Babbage from The Economist (subscriber edition)
The Economist
Babbage is our weekly podcast on science and technology, named after Charles Babbage—a 19th-century polymath and grandfather of computing. Host Alok Jha talks to our correspondents about the innovations, discoveries and gadgetry shaping the world. 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
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 20, 2016 • 12min
Babbage: One blockchain to rule them all?
This week we discuss how to keep drones away from manned aircraft and talk to Vitalik Buterin, inventor of Ethereum
Apr 14, 2016 • 16min
Babbage: Better lives for autistic people
Researcher Simon Baron-Cohen joins our writers to discuss autism in the workplace. And our innovation editor on mapping technology in driverless cars.
Apr 6, 2016 • 13min
Babbage: Mark Zuckerberg's vision
An efficient, low-cost way to detect explosives, and our US technology editor analyses Facebook’s future after an interview with its boss, Mark Zuckerberg
Mar 30, 2016 • 13min
Babbage: What’s in a yeast?
New yeasts could open up new flavours for clever chocolate and coffee producers, and sonic booms may become less loud, unleashing faster private air travel
Mar 23, 2016 • 14min
Babbage: How to crack an iPhone
The FBI claims it may be able to bypass the privacy protections on a terrorist's Apple phone. But the broader dispute over balancing user privacy and national security remains.
Mar 16, 2016 • 11min
Babbage: Data heard, memories retrieved
Scientists find ways of analysing data sonically, not visually, and a new study suggests how memory problems in Alzheimer's disease aren't with storage, but with retrieval
Mar 9, 2016 • 14min
Babbage: The future of computing
In a milestone for artificial intelligence, a program designed to play the ancient Asian game of Go has won the first of its five games against a human champion. It's an example of how smarter software, not just more powerful hardware, will drive progress in the computer industry in future
Mar 2, 2016 • 13min
Babbage: From footies to selfies
Brain scans of American footballers reveal the darker side of contact sports and a new study on social media uncovers why we take selfies
Feb 24, 2016 • 9min
Babbage: Apple and the reason for sex
Apple clashes with the FBI over accessing iPhone data and scientists finally prove why we keep having sex
Feb 17, 2016 • 12min
Babbage: 5G to unite them all
The fifth generation of mobile network promises to take us one step closer to wireless paradise and researchers infect patients with modified viruses to fight cancer
