Curtain fell, he felt abandoned by the secret services he risked his life for.

M's story is told by Eleni Braat, associate professor of international history at Utrecht University and Ben de Jong, research fellow at Leiden University. They've been interviewing him in depth for their research on what happens to spies when their secret service days come to an end.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here.

Further reading:

• John Le Carré: authentic spy fiction that wrote the wrongs of post-war British intelligence
• How ordinary people are convinced to become spies
• Revealed: the panic that followed the defection of the Cambridge spies

For thousands of years, people living in parts of the world used to high temperatures have deployed traditional passive cooling techniques in the way they design their buildings. But "modern" styles of architecture using concrete and glass often usurped local building techniques better suited to hotter climates. In this episode, we explore why that happened, and how some architects are championing traditional techniques to help keep buildings cool.

Featuring Anthony Ogbuokiri, senior lecturer in architectural design at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, Vyta Pivo, assistant professor of architecture at the University of Michigan in the US and Susan Abed Hassan, professor of architectural engineering at Al-Nahrain University in Baghdad, Iraq.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript is available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Cities like Lagos need building designs that don’t just copy global styles
• Tiny algae could help fix concrete’s dirty little climate secret – 4 innovative ways to clean up this notoriously hard to decarbonize industry
• How to keep buildings cool without air conditioning – according to an expert in sustainable design

The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is one of many bodies of ice that are melting, but this massive glacier is uniquely important when it comes to sea level rise. In this episode we talk to three experts studying the glacier in Antarctica to find out what's happening and why it's so significant.

Featuring Yixi Zheng, a PhD candidate in Oceanography at the University of East Anglia in the UK, Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and Paul Holland, an ocean and ice scientist at the British Antarctic Survey.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript is also available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Ice world: Antarctica’s riskiest glacier is under assault from below and losing its grip
• Antarctica’s ‘doomsday’ glacier: how its collapse could trigger global floods and swallow islands
• Ice shelves hold back Antarctica’s glaciers from adding to sea levels – but they’re crumbling

As research into psychedelics and their medical uses makes a comeback, scientists are having to deal with the legacy – both scientific and social – of a 40-year near total freeze on psychedelic research. In this episode, we speak with three experts about the early rise and fall of psychedelics in western science and culture, how the mystical and often vague language of the 60s and 70s still pervades research today and what it’s like to actually run clinical trials using psilocybin.

Featuring Robin Carhart-Harris at the University of California, San Francisco in the US; Wayne Hall, at the University of Queensland in Australia; and Josjan Zijlmans at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript is also available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Psychedelic drugs: how to tell good research from bad
• AI maps psychedelic ‘trip’ experiences to regions of the brain – opening new route to psychiatric treatments
• Psychedelics: how they act on the brain to relieve depression

A new barrier to climate action is opening up in an obscure and secretive part of international trade law which fossil fuel investors are using to sue countries if policy decisions go against them. We speak to experts about the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism and how it works. Many are worried that these clauses in international trade deals could jeopardise global efforts to save the climate – costing countries billions of dollars in the process.

Featuring Kyla Tienhaara, Canada research chair in economy and environment at Queen's University, Ontario in Canada, Emilia Onyema, reader in international commercial Law at SOAS, University of London in the UK, Lea Di Salvatore, PhD researcher at the University of Nottingham in the UK and Maria-Rita D'Orsogna, anti-oil activist and professor of mathematics at California State University, Northridge in the US.

This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript is also available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• How treaties protecting fossil fuel investors could jeopardize global efforts to save the climate – and cost countries billions
• Energy charter treaty makes climate action nearly illegal in 52 countries – so how can we leave it?
• British investors could sue Australia over climate action if UK joins trans-Pacific trade pact

Soon after Jair Bolsonaro’s election as president of Brazil in 2018, he began making it a lot easier for people in the country to buy guns. In this episode, we speak to two experts about Brazil’s boom in private gun ownership and why it’s exacerbating fears about political violence ahead of a run-off presidential election on October 30. 

Featuring Erika Robb Larkins, associate professor of anthropology and director of the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University in the US and Juliano Cortinhas, professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia in Brazil.

This episode was produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Read a transcript of this episode. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• Brazil: inside Jair Bolsonaro’s militarised democracy – podcast 
• Bolsonaro’s first-round election bounce back reminds us why populist leaders are so popular
• Another stress test for democracy: The imminent election crisis in Brazil
• Brazil election: how the political violence of the country’s history has re-emerged

Digital nomads who work as they travel are often attracted by a life of freedom far removed from the daily office grind. Many head to cities that have become known hotspots for remote workers. In this episode, we find out what impact digital nomads have on these cities and the people who live there, and how governments are responding to the phenomenon. 

Featuring Dave Cook, PhD candidate in anthropology at UCL in the UK, Adrián Hernández Cordero, head of sociology at Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico and Fabiola Mancinelli, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Barcelona in Spain.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Read a transcript of this episode. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• As countries ranging from Indonesia to Mexico aim to attract digital nomads, locals say ‘not so fast’
• Digital nomads have rejected the office and now want to replace the nation state. But there is a darker side to this quest for global freedom
• The great remote work experiment – what happens next? Podcast      

Humans do a lot of different things to the environment, and there aren’t many natural processes that can rival the scale of changes brought on by human activity. In this episode, we speak to three experts who study different ways that human action – from radiation to pollution to urbanization – is affecting how plants and animals evolve, and how humanity has become the single biggest driver of evolutionary changes on Earth. 

Featuring Germán Orizaola, a biologist at the University of Oviedo in Spain, Andrew Whitehead, a professor of environmental toxicology at University of California, Davis in the US and Marc Johnson, a professor of biology at the University of Toronto in Canada.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Daniel Merino and the executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• Chernobyl black frogs reveal evolution in action
• Russian capture of Ukraine’s Chornobyl nuclear plant threatens future research on radioactivity and wildlife
• To avoid humans, more wildlife now work the night shift

Welcome to the first episode of Discovery, a new series via The Conversation Weekly where we hear the stories behind new research discoveries from around the world. In this episode, Ruth Mace, professor of anthropology at University College London in the UK, explains how her research with the families of Tibetan monks in China suggests celibacy might have some surprising evolutionary advantages. 

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer was Gemma Ware. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. 

More episodes of our Discovery series will be published via The Conversation Weekly every couple of weeks. 

Further reading:

• Celibacy: its surprising evolutionary advantages – new research

From the US, to Brazil, to India, deepening political polarisation is used as a frame through which to see a lot of 21st century politics. But what can actually be done to depolarise deeply divided societies, particularly democracies? In this episode we speak to a political scientist and a philosopher trying to find answers to that question. 

Featuring Jennifer Lynn McCoy, professor of political science at Georgia State University in the US and Robert B. Talisse, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University in the US.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Read a transcript of this episode. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• Democratic and Republican voters both love civility – but the bipartisan appeal is partly because nobody can agree on what civility is
• Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?
• Brazil election: what I saw on the streets made me cautiously optimistic

Momentum is growing for objects stolen during the colonial era that are now held in museums in Europe and North America to be returned to the places and communities that they were taken from. We talk to three experts about what happens to these objects once they're returned and the questions their restitution is raising about the relationship between communities and museums in Africa. 

Featuring John Kelechi Ugwuanyi, senior lecturer in archaeology and tourism at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, Farai Chabata, visiting lecturer in heritage studies at the University of Zimbabwe and senior curator of ethnography for the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe and Aribiah David Attoe, lecturer in philosophy at the University of Witwatersrand.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading

• Germany is returning Nigeria’s looted Benin Bronzes: why it’s not nearly enough
• 3D printing is helping museums in repatriation and decolonisation efforts
• ‘Restitution’ of looted African art just continues colonial policies - much more is at stake

This week we're running a three-part series called Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia exploring new research searching for answers to how dementia works in the brain and the damage it leaves behind. 

The series is hosted by Paul Keaveny and Gemma Ware and was initially published via The Anthill podcast from the team at The Conversation in the UK.

In the first episode, we explore how a study which began just after the end of the second world war is revealing new insights into the risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. Featuring Marcus Richards, professor of psychology in epidemiology and Jonathan Schott, professor of neurology, both at UCL in the UK and David Ward, one of the cohort study participants.

Uncharted Brain was produced by Tiffany Cassidy with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. The Conversation Weekly theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

Further reading:

• We’ve been studying the same people for 76 years – this is what we’ve found out about Alzheimer’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease: surprising new theory about what might cause it
• New Alzheimer’s drug slows cognitive decline – and may be available as early as next year

In the second of a three-part series, Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia, we explore chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a form of dementia that athletes from a whole range of sports can develop. We hear about the toll it can take on family members, who are often unaware of what’s happening to their loved ones.

Featuring Matthew Smith, a senior lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at the University of Winchester in the UK and Lisa McHale, director of family relations at the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

The series is hosted by Paul Keaveny and Gemma Ware and was initially published via The Anthill podcast from the team at The Conversation in the UK.

Uncharted Brain was produced by Tiffany Cassidy with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. The Conversation Weekly theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

Further reading:

• Sport-induced traumatic brain injury: families reveal the ‘hell’ of living with the condition
• The risk of concussion lurks at the Super Bowl – and in all other sports
• Tackling in children’s rugby must be banned to curb dementia risks

There are many competing theories about what causes Alzheimer's disease. For more than 30 years, Ruth Itzhaki has been accumulating evidence that viruses are involved in its development in the brain. We investigate in the In the third and final part of Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia.

Featuring Ruth Itzhaki, professor emeritus of molecular neurobiology at the University of Manchester in the UK, Dana Cairns, a postdoctoral research fellow at Tufts University in the US and Davangere P. Devanand, director of geriatric psychiatry and professor of psychiatry and neurology, Columbia University Medical Center in the US.

The series is hosted by Paul Keaveny and Gemma Ware and was initially published via The Anthill podcast from the team at The Conversation in the UK.

Uncharted Brain was produced by Tiffany Cassidy with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. The Conversation Weekly theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

Further reading:

• My work investigating the links between viruses and Alzheimer’s disease was dismissed for years – but now the evidence is building
• We’ve been studying the same people for 76 years – this is what we’ve found out about Alzheimer’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease: surprising new theory about what might cause it

Mental illnesses like obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and addiction are notoriously hard to treat and often don't respond to drugs. But a new wave of treatments that stimulate the brain with electricity are showing promise on patients and in clinical trials. We talk to three experts and one patient about the history of treating mental illness, how new technology and deeper understanding of the brain are leading to better treatments and where the neuroscience of mental illness is headed next. 

Featuring Rachel A. Davis, a psychiatrist and researcher at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in the US and her patient Moksha Patel, a physician and professor at the University of Colorado who has severe obsessive compulsive disorder. We also hear from Joseph J. Fins, a neuroethicist and professor of medicine at Wei Cornell Medical College, part of Cornell University in the US and Jacinta O'Shea, a neuroscientist and associate professor at the University of Oxford.

This episode was produced by Katie Flood, Dan Merino and Mend Mariwany. It was written by Katie Flood and Dan Merino. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Deep brain stimulation can be life-altering for OCD sufferers when other treatment options fall short
• Patients suffering with hard-to-treat depression may get relief from noninvasive magnetic brain stimulation
• Brain stimulation can rewire and heal damaged neural connections, but it isn’t clear how – research suggests personalization may be key to more effective therapies

The amount of alcohol young people drink in many high-income countries has seen a marked decline since the early 2000s. But in many developing countries, the opposite is happening. In this episode we talk to three experts studying trends in youth drinking to find out why and explore the questions this raises about the way young people see themselves and their place in the world. 

Featuring Amy Pennay, research fellow at La Trobe University in Australia, Jonas Raninen, a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Emeka Dumbili a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria.

This episode was produced by Katie Flood, Dan Merino and Mend Mariwany. It was written by Katie Flood and Dan Merino. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Why are young people drinking less than their parents’ generation did?
• Some young Nigerians say heavy drinking is fun: controls must keep pace with culture
• Should I give my teen alcohol? Just a sip, the whole can, or none at all?

In the latest episode of Discovery, an ongoing series where we explore the stories behind new research discoveries from around the world, we hear about how a Muslim celebrity footballer helped reduce Islamophobia. In this episode, Salma Mousa, assistant professor of political science at Yale University in the US, explains how she found a "Mo Salah effect" and why she's now testing how durable it is.

This episode was produced and written by Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our other producers are Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. 

More episodes of our Discovery series will be published via The Conversation Weekly every couple of weeks. 

Further reading and listening:

How to depolarise deeply divided societies – podcast

Brazil’s iconic football shirt was a symbol of Bolsonaro – here’s how the World Cup is changing that

How do you get a country to change its national diet? That’s what China has been trying by introducing potato as a staple as part of an effort to improve food security. In this episode, we talk to three experts about why countries need to shift what their citizens eat, and what the optimum diet for our planet might be. 

Featuring Xiaobo Xue Romeiko, assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at University at Albany, State University of New York in the US, Paul Behrens, associate professor of energy and environmental change at Leiden University in The Netherlands and Marco Springmann, professor of climate change food systems and health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK, and a senior researcher at the University of Oxford.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood with sound design by Eloise Stevens. It was written by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware is the show's executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• Our food system is at risk of crossing ‘environmental limits’ – here’s how to ease the pressure
• War in Ukraine is pushing global acute hunger to the highest level in this century
• Offering more plant-based choices on menus can speed up diet change 

If you want to know what happened in the earliest years of the universe, you are going to need a very big, very specialized telescope. Much to the joy of astronomers and space fans everywhere, the world has one – the James Webb Space Telescope. In this episode, we talk to three experts about what astronomers have learned about the first galaxies in the universe and how just six months of data from James Webb is already changing astronomy.

Featuring Jeyhan Kartaltepe, Associate Professor of Astrophysics at Rochester Institute of Technology, Jonathan Trump, Associate Professor of Physics at University of Connecticut and Michael J. I. Brown, Associate Professor in Astronomy at Monash University.

This episode was produced by Katie Flood and Daniel Merino, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. It was written by Katie Flood and Daniel Merino. Mend Mariwany is the show’s executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• James Webb Space Telescope: what astronomers hope it will reveal about the beginning of the universe – podcast
• BlueWalker 3, an enormous and bright communications satellite, is genuinely alarming astronomers
• Is the James Webb Space Telescope finding the furthest, oldest, youngest or first galaxies? An astronomer explains
• Two experts break down the James Webb Space Telescope’s first images, and explain what we’ve already learnt

Reindeer's noses may not glow red, but these cold-loving creatures have evolved the ability to change the color of their eyes to help them thrive in northern winters. A neuroscientist explains how he discovered that a part of the reindeer eye called the tapetum lucidum is perfectly adapted to the dim, blue in the Arctic.

Featuring Glen Jeffery, a professor of neuroscience at the Institute of Opthamology at University College London in the UK.

This episode was produced by Katie Flood. The interim executive producer is Mend Mariwany. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading

How reindeer eyes transform in winter to give them twilight vision

Five ways reindeer are perfectly evolved for pulling Santa’s sleigh

Across the globe, health-care workers have gone on strike to protest the stress placed on them by the global COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, pushing already-strained services beyond their limits. These labour actions are part of the challenges faced by countries attempting to provide welfare services to their populations. We talk to three experts about why social welfare services are being cut, and what actions governments may need to take to ensure better access. 

Featuring Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, senior economics lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in the UK,  Christine Corlet Walker, a research fellow at the Center for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at the University of Surrey, also in the UK, and Erdem Yörük, assistant professor at Koç University in Istanbul in Turkey.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. The executive producer is Mend Mariwany. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading: 

• Better income assistance programs are needed to help people with rising cost of living
• COVID-19 holds lessons for the future of social protection
• Degrowth: why some economists think abandoning growth is the only way to save the planet – podcast

During the years of suffering and tragedy that defined the Warsaw Ghetto in the midst of World War II, a team of Jewish doctors secretly documented the effects of starvation on the human body when the Nazis severely limited the amount of food available in the Jewish ghetto.

Featuring Merry Fitzpatrick, an assistant professor at Tufts University who studies food security and malnutrition.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and hosted by Dan Merino. The executive producer is Mend Mariwany. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

Further reading: 

• Warsaw Ghetto’s defiant Jewish doctors secretly documented the medical effects of Nazi starvation policies in a book recently rediscovered on a library shelf 
• Starving civilians is an ancient military tactic, but today it’s a war crime in Ukraine, Yemen, Tigray and elsewhere

Whether you’re looking at tropical forests in Brazil, grasslands in California or coral reefs in Australia, it’s hard to find places where humanity hasn't left a mark. The scale of the alteration, invasion or destruction of natural ecosystems can be mindbogglingly huge. Thankfully, researchers, governments and everyday people around the world are putting more effort and money into conservation and restoration every year, but the task is large. How do you plant a billion trees? How do you restore thousands of square miles of wetlands? How do you turn a barren ocean floor back into a thriving reef? In some cases, the answer lies with certain animals – called ecosystem engineers – that can kick start the healing. We talk to three experts about how ecosystem engineers can play a key role in restoring natural places and why the human and social sides of restoration are just as important as the science.

Featuring Josh Larsen, associate professor in water science at the University of Birmingham in the UK, Dominic McAfee, a postdoctoral researcher in marine ecology at the University of Adelaide in Australia, and Andy Kliskey, professor of landscape architecture and Co-director of the Center for Resilient Communities at the University of Idaho in the US.

This episode was produced by Katie Flood. The executive producer is Mend Mariwany. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading: 

• Beavers can do wonders for nature – but we should be realistic about these benefits extending to people
• Beavers are back: here’s what this might mean for the UK’s wild spaces
• Playing sea soundscapes can summon thousands of baby oysters – and help regrow oyster reefs
• Once the fish factories and ‘kidneys’ of colder seas, Australia’s decimated shellfish reefs are coming back

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demographics of cities shifted. As stay-at-home orders, remote work and bubbling reduced social interaction, and restaurants, venues and arts destinations shut down temporarily, people started reconsidering their decision to remain in a big city. We spoke with two urban theorists about why people were leaving larger cities for smaller ones, how authenticity was marketed using social media influencers, and why smaller and mid-sized cities are underrated.

Featuring Avi Friedman, a professor of architecture at McGill University in Montréal, Canada, and David A. Banks, lecturer in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Albany in New York, US. 

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced and written by Mend Mariwany who is also the show's executive producer. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.  Full credits for this episode are available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading: 

• Kampala, Kigali and Addis Ababa are changing fast: new book follows their distinct paths
• To build sustainable cities, involve those who live in them
• The era of the megalopolis: how the world’s cities are merging
• As big cities get even bigger, some residents are being left behind

Despite the many biological differences between people of different sexes, races, ages and life histories, chances are that if two people walk into a doctors office with the same symptoms, they are going to get the same exact treatment. As you can imagine, a whole range of treatments – from drugs to testing – could be much more effective if they were designed to work with many different kinds of bodies, not just some abstract, generic human. We speak to three researchers who are looking at ways to make medicine more precise. It starts with simply making sure that clinical trial participants look like the actual patients a drug is meant to treat. And in the future, precision medicine could help each person get medical care that is tailored to their own biology, just like a custom shirt.

Featuring Jennifer Miller, professor of medicine at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in the US, Julia Liu, professor of medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US, and Keith Yamamoto, head of Precision Medicine at the University of California San Francisco in the US. 

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced and written by Katie Flood. Mend Mariwany is the show's executive producer. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.  Full credits for this episode are available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading: 

• Yes, Black patients do want to help with medical research – here are ways to overcome the barriers that keep clinical trials from recruiting diverse populations
• Women are 50–75% more likely to have adverse drug reactions. A new mouse study finally helps explain why

Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly becoming a societal problem, as they increase polarization and impact on our physical health. In 2018, two years before the pandemic, the United Kingdom created a ministerial portfolio for loneliness. Japan, where nearly 40 per cent of the population report experiencing loneliness, began a similar position in 2021. We speak to three researchers who invite us to more deeply consider loneliness and social isolation, and their impacts on our health and society. 

Featuring Ananya Chakravarti, an associate professor of the history of emotions at Georgetown University in Washington in the US, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University in the US, and Kate Mulligan, an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Health in Canada.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany, who is also the show’s executive producer. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading: 

• Why loneliness is both an individual thing and a shared result of the cities we create
• Technology is alienating people – and it’s not just those who are older
• People feel lonelier in crowded cities – but green spaces can help

Our dependence on fossil fuels is one of the biggest challenges to overcome in the fight against climate change. But production and consumption of fossil fuels is on the rise, and expected to peak within the next decade. We speak to two researchers who examine the political challenges of transitioning to a world after oil, and what it means for those states who rely on oil for resources.

Featuring Caleb Wellum, Assistant Professor of U.S. History, at the University of Toronto in Canada, and Natalie Koch, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Heidelberg, in Germany. 

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced and written by Mend Mariwany who is also the show's executive producer. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading: 

• For developing world to quit coal, rich countries must eliminate oil and gas faster – new study
• COP27 flinched on phasing out ‘all fossil fuels’. What’s next for the fight to keep them in the ground?
• Ending the climate crisis has one simple solution: Stop using fossil fuels