Episode 49: From Cambridge to the Commons

This episode features Julian Huppert, former Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, and now Director of the Intellectual Forum at Jesus College Cambridge.

We chat about Julian's journey from academia to the House of Commons where he was recognised as the only scientist, a moniker that Julian was keen to not let define and confine his policy goals. We wanted to get his insight into the general state of scientific understanding in parliament, and how scientists can better engage politicians with topics that matter to them. It's an unfortunate stereotype that scientists often hold politics at arm's length, there may not be a need for all scientists to be politically activated but involvement in the political process can as Julian notes be pretty easy behaviours to foster.

We were also eager to dive into his new(ish) role as Director of the Intellectual Forum, an organisation that has critical thinking and open discussion at its core, covering an impressive breadth of topics which can essentially be boiled down to anything 'interesting and worthwhile'.

Related Episodes:

Episode 29: Bringing Science to the Senate, where we chat to UC Berkeley Biologist Michael Eisen about his run for senate, and how scientists cannot afford to be apart from politics.