Episodes
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A salmon-safe alternative to 6PPD & the first known example of naturally produced MOFs | The chemical breakdown podcast
In this episode, we discuss the challenges of balancing tyre chemistry and environmental safety, along with the first known example of naturally synthesized MOFs with Phillip Broadwith and Patrick Walter. A chemical that keeps tyres from cracking is also killing salmon when it washes into rivers....
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Waterproof white inspired by nature & low-stakes mistakes | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week we discuss a new light-controlled technique that creates structural color and water repellent properties in polymer films and discuss our low-stakes mistakes with Mason Wakley and Frankie Macpherson. What do lotus leaves and plastic sheets have in common? We discuss how structural…
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Nobel prize in chemistry 2026: predictions | The chemical breakdown podcast
It's Nobel season again! And we're doing something a little different here on The chemical breakdown. Instead of our usual stories, in this episode we are turning the microphone to speculation and discussing who we think will be taking home the chemistry Nobel prize this year with Jamie Durrani…
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Drugging the 'undruggable' cancer proteins & conserving the Bayeux Tapestry | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we explore how molecular glues have revolutionized how we treat previously 'undruggable' cancers and explore how modern scientific techniques are teasing apart the mysteries of one of the most iconic historical artefacts with Phillip Broadwith and Neil Withers. A ground-breaking new…
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Advances in CAR-T cancer therapy & carbon materials' hidden defects | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss a study showing promise in applying CAR-T immunotherapy in bladder cancer tumours and breakdown how scientists have uncovered spectral signatures previously misassigned in carbon materials – with Frankie Macpherson and Mason Wakley. CAR-T therapy has been a game changer for...
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UK science department abolished & Ireland's crumbling concrete | The chemical breakdown podcast
In this episode, we discuss the changes to science policy made by the new UK prime minister and breakdown the chemistry behind crumbling concrete in Ireland. On July 21, new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham abolished the government's department of science and absorbing its functions into the…
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Thermo Fisher antibody data manipulation & the shrinking chemical recycling industry | The chemical breakdown podcast
In this episode, we breakdown the controversy behind a collection of altered images in the online catalogue of one of the largest laboratory suppliers, and discuss the complexity behind chemical recycling of plastics with Frankie Macpherson and Phillip Broadwith. Multinational laboratory supplier...
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50 years after Seveso & changing the way we separate hydrocarbons | The chemical breakdown podcast
In this episode, we reflect on the lessons learned and the impacts of the Seveso chemical disaster of 1976, and discuss the latest membrane materials that could slash the energy required to refine crude oil with Jamie Durrani and Mason Wakley. Fifty years ago, a major accident at an Italian...
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An update on the Strait of Hormuz & potential explosives at an Antarctic base | The chemical breakdown podcast
In this episode, we bring the latest from the recent temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and discuss the presence of potential explosives at the historic Antarctic bases of explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Scott with Phillip Broadwith and Frances Briggs. The US and Iran have…
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A warning for US science & wool's chemical versatility | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss the latest challenges facing US science outlined by president of the US National Academy of Sciences Marcia McNutt in her outgoing address as well as the unique chemistry underpinning wool's incredible properties with Neil Withers and Rebecca Trager. Marcia McNutt gave her...
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Click chemistry marks 25 years & covalent bonding in the actinides | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we look back at how far click chemistry has come in the last 25 years and discuss the strange bonding behaviour of some of the largest elements on the periodic table with Mason Wakley and Frances Briggs. It started as a review paper in 2001 that has since been cited almost 20,000…
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Quantum computing & a mysterious contaminant in microplastics research | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss the latest milestone in quantum computational modelling and reveal the common laboratory item causing strange readings in microplastics research with Frankie Macpherson and Patrick Walter. A new hybrid workflow involving two IBM quantum computers and two powerful...
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Battery week 2026: The EV cathode race & battery-recycling | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we are celebrating Chemistry World's Battery Week with a special battery-themed episode! We discuss the race between cathode materials for electric vehicles and a new photocatalyst capable of turning plastic waste into hydrogen and value-added chemicals, with Neil Withers and Patrick...
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Vanadium-based medicines & sustainable labs | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss vanadium's potential in the medical field and the changes you can make in our lab to reduce your carbon footprint, with Jennifer Newton and Emma Pewsey. Many are familiar with vanadium's role in metal production, but did you know that it has a history of research as a...
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Inert materials & the Mary Celeste | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss how to ensure experimental instruments are truly inert and chemistry's answer to the fate of the Mary Celeste, with Phillip Broadwith and Mason Wakley. A new study has demonstrated how unexpected results can arise from experiments using seemingly inert materials. How do we...
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The two types of water & science sleuths | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss the peculiarities of water's behaviour and how science sleuths are fighting disinformation with Philip Robinson and Emma Pewsey. A recent study from researchers at Stockholm University has found the existence of a critical point in supercooled water, which could prove the...
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Atomic radii & synthetic food dyes | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss team discuss the boundaries of the atom and breakdown the US's plan to eliminate synthetic food dyes with Jennifer Newton and Phillip Broadwith. The atomic radius of an atom is a concept we are taught from early in our chemistry careers, but for such an important value its...
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AAAS annual meeting & plasma chemistry | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss reflections from this year's American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting and the latest advances in plasma chemistry with Rebecca Trager and Mason Wakley. The annual meeting of the AAAS kicked off in Phoenix, on the heels of the recent minibus...
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AlphaGenome & the RNA world hypothesis | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss the new deep learning model AlphaGenome and visit the very beginning of life on Earth with Mason Wakley and Neil Withers. Google DeepMind has released a new deep learning model that can predict the effect of small changes to DNA sequences up to one million base pairs in...
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Bench-stable butyllithium & secrets of Pompeii's limescale | The chemical breakdown podcast
This week, we discuss new butyllithium formulations and ancient limescale chemistry with Emma Pewsey and Phillip Broadwith. New bench-stable tert- and n-butyllithium formulations developed by Merck KGaA, should make organometallic chemistry safer and more accessible. What's different about these...
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Halogen-bond catalysis & the future of total synthesis | The chemical breakdown podcast
Welcome to the first episode of our latest podcast series, The chemical breakdown. Each week, we'll dive deeper into two stories we've covered here at Chemistry World. We'll provide insight into the facts, why you should care, and what it means for the chemistry community. We'll also give you…
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Chemistry World podcast – January 2017
This month we introduce our new puzzles page, discuss the implications of Trump for science and meet Yuri Oganessian, the only living person with an element named after him
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Herding Hemingway's Cats
Six-toed cats and misconceptions in genetics are discussed in this months podcast
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Sorting the beef from the bull
This month we discuss the ubiquitous nature of food fraud and its detection
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Scientific paper writing
This month, we discuss how to write quality scientific papers
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Why science is sexist
This month we discuss unconscious bias and other reasons why science is sexist
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Elements of Power
This month we learn of the problems that arise from mining rare metals in David Abraham's The Elements of Power
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Adventures in the Anthropocene
This month we consider the dawning of a new epoch as we discuss Gaia Vince's Adventures in the Anthropocene
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Thing explainer
Our book club podcast considers simple language in science as we discuss Randall Munroe's new book, Thing explainer.
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Chemistry World podcast – December 2015
This month, we learn how to leave the calories out of fine chocolate, and discover the earth might be older than we thought
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – Why does asparagus make your wee smell?
In this podcast, we learn why does asparagus make your wee smell, as we discuss Andy Brunning's new book
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Chemistry World podcast – November 2015
This month we meet chemisty Nobel winner,Thomas Lindahl, and we learn how bio-markers might be used to determine the time of death
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast - Scientific Babel
We probe the nature of scientific language with Michael Gordin's bestseller, Scientific Babel
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Chemistry World podcast – October 2015
This month, we chart a course through chemical space and discover the potential problems of cleaning up Sellafield
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Chemistry World Book Club podcast – A is for Arsenic
In the first of a brand new podcast series, we get together to discuss 'A is for Arsenic: the poisons of Agatha Christie'
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Chemistry World podcast – September 2015
In this months podcast, we discuss Ebola and malaria vaccines in the pipeline, the history of peer review, and managing the mountain of chemical data
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Chemistry World podcast – August2015
In this space special, we learn how to study comets surfaces, and speak to a Nobel Prize winner about his 20-year-old prediction proving to be correct
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Chemistry World podcast – July 2015
We ask, does graphene live up to the hype, and discuss injectable electronics that unfold in the brain
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Chemistry World podcast – June 2015
What makes food sweet? How do we protect against food alteration? New e-paper, and possible treatment for ebola
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Chemistry World podcast – May 2015
We find out how nanotoxicology could be holding back development, and ask if 'patent or perish' should be the new academic adage
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Chemistry World podcast – April 2015
How do you smell? We discuss a controversial theory about odour detection, and investigate forensic toxicology
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Chemistry World podcast – March 2015
How cephalopods teach chemists about camouflage, and new ways to convert carbon dioxide into useful materials
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Chemistry World podcast - February 2015
Cannabis, peanuts and explosive investigations – all in the February 2015 Chemistry World podcast
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Chemistry World podcast - January 2015
How a new nanoparticle iron supplement can treat anaemia, and a run down of chemists in the new year honours
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Chemistry World podcast - December 2014
How nitrogen can make green explosives and why molecular communication might produce chatty nanobots
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Chemistry World podcast - November 2014
We speak to Eric Betzig about his Nobel prize-winning research, and find out how thermoelectric materials can be made more efficient
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Chemistry World podcast - October 2014
We speak to Jason Sello about the hunt for new antibiotics, and Monique Simmonds explains the chemical role of botanical gardens
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Chemistry World podcast - September 2014
We speak to Paul Clarke about the challenges of natural product synthesis and discuss the pros and cons of perovskite solar cells
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Chemistry World podcast - August 2014
This month, how artificial comets may explain the origins of asymmetry in life. Plus, we speak to Martyn Poliakoff
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Chemistry World podcast - July 2014
We speak to artist Briony Marshall and art detective Warren Warren about the more artistic sides of chemistry