The Swiss Connection

Building a Swiss FabLab: the future of Switzerland’s semiconductor strategy

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Swiss Connection science podcast, we're digging into the push to create a Swiss FabLab, a shared chip fabr...

Climate solution series: how Bangladesh adapts to erosion, floods, and rising seas

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send a textWhere do people go when the water takes their land? Guided by a three-year ETH Zurich study and first-hand voices, we trace a pattern that ...

Climate Solution Series: How does Switzerland deal with the food waste problem?

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send a textA black bin bag can tell you a lot about a country. We follow the trail from Swiss kitchen cupboards to national targets and discover why o...

living On 2,000 Watts: How A Neighborhood Proves Low Energy Can Still Feel Like A Good Life

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send a textWhat does a good life look like when you cap your energy use at 2,000 watts? We take you inside Zurich’s Hunziker Areal, a car‑free, co...

Unlocking The Mid‑Pleistocene: What Antarctic Ice Reveals About CO2 And Climate Shifts

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send a textWe follow the 2,800-meter Antarctic ice core from Little Dome C to a -50°C lab in University of Bern, tracing how scientists extract ancie...

Quagga mussel: An Invasive Species Is Rewriting Switzerland’s Waterscape

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send a textA fingernail‑sized invader is transforming Swiss lakes and the cost of clean water. In this episode, we track the quagga mussel from its ...

Bonus Episode - The Trends Shaping the Pharmaceutical Industry in 2026

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textJoin host, Jo Fahy, and pharmaceuticals and healthcare reporter, Jessica Davis Pluss, to weigh up the forces shaping pharma in 2026. Fro...

Bonus Episode - Inside Switzerland’s Quiet Rise as a Longevity Hub

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textHow did longevity go from a social media trend to a focus of serious science?In this special bonus episode our host, Jo Fahy, is joined ...

Special announcement: Season wrap for longevity, please try out Lost Cells

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textLost cells on Apple, Spotify and any where you listen to your podcasts. SWI swissinfo.ch is a public service media company based in Ber...

Rethinking Aging: Science, Society, And The Stories We Tell

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWant a longer life that still feels like yours? We sit down with psychologist Christina Röcke of the University of Zurich’s Healthy L...

How Michael Hall’s TOR Discovery Reframed Longevity Science

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWe trace how a soil-derived drug led to the discovery of mTOR, why growth control sits at the core of aging biology, and where evidence ...

Big Pharma steps up race for AI-discovered drugs

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWhat if the most valuable drug candidates aren’t found but designed on demand? We follow a chemist’s journey from a pencil-and-paper...

Women’s Health Meets Drug Design and Medical Research

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWe trace how sex and gender shape drug development, from male-heavy mouse studies to the split results in Lecanemab’s Alzheimer’s tr...

Cracking the Alzheimer’s Code

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textAlzheimer’s disease is more than age-related memory loss—it’s a serious brain disorder. In this episode of the Swiss Connection Sc...

Swiss Longevity clinics: modern-day snake oil or the key to healthy ageing?

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThe search for the elixir of life has been going on since time immemorial – and Switzerland has played a key role. Although scientists...

Listen again: Herwig Schopper, Former CERN head has served science and peace for 100 years

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWe’ve received the sad news that former CERN director and experimental physicist Herwig Schopper has passed away at the age of 101. He...

Lost Cells, Ep.6: The Canaries

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThis is the final episode of 'Lost Cells', a short investigative podcast series. The production is an original SWI swissinfo.c...

Lost Cells, Ep.5: In Limbo

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textOver the next two episodes, we're proud to present 'Lost Cells', a short investigative podcast series. The production is ...

Lost Cells, Ep.4: The Hunt

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textOver the next three episodes, we're proud to present 'Lost Cells', a short investigative podcast series. The production i...

Lost Cells, Ep.3: The Program

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textOver the next four episodes, we're proud to present 'Lost Cells', a short investigative podcast series. The production is...

Lost Cells, Ep.2: Seeds of Hope

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textOver the next five episodes, we're proud to present 'Lost Cells', a short investigative podcast series. The production is...

Lost Cells, Ep.1: The Promise

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textOver the next six episodes, we're proud to present 'Lost Cells', a short investigative podcast series. The production is ...

Lost Cells is out now!

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textPlease sign up for the latest episodeSWI swissinfo.ch's new podcast tells the story of the families affected by a private stem cell...

Unveiling Ancient Life: Microorganisms in Melting Glaciers in Swiss Alps

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThis episode takes listeners to the Rhone glacier in the Alps, which is rapidly melting and releasing ancient microorganisms. These micr...

Climate solution for the future: How to keep cities cool during heatwaves

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textCities tend to get hotter than the countryside when a heatwave hits. What can be done about these urban heat traps? How can hot summers ...

Turning concrete into a carbon sink: an innovative Swiss approach to decarbonizing the construction industry

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThis episode explores a groundbreaking Swiss innovation that could revolutionise the construction industry. Join us as we delve into Neu...

Young Swiss scientists boost rocket research

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwiss students are propelling the future of space travel with innovative reusable rocket technology, putting Switzerland on the map in t...

Why Swiss scientists want to find ice on comets

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textUsing a new type of instrument, two astrophysicists from the University of Bern hope to get a little closer to unravelling the mystery o...

Herwig Schopper, Former CERN head has served science and peace for 100 years

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwissinfo talks to Herwig Schopper, former CERN director, the grandfather of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, who helpe...

Switzerland and Silicon Valley: EP6 Sherry Wong ‘Living in a society where capital is strong and the welfare state is weak‘

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textFor artist and researcher Şerife (Sherry) Wong the popular image of visionary geniuses who change the world from their garages is an il...

Switzerland and Silicon Valley: EP5 Fred Turner ‘The dream of tech companies serving humanity has turned into a nightmare‘

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn this episode, we talk to Stanford University professor Fred Turner, who’s been studying the impact of new media technologies on Ame...

Switzerland and Silicon Valley: EP4 Pamela Munster ‘From cancer doctor to cancer patient and back again’

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textPamela Munster, a world-renowned oncologist, has been working in San Francisco for 15 years. In this episode, she recounts her battle ...

What Switzerland can learn from Silicon Valley: EP3 Connected through Innovation

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn this episode, SWI swissinfo.ch sat down with Claude Zellweger, Google's in-house design guru. We discussed the role of designers...

What Switzerland can learn from Silicon Valley: EP2 Swiss start-ups in California

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textMore than 150 Swiss start-ups have received a boost from California entrepreneurship, and three of them are already worth $1 billion. Th...

What Switzerland can learn from Silicon Valley and Hippies: EP1 The potential of human beings

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn his 50 years in the USA, St. Gallen psychologist and consultant Herman Gyr has never lost faith in human ingenuity, the ability to le...

Why Are leading Swiss Pharmaceutical Companies Investing in Slovenia?

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textPharmaceutical giant Novartis invested billions in Slovenia, helping turn the country into a global player in generic drug production. ...

Swiss training for forensic scientists in Africa and Mexico

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textForensic science is critical in the search for justice and the fight against impunity. Africa suffers from a dearth of forensic patholog...

Swiss Roman battle site reveals hidden secrets of historic clash

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textOver the past two years, experts have unearthed thousands of Roman military artefacts littering a hillside in southeast Switzerland. The...

The Future of Aviation: Hypersonic plane powered Hydrogen designed in Switzerland

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIt’s 20 years since Concorde made its final commercial flight, ending the first era of supersonic travel. A Swiss start-up is part of ...

Drones capture eDNA in cutting-edge biodiversity research in Zurich, Switzerland

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textResearchers in Zurich are using drones to collect environmental DNA (eDNA) in a technique combining robotics and genetics that could cha...

What CERN’s next-generation particle collider could look like?

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textScientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva are taking the next steps towards creating a huge partic...

Exploring Science in Davos: EP6 Lab 42 AI lab decoding the human brain

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textArtificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT generate remarkably human-like results. But how intelligent is it really? SWI swissinfo.ch...

Exploring Science in Davos: EP5 Snow and avalanche research in Davos

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWhen and where the next avalanche will happen is hard to predict. In a special cold laboratory in Davos, researchers simulate the effect...

Exploring Science in Davos: EP4 How solar cycles influence climate?

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSolar irradiance provides heat and light for life. It waxes and wanes with the cycle of solar activity, which currently cannot be predic...

Exploring Science in Davos: EP3 Why house dust mites, pollen and food additives cause allergies?

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThe small city of Davos in southeastern Switzerland, located at an altitude of 1,560m above sea level in the Swiss Alps, attracted tuber...

Exploring Science in Davos: EP2 Studying bones at the AO Research Institute Davos

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textBefore 1960, broken bones were treated simply by using plaster casts or traction. Then 13 Swiss surgeons began rethinking fracture treat...

Exploring Science in Davos: EP1 Orthopaedics gathering at the AO Davos Courses 2022

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThe Swiss town of Davos is famous for mountain slopes, winter sports and the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. But did you kno...

Using sound to find prehistoric ruins under Lake Lucerne

22 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textConstruction workers got a surprise recently while laying a pipeline underneath Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland. On the lake floor t...

Why these Japanese patients wanted to die in Switzerland

29 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn this second part of our two-part series on assisted suicide, SWI reporter Kaoru Uda tells host Susan Misicka what it was like to acco...

Why this Swiss doctor supports assisted suicide

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textEvery year, over 1,000 seriously ill people end their lives in Switzerland with the help of suicide assistants. Assisted suicide is...

Meet couples saying 'I do' to gay marriage

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textNow that Switzerland has approved marriage for all, host Susan Misicka talks with some couples who explain why it's important to th...

Why we still need pens and pencils

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn this encore episode of The Swiss Connection, we visit Swiss century-old pen and pencil maker Caran d'Ache. Podcast host Susan Mi...

Typeface designer is in love with letters

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwiss designers gave us the big-name Helvetica and Frutiger typefaces in the 20th century. Now a modern-day designer from Basel is colla...

Decrypting cryptocurrency and blockchain

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textHow soon will we start buying our groceries with Bitcoin? What kind of scams do we need to be aware of? And why is Switzerland so sweet ...

Why people love the Locarno Film Festival

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textA gorgeous location for a film festival: Locarno in southern Switzerland. The international event features about 200 films in 10 days. B...

Meet the Swiss woman bringing open water swimming to Boston

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwiss architect Renata von Tscharner has devoted over two decades to improving the public spaces along the Charles River in Massachusett...

Are nuclear weapons really banned?

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn this episode host Susan Misicka introduces our sister podcast, Inside Geneva. Nuclear weapons were banned by international treaty at ...

Should kids be sweating for our chocolate cravings?

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThe success of Swiss chocolate depends on cocoa beans harvested far away, often with the help of minors. In this episode we discuss whet...

What soil sounds like and why it matters

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWhat does soil sound like, and what do those sounds mean? We find out from the world’s first scientist to use acoustics to research th...

Are electric cars and planes the way to go?

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwitzerland missed its target to reduce its carbon footprint in 2020. But there are still some promising developments when it comes to e...

How to clean up the gold trade

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn this follow-up to "The Dirt on Digging for Gold" we hear about some measures to make the gold trade more sustainable. Swiss...

Strange days: checking in with Swiss people in America

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThe past year has been a strange time for all of us. It can be even harder if you’re an expat. One in ten Swiss people lives outside o...

What Covid-19 tells us about the pharma industry

13 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwitzerland is the home of some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. But when it comes to coronavirus vaccines, the Swiss ...

How to catch a child sex offender

30 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textThe case of a Swiss couple abusing Indian children – and getting away with it – shows the limits of the international police net...

Crypto – a spy thriller made in Switzerland

16 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textMultiple spy agencies, secret documents, international intrigue, and a Swiss company's encryption machines are at the heart of this...

Why women's suffrage took so long

02 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwitzerland is celebrating a rather awkward anniversary this year. It was only 50 years ago that women got the right to vote at the fede...

'Swiss Johnny Cash' Florian Fox walks the line between Zurich and Nashville

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSometimes changing names and continents is the best way to cope in a pandemic. For Swiss country music singer-songwriter Florian Fox, th...

The dirt on digging for gold

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textSwitzerland is the world’s leading gold refiner. But in spite of efforts to make the supply chain more transparent, there are still so...

Part 3: Why do we get nostalgic?

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textPart three of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. If a friend abandoned you in a foreign coun...

Part 2: Why do we get nostalgic?

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textPart two of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. We "meet" a medical student who att...

Part 1: Why do we get nostalgic?

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textPart one of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. For this we travel back in time to join two b...

Moving back to Switzerland in a pandemic

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textIn 2020, getting the kind of schooling you want for your kids sometimes meant moving halfway across the world, at the drop of a hat. Mee...

The jazz singer with Swiss folk roots

19 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Send us a textWhen you first see her with her sleek bob and glossy fingernails, it’s kind of surprising to learn that Gabriela Martina was raised on...