Nobel Prize Conversations
Episodes
Ardem Patapoutian: Nobel Prize Conversations
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“I think there's a little bit of romanticism in science still. I find that the dreamers are usually the ones that make it.” Practical work, like c...
David MacMillan: Nobel Prize Conversations
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, meet football fan and chemist David MacMillan. Together with podcast host Adam Smith, he speaks about the importance of storytelling ...
Leymah Gbowee: Nobel Prize Conversations
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"One minute I was a teenager and the next minute I was a woman.” – Leymah Gbowee shares her heartbreaking life story of a happy childhood cruelly ...
Klaus Hasselmann: Live 2021 Special - Nobel Prize Conversations
10 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This special live episode features a conversation with Klaus Hasselmann, the 2021 physics laureate. Before that we will also present some highlights f...
Paul Milgrom - Nobel Prize Conversations
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
”Sometimes I make a mistake during the lecture, I'll make an argument that's not quite right and not even notice it, and a student will catch me. I ...
Wole Soyinka: Nobel Prize Conversations
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“I won the Nobel Prize so I built a much bigger house than I ever planned.” — Wole Soyinka envisioned a small cottage on a large plot of land as...
Didier Queloz: Nobel Prize Conversations
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"When people think about other worlds, they think about other life." Nobel Prize Laureate Didier Queloz was a pioneering explorer of exoplanets – pl...
Joachim Frank: Nobel Prize Conversations
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“I make discoveries just because of very unique juxtapositions that I have never seen before. So there is some kind of resonance there.” – The c...
Elizabeth Blackburn: Nobel Prize Conversations
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Medicine laureate Elizabeth Blackburn has strong feelings about the value of science. In this conversation with Adam Smith, she speaks openly about ho...
First reactions | Guido Imbens, prize in economic sciences 2021 | Telephone interview
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“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’ Mo...
First reactions | Joshua Angrist, prize in economic sciences 2021 | Telephone interview
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“I saw that my phone was flooded with text messages,” says Joshua Angrist, having slept through the calls from Stockholm. In this brief interview ...
First reactions | David Card, prize in economic sciences 2021 | Telephone interview
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“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...
The call from Oslo to Maria Ressa, 2021 peace laureate
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
World exclusive: The call from Oslo. Hear Maria Ressa’s reaction when she hears the news from Olav Njølstad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Commi...
First reactions | Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nobel Prize in Literature 2021 | Telephone interview
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“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 re...
First reactions | David MacMillan, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 | Telephone interview
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“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 D...
First reactions | Benjamin List, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 | Telephone interview
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Making molecules is like creating something beautiful” – Benjamin List was sitting in a café with his wife, Dr Sabine List, when the call from...
First reactions | Giorgio Parisi, Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 | Telephone interview
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Fundamental science is crucial.” – In this short conversation, recorded shortly after his Nobel Prize in Physics was announced, Giorgio Parisi ...
First reactions | Syukuro Manabe, Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 | Telephone interview
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Why is this happening?” – Establishing a firm scientific basis for predicting what will happen to the climate, and in the shorter term to weath...
First reactions | Klaus Hasselmann, Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 | Telephone interview
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“We’ve been warning against climate change for about 50 years or so” – Caught entirely unawares by the call from Stockholm, Klaus Hasselmann’...
First reactions | David Julius, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 | Telephone interview
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“The reason that we were able to do it is because we started looking at the natural world.” – Turning to some natural product pharmacology was o...
First reactions | Ardem Patapoutian, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 | Telephone interview
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“In science many times it’s the things that we take for granted that are of high interest.” – As Ardem Patapoutian says, sometimes the familia...
Behind the scenes: Adam Smith's October interviews with the new Nobel Prize laureates
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Each year in October, Adam Smith takes on the challenge of reaching the brand new Nobel Prize laureates for a telephone interview. In this bonus episo...
Robert Wilson: Nobel Prize Conversations
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“I guess I was halfway content with the idea that somehow I’d become an economist.” – 2020 Laureate in Economic Sciences Robert Wilson di...
Frank Wilczek: Nobel Prize Conversations
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the newest episode of ‘Nobel Prize Conversations’, physics laureate Frank Wilczek tells us about his hope to make a mark on the world. Wilzcek ...
Donna Strickland: Nobel Prize Conversations
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
2018 Nobel Physics Laureate Donna Strickland knew she wanted to get a PhD, even as a kid. She didn’t know what it was, but if it was the ultimate in...
Robert Lefkowitz: Nobel Prize Conversations
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“Failure is an inevitable part of doing science.” – Even as one of the best-of-the-best young doctors in the country, Robert Lefkowitz’s resea...
Roger Penrose: Nobel Prize Conversations
03 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
“I am very bad at giving up.” – Get to know one of the greatest minds of today, physicist Roger Penrose. At 89, he seems to be working more than...
Peter Doherty: Nobel Prize Conversations
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"This is the first time we have had a completely novel virus infection and we are trying to vaccinate our way out of it." In conversation with Nobel P...
Paul Nurse: Nobel Prize Conversations
23 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Known for his contagious energy and sometimes unconventional advice, Paul Nurse talks about Brexit and its effects on scientists and research, and why...
Andrea Ghez: Nobel Prize Conversations
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Meet astrophysicist Andrea Ghez, recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our...
Emmanuelle Charpentier: Nobel Prize Conversations
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we hear 2020 Nobel Chemistry Laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier speak about the drive you need as a researcher and what impact awards can...
Kip Thorne: Nobel Prize Conversations
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Meet astrophysicist Kip Thorne, who was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation o...
Christopher Pissarides: Nobel Prize Conversations
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"I was always interested in big problems, and when I see a big problem I say, 'Let’s try to solve it, let’s try to think of a solution!'" Meet Chr...
Esther Duflo: Nobel Prize Conversations
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Esther Duflo’s research improves our ability to fight global poverty. In just two decades, co-laureates Duflo, Banerjee and Kremer have transformed ...
Daniel Kahneman: Nobel Prize Conversations
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does it feel to be one of the most famous behavioural psychologists of our time? Daniel Kahneman says that it is perfectly fine to be famous as lo...
Oliver Hart: Nobel Prize Conversations
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine you’re married, but you never discussed children with your partner beforehand. Then imagine your partner doesn’t want children, but you do...
Christopher Sims: Nobel Prize Conversations
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How important is the money in your pocket? Try buying a sandwich with an IOU and a promise to come back and pay, and you’ll...
Alvin Roth: Nobel Prize Conversations
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Would you say that you own your kidneys? What if you tried to sell one? Economic Sciences laureate Alvin Roth would call that, and other taboo exchang...
Roger Myerson - Nobel Prize Conversations
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Belonging to a community is wonderful, but for Economic Sciences laureate Roger Myerson sharing outside your community is more importan...
Paul Romer: Nobel Prize Conversations
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Protecting the ship, building relationships and organising surprise weddings – in this week’s episode, Economic Sciences laureate Paul Romer discu...
Angus Deaton: Nobel Prize Conversations
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Angus Deaton dreamed of being a pianist, a rugby player or a mathematician – but he just wasn’t good enough. After these setbacks, however, he dis...
Richard Thaler: Nobel Prize Conversations
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nudges, sludges, and the connection between stubbornness and success - in this first episode of Nobel Prize conversations, host Adam Smith interviews&...