Nobel Prize Conversations

Meet astrophysicist Andrea Ghez, recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy." In this energy-packed conversation with Adam Smith, you can hear about prima donna galaxies, Ghez’s personal pet star, and how she overcame one of her biggest childhood fears. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What costs a billion dollars and takes 50 years to build and perfect? LIGO: A machine to detect gravitational waves. In this encore presentation of a conversation from Season 2, Kip Thorne confides, ”In the 70’s I thought we would have this done within one decade ... two decades at the most.” Predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, gravitational waves were first measured by the LIGO detector in 2015. Still a cutting-edge scientific tool, LIGO will begin its next observing run (O4) in March 2023 and will be able to detect events almost twice as far away as when it made its first, ground-breaking measurements. Meet astrophysicist Kip Thorne, who was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves." In a wide-ranging conversation with host Adam Smith they cover Albert Einstein’s importance to the field of science, whether time travel is actually possible, and what it was like to be the physics guru inside the blockbuster film ’Interstellar’." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“What we’re talking about here is credit.” — In this conversation, recorded the day after the announcement from Stockholm, Ben Bernanke stresses the importance of the financial system as a critical part of the broader economy, not just a 'side show'. “That’s the real insight,” he says, “that credit can help provide growth, but if the credit mechanism is badly disrupted it can also be a very adverse development for the economy.” He also talks with Adam Smith about how he approached the challenge of transitioning from academic to practitioner, as Chair of the Federal Reserve: “I tried to keep my focus simultaneously on the very near term, what I had to do next; the next speech, the next testimony, the next decision, while at the same time periodically thinking about the big picture.” From October 3-10, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2022 Nobel Prize laureates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“When I woke up I had what seemed like thousands of messages” — Philip Dybvig’s phone was on silent, so he missed the call from Stockholm. When, half asleep, he did confirm the news, he recalls that his initial response was one of stress: “What’s this going to do to my life?” In this call recorded a few hours later he talks briefly to Adam Smith about the theoretical model that he and Douglas Diamond built, and how important it is to ensure that such findings are accessible to policymakers: "We worked so hard to make the paper simple." From October 3-10, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2022 Nobel Prize laureates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“There are very few people in the world I’d rather be sitting next to when discussing these issues” — In this interview recorded just after the public announcement, Douglas Diamond, the first of the three laureates to hear the news, speaks about his happiness at receiving the economic sciences prize together with Philip Dybvig and Ben Bernanke. He tells Adam Smith how he and Dybvig laid the groundwork for their intense working relationship, which lead to the influential Diamond-Dybvig model, while waiting outside their supervisor’s office at Yale, plentifully supplied with cookies. Fast forward to the financial crisis 15 years ago and, Diamond says, “The world was incredibly lucky to have Ben Bernanke sitting in the Federal Reserve”. From October 3-10, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2022 Nobel Prize laureates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Common people have a much greater impact than they can even imagine” — When asked what brings her hope, Oleksandra Matviychuk replies, “Ordinary people.” Although the challenges faced might seem insurmountable, she sees first hand how people have the power to change the status quo: “Mobilisation of common people can change world history quicker than UN intervention.” In this conversation with Adam Smith, recorded the day after the announcement of the award of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to the organisation she heads, Matviychuk speaks of the sense of solidarity to be gained from fighting together for human rights: "This is about a story that freedom has no borders and human rights values are universal."The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"It is incredible" — Before the public announcement of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Olav Njølstad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, called Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of Center for Civil Liberties to inform her that her organisation was one of the three Nobel Peace Prize laureates for 2022. Today the Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“You should be drawn to uncertainty” — Barry Sharpless quotes Einstein when asked about his daring approach to choosing problems: “If at first the idea is not absurd, then there’s no hope for it”. Ever inventive, he starts this conversation with Adam Smith not by talking about the work that led to his first Nobel Prize, or even to his second, but his very latest research findings from the lab. Recorded on the morning he was woken very early by the news from Stockholm, he goes on to discuss the dangerous thrill of ideas and how difficult problems just insist on being tackled: “If the damn thing comes back to me and says, ‘You don’t know the answer to this,’ then I say I’ve got to give that respect, and try it again.” From October 3-10, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2022 Nobel Prize laureates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“When the world is in trouble, chemistry comes to the rescue” - As just illustrated by the Covid pandemic, says Carolyn Bertozzi, “Chemistry is such an exciting area of science for people who want to have an impact.” This call with Adam Smith, recorded immediately after the public announcement of her Nobel Prize, caught her just before the world started descending on her home in California. As the 8th female Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, she says “I can’t help but think about all the women that came before me that didn’t have the opportunity to be recognised.” But her view of the future is bright: “I’m very optimistic about how science, and the culture of science, is trending.” From October 3-10, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2022 Nobel Prize laureates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Reality is much more complex than we, as chemists, are able to imagine” — In the call recorded just after he had heard that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize, Morten Meldal describes how he views chemistry as a way of describing reality. It’s a field that should appeal to the young, he says, since “Understanding how everything works is a very challenging but also a very rewarding experience.” And the possibilities are endless, as he tells Adam Smith: “We are only scratching the beginning of our understanding of organic chemistry.”From October 3-10, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2022 Nobel Prize laureates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.