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Physical Attraction

New? Head to the episode guide or drop us a line with the contact form.

We are a physics podcast. But not just that - interviews with scientists, scholars, authors and reflections on the history and future of science and technology are all in the wheelhouse. Over the years, for over 200 episodes, we've had shows on the astrophysics of stars, a comprehensive history of nuclear fusion, thermodynamics, particle physics, climate change, economics, philosophy, the psychology of conspiracy theories, and even the lives of Louisiana Senator Huey Long, or scientists under Stalin in the Soviet Union. 

We are an independent show: everything you hear is created by one person out of passion and love. My aim in producing this show is never to talk down to people, but instead to discuss fascinating and vital subjects with scientific rigour, compassion, and an eye for narrative: to educate, inform, and entertain. I hope that you, the listener, will find something you like here. 

You can read about us here, which includes a comprehensive episode guide for new listeners covering all of the shows that we've done, as well as links to transcripts of many of the episodes.  

You can contact us here - everything goes through to my email and I try to answer each one. Your comments and questions help me to improve the show and also motivate me to carry on, so I highly appreciate reading anything you feel like sending. 

If you like what we do and want to help us keep doing it, you can donate here. I am extremely grateful for those of you who have done so. 

You can also subscribe to the Physical Attraction: Extra! Feed over at Patreon: www.patreon.com/PhysicalAttraction - where for a small fee per bonus episode, you can help to support the show, and get some juicy bonus content too. The Patreon includes unique bonus episodes that stand alone, or alongside our existing series. But you will also get episodes as soon as I finish producing them, which is often months in advance: so, if you can't wait for your fix, that's where to go. 

We had a sister podcast, Autocracy Now, which deals with the lives of famous historical dictators. You can find some of their episodes on our feed, or the show itself at www.autocracynow.libsyn.com 

  1. All Episodes
  2. BONUS: Autocracy Now - Commodus

BONUS: Autocracy Now - Commodus

May 8, 2018


This is a bonus episode coming out on the Physical Attraction feed. The topic is even less related to physics than usual, but since it's extra, I hope you'll forgive me.

As I mentioned a few episodes ago, this wasn't the first podcast I ever made. In fact, I scripted and recorded about twenty episodes of a show - Autocracy Now - on historical dictators. It's not something I'm an expert in - just a topic of fascination!

Then I started the physics show. And it became clear to me that it would be impossible to juggle writing, recording, and scripting *two* podcasts a week - and doing my PhD in physics - and writing for Singularity Hub and other websites to supplement the meagre income you get for doing a PhD.

But I still had all of these episodes recorded, with no idea when to release them, gradually gathering dust in a corner of my hard-drive. And it took months to research and record them. So I've decided I will be releasing them on a bi-weekly basis, via the Autocracy Now feed.

You can subscribe to that feed where-ever you get your podcasts, and via www.autocracynow.libsyn.com - that's the website to visit.

By the time the last episode comes out, if I stick to my schedule, it will be 2019. If anything, I'll be even busier then, so I don't know if the show will continue beyond that point - we'll have to see what happens. But I hope you enjoy the sister podcast while it lasts, and Physical Attraction will keep going for some time to come yet. To save time, I'll put any updates concerning either show on this main feed, but for the rest of the Autocracy Now episodes, subscribe to that feed.

The first of the bonus episodes I'll be releasing is about the Roman Emperor, Commodus. The second is the first in what became a fourteen-part epic series on the life of Soviet dictator and mass-murdering tyrant, Stalin. I hope you enjoy them - and, if you do, subscribe to Autocracy Now as well!