The Nobel prize winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan explores how time affects our bodies, brains and emotions in his new book, Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality. As he explains the recent scientific breakthroughs to extend lifespan by altering our biology, he also considers the ethical questions such efforts raise.
The neuroscientist Charan Ranganath asks a different question in his book, Why We Remember. Using case studies he unveils the principles behind how the brain retains information, and what and why we forget so much. He also looks at what happens to our memories as we age.
In her new book, Nostalgia, the historian Agnes Arnold-Forster blends social history and psychology in a quest to understand this complex emotion. While it was thought of as an illness in the 17th century, it is now used as a widespread marketing tool impacting our choices from politics to food. But if nostalgia prompts us to glorify the past, Arnold-Foster asks how that impacts the present, and future.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Monster artist/monstrous art?
Life behind the iron curtain
Ancient trees
A place called home
Ai Weiwei and design values
Mastering a new skill
Climate - past, present and future
Humanism - what is it good for?
George Eliot and married life
The Iraq War – 20 years on
Democratic capitalism – marriage on the rocks
Ancient knowledge
The food we eat
Power, violence and witches
The Victims of War
Videogames – from fantasy to reality
The view from Latin America
Where are you from?
Awesome
Dance Pioneers
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
The New Statesman Podcast
Global News Podcast
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
The Infinite Monkey Cage
You’re Dead to Me