Physics World
105 episodes listed below
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Physics is full of captivating stories, from ongoing endeavours to explain the cosmos to ingenious innovations that shape the world around us. In the Physics World Stories podcast, Andrew Glester talks to the people behind some of the most intriguing and inspiring scientific stories. Listen to the podcast to hear from a diverse mix of scientists, engineers, artists and other commentators. Find out more about the stories in this podcast by visiting the Physics World website. If you enjoy what you hear, then also check out the Physics World Weekly podcast, a science-news podcast presented by our award-winning science journalists.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes difficult physics legible by following the people who test, reinterpret and apply it.
Physics World Stories Podcast builds its episodes around conversations that connect physical science to history, culture and lived consequences.
Chernobyl apple brandy is your invitation to ask the physicist the awkward follow-up.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A playful Olympic-sport question becomes a crisp lesson in how basilisk lizards use impact to stay above water.
Physics World Stories turns a playground dare into a neat piece of sports science: could Sha'Carri Richardson run across water? The episode treats the question with just enough seriousness, using basilisk lizards as the natural comparison.
Diving and skating turn rotational physics into something viewers can see.
Physics World Stories finds a clear route into sports physics through movements athletes make look easy: a diver folding into a tuck, an ice skater pulling mass toward the spin axis, and the rotation that changes as a result.
A concert crowd, seismic data and a metal physics track give sound and motion an unusually lively showcase.
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour turns into a neat way into earthquake science, as geophysicist Jackie Kaplan Auerbach describes the waves created when a crowd moves as one.
A patient guide to the physics, scientific texture and alien questions behind Netflix's Three-Body Problem.
The Physics World Stories Podcast treats Netflix's Three-Body Problem as an inviting way into the real physics sitting under its science-fiction premise.
Amanda Lee Falkenberg maps moon science onto an orchestral journey from Io to Earth's Moon.
Amanda Lee Falkenberg's Moon Symphony turns a tour of the solar system's moons into a work of orchestral storytelling, and this Physics World Stories episode traces how that idea grew from piano, performance, ballet and composition.
A focused look at the training behind a future astronaut mission.
Rosemary Coogan's path into astronaut training gives this Physics World Stories episode its shape, turning it into a careful look at the work behind a future trip to the International Space Station, with Artemis still in view.
A sculpture of a quantum engine frames a careful move from a physics summit into thermodynamics.
Hamish Johnston follows a visit to the Global Physics Summit in Anaheim into a discussion of quantum steampunk, with Bruce Rosenbaum's sculpture of a quantum engine serving as the episode's clear anchor.
A measured look at quantum research becoming music and public-facing art.
Physics World Stories turns the Yale Quantum Institute's art residency into a grounded human account of how musicians, physicists, and artist Serena Scappagnini are trying to make quantum ideas audible and visible.
A particle physicist and a cartoonist take listener questions on dark matter and black holes.
Recorded PhD summer-school lectures from LMU Munich's Arnold Sommerfeld Center on quantum computing.
Theoretical physics, patiently brought to the board.
Curious physics, explained in motion.
A physicist who spent 40 years studying Chernobyl reveals that the social and psychological impacts of the disaster exceeded the direct radiation damage.
This podcast segment introduces Pele's hair and tears, volcanic formations named after the Hawaiian goddess Pele, and explores their significance in understanding volcanic dynamics and geology.
This episode previews the Helgoland 2025 workshop, commemorating the centenary of Heisenberg's quantum mechanics breakthrough on Helgoland island, featuring interviews with leading physicists about future quantum research.
This segment introduces Mark Levinson's new documentary exploring the connections between science and art, highlighting his background and previous works.
This podcast segment introduces an episode exploring how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing physics, featuring discussions on AI applications in particle physics, scientific photography, and insights from experts including a former Microsoft consultant and particle physicist.
This episode segment explores the physics of sheep herding and its connections to human crowd behavior, featuring insights from science writer Philip Ball.
This segment introduces astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a NASA space shuttle, and discusses her role in the post-Columbia disaster return to flight mission, as well as a new documentary film about her life.
Andrew Glester interviews Linda Williams, a physicist and science cabaret performer, about her unique blend of physics and music.
Theoretical physicist Paul Davies discusses his book 'Quantum 2.0', exploring the past, present, and future of quantum physics.
This episode explores the collaboration between quantum physics and art at Yale Quantum Institute, featuring interviews with managing director Florian Kahl and artist Serena Scappagnini.
This episode explores QWIP+, a conference for undergraduate women and non-binary physicists, featuring interviews with organizer Dr June McCombie and students Tanchabri Kaur and Harriet McCormick.
This episode features Jessica and Emily Esquivel discussing QueerQuest, an event in Chicago that blends quantum mechanics with mental health to support Black, brown, and queer communities.
Host Hamish Johnston interviews theoretical physicist Nicole Younger Halpern and steampunk artist Bruce Rosenbaum about their collaboration on a quantum steampunk sculpture.
This episode explores the intersection of quantum physics history and creative storytelling through a fictional diary imagining Werner Heisenberg's 1925 retreat to Helgoland.
Scientists repurposed the Europa Clipper spacecraft to study comet 3i Atmos, an interstellar visitor traveling at 58 kilometers per second that originated 13 billion years ago from another solar system.
This episode features Dr.
This episode explores careers in quantum technologies, featuring interviews with experts like Araceli Villegas Gomez and Dr.
Andrew Glester interviews Rosemary Coogan, an astrophysicist selected as an ESA astronaut in 2022, about her journey from childhood dreams to intensive training for missions to the ISS and potentially the Moon.
This episode explores the intersection of quantum physics and art through interviews with artist Felicity Inkpen and Physics World editor Tishna Komisariat.
This episode explores overlooked women in quantum physics history, featuring interviews with contributors to the book 'Women in the History of Quantum Physics'.
Physics World Stories Podcast host Andrew Glester interviews aerospace engineer Nicole Sharp about whether humans could imitate basilisk lizards and run across water.
Physics World Stories Podcast examines how John Eric Goff applies torque, airflow, center of mass, and angular momentum to football, high jump, sprinting, diving, boxing, swimming, and martial arts.
Jackie Kaplan Auerbach explains how sound from submarine volcanoes can reveal remote eruptions and how seismic data captured Taylor Swift concert activity in Seattle.
Andrew Glester examines Netflix’s Three-Body Problem with science writer Jennifer Ouellette and science advisor Matthew Kenzie, focusing on the physics behind the series’ three-star system, Sophons, and virtual-reality scenes.
Amanda Lee Falkenberg tells Andrew Glester how a piano concerto about full moons became the seven-movement Moon Symphony about Io, Europa, Titan, Enceladus, Miranda, Ganymede, and Earth's Moon.
Physics World Stories host Andrew Glester examines whether fast galaxy rotation curves are better explained by unseen dark matter or modified Newtonian dynamics, known as MOND.
Physics World Stories examines how amateur astronomers helped establish radio astronomy through Carl Jansky’s detection of a galactic radio hiss and Grote Reber’s backyard Milky Way map.
Physics World Stories Podcast host Andrew Glester interviews Union College professor Chad Orzel about how laser light slows atoms and enables atomic clocks, GPS, quantum computing, and ultracold-matter research.
Kai Bird explains how Martin Sherwin’s 20-year Oppenheimer project became American Prometheus, a 700-plus-page biography that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize and inspired Christopher Nolan’s film.