Nobel Prize Conversations

“They're probably hoping I'll cancel the exam.” – Michael Woodford was scheduled to be setting his economics students an exam on the morning of October 12th, when he was woken by a call from Stockholm at 4:30am. Just after listening to the announcement of the 2026 prize in economic sciences, Woodford spoke to the Nobel Prize's Adam Smith about his feelings for the prize. He praised his...

In this call with the Nobel Prize soon after the announcement, Pillay says she feels overwhelmed about being a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. “A total surprise, I’m deeply honoured and touched.” – Navi Pillay received the news about her 2026 peace prize at an international conference in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice – more specifically in the famous Courtroom 600 where the WWII war criminals trials...

“Start in the middle, I always say” – Anne Carson was sweeping the kitchen floor at her home in Reykjavík, Iceland, when the phone rang and she learned that she had been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. “It seems a little insane,” Carson says in this conversation with the Nobel Prize just moments after the announcement. She also reveals that she has already started planning how to give...

"I'm very excited to hear the news. Good news. Very good news." – In this brief conversation, recorded shortly after the announcement of his Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Kenso Soai speaks of how happy he is to have his group's work recognised. He tells the Nobel Prize's Adam Smith how the search for the foundations of homochirality is a problem first posed by Louis Pasteur, and...

"In retrospect, the most amazing thing is that we got funded for this project." – Francis Halzen recalls greeting each milestone in the creation of the massive IceCube neutrino detector under the South Pole not with pride, but with surprise. In this conversation with the Nobel Prize's Adam Smith, recorded just after Halzen had learnt of his 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics, he speaks abou...

"Call me back, I have something important for you." – Belatedly recognising the Swedish prefix to the number he was asked to dial, Peter Hegemann called back to discover that he had been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Here, in this conversation with the Nobel Prize's Adam Smith, he speaks about the pleasure of sharing the award with friends, the value of true...

“I didn't expect this, really... I thought it's still too early to get this prize in medicine optogenetics.” – Georg Nagel's surprise upon learning that he was to be awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was evident. He received the news in Italy on a sun-drenched terrace, overlooking olive trees. In this brief conversation with the Nobel Prize's Adam Smith, he sha...

"So much mystery now finally seems on the brink of elucidation." – Karl Deisseroth was working on a paper, late into the night, and had just gone to bed when the call came from Stockholm breaking the news that he had been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In this interview with the Nobel Prize's Adam Smith, recorded while the rest of the household slept, he refl...

In this episode we discuss the work of 2025 literature laureate Lázsló Krasznahorkai with literary translator Daniel Gustaffson. Having translated many of Krasznahorkai's novels from Hungarian to Swedish, Gustafsson is an expert on his depictions of apocalyptic terror and long, winding sentences.  Selections from Krasznahorkai's Nobel Prize lecture, interview and banquet speech are examined b...

"There's very few cases of more intelligent things being controlled by less intelligent things. Once they're a lot smarter than us, I don't think they'll put up with that." – Geoffrey Hinton Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly developing and changing the world around us. In this special bonus episode we speak with Nobel Prize laureates to examine AI's growing influence on our society. From var...

Forty years ago, a series of experiments demonstrated that the bizarre properties of the quantum world can be made concrete in a system big enough to be held in your hand. John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis – all at different points in their careers – collaborated to make this groundbreaking discovery. Join us as host Adam Smith speaks with the 2025 physics laureates about the importanc...

At the halfway point of the season, Karin Svensson and Adam Smith reflect on what they have learned from conversations with Nobel Prize laureates and why there is no single mould for a successful scientist. They discuss the challenge of explaining complex ideas, the importance of embracing uncertainty and the sense of wonder that drives discovery. They also provide a sneak peek of the conversation...

We are living during a period of economic growth, but that hasn't always been the case. Throughout history, even during eras of technological advancements – economic growth was not a given.  The 2025 laureates in economic sciences – Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt – help us to understand how scientific innovations and creative destruction impact society.  Join us for this ti...

Patience, persistence and a strong will for never giving up. Discovering how the immune system is kept in check demanded a lot of our 2025 medicine laureates. Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi spent years finding out how our body's powerful immune system is regulated – leading to the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Join us for our conversation w...

Have you heard of MOFs? A new field of chemistry opened up with the discovery of Metal organic frameworks and the scientists behind it were awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Richard Robson, Omar Yaghi and Susumu Kitagawa all let their minds wander to unplanned places and changed chemistry forever. One of the most interesting and life-saving applications of MOFs is water harvesting, althou...

“I’m not one of these people who keeps the phone on, and the champagne in the fridge.” Peter Howitt certainly didn’t seem to be expecting the news of his 2025 prize in economic sciences. In this call recorded just after the announcement, he talks to the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith about his longstanding friendship with fellow-laureate Philippe Aghion and how they started their collaboration in the co...

“Peter, Peter, make yourself available, your phone, they’re trying to reach you!” Listen to Philippe Aghion telling Peter Howitt that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has been attempting to call him, captured as part of this call made shortly after the public announcement of their joint 2025 economic sciences prize. In this conversation with the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith he also reveals his jo...

“I had a whole list of people that I thought were going to win,” says Joel Mokyr, “And I wasn’t on it.” Waking early, he opened up his computer to find out who had been awarded the 2025 prize in economic sciences, and found emails saying ’Congratulations.’ Then, as Mokyr tells the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith in this brief call, he saw missed calls from Sweden on his phone and, “The suspicion started...

“I would say a fundamental discovery really becomes true when you can apply it to something concrete.” In this conversation, recorded after two hectic days following the prize announcement, new physics laureate Michel Devoret reflects on the excitement of seeing the fruits of research. He also talks about his co-laureate John Clarke, one of his role models, together with Lord Kelvin. Devoret descr...

“I am just part of a huge movement. I’m humbled, I’m grateful and I’m honoured.” – The announcement of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize came as a huge surprise to Maria Corina Machado.  In this interview, recorded directly after the news was broken, she describes how honoured she feels, and highlights the strength of her fellow Venezuelans. “I accept this is as a recognition to our people...

“Oh my god… I have no words.” – Listen to the emotional moment this year’s laureate Maria Corina Machado finds out she has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Kristian Berg Harpviken, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, shared the news with her directly before it was announced to the world. The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was awarded to Maria Corina Machado "for her tireless work promoting democ...

“I’m very proud to be in the line of some really great writers and poets.” In this interview, new literature laureate László Krasznahorkai shares his happiness about his Nobel Prize, which came as a surprise. Krasznahorkai speaks about how bitterness is an important driver for him, and also highlights the importance of using your fantasy. “Without fantasy, it’s an absolute different life. To...

“This is the mind of the researcher in Japan,” says Susumu Kitagawa, “Don’t switch off the light, even at night.” In this short conversation recorded the day after the announcement of his Nobel Prize in Physics, Kitagawa talks to the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith about his approach to tackling grand challenges, and how to keep a lookout for the unexpected. He also explains how his perspective on resear...

 “Some people thought it was a whole load of rubbish. But it didn’t turn out that way.” Richard Robson’s new concept for molecular architecture, which occurred to him while building models for teaching, was the starting point for the burgeoning field of metal–organic frameworks. In this conversation with the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith, recorded just after his Nobel Prize in Chemistry was a...

“I set out to build beautiful things and solve intellectual problems.” Omar Yaghi was just changing flights when he had heard the news that he had been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. For this conversation with the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith, recorded as he was departing on the next leg of his journey, Yaghi speaks about his early life as a refugee in Jordan, the wonderful way his field h...