The Jodcast

Teaching Machines the Cosmos. In this month's episode, we talk to Dr Seshardi Nadathur from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth about his work in cosmology. Then, from the University of Nottingham we talk to Dr Maggie Lieu about her endeavours to use machine learning in her work on galaxy clusters. Also this month, Josh and Louis interview attendants of the Euclid-UK and LSST:UK Meetings.

Reach to the Moon. In this month’s episode, we talk to Dr Harry Bevins from the University of Cambridge about the cosmology experiment REACH. Then, from the University of Exeter, we talk to Dr Claire Davies about her experiences as a queer person in academia. In the jodbite, we talk to JBCA’s own Dr. Soheb Mandhai about his simulation research and post-doc experience at the University of Manchester.

Astronomy in the North. In this month’s episode, we talk to Jane Hurley from RAL Space about how the space sector shapes daily life. Then, from our live event at the Chester Astronomy Society in March, we listen to Jodcasters Phoebe and Josh talk about their research.

Dawn of the Very Luminous Dinosaurs. In this month’s episode, we talk to John Weaver about EUCLID, galaxies, and black holes. Then, from our live event at the Chester Astronomy Society in March, we listen to Jodcaster Jamie’s talk about their research We want to hear more from our listeners, so if you would like to feature on one of our episodes, we will be releasing questions throughout the year and we want to hear what you think! Next month’s episode features an interview from RAL space, and so we want to know - ‘What would you like to see from the space sector in the next 10-20 years? (A future mission you look forward to, will space research solve a global problem or develop new technology for the future).’ Send your answers to our social media accounts or via our email.

Into the Cosmic Void. This month, we have a double cosmology interview special where Sohini and Jamie chat with Marika Asgari about her work on cosmic shear with KiDS and the future of KiDS, and her favourite models of dark matter and dark energy. Whilst Jamie talks with Leon Koopmans about his work on LOFAR, why LOFAR as an instrument will still have its own niches even in the post-SKA era.

Blue Skies Ahead! This month, we have an interview with Professor Jonathan Tennyson where he chats to Louisa and Lily about his founding of the satellite launching company Blue Skies Space, and in our Jodbite, Louis and Josh talk to postdoc Will McGenn about his work here at the Advanced Radio Instrumentation Group. In December, we also had an invite to attend RAL Space’s 21st Appleton Conference where Louisa and Phoebe chatted to some of the conference attendees.

Same Planet, New Year. This month, we are kicking off the new year with a special interview with Science communicator and climate advocate, Dr Simon Clark. He talks to Jessy and Louisa about why climate literacy is important, and what a day in the life of a YouTuber really like. In our Jodbite, Phoebe sits down with Dr Vasu Shaw about her research in Galactic magnetism and cosmic rays.

Feeling the Cosmic Pulse. In this month's episode, Jessy and Barbara had the opportunity to speak to Dr Kai Schmitz of the University of Munster about the first results from the Pulsar Timing Array and how this could affect our understanding of early universe cosmology. Louisa and Sohini provide an end of year round up for the Jodcast, talking about the highlights of 2025 and where we are going in 2026. In our Jodbite, Louisa and Phoebe speak to PhD student Kathryn Edmundson about her work detecting and characterizing exoplanets.

Reaching the Stars. In this month’s episode, we’ve got lots of exciting interviews. This year, the UK Space Conference was held in Manchester so we had the opportunity to interview the CEO of the UK Space Agency, Paul Bate, and ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan. In our Jodbite, we hear more about the Simons Observatory from Berni Reid Guachalla.

Simons Observatory Special.With Manchester playing a key role within the Simon Observatory’s development, we’ve recorded a special episode during their face-to-face meeting here. We talk to SO:UK Principal Investigator Prof Michael Brown about what makes this project so exciting and a Jodbite with Dr Katie Harrington, on her work testing and integrating the instrumentation into large telescope construction. Finally, we spoke with a range of SO collaborators over lunch at the meeting and take a whistlestop tour on what it really takes and who is involved when you build a telescope.

From Stars to Cells. In this month’s episode, we interview Dr Mel Ifran about her research adapting machine learning techniques from radio astronomy to detecting cancer cells. We also answer some of your questions from our live event last month.

Galaxy Redshifts - A hard thing to nail down. In this month’s episode, we interview Prof Joe Zuntz about his research into clustering galaxies for cosmology. Our next Jodbite comes from this year’s PhD cohort, Georgie, as she submits her thesis on molecular line fitting using ALMA.

Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations. In this month’s episode, we have a double interview special as we get the opportunity to talk to Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell about her discovery of pulsars and resilience against the challenges she faced. We also talk to Louise Carvahlo, the diversity and inclusion programme leader at CERN, about how they are challenging the invisible barriers that academia face.

Bursting with Mysteries, FRBs. Welcome to our first themed episode of 2025. This month’s episode is everything to do with Fast Radio Bursts, or FRBs - their exciting discovery, mysterious origins and paving the way to using them as probes in space. This episode features double FRB interviews, with Dr Cherry Ng from CNRS Orleans giving an overview about these astrophysical mysteries, and Dr Ines Pastor Marazuela talking about her work here at Jodrell Bank to observe and understand the populations of FRBs we’ve found. But first, the news.

Exoplanets from the Archives. In this month’s episode, we have another interview from the archive where Fiona talks to Faith Hawthorn about her work in exoplanet detection and astronomy outreach. George and Jessy also answer your questions about potential dark matter candidates and Mercury’s origins, but first the news.

A Blast from the Past. In this month’s episode, we are hearing from a familiar voice as we are joined by now Dr. Ian Harrrison as he talks to us about weak lensing. We will also be diving into the archives with familiar the familiar voices of Imogen and Jonathan discussing theoretical cosmology with Dr. Cora Uhlemann

Cloudy with a Chance of Stars. In this month’s episode, we have two interviews from back in 2022: one with with Eloy de Lera Acedo and another with Mark Magee. Louisa and Barbara talk about the Arecibo Message, imaging stars and flying to space! Bijas chats with James Turner about his work finding pulsars with MeerKAT in our next installment of the Jodbite.

Shining a Light on Dark Matter. In December's episode, we have delved into the archive for an interview with Grace Lawrence from 2022; she talks with Jonathan and Imogen about her work in dark matter detection. Nastassia and Louisa answer some listeners’ questions in Ask an Astronomer, delving into wormhole exit points and pringle-shaped universes.

Exploring Exoplanets with JWST. In November's episode, Mel talks to Dr Hannah Wakeford on her work in the field of exoplanets, utilising JWST to delve into planetary atmospheres. For our Jodbite, we talk to postdoc Dr Aishrila Mazumder about her research mapping hydrogen.

How to build your own radio telescope!. In this episode, Louisa talks to Dr. Danny Jacobs about radio cosmology and the physical challenges that face building and operating radio telescopes today. In October’s Jodbite, Honor and Phoebe talk about their masters projects, and it’s all things lunar with back-to-back moon news.