The Rest Is Science - Goalhanger

Latest Episodes:

Mathematical Paradoxes (Understanding Infinity Part 1) Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

Is infinity actually a real number, or just a brilliant mathematical hallucination? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens (VSauce) tumble down the numerical rabbit hole to explore the mind-bending origins of infinity. They unpick exactly how humanity managed to trap the endless void. From ancient paradoxes to endless hotel rooms, they dive into the bizarre history of our universe's most impossible idea.

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠

Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ.

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Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Researcher: Lucy Lipscomb

Producer: Simona Rata

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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Michael's Favourite Science Books Mar 19, 2026

Show notes

What do Bill Bryson, Daniel Wegner and J.R.R. Tolkien have in common? They are all part of Michael's reading recommendations. On this episode of Field Notes we answer one of our most frequent inbox questions... "What do you both read?"

Alongside that Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens delve into whether some numbers give off "vibes" and the optimal way to use airflow to rid your car of dog hairs and unwanted smells.

A handy list of Michael's books (Hannah's will come in the future)!

Sum by David Eagleman

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

The Seven Mysteries of Life by Guy Murchie

Thinking Physics: Understandable Practical Reality by Lewis Carroll Epstein

The Discovery of Dynamics: A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories by Julian Barbour

The Outer Limits of Reason: What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us by Noson S. Yanofsky

Mortal Questions by Thomas Nagel

The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size by Tor Nørretranders

The Illusion of Conscious Will by Daniel Wegner

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠

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Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠

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Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Producer: Simona Rata

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Science of Hallucinations and Perception Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

Ever wanted to squish a puppy just because it’s impossibly cute? Or felt absolutely certain you’ve lived this exact moment before?

Hannah and Michael explore the bizarre, everyday glitches of the human mind, unpacking why our brains occasionally seem to short-circuit. They dive into the weird neurology of "cute aggression", or urges like thinking of throwing your phone off a bridge, to the jarring time-bending sensation of déjà vu to reveal how our grey matter manages overwhelming feelings and sudden memory misfires.

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠

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Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠

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Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Researcher: Sophia Constantinou

Producer: Simona Rata

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Introducing: The Book Club - Never Let Me Go Mar 14, 2026

Show notes

What inspired Kazuo Ishiguro’s timeless story about mortality, growing up, and the human condition? How are its characters so relatable, and yet entirely unique? And, why does the dark secret at its heart challenge scientific innovation?

Dominic Sanbrook joins Hannah and Michael to discuss all this and Dominic's new show, The Book Club, available now.

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Why We Cry Out In Pain Mar 12, 2026

Show notes

Have you stubbed your toe and shouted an unrepeatable word? Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle were two of the greatest minds in humanity. Did their egos and competition with one another hold them back or drive them onto huge breakthroughs?

Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the bizarre neurology of vocalised pain, revealing how a good yelp actually acts as a biological off-switch for suffering and unearth if Newton was the biggest crybaby in science.

Plus, Hannah gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her brand-new series exploring the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence.

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠

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Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠⁠

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Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's The Most "Vegetable" Vegetable? Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Botanically speaking, there is no such thing as a vegetable, so what exactly is sitting on your dinner plate? And if our culinary world is built on biological lies, which plant is actually the most vegetable like?

Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens tackle a chaotic intersection of linguistics, plant taxonomy, and nutrition, dismantling the arbitrary categories we use to organise our food, revealing that our supermarket aisles are a scientifically lawless wasteland. It is a strangely profound look at how human language struggles to categorise the natural world, proving that the things we eat every day are far weirder than we think with biological definitions that turn cucumbers and eggplants into fruits, and the nutritional benchmarks we use to invent the concept of a "vegetable" from scratch.

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠

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Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠

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Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley
Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell
Researcher: Hannah Dodd-Vastiau
Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott
Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley
Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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How Words Shape Your Body Mar 05, 2026

Show notes

Does your native language physically sculpt your face? And could a swarm of bees be trained to run computer code?

Two of your questions answer in this Field Notes with Professor Hannah Fry and YouTube's Michael Stevens, plus Michael’s object of the week is a visualization of the Holocene Calendar. By simply adding ten thousand years to our current year, it transforms our perception of history from a brief modern blip into an unbroken, monumental narrative of human progress.

Check out the calendar here

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠

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Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠⁠

-------------------

Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Neuroscience and Purpose of Sleep Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

Humans have split the atom, we can stream movies from space and are working towards everlasting life.  

So why in the world are we still spending a third of our lives unconscious?

In this episode of The Rest Is Science, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens ask a deceptively simple question: Can human beings cure sleep? Why do evolutionary forces cause us to lie helpless for eight hours a night when predators might lurk? Why can elephants survive on two hours but bats basically exist to nap? And what really happens inside human bodies when we try to cheat this essential system?

From WWII amphetamines to witch trial torture tactics, fatal insomnia to the strange possibility that dreams are just your brain…shivering, this episode explores the biology, history, and weirdness of unconscious human sleep.

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠

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Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠

-------------------

Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Researcher: Sophia Constantinou

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aerospace Engineering: How To Fall To Earth (Without Burning Up) Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Rockets are built to slice cleanly through the atmosphere on the way up. Coming home, it turns out, requires... not turning into a fireball before a bellyflop

When Space Shuttles reenter Earth’s atmosphere at 17,000 miles per hour, they don’t dive nose first. Instead they turn broadside to the atmosphere, deliberately creating more drag, more friction, more heat. At those speeds, oncoming air compresses into a shockwave hotter than molten lava.

In this episode of Field Notes, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the strange physics of coming home. Why is leaving Earth easier than returning to it? And what does a small, almost empty black tile reveal about the problem of meeting the world at 17,000 miles per hour?

Along the way, they revisit controversial experiments in human fear, calculate which superhero power would bankrupt you in calories, and reflect on the thin boundary between surface and survival.

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠

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Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠

-------------------

Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You (Don't) Know Where You Are Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

If someone asked you to point to yourself, where would you point? Your chest? Your head? Somewhere just behind your eyes?

Where are you?

In this episode, Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce’s Michael Stevens explore how the brain maps and understands out location, from the inner ear fluid that tells us which way is up, to the grid and place cells that build a kind of internal GPS.

But how do London taxi drivers rewire their brains to memorise entire cities when the rest of us can’t? How does language change the way we orient in space? And what happens when your senses disagree about your where in the world you are?

Moving from avalanches and virtual reality to ancient philosophy and modern neuroscience, Hannah and Michael move from how to find ourselves on a map to how locating the “self” inside the body may be one of the deepest mysteries in science.

Why did Aristotle believe the self lived in the heart instead of the head? If we’re asked to find the self where do we point? What does it mean to say that you are somewhere…at all?

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For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠.

-------------------

Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠

-------------------

Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley

Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell

Researcher: Hannah Dodd-Vastiau

Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott

Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter

Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices