Leafing Through Science
Every two weeks, the new podcast series Leafing Through Science brings together host Hedi Young, Champalimaud Foundation neuroscientist and science communicator, with the authors behind some of the most fascinating non-fiction books in the life sciences. From new releases to timeless classics, we explore everything from the mysteries of consciousness and free will, to broken hearts, alien hands, and minds under siege. Expect page-turning ideas, head-spinning science, and stories that might just change how you see the world – and yourself. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Champalimaud Foundation.
Episodes
Appetite. Aggression. Puberty. Parenthood. Even 48-hour prairie vole mating marathons. Is there anything the hypothalamus isn’t involved in? In Episode 5 (Part 1) of Leafing Through Science, Hedi is joined by neuroendocrinologist Gareth Leng, author of “The Heart of the Brain: The Hypothalamus and Its Hormones”.
From the “love hormone” and maternal bonding, to why your brain is more like a quantum computer, discover the brain’s secr...
Why is there something it’s like to be you – and could AI ever be truly conscious? In Episode 4 of Leafing Through Science, neuroscientist and bestselling author Anil Seth joins Hedi to explore the mystery at the heart of his acclaimed book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.
From philosophical zombies and the purpose of dreaming, to measuring consciousness like temperature and why brains aren’t computers, Seth unpacks the id...
In Episode 3 of Leafing Through Science, Hedi sits down with David Adam – science writer and author of the bestseller The Man Who Couldn't Stop: The Truth About OCD – to explore the strange and unrelenting world of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
What drives someone to fear their own thoughts, or an Ethiopian schoolgirl to eat the wall of her house, bit by bit? Why do millions of us get stuck in loops of doubt and dread? And wh...
Sian Harding, a world leader in cardiac research, joins Hedi to reveal the heart as you’ve never seen it before, as they discuss her book The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart. From how social rank, air pollution, noise, and even your mother’s pregnancy diet can shape heart health, to the heart’s mini-brain or growing hearts in the lab from skin cells, they uncover the remarkable ways this muscular organ does far more...
Following Episode 1 - Part 1, this second part of Hedi’s conversation with science writer Moheb Costandi unpacks how our sense of agency – the feeling of being in control of our actions and responsible for their outcomes – can be disrupted in conditions like Alien Hand Syndrome and schizophrenia, manipulated on the operating table, or even altered in everyday life. Their discussion also ranges from the science behind anorexia nervo...
In this inaugural episode, Hedi sits down with veteran science writer Moheb Costandi about his fascinating book Body Am I: The New Science of Self-Consciousness.
From phantom breasts and rubber hands to the Pinocchio illusion and out-of-body experiences; from amputating a healthy leg to feel whole, to scratching an itch with a ghostly third arm – prepare to journey through the strange and astonishing ways our brains construct a sens...
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