In today's uncertain world, the sixth episode of our series on science advice and government, explores how governments can better understand and respond to unforeseeable and challenging extreme risk scenarios, such as cyber hacking, biological hazards, climate change, and future pandemics following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Host Dr Rob Doubleday is joined by:

-Lord Martin Rees, the UK's Astronomer Royal, a Cosmologist and Member of the House of Lords, which in December 2021 published the report, ‘Preparing for Extreme Risks, Building a Resilient Society’, which tackled some of the questions about how governments learn, react to, and prepare for extreme risks.

-Suzanne Raine, an Affiliate Lecturer at the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge. She was formerly a civil servant and was Head of the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre from 2015-2017.

-Dr Kristen MacAskill, an Assistant Professor in Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Her work is on the governance and resilience of infrastructure and she has spent years in industry looking at disaster response.

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Season 5 is produced in partnership with the research project Expertise Under Pressure, Centre for the Humanities and Social Change at the University of Cambridge.

CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast is hosted by CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday, and is edited and produced by CSaP Communications Coordinator Jessica Foster. Research for this series is supported by CSaP Policy Researcher Nick Cosstick.

Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.

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Resources relevant to this episode:

- House of Lords Risk Assessment and Risk Planning’s Report: Preparing for Extreme Risks: Building a Resilient Society

-Cabinet Office Guidance: Risk Assessment: How the Risk of Emergencies in the UK is Assessed

-National Risk Register 2020

-Introduction to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre

- Lord Martin Rees’ book about existential risks: On the Future: Prospects for Humanity

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Thursday Evening // December 28, 2023