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Nobel Prize Conversations — Education
Nobel Prize Conversations

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.

Don’t miss the First Reactions from our 2025 Nobel Prize laureates coming up in October.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: ©2024 Nobel Prize Outreach AB

Latest Episodes:

First reactions | Guido Imbens, prize in economic sciences 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

“The only sad thing is there aren’t more hours in the day!” – After a busy, tiring Sunday, mountain biking with the family, Guido Imbens’ Monday morning wake-up call came a little after 2am with the news from Stockholm. “I’m sure that the adrenaline will get me through,” he says in this conversation with Adam Smith recorded shortly afterwards, with the excitement building around him: “Things have been hectic here!” He speaks about the benefits of the social side of research, the enjoyment of working with bright young minds, and the pure pleasure of just getting up and going to work.

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | Joshua Angrist, prize in economic sciences 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

“I saw that my phone was flooded with text messages,” says Joshua Angrist, having slept through the calls from Stockholm. In this brief interview he describes how he therefore called the MIT Press Department to check, and discovered it was true! The conversation turns to his work on the assumed benefits of elite schooling, his working relationship with his co-Laureates and what lies behind his productive collaboration with Guido Imbens.

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | David Card, prize in economic sciences 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

“I was kinda hoping I might go to sleep!” – David Card had just got his pyjamas on and was heading for bed, after a very late night arrival from a trip, when the call from Stockholm came. This interview with Adam Smith was recorded just moments later and he talks about his work on immigration, the setting of the minimum wage, and the relationship between those studies and public policy. Meanwhile his wife, Cynthia Gessele, snaps his portrait as he chats in his dressing gown, a picture Adam Smith immediately requests for nobelprize.org: “This guy wants the picture!”

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The call from Oslo to Maria Ressa, 2021 peace laureate Oct 08, 2021

Show notes

World exclusive: The call from Oslo. Hear Maria Ressa’s reaction when she hears the news from Olav Njølstad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on being awarded the 2021 Nobel peace Prize just before the public announcement. "I'm speechless!"

From October 4-11, don't miss our mini-season that will showcase the absolute freshest interviews with the new 2021 Nobel Prize laureates.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nobel Prize in Literature 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

“As if there isn’t enough to go around” – “A kind of miserliness,” is how Abdulrazak Gurnah describes the attitude of some in Europe to refugees. After all, he says, “Europeans streaming out into the world is nothing new” and he suggests those seeking succour also be seen as “talented, energetic people, who have something to give.” In this brief conversation with Adam Smith, recorded just after he had heard the news, his surprise at receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature is evident. “I was just thinking ‘I wonder who’ll get it’”, says Gurnah: “I thought it was a prank, I really did.”

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | David MacMillan, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

“We thought it had a very low probability of success” – The best ideas in science are often the ones with the least chance of succeeding, says David MacMillan: “It’s the stuff that should never work which is where all the good stuff is!” As he tells Adam Smith in this conversation recorded on the morning of the announcement, the thrill of discovery is also open to any undergraduate embarking in organic chemistry: “the very first day they build a molecule, it has never been made in the universe before!” And as for the news of his Nobel Prize: he describes how he initially thought it was a prank, bet his co-Laureate, Benjamin List, $1000 that it wasn’t true, and went back to bed!

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | Benjamin List, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

“Making molecules is like creating something beautiful” – Benjamin List was sitting in a café with his wife, Dr Sabine List, when the call from Stockholm came. “We looked at each other in disbelief,” he says, and jokingly asked, “Is this the call?” To his amazement, it was! In this interview with Adam Smith, recorded outside that café, he reflects on the beauty of building molecules, the importance of freedom in research and the joy of working with his team: “To work with these amazing, happy and creative people; it’s such a gift.”

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | Giorgio Parisi, Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

“Fundamental science is crucial.” – In this short conversation, recorded shortly after his Nobel Prize in Physics was announced, Giorgio Parisi reflects on the value of asking basic questions. But what sort of questions does he address? “My mentor, Nicola Cabibbo,” he says, “was usually saying that we should work on a problem only if work on that problem is fun!” He then talks with Adam Smith about his hopes for science funding and the need to communicate. “It’s important that the people who in the end pay the bill for science have some understanding of what science is going on.”

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | Syukuro Manabe, Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

“Why is this happening?” – Establishing a firm scientific basis for predicting what will happen to the climate, and in the shorter term to weather, has been the challenge that has occupied Syukuro Manabe’s entire working life. In the interview with Adam Smith, recorded amidst the happy chaos resulting from the early morning announcement of his Nobel Prize in Physics, Manabe reflects on the importance of fundamental research. As he says, “The prediction of climate change without accompanying understanding of it is no better than the prediction of a fortune teller.”

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First reactions | Klaus Hasselmann, Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 | Telephone interview Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

“We’ve been warning against climate change for about 50 years or so” – Caught entirely unawares by the call from Stockholm, Klaus Hasselmann’s surprise is evident in this brief interview with Adam Smith, recorded just minutes after the news of his Nobel Prize in Physics had been announced. “I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and find out,” he says! Pleased that the prize focuses attention on the problem, he discusses the challenges in convincing people that “something that is going to happen in 20 or 30 years is something that you have to respond to now.”

© Nobel Prize Outreach.

First reactions terms of use: https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/streams-terms-of-use

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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