The Conversation

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Channel • 21 Shows

Kids & Family

Kids & Family

Updated weekly
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated fortnightly
Politics

Politics

Updated 29 Apr

Nutrition

Nutrition

Updated weekly
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated weekly
Kids & Family

Kids & Family

Updated weekly
Physics

Physics

Updated weekly
Politics

Politics

Updated 29 Apr
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated fortnightly
Science

Science

Every two months

5 days ago

Teens are still on social media, but does that mean Australia's ban has failed?

When Australia banned under 16-year-olds from using social media in December 2025, it became a test case for a policy now being pursued by governments around the world. This week, the UK announced a similar social media ban from 2027. So how’s it going in Australia? Have the teenagers emerged from a phone-lit glow to reengage in the real world? And what kind of difference is it having on their mental health? In this episode, we speak to Susan Sawyer, a professor of adolescent mental health at the University of Melbourne, who is running a number of ongoing studies examining the way young people and their parents are reacting to Australia’s ban. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware, Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and 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.

5 days ago

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27 min
10 Feb

What is the vagus nerve and can you really reset it?

The vagus nerve has become the internet’s favourite body part. On social media, it is everywhere. People hum into their phones, gargle with theatrical enthusiasm, dunk their faces into bowls of ice water and poke at their ears in the hope of “activating” it. So in this episode we focus our attention on the body’s longest cranial nerve and ask a simple question: what does the vagus nerve actually do, and can we really hack it? Hosts Katie Edwards and Dan Baumgardt turn this week to Arshad Majid, a professor of cerebrovascular neurology at the University of Sheffield and an expert in vagus nerve stimulation. Strange Health is a podcast from The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Full credits for this episode available here. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here. Hosts: Katie Edwards from The Conversation and Dan Baumgardt, University of Bristol Executive Producer: Gemma Ware Editing and mixing: Anouk MIllet Artwork: Alice Mason From decapitation to positive psychology: how one nerve connects body, brain and mindStimulating the pathway connecting body and brain may change chronic condition patients’ lives

10 Feb

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36 min
11 Jun

How the US finally fell in love with soccer

When Roberto Baggio missed a penalty in the 1994 Fifa World Cup final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, more than 94,000 people were there to watch Italian heartbreak and Brazilian ecstasy. To this day, no other World Cup has been as well attended as the 1994 tournament. Tickets were cheap and abundant, and despite the relatively low profile of the game in the US compared to sports like baseball or basketball, people went along to see what it was all about. Now, three decades later, as the 2026 World Cup returns to North America with games across Mexico, Canada and the US, soccer has grown a much larger and more dedicated fan base in America. In this episode, we speak to John Sloop, a professor of communication studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and historian of soccer and its fans in the United States, about what’s changed for the men’s game in the US and whether the popularity has staying power. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware, Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and 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. Is soccer taking over America … or are Americans taking over football?How apartheid, European racism and Pelé helped cultivate a culture of diversity in US soccer that endures into Messi-era MLSSoaring ticket prices could help FIFA pull in $15B this World Cup cycle — where does the money come from, where does it go?

11 Jun

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26 min
10 Mar

What is period scooping? And other menstrual hacks you should think twice about

Period scooping sounds like something you would only hear in a biology lab, not while doom-scrolling TikTok. Yet earlier this year, videos claiming you can “scoop out” your period to avoid the mess and shorten the whole thing racked up millions of views. In this episode, we hear from Sally King, a visiting fellow at King’s College London, about why you can't shorten your period, and why you need to be careful about upsetting the pH balance of your body. She also gives us her perspective as a menstrual physiologist on other period hacks, including menstrual blood face masks, and drinks that some influencers say can shorten your period. Strange Health is a podcast from The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you've got a question about a viral trend or video you've seen and you'd like us to delve into the science behind it in a future episode, please email us at strangehealth@theconversation.com. Full credits for this episode available here. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here. If you've got a questeion Hosts: Katie Edwards from The Conversation and Dan Baumgardt, University of Bristol Executive Producer: Gemma Ware Editing and mixing: Anouk Millet Artwork: Alice Mason Menstrual health literacy is alarmingly low – what you don’t know can harm youWould you put period blood on your face? What science says about ‘menstrual masking’Your vagina cleans itself: why vagina cleaning fads are unnecessary and harmful

10 Mar

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37 min
16 Jun

6 | The Making of One Nation: seize the moment?

One Nation didn't emerge in a vacuum, then or now. The global surge in right-wing populism has propelled the party and thirty years on, it’s arguably stronger than ever. But is its popularity a protest or a fundamental realignment of Australian politics? And what happens to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, post Pauline? In the sixth and final episode of The Making of One Nation, we speak to Jill Sheppard, a political scientist and senior lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University. This episode was written and hosted by Ashlynne McGhee and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski. Sound design by Michelle Macklem. Misha Ketchel is the editor of The Conversation Australia. If you are enjoying the series, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation.

16 Jun

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25 min
24 Feb

What your body odour says about you

Body odour has a reputation problem. It is often treated as a hygiene failure or a social offence. In reality, it is biology at work, plus a big helping of culture. And yet people online are trying chlorophyll shots to make their BO smell better. Hosts Katie Edwards and Dan Baumgardt discuss what evidence there is behind this, plus some of the health conditions that can affect body odour. And we talk to Mats Olsson, a professor of experimental psychology at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, who studies how humans perceive body odour. Strange Health is a podcast from The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Full credits for this episode available here. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here. Hosts: Katie Edwards from The Conversation and Dan Baumgardt, University of Bristol Executive Producer: Gemma Ware Editing and mixing: Anouk Millet Artwork: Alice Mason

24 Feb

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40 min
12/04/2023

Theory of everything: do we really need one?

The quest for a theory of everything – explaining all the forces and particles in the universe – is arguably the holy grail of physics. While each of our main theories of physics works extraordinarily well, they also clash with each other. But do we really need a theory of everything? And are we anywhere near achieving one? Featuring Vlatko Vedral, a professor of physics at the University of Oxford and Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, an assistant professor in physics and astronomy and core faculty in women's and gender studies at the University Of New Hampshire. This episode is presented by Miriam Frankel and produced by Hannah Fisher. Executive producers are Jo Adetunji and Gemma Ware. Social media and platform production by Alice Mason, sound design by Eloise Stevens and music by Neeta Sarl. A transcript is available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. Further reading: The standard model of particle physics may be broken – an expert explains

12/04/2023

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57 min
4 Jun

Two scientists on their race to make a new Ebola vaccine

As health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to battle an ongoing Ebola outbreak, scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against the strain of the virus that’s causing it. Two approved vaccines exist for Ebola, but they target the Zaire strain of the virus, not the Bundibugyo strain causing the 2026 outbreak, which has so far killed 61 people with 359 confirmed cases in the DRC and neighbouring Uganda. In this episode, we speak to two scientists at the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, Teresa Lambe and Rebecca Makinson, who are developing a vaccine candidate for Bundibugyo virus. On June 1, they were among three research groups to receive fast-track funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, alongside Moderna and IAVI. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware, Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Mixing by Eleanor Brezzi and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and 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.

4 Jun

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22 min
05/04/2023

Will we ever have a fundamental theory of life and consciousness?

What’s the difference between a living collection of matter, such as a tortoise, and an inanimate lump of it, such as a rock? They are, after all, both just made up of non-living atoms. The truth is, we don’t really know yet. Life seems to just somehow emerge from non-living parts. Featuring Jim Al-Khalili, professor of physics at the University of Surrey and Sara Imari Walker professor of physics at Arizona State University. This episode is presented by Miriam Frankel and produced by Hannah Fisher. Executive producers are Jo Adetunji and Gemma Ware. Social media and platform production by Alice Mason, sound design by Eloise Stevens and music by Neeta Sarl. A transcript is available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. Further reading: Life: modern physics can’t explain it – but our new theory, which says time is fundamental, might

05/04/2023

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48 min
28 May

The salt caverns used to stockpile oil

Buried underground in caverns dug out of salt on the Gulf coast of the US are millions of barrels worth of crude oil. This is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, built up in the late 1970s. Globally, at the end of 2025, global strategic oil stockpiles were estimated at 2.5 billion barrels, with China holding the most. With the Strait of Hormuz now closed for more than two months, global oil supplies are being squeezed. In March, as part of a co-ordinated move by members of the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil to prevent price spikes, the US began releasing 172 million barrels from its strategic reserves. In this episode, we speak to Scott Montgomery, a former petroleum geologist who lectures in international studies at the University of Washington, about why these oil stockpiles were built up in the first place, and how they work. This episode was written and produced by Gemma Ware and Katie Flood with production assistance from Katie Flood. Mixing by Eleanor Brezzi and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and 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. Why Middle East gas field attacks could send energy prices soaringWhy the Persian Gulf has more oil and gas than anywhere else on EarthWar in the Middle East made the case for renewables – what’s happening in each country tells a harder storyThe government’s plans to bolster Australia’s fuel stores are sensible – but 5 years too lateOver 400 million barrels will be added to the oil market soon – what are strategic reserves and what can they do?

28 May

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24 min

Listen to experts explain the world around us and tell the stories behind brand new research. Podcasts from The Conversation, an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community. Shows in English, French and Bahasa Indonesia. Free to listen.