Nobel Prize Conversations
Nobel Prize Outreach
Through their lives and work, failures and successes – get to know the individuals who have been awarded the Nobel Prize. The host for this podcast is Adam Smith, who has the happy task of interviewing our Nobel Prize laureates.Sit in on our conversations as we delve into how these personalities found their fields of interest — often by coincidence — how they view collaboration, curiosity and failure, and what keeps them going. The laureates share what they have learned from their career and what they like to do outside of their work – from music to fly-fishing. We let the discussions flow freely, resulting in richly varied stories on topics ranging from poverty prevention to the science of black holes and the importance of being a role model.Our latest season is coming in Spring/Summer 2025 and features the new crop of 2024 laureates, and is produced in cooperation with Fundación Ramón Areces. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 4, 2022 • 9min
Calling John Clauser, 2022 physics laureate
“What a waste of time, now start doing some real physics!” – As a young man, John Clauser set out to topple quantum mechanics, but all his faculty thought he was crazy. "I thought it was important at the time, even though I was going to ruin my career by doing it, and in some sense I did: I’ve never been a professor!" But, as he tells Adam Smith in this joyous call recorded in the middle of the night, as Clauser is besieged by reporters, he was having fun. And, as history surely confirms, “I proved that I was a decent experimentalist!” 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.
Oct 4, 2022 • 8min
Calling Anton Zeilinger, 2022 physics laureate
"It’s probably one of the most beautiful theories ever invented.” – Anton Zeilinger conveys his love for the elegant simplicity of quantum mechanics in this call recorded shortly after the public announcement of his Nobel Prize. “With very few symbols”, he explains, “you can explain a whole lot of things from the smallest quantum particles up to the origin of the universe.” Zeilinger emphasises that the news also sends a message of huge appreciation to all the people he worked with, and ends by introducing Adam Smith to the strange and potentially useful world of quantum teleportation. 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.
Oct 4, 2022 • 8min
Calling Alain Aspect, 2022 physics laureate
“The conclusion is, yes, quantum mechanics resists all possible attacks!” — Alain Aspect was trying to find the limit of quantum mechanics, but, as he says in this call with Adam Smith, “I didn’t find it!”. Recorded just after he had received news of his Nobel Prize, this conversation captures his thoughts about the place of his work in the long history of quantum mechanics, the need for constant questioning and reflection, and how he gets his head around the weirdness of quantum entanglement.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.
Oct 3, 2022 • 10min
Calling Svante Pääbo, 2022 medicine laureate
“There were almost always other types of humans around.” In this telephone conversation recorded just after he had heard news of the award of his Nobel Prize, Svante Pääbo reflects on our relationship to extinct species of early hominins and how his exploration of their genetics might influence our view of ourselves and our place in nature. He also discusses what gave him the confidence to undertake the decades-long search and the influence of his mother and Nobel Prize laureate father, Sune Bergström. He tells Adam Smith that having a laureate father taught him an important lesson: “Such people are normal human beings.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 28, 2022 • 47min
Laureate origin stories: Adam Smith explores what factors make a Nobel Prize laureate
How do you make a Nobel Prize laureate? In this special bonus episode of Nobel Prize Conversations, we explore the origin stories of these remarkable individuals. This bonus episode features the Nobel Prize's Adam Smith, who shares some of his insights after speaking to more than 150 laureates. He is interviewed by the producer of Nobel Prize Conversations, Karin Svensson. Both nature and nurture play crucial parts in creating a Nobel Prize laureate. But there’s another, often-overlooked, factor that can shape their lives and careers: the element of chance. Or as Adam says, “These many, many, many pieces of luck, throughout life, come to make you what you are.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 7, 2022 • 39min
Maria Ressa: Nobel Prize Conversations
"We must get up, we must work like maniacs – because time is running out." Maria Ressa speaks passionately as she discusses how authoritarians exploit social media to unravel democracy, what needs to be done to fight this and when she thinks the damage might become irreversible. 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa is one of the founders of Rappler, an independent website for investigative journalism in the Philippines that is facing a threat of shutdown by the authorities in that country. In 2016 Rappler sounded the alarm on the social media revolution – two years later Facebook admitted responsibility for letting their platform be used as a weapon in the genocide of the Rohingyas of Myanmar. Your host is Adam Smith, chief scientific officer at Nobel Prize Outreach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 29, 2022 • 35min
Abdulrazak Gurnah: Nobel Prize Conversations
Abdulrazak Gurnah is the author of ten novels and an emeritus professor of English and postcolonial literatures at the university of Kent. He has been hailed for his ability to convey the immigrant experience – but to him, literature is much more than just social commentry. "We also read because it gives us pleasure – sometimes completely distracts us from other things we should be doing and thinking about."In the conversation, Abdulrazak Gurnah talks about fleeing his native Zanzibar as a teenager, and feeling unwelcome after arriving in the UK. He also offers insights into his writing: how he explores thoughtful silences and lifts the small struggles that play out in otherwise mundane lives and settings. Your host is Adam Smith, Chief Scientific Officer at Nobel Prize Outreach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 22, 2022 • 30min
Guido Imbens: Nobel Prize Conversations
In an increasingly chaotic world, how can you learn to concentrate deeply on a single problem? Economic Sciences laureate Guido Imbens found his powers of concentration while getting lost in chess games as a child. ”For four or five hours you would just shut out the rest of the world, you would be focused on one task.”Your host is Adam Smith, Chief Scientific Officer at Nobel Prize Outreach. In this episode Guido and Adam talk about the beauty of chess, the pitfalls in talking publicly about uncertain data, and the challenge of keeping an open mind in research. But the conversation kicks off by delving into an experience they share outside of academia: parenting teenagers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 15, 2022 • 32min
Hartmut Michel: Nobel Prize Conversations
"If somebody tells me 'this is impossible', I always think that it still might be possible – and try to find a way around." Where would the world be, without the scientists who look beyond the conventional wisdom and try to solve the unsolvable problems? Hartmut Michel speaks about his working class background, discovering his love of science – and travel – in a public library, and why he's remained true to his native Germany. Your host is Adam Smith, Chief Scientific Officer at Nobel Prize Outreach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 8, 2022 • 33min
David Julius: Nobel Prize Conversations
"I didn't really like school very much. And I was always like a little bit nervous about not doing well." David Julius, the 2021 physiology or medicine laureate, talks about his journey from anxious pupil to confident researcher, the importance of diversity in science, and how his research is connected to how different species experience the world in different ways. Your host is Adam Smith, Chief Scientific Officer at Nobel Prize Outreach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
