Two groups of boys on a camp in the wilds of America are pitted against each other. But the camp leaders have only one thing on their minds. Science. The mind-blowing story of a psychological experiment that crossed a line. Big time.

REAL WILD CHILD (Part 4) — The Lost Boys

What family secrets lie deep inside your cells? A story of survival against the odds, hope after the Holocaust, and the eye-opening new science of epigenetics… Can biology help you transcend the traumas of your ancestors, or forever burden you with their legacy?

What family secrets hide inside your cells? Epigenetics, trauma, and ancestry

At the heart of this moving and extraordinary medical mystery is Robbie, a man in a genetic lottery. Two rare mutations made his life uniquely interesting. Then came a third, random event...a chance encounter, a global detective quest and science at the cutting edge.

Robbie and the DNA Detectives

Tai Poole is a self-described scientist and the teenage star of multi-award-winning podcast Tai Asks Why. Love, climate change, death, dreaming…there is nothing Tai's tenaciously, voraciously hungry mind won't take on. He joins Natasha Mitchell to talk life, the universe, and everything.

REAL WILD CHILD (Part 3) —  The superstar of Tai Asks Why

When pioneering Australian RNA biologist Archa Fox was a  child, her parents were drawn into the orbit of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Her family packed up their life to join the Orange People communes in India and Oregon as disciples. Archa shares her candid, confronting story of what happened when this spiritual movement morphed into a cult.

REAL WILD CHILD (Part 2) — I grew up in a cult

Nuclear weapons are not toys. But what happens when children get their hands on nuclear know-how? Two explosive stories of two smart kids — both with a radioactive obsession, but with very different outcomes — one celebrated as a child genius and given his own university lab as a teen; the other dead at age 39. Meet Taylor Wilson and David Hahn.

REAL WILD CHILD (Part 1) — The nuclear boy scouts

Natasha Mitchell, presenter and co-producer of Science Friction, has some special news she wants to share with you. Listen in.(Spoiler alert: You can catch her as the new host of the ABC's Big Ideas from April 10 2023. Follow the show on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts).

Natasha Mitchell, presenter and co-producer of Science Friction, has some special news she wants to share with you. Listen in.<br><br>(Spoiler alert: You can catch her as the new host of the ABC's Big Ideas from April 10 2023. Follow the show on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts).

Thanks for the fun! Science Friction's Natasha Mitchell has some news 

Karl Schroeder

Ty Franck

How has fusion inspired the imaginations of science fiction writers? In The Expanse blockbuster book and TV series, fusion energy has changed the course of civilisation in extraordinary ways – for better and worse. Ty Franck, one half of the James S.A Corey writing duo behind The Expanse, and Canadian futurist and science fiction writer Karl Schroeder join Erica Vowles to weigh in on the fantasy and future of fusion.

The fantastical world of fusion – The Expanse's Ty Franck and futurist Karl Schroeder (Part 2)

The promise of nuclear fusion is clean, limitless energy for all. But why do start-up entrepreneurs think they can solve a problem that's perplexed scientists and fuelled the imagination of science fiction writers for decades? Are they kidding themselves, or inching closer to a breakthrough? Big name billionaires like Bill Gates and George Soros are now in the fusion game too.

Nuclear disruption — will starry-eyed startups win the nuclear fusion race? (Part 1)

It started with one post on Instagram. What followed was unimaginable. Scientists turned social media giants Darrion Nguyen (aka Lab Shenanigans) and Dr Cindy Pham (aka The Scholar Diaries) share moving stories of trauma, self-discovery, and growth.  Superficial shiny stereotypes of social media celebrity ... they are definitely NOT.

The unexpected lives of Lab Shenanigans and The Scholar Diaries

Science, culture and everything in between. Feel the heat. All species welcome.

This show is very left of center on politics. If you are ok with this then no big deal, but you have to ask is there room for politics in science. 
Full disclosure is that I typically vote conservative. However I am very open minded and I feel I have a good grasp of both sides as my political viewpoint is more Libertarian than conservative. 
This all to say that much of this podcast is informative, but it also seems to try to influence people by being very one sided in its reporting. There are many viewpoints to every story. Science should let science speak, not the politics.

Decent, but...

A truly captivating show for scientists and non-scientists alike. Natasha Mitchell asks great questions, doesn’t shy away from tough topics, and very engaging to listen to.

Highest Recommendations

Science Friction

Scientists can now 'engineer' biological organisms never before found in Nature. What if they make a mistake, and a synthetic virus escapes the lab? Or a rogue mind turns to synthetic biology to wage bioterror? Is anyone watching?

Bioerror to bioterror - what if a human-engineered virus escaped the lab? Part 1

Will bioterrorism become more targeted with the help of new tools in biotechnology and synthetic biology? From your cells to crops, pandemics to plagues - are the risks real or far-flung? Natasha Mitchell was the only journalist in a NATO security workshop considering the threats. Hear what insiders have to say.

Will bioterrorism become more targeted with the help of new tools in biotechnology and synthetic biology? From your cells to crops, pandemics to plagues - are the risks real or far-flung? <br>Natasha Mitchell was the only journalist in a NATO security workshop considering the threats. Hear what insiders have to say.

Bioerror to bioterror - does synthetic biology give new tools to terrorists? Part 2

On poo, pooing and all that palaver. A children's author, a colorectal surgeon, a psychologist walked onto stage...

A whole lot of POO!

It's there if you look...under the sea. But how would we know? Join Science Friction on a journey into the lost heart of Doggerland.

Searching for Doggerland: stones, bones and a world submerged by climate change

What if you suddenly found out you aren't quite who you thought you were? Matty and family's story will move you.

Matty's Story - donor conception and the cost of secrecy

One Amish childhood + one strict Christian upbringing = two 21 year olds questioning everything they were ever taught. On the afterlife, evolution, and making your own way. (Summer Season highlight)

Faith challenged - 21 and searching for science in the land of Trump (Summer Season)

The selfish gene. The selfish ape. Survival of the fittest. Remarkable stories of two renegades who challenged a scientific orthodoxy about selfishness.

Selfish by nature? Two scientific renegades who looked for kindness and paid a price

A young ornithologist.  A Nazi expedition to Tibet. A Faustian pact in the name of science, but at what cost? This story gets very weird, very fast. But the animals are watching.

The Hollow Bones: the weird world of Nazi 'science' meets mysticism on the road to Tibet (Summer Season)

Lolita had one of the world's first uterus transplants - then what happened? (Summer Season highlight)

Lolita and Linda's uterus transplant - an ethical, emotional, and scientific minefield (Summer Season)

In the 1950s computers were so big they filled whole rooms. Women were employed in big numbers to work with them. But then something weird happened.

"A perfectly normal girl - although she likes computers" Hidden stories from Australian computing

At the frontline of the COVID-19 fight right now, Adam Kucharski is author of The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread - and Why They Stop. He sees patterns of contagion everywhere – in viruses, memes, markets.

Rules of contagion - meet a mathematician at the frontline of the COVID-19 fight

How much did Einstein’s first wife contribute to his work? Mileva's supporters and skeptics go head to head over the evidence in Part 2 of this Science Friction series.

Was Einstein's wife the hidden contributor on his most famous works? Part 2

Who was Einstein’s first wife? Muse or collaborator? The plot thickens. The battlelines are drawn.

Who was Einstein’s first wife? Part 1 -Debate heats up over Mileva's role in Albert’s science

Genetic profiling of persecuted Muslim people in China. Forensic investigators using popular ancestry services to solve crimes. Who owns your DNA? And who protects your privacy? Think before you spit.

Who owns your DNA? Ancestry services, solving crimes and your privacy

Palestinian-American cartoonist and illustrator Marguerite Dabaie thought she understood her ancestry. But then she had a genetic test and things got messy. It’s not her DNA, it’s the technology

Do genetic ancestry tests know if you’re Palestinian? A cautionary tale of race and science (Summer Season)

Uzodinma Iweala

The stories we construct about biology, viruses, and beyond can reshape the course of our lives. When the world suddenly feels very small, connected by a virus that’s porous to people and borders, let's consider the power and porosity of science.

Acclaimed Beasts of No Nation author Uzodinma Iweala - on science, power, and race

Lise Meitner

Nuclear fission. That Nobel Prize. The Nazis. Lise Meitner's story has it all and more.

Lise Meitner and the bittersweet story of a nuclear genius

Three generations with powerful, personal stories of family lost and found, racism, and the right to education reclaimed. This is not your average Science Summer School.

School gate racism, education reclaimed, and family found (Part 2)

Palestinian-American cartoonist and illustrator Marguerite Dabaie thought she understood her ancestry. But then she had a genetic test and things got messy. It’s not her DNA, it’s the technology.

Does genomics know if you’re Palestinian? A cautionary tale about genetic databases and ancestry testing

Wall Street Journal journalist Preetika Rana has unearthed extraordinary new information about the Chinese scientist who created the world's first gene-edited babies.

The CRISPR gene-edited babies and the doctor who made them - what really happened?

The best self improvement podcast episodes. From improving productivity, to finding purpose in your life to what constitutes freedom, this topic is on anything and everything that can help people to improve their lives. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Episodes on Self Improvement, Growth & Development

The best podcasts on investing. For anyone interested in the stories in the investing industry, whether it's an interview with Ray Dalio or Ed Thorp to the writer of The Big Short. This topic includes the most fascinating stories from all the best investors. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!