Without a sense of time, leading us from cradle to grave, our lives would make little sense. But on the most fundamental level, physicists aren't sure whether the sort of time we experience exists at all. We talk to three experts and find out if time could potentially be moving backwards as well as forwards.   Featuring Sean Carroll, Homewood professor of natural philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, Emily Adlam, postdoctoral associate of the philosophy of physics at Western University and Natalia Ares, Royal Society university research fellow at the University of Oxford. This episode ..read more

Uncharted Brain: decoding dementia is a new series from The Conversation exploring new research unlocking clues to the ongoing mystery of how dementia works in the brain. In this three-part series, hosted by journalists Paul Keaveny and Gemma Ware from The Conversation, we'll delve into some of the findings from the world's longest continuously running cohort study, hear about the trauma of families effected by dementia and explore one researcher's investigation into the role certain viruses could play in Alzheimer's disease. All episodes will be available via The Anthill on November 16. Un ..read more

A good negotiation is supposed to leave everyone feeling a little unsatisfied. So what happened at the world's biggest one – over the future of our planet? In part five, and our final episode of Climate fight: the world’s biggest negotiations, host Jack Marley reports from Glasgow where he spoke to academics who have been researching the UN climate negotiations for decades, and the people representing their countries in the talks.  Featuring Abhinay Muthoo, professor of economics at the University of Warwick in the UK; François Gemenne, director of the Hugo Observatory at the University ..read more

Locked out of conferences and company boardrooms, young people have tried to influence the international response to the climate crisis with strikes and protests. In part four of Climate Fight, the world's biggest negotiation, we explore what effect this youth activism has, and where the movement will go next. Featuring Harriet Thew, researcher in climate change governance at the University of Leeds, who speaks to youth climate activist Abel Harvie-Clark about his experiences. And Lynda Dunlop, a senior lecturer in science education at the University of York. The Climate Fight podcast series ..read more

In the shift away from fossil fuels, how do countries make sure not to widen inequalities in the process? In part three of our series Climate fight: the world’s biggest negotiations, we travel to the Cumbrian town of Whitehaven on England’s north-west coast that could soon host the UK’s first deep coal mine in more than three decades. We talk to local people for and against the mine, as well as experts in the concept of a just transition, to explore how regions like west Cumbria that have suffered from decades of deindustrialisation can thrive in the shift to a low-carbon economy.  Featu ..read more

In part two of Climate Fight: the world’s biggest negotiation, we’re talking to experts about the grand goal of the negotiations: reaching net zero emissions by 2050. We explore what net zero means, and the technologies that will be needed to get the world there. Featuring Mercedes Maroto-Valer, assistant deputy principal for research & innovation and director of the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions at Heriot-Watt University, James Dyke, senior lecturer in global systems at the University of Exeter and Myles Allen, professor of geosystem science and director of Oxford Net Zero at ..read more

In the first episode of our new series Climate fight: the world's biggest negotiation, we're talking about climate finance – money pledged by the world's richest countries to help the poorest parts of the world adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. Where is it being spent and is it really working? Featuring Jessica Omukuti, COP26 Fellow in Climate Finance at the University of York and a research fellow on inclusive net zero at the University of Oxford, Harpreet Kaur Paul, a PhD candidate in climate justice at the University of Warwick and Alina Averchenkova, distinguished polic ..read more

How will we actually tackle the climate crisis? And who gets to decide? As Glasgow gets ready to hold the COP26 climate summit in November, The Anthill Podcast is launching Climate fight: the world's biggest negotiation, a new podcast series taking you inside the fight for our planet's future. We'll speak to some of the academic experts influencing climate policy, and to some of the people around the world who will see their lives change as a result of it. We'll also be in Glasgow for the COP26 summit, talking to experts to unpack how the negotiations went. The first episode will go live ..read more

The 2008 financial crisis resulted in the worst global recession since the second world war. The collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008 caused a meltdown of the global financial system. Money markets froze and there was a major credit crunch as the ability to borrow money suddenly dried up.  To stop contagion and make sure other major financial institutions didn’t collapse, governments stepped in to shore up the system by bailing out the banks. Anastasia Nesvetailova, professor of international political economy at City, University of London, explains what these ..read more

In this fifth episode of Recovery, a series from The Anthill Podcast exploring key moments in history when parts of the world recovered from a major crisis or shock, we’re looking at what happened in the former Soviet Union during the transition from communism to capitalism in the 1990s. When the USSR was finally dissolved at the end of 1991 it was a massive shock to the system for millions of people. The transition from a state-controlled command economy to a market-driven capitalist one was a hugely complex structural change. What followed was what’s come to be known as “shock therapy” – po ..read more