How To Academy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Yuval Noah Harari – Humanity in the Age of AI (Summer Repeat) Aug 19, 2025

Show notes

Long gone are the days when pigeons relayed our messages; now we have a flood of information at all times, from social media to artificial intelligence, all weaving narratives that shape our lives. But the rise of these new modes of information technology has the power to spread misinformation, challenge independent thought, and even threaten democracy.

Bestselling author of Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari joins Robin Ince to explore how humanity can navigate these new networks, and asks, in this constant deluge of information and misinformation, where can we find real knowledge and truth?

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Herman Pontzer – The Surprising Science of Human Diversity and Evolution Aug 15, 2025

Show notes

As an evolutionary anthropologist working with human populations around the globe, Herman Pontzer has conducted research that reveals the wonder of our species's evolution and our biological diversity, documenting the connections between lifestyle, landscape, local adaptations and health. He joins Robin Ince to reveal these intricacies and how the way we understand our biology and its interplay with our cultural environments is critical to how we understand our world and one another.

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Dexys' Kevin Rowland - A Life Story Aug 12, 2025

Show notes

One of the great mavericks of British music, Kevin Rowland, recounts his formative years and reveals a deeply personal account of his life. From trying to be 'good' at church and to make his mum proud, to thieving and fighting on the outside, from his early discovery of his love for music as a school boy, to his earliest gigs in his brother's band, Kevin reveals the roots of his musical journey, and the lessons they imparted to him through the years. With an unwavering passion for music and a highly tuned sense of fashion, Kevin rocketed down a path that led to his huge chart successes with Dexys Midnight Runners in the 1980s. Bringing us back to these years, he also reveals the burden of fame, the inner turmoil of stardom, and the propelling power of his musical vision.

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Lara Lewington – How Technology is Rewriting the Future of Our Health Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

Informed by over fifteen years covering the world’s most advanced innovations, Lewington joins journalist Hannah MacInnes to explore the transformative potential of AI and health tech—from early cancer detection and personalised diagnostics to wearable devices that track everything from sleep to blood sugar. Drawing on her new book Hacking Humanity, Lewington shares her own journey of self-experimentation, separates scientific promise from Silicon Valley hype, and asks what it truly means to live a longer, healthier life. With clarity, compassion and infectious curiosity, she shows how we can all take part in shaping a future where medicine is not just reactive but predictive, and where technology helps us stay well, not just treat us when we’re sick.

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Hope Reese - The Dark History of the Angel Makers of Nagyrév Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

It’s the early 20th century, in the small village of Nagyrév in Hungary. The village is so small, there is no post office, no police, and no doctor. And the men are being poisoned. By their wives. Journalist and author Hope Reese reveals the motivations and consequences of this mysterious chapter of the past, this open secret, which became one of the deadliest mass poisonings in history.

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Dr Grace Spence Green - On Recovery, Disability, and Radical Acceptance Aug 01, 2025

Show notes

At the age of twenty-two, Dr Grace Spence Green’s spine was broken at the fourth thoracic vertebra. One day, she was in hospital supporting patients, the next she was fighting for her own life.

As Grace came to understand her new life as a wheelchair user, she also had to reconceptualise how she could be both a doctor and a patient, and her now deeply personal understanding of society’s persistent ableism. She joins Dr Xand van Tulleken to share her journey, from how people’s perception of her post-injury changed dramatically due to ableist mindsets, to how her own experience navigating the medical system as a patient helped her better understand her own patients, to how her patients have in turn helped her in surprising and deeply human reciprocity. Grace shares her own passion for disability advocacy, and calls for us all to change the narrative about disability and ableism.

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A Journey into Uncharted Territories with David Attenborough, Miriam Margolyes, Nigel Planer, and others... Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

Sir David Attenborough, Miriam Margolyes, Nigel Planer, and others join us for a glimpse into Uncharted Territories, a new audio author showcase from John Murray publishers.

This week we have a guest appearance from our friends at John Murray publishers who are sharing Uncharted Territories, their first ever audio author showcase. Here they’ve curated a collection of some of the best historians, memoirists, academics, critics and national treasures publishing on their 2025 non-fiction list to introduce and share clips from their current and upcoming audiobooks. You’ll find some recognisable names and be introduced to some new voices. Listen to the legendary Sir David Attenborough reading from his top 10 bestseller Ocean, to playful provocateur Miriam Margolyes, to comedy legend Nigel Planer who shares an exclusive extract from his upcoming memoir, and discover some new voices along the way.

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Laura Spinney - How One Ancient Language Went Global Jul 22, 2025

Show notes

Most of us speak a descendant of one ancient tongue: Proto-Indo European. Almost all of Europe shares the DNA of its legacy. Acclaimed journalist and author of international bestseller Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World Laura Spinney explores the origins of this ancient language and how it spread far from its cradle near the Black Sea. Reaching the coasts of Scotland and the western reaches of China, traveling across the Mediterranean and deep into South Asia, Indo-European unites Dante’s Inferno and the Rig Veda, the knights of Arthurian legend and the early Hittite kings. Now Indo-European languages are spoken by nearly half of humanity. How did this happen? Laura shares the epic journey.

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John Tregoning - A Curious Scientist’s Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

How does the body stay alive? And what does ageing really mean, from the inside ? Biomedical scientist and Professor of Vaccine Immunology at Imperial College London John Tregoning reveals the science of staying alive, ageing, and death. Journeying from the nature of genes to the science of inflammation, from today's anti-ageing craze to real health foods and the evolving landscape of diagnostic care, John reveals how we can lead healthier, better-informed lives.

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Filmmaker Petra Costa - Apocalyptic Christianity and the Rise of the Far-Right Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

Oscar nominated for her film The Edge of Democracy, which documented the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff and the rise of Jair Bolsonaro, Petra Costa returns to the subject of Brazil's fragile democracy in Apocalypse in the Tropics. Streaming now on Netflix, Apocalypse explores the relationship between evangelical Christianity and the far-right, following the televangelist Silas Malafaia in his work campaigning for Jair Bolsonaro. Petra joins the podcast to discuss this precarious moment in Brazilian politics and its significance for democracies around the world.

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