Instant Genius

Weekly expert interviews on science, health, cooking and discovery AI summary

Our Media Visit website › Science · EN · 694 episodes · latest 2026-11-13

Rank 1579

0 upvotes, 0 downvotes

Embed a widget with this podcast’s standing on your website

What it is about

Whether you’re curious about getting healthy, the Big Bang or the science of cooking, find out everything you need to know with Instant Genius. The team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine talk to world-leading experts to bring you two bite-sized masterclasses on a new subject each week. New episodes are released every Monday and Friday and you can subscribe to Instant Genius on Apple Podcasts to access all new episodes ad-free and all old episodes of Instant Genius Extra. Watch full episodes of Instant Genius on BBC Science Focus Magazine's YouTube channel. Follow us on X: @SFIGPod

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
Our Media

Listen

Available at these services — the RSS feed works in any podcast app.

Apple Podcasts Deezer Spotify

Latest episodes

The deep connection between science and art

2026-11-13 · 24 min · Season 1, episode 498

In the late 1950s the scientist and novelist C.P. Snow declared that there’s a deep divide between the world of the arts and the world of science, as he famously said they are two cultures. He argued that, oftentimes,…
What really happens in our brains when we sleep

2026-11-09 · 39 min · Season 1, episode 497

Every night when we fall asleep, our brains and bodies switch into a mode of functioning that’s entirely different from that of our waking lives. During sleep, our bodies become essentially paralysed, and our brains…
How evolution made the strangest creatures on Earth

2026-11-06 · 33 min · Season 1, episode 496

Evolution by natural selection has given rise to a fascinating tapestry of living organisms, each occupying their own individual niche. The result is a world filled with a dizzying array of weird and wonderful creatures…
The often-bizarre history of mind-machine interfaces

2026-11-02 · 31 min · Season 1, episode 495

Since the discovery of electricity, scientists, inventors and engineers have attempted to figure out ways in which this often-mysterious force could influence our brains and behaviour. History is littered with all…
Why our brains crave answers and the psychology of explanation

2026-10-30 · 32 min · Season 1, episode 494

Almost as soon as we are able to speak, we start asking our parents, relatives, and teachers an almost frustratingly large number of ‘why questions’. It’s an essential part of the natural human desire to understand the…
Why our online lives are making us sick and how to fix it

2026-10-26 · 38 min · Season 1, episode 493

Over the last decade or so, it’s become abundantly clear that eating a diet based on ultra-processed food is damaging to our bodily health. Could it be that our information diets, the deluge of content we consume online…
Why tuning into your body’s natural rhythms is the key to productivity

2026-10-22 · 43 min · Season 1, episode 492

Sometimes, no matter how busy we are or how hard we work, when we look back on our day, it can seem like we didn’t really achieve very much. Why is this and what can we do to make more effective use of our time? Could…
How maths underpins almost every aspect of our lives

2026-10-18 · 35 min · Season 1, episode 491

For many of us, maths is simply a subject we studied at school to help us learn how to count, add one thing to another, and carry out everyday tasks such as managing our personal finances. But if we look more deeply,…
Why bogs are one of the planet’s most undervalued ecosystems

2026-10-15 · 34 min · Season 1, episode 490

For those of us who live in towns and cities, bogs may seem to be a rare environmental relic left over from times gone by, or perhaps something we’ve only encountered onscreen in spooky fantasy movies. The fact is that…
Why leaves are one of nature’s most versatile creations

2026-10-11 · 35 min · Season 1, episode 489

From the neatly curated English country garden to the wild jungles of the Amazon, the Earth is host to a staggeringly diverse range of plant life. One of the key reasons for the great evolutionary success of plants is…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Oldest episode in feed: 10/2017 · over 9 years
Typical length: 33 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

Instant Genius in the rankings

The best Science podcasts The best English-language podcasts All rankings ›

For podcasters

Is this podcast yours? Verify it — afterwards you can correct details, get the widget for your website, and we let you know when your podcast is nominated or wins.

Without an account you can use an email address on your show’s own domain — we create the account along the way. The other methods need a login.