The Jodcast

Dr. Simon Clark, a science communicator and climate advocate known for his engaging YouTube presence, discusses the importance of climate literacy and how he balances his role as a YouTuber with research. He offers insights on making complex climate science relatable and emphasizes the need for optimism in climate action. Meanwhile, Dr. Vasu Shaw explores her research on galactic magnetism and cosmic rays, explaining innovative methods used to understand the universe’s magnetic fields and the implications for cosmic ray origins.

Feeling the Cosmic Pulse. In this month's episode, Jessy and Barbara had the opportunity to speak to Dr Kai Schmitz of the University of Munster about the first results from the Pulsar Timing Array and how this could affect our understanding of early universe cosmology. Louisa and Sohini provide an end of year round up for the Jodcast, talking about the highlights of 2025 and where we are going in 2026. In our Jodbite, Louisa and Phoebe speak to PhD student Kathryn Edmundson about her work detecting and characterizing exoplanets.

Reaching the Stars. In this month’s episode, we’ve got lots of exciting interviews. This year, the UK Space Conference was held in Manchester so we had the opportunity to interview the CEO of the UK Space Agency, Paul Bate, and ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan. In our Jodbite, we hear more about the Simons Observatory from Berni Reid Guachalla.

Join Prof Michael Brown, a leading astrophysicist from the Jodrell Bank Centre, and Dr Katie Harrington, an expert in CMB instrumentation, as they dive into the groundbreaking Simons Observatory project. They discuss how the observatory will enhance our understanding of the universe's infancy and tackle challenges in detecting primordial B-mode polarization. Harrington shares insights on testing equipment and the meticulous calibration needed for this ambitious telescope. Get ready to explore the cosmos like never before!

Join Dr. Mel Ifran, a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge, as she discusses her fascinating journey from radio astronomy to cancer detection. She reveals how machine learning techniques used in studying stars can revolutionize medical imaging. The conversation highlights innovative methods for analyzing tissue samples, bridging the gap between astrophysics and healthcare. Mel also shares insights on the role of branding in scientific research and the collaborative potential of machine learning across fields, making for a thought-provoking and inspiring dialogue.

Galaxy Redshifts - A hard thing to nail down. In this month’s episode, we interview Prof Joe Zuntz about his research into clustering galaxies for cosmology. Our next Jodbite comes from this year’s PhD cohort, Georgie, as she submits her thesis on molecular line fitting using ALMA.

Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations. In this month’s episode, we have a double interview special as we get the opportunity to talk to Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell about her discovery of pulsars and resilience against the challenges she faced. We also talk to Louise Carvahlo, the diversity and inclusion programme leader at CERN, about how they are challenging the invisible barriers that academia face.

Bursting with Mysteries, FRBs. Welcome to our first themed episode of 2025. This month’s episode is everything to do with Fast Radio Bursts, or FRBs - their exciting discovery, mysterious origins and paving the way to using them as probes in space. This episode features double FRB interviews, with Dr Cherry Ng from CNRS Orleans giving an overview about these astrophysical mysteries, and Dr Ines Pastor Marazuela talking about her work here at Jodrell Bank to observe and understand the populations of FRBs we’ve found. But first, the news.

Exoplanets from the Archives. In this month’s episode, we have another interview from the archive where Fiona talks to Faith Hawthorn about her work in exoplanet detection and astronomy outreach. George and Jessy also answer your questions about potential dark matter candidates and Mercury’s origins, but first the news.

A Blast from the Past. In this month’s episode, we are hearing from a familiar voice as we are joined by now Dr. Ian Harrrison as he talks to us about weak lensing. We will also be diving into the archives with familiar the familiar voices of Imogen and Jonathan discussing theoretical cosmology with Dr. Cora Uhlemann