Babbage from The Economist

The Economist

Babbage is The Economist’s weekly podcast on science and technology—named after Charles Babbage, the grandfather of computing. Explore the science changing the way we live from AI to genetics, particle physics and space travel with Alok Jha. This award-winning podcast features in-depth interviews with top scientists and special episodes investigating wellness trends. Published every Wednesday. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about Economist Podcasts+, including how to get access, please visit our FAQs page here https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. An antimatter road trip

    6 GG FA • SOLO ABBONATI

    An antimatter road trip

    The universe—and everything inside it—shouldn’t exist. The big bang should have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter, and their mutual annihilation should have resulted in nothing more than a sprawling ball of energy. But, in fact, the universe is dominated by matter, while antimatter is vanishingly rare. To try to understand why, physicists have taken antimatter on a road trip—for the first time in history. Guests and hosts: - Sam Wikeley, The Economist’s science correspondent - April Cridland of CERN’s antimatter factory - Stefan Ulmer of HHU Düsseldorf and CERN’s BASE experiment - Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor Topics covered: - Antimatter - The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) - Particle physics Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    39 min
  2. Inside the mind of Demis Hassabis

    7 APR • SOLO ABBONATI

    Inside the mind of Demis Hassabis

    The AI race is intensifying. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, according to Demis Hassabis, the boss of Google DeepMind. Journalist and biographer Sebastian Mallaby has had unprecedented access to Mr Hassabis over the past three years. In this episode, he tells us how the AI pioneer was swept into a commercial and geopolitical contest that he never expected. Can Mr Hassabis’s aim of safely building artificial superintelligence still be achieved? Guests and hosts: - Sebastian Mallaby, author of “The Infinity Machine” - Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor Topics covered: - Demis Hassabis and Google DeepMind - AI safety and regulation - China’s open-source AI industry Watch Inside Tech's recent interview with Demis Hassabis on The Economist's app. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    42 min
  3. A vaccine for everything

    31 MAR • SOLO ABBONATI

    A vaccine for everything

    Imagine if a single vaccine could protect against a vast array of pathogenic threats. Recent research suggests that a universal vaccine to fend off respiratory viruses, bacterial infections—even allergens—might become a reality. Such jabs would be vital for blunting the impact of the next pandemic. Guests and hosts: - Ainslie Johnstone, The Economist’s data and science correspondent - Mihai Netea of Radboud University Nijmegen - Pamela Bjorkman of the California Institute of Technology - Bali Pulendran of Stanford University - Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor Topics covered: - Broad-spectrum vaccines - Immunology - mRNA technology Listen to Ainslie’s related reporting on dementia and infections by scrolling back to our March 2025 episode, “Going viral: could infections cause Alzheimer's?” Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    44 min
  4. How AI is really being used in war

    25 MAR • SOLO ABBONATI

    How AI is really being used in war

    The conflict in Iran has been described as the “first AI war”. But how is artificial intelligence actually being deployed? We examine the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine, which raise some thorny questions about the mechanics and ethics of the future of war. Guests and hosts: - Shashank Joshi, defence editor at The Economist - James Lawson, a director at Helsing - Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor Topics covered: - Military technology - Autonomous weapons - Artificial intelligence Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    42 min
  5. The dangers of obsessing over metrics

    18 MAR • SOLO ABBONATI

    The dangers of obsessing over metrics

    The mechanisms of games are often used to motivate people—from tracking health to scrolling social media feeds and even the way school is graded. But C. Thi Nguyen is worried we’re over-obsessing about keeping score. He wants us to focus more on the things we enjoy doing, rather than letting metrics hijack our lives. Guests and hosts: - C. Thi Nguyen, a philosopher at the University of Utah and author of “The Score” - Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor Topics covered: - Games - Metrics - Social media Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    37 min
  6. AI catastrophe could be around the corner

    11 MAR • SOLO ABBONATI

    AI catastrophe could be around the corner

    The spat between America’s government and Anthropic has some alarming implications. In AI development, it appears speed is being prioritised over safety. Artificial intelligence could not only give bad actors the capabilities to unleash destruction, evidence is building that the models themselves are becoming more capable of deceit. Is a catastrophe imminent? Guests and hosts: - Alex Hern, The Economist’s AI writer - Adam Beaumont, director of Britain’s AI Security Institute (AISI) - Jade Leung, Chief Technology Officer at AISI - Alok Jha, host of “Babbage” Watch Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, interview Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s boss, on “The Insider”. Topics covered: - Anthropic vs America's government - AI safety - Cyber security Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    47 min

  7. 4 MAR • SOLO ABBONATI

    Why better chips will need more extreme physics

    Making computer chips is not easy. The machines that etch patterns onto silicon wafers already use some astonishing engineering. To make the next generation of computer chips, though, engineers will need to get even more radical. Guests and hosts: - Shailesh Chitnis, The Economist’s global business correspondent - Bruno La Fontaine, a physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Nicholas Kelez, CEO and CTO of xLight - Alok Jha, host of “Babbage” Topics covered: - Extreme ultraviolet lithography - Chipmaking - ASML Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    37 min
  8. Science is winning the war on cancer

    25 FEB • SOLO ABBONATI

    Science is winning the war on cancer

    The rates of deaths from cancer have fallen dramatically in recent decades. And the good news doesn’t stop there. By teasing out the reasons why some cancers take hold, while others don’t, scientists are opening up new ways to prevent even more cases of the disease. Guests and hosts: - Slavea Chankova, The Economist’s health-care correspondent - Joanna Fowler, senior staff scientist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute - Phil Jones, an oncologist at the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Sanger Institute - Alok Jha, host of “Babbage” Topics covered: - Cancer research - Tumour prevention - Carcinogens Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

    40 min
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Descrizione

Babbage is The Economist’s weekly podcast on science and technology—named after Charles Babbage, the grandfather of computing. Explore the science changing the way we live from AI to genetics, particle physics and space travel with Alok Jha. This award-winning podcast features in-depth interviews with top scientists and special episodes investigating wellness trends. Published every Wednesday. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about Economist Podcasts+, including how to get access, please visit our FAQs page here https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Informazioni

  • Canale
    The Economist
  • Creatore
    The Economist
  • Anni di attività
    2012 - 2026
  • Puntate
    580
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti adatti a tutti
  • Copyright
    Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2023. All rights reserved.
  • Sito web del podcast
    Babbage from The Economist
  • Fornitore

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