This week we catch up with a conference on blasphemy, find out the problems with the welfare reforms, and the LADS have loads of BANTER about that awful “UniLad” article.
CFI Blasphemy Conference (2:04) by James O’Malley & Liz Lutgendorff
(ft Andrew Copson, Austin Dacey and Maryam Namazie) Welfare Reform (15:17) by Steven Sumpter UniLad (25:44) by Dean Burnett Deaths in Custody (34:52) by Georgia Gale Grant Nuclear Theatre (41:27) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Nicholas Kent) The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy & Brian Two
New Douglas Adams Audio (1:51) by Jon Treadway (ft Stephen Fry, Mark Carwardine and Douglas Adams) Julian Huppert on LibDem Science Policy (11:56) by James O’Malley & Liz Lutgendorff Jesus & Mo at the LSE (23:45) by James O’Malley (ft Chris Moos) Adam Rutherford Interview (31:26) by Liz Lutgendorff Technological Progress (40:58) by Drew Rae My Little Brony (50:00) by Salim Fadhley (ft Coder Brony) The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy and Brian Two
SOPA Blackout (2:05) by Georgia Gale Grant Behind the scenes at the Wikipedia blackout (9:33) by Tom Morris Figshare (17:58) by Jon Treadway (ft Mark Hahnel) Teletubbies Scandal (27:36) by Salim Fadhley (ft Dave Thompson) The Sex Party (39:33) by Chris Huang-Lever Scotland and Tory England (45:17) by Keir Liddle A Bugs’ Life (50:16) by Adam Jacobs (ft Matt Shardlow) Videogames and Morality (60:16) by Trent Burton The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy and Brian Two
Jesus, Mo and UCL (2:13) by James O’Malley (ft Dave, the guy behind Jesus & Mo!) Spartacus Report (9:36) by Steven Sumpter Obscenity Trial (21:10) by David Allen Green (ft Myles Jackman and Michael Peacock) Wind Farms (24:22) by Pete Hague The LHC is valuable (33:40) by Kash Farooq, Peter Silk & George Hrab Death Penalty & Assisted Dying (40:44) by Sean Ellis Christian Nightmares (47:16) by Salim Fadhley (ft Christian Nightmares guy)
Is legalising assisted dying a good idea? Should we use primaries to pick our political candidates? And since when was the Daily Mail judge, jury and executioner?
Daily Mail Justice (1:58) by Martin Robbins Hungary for Constitutional Change (7:45) by Dave Landon Cole Open Primaries (14:08) by Cory Hazlehurst Pro-Assisted Dying (22:16) by Jennie Kermode (performed by Melinda Burton) Anti-Assisted Dying (33:21) by William Lee The Cost of Physics (40:38) by Adam Jacobs Apocalypse Soon? (50:06) by Leila Johnston Just World (60:29) by Dean Burnett Blogger of the Year (67:02) by David Allen Green
Rather than celebrate Christmas, we thought we should probably celebrate the life and work of Christopher Hitchens, who died on the 15th December. So please join us for this very Pod Delusion-type look at his life.
Obit (0:49) by Dave Cole Hitch and religion (8:40) by Cory Hazlehurst Hitch the Historian (15:46) by Rich Godbehere 6:36 Post-9/11 Hitch (23:42) by Mohammed Fahad (read by Alex Foster) 5:36 Regime change? (30:03) by David Eastman 4:14 Twitter Censorship? (35:40) by Dave Cross 6:12 Tweet inserts are by Sean Ellis Music by Milton Mermikidies
This week we tackle the biggest story out of the LHC Higgs announcement earlier in the week: Why did they use Comic Sans?! We speak to the font’s creator. We also speak to the man behind the BBC Micro, and science writer Marcus Chown about his new book which is based on an iPad app… and much more!
Higgs Update (2:26) by Kash Farooq (ft Jon Butterworth) Comic Sans (11:50) by James O’Malley (ft Vincent Connare) BBC Micro (19:05) by Salim Fadhley (ft Steve Furber) Anti-Vax Folk Fest (26:54) by Andrew Gould Solar System: From iPad to book (33:40) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Marcus Chown) Sesame Street Socialists (42:47) by Tom Hodden Festival of the Spoken Nerd (47:48) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Matt Parker, Helen Arney & Steve Mould) Science Cabaret (55:38) by Dean Burnett The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy & Brian Two
To get tickets for £10 instead of £12, you’ll have to call the Bloomsbury box office on 020 7388 8822 (or visit in person) and quote “GEEK PARTY” to get the discount. This has to be before December 31st.
This week we find out whether the claims about “Earth 2.0″ are too good to be true, catch up with the Voyager probes, and back on earth we discuss whether sharing NHS data is wise and discover the truth about H&M’s computer generated clothes models.
Kepler-22b (2:55) by Kash Farooq (ft Robert Simpson) NHS Data Sharing (13:22) by David Eastman Virtual Models at H&M (17:41) by Steven Sumpter Voyager’s Final Frontier (22:30) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Ed Stone) Corporate Responsibility (33:06) by Adam Jacobs Declining Education Standards (39:10) by Peter Rowlett Tribal Scientist (45:11) by Kylie Sturgess (ft Michael McRae) Humans Are Amazing (54:44) by Drew Rae The sketch is by David Lovesy & Brian Two The Godel Song is by Ben Jones
This week we discover the plight of the Canadian Air & Space Museum, find out why the Venus Transit is significant and hear how a time traveler decided to come back in time… and then spend his time sat on internet messageboards.
URGENT: Our deputy editor, Liz Lutgendorff has lost her job. We live together in London and are at risk of losing our home if she is out of work. Can you help? Find details of her skills and qualifications here. Please spread the word.
Canadian Air & Space Museum (1:39) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Rob Godwin) Economic Woe (10:59) by Pete Hague Venus Transit Expedition (19:25) by Kash Farooq (ft Huw James) Confidence & Class (28:59) by Dean Burnett Timetravellers (39:22) by Leila Johnston Christmas Traditions (45:16) by Tom Hodden The sketch at the end was by David Lovesy, Brian Two and Steve Clark
This week we take a journey across time and space as we look forward to the Mars Science Lab mission, and talk about a new play that takes a look back into recent history through the medium of former Labour MP Chris Mullin’s diaries. We also speak to Marcus Chown about his new book and are scared by news of what the SOPA act could mean for the internet.
Mars Science Lab (1:40) by Kash Farooq (ft Claire Cousins) SOPA (9:42) by James Firth (ft Cathy Gellis) Darknet (19:07) by Salim Fadhley (ft Hose Manuel) Curing Cancer (26:54) by Matt Kaiser The BBC & Open Access (33:34) by Pete Hague Tweeting the Universe (38:32) by Liz Lutgendorff (ft Marcus Chown) A Walk On Part (47:11) by James O’Malley & Liz Lutgendorff (ft Steve Marmion, John Hodgkinson, Michael Crick, Diane Abbott and Don Foster) Solipsism (54:57) by Sean Ellis The sketch at the end is by David Lovesy & Brian Two Thanks to Hayley Stevens and Dave for supplying the dogs (!)
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The Pod Delusion is a weekly news magazine radio programme and podcast about interesting things. From politics, to science to culture and philosophy, it's commentary from a secular, rationalist, skeptical, somewhat lefty-liberal, sort of perspective. A bit like From Our Own Correspondent but with more jokes.
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