King's of Curiosity with Gillian Tett

What does British Cycling have in common with the jet engine? A man named Frank Whittle, who brought us the world of aviation we know today. The Cambridge engineering lab that bears his name is now the home of the next generation of engineers looking to make flying more sustainable than ever before. But in the face of rapid reversals on climate change commitments, is there still momentum to accele...

We hear a lot about innovations in green technology, but what is really in the pipeline? Carbon is pitched as enemy number 1, but could we be using it for a cleaner future? And are we anywhere closer to extending the life of the lithium-based battery? Gillian talks to 2 researchers who are dreaming up the technologies of tomorrow. Shannon Bonke wants to use Lego bricks to attain a carbon negative...

You're about to enter a discipline that genuinely has to account for time-travel in its computations. Welcome to the wonderful, if initially bewildering, world of quantum computing. Gillian's guide through the hypothetical yeses, nos and maybes of quantum is Dr David Arvidsson Shukur, the Senior Researcher of quantum algorithms at the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, a Bye-Fellow at King's College an...

Each day brings new stories about the possibilities and the threats of AI and the dominance of Silicon Valley. But what if there were other voices and points of view shaping these technologies and their influence on the world? How differently would these tools work for us? Our guests this week come from very different worlds but their work on understanding the impacts of AI and tech intersects in...

This week we welcome historian Peter Frankopan and anthropologist Professor Dame Caroline Humphrey to the show. Both work on very different aspects of areas across Asia now described as the Silk Roads; Peter has written a bestselling history of the Silk Roads, which recently celebrated its 10 th anniversary, and Carrie has spent several decades as an anthropologist in Mongolia, China and Russia. G...

To kick off the series, historian Marcus Boïck looks back at the last 30 years to trace the resurgence of the far right in post-reunification Germany and beyond. He and Gillian discuss the often devastating economic and social impacts of reunification on the former East Germany, why he rates Goodbye Lenin! above The Lives of Others and consider the AfD party's prospects for future elections. Marcu...

Welcome to King's of Curiosity – a podcast for curious minds. Each episode takes you on a journey through some of the bright ideas and breakthroughs coming out of King's College Cambridge. Presented by Gillian Tett, financial journalist and Provost of King's, we dive into topics from populism to quantum computing and almost everything in between. Come and get curious with us! New episodes every Tu...