Science Pie (English) - Science Pie
28 episodes - German - Latest episode: almost 7 years ago -Science Pie is a new independent podcast about physics, history, literature and engineering, exploring one fascinating topic per 15-minute episode. Manufactured in-house by Annika Brockschmidt and Dennis Schulz.
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Episodes
The End
July 18, 2017 21:23 - 5.72 MBUnfortunately, we have to discontinue the English channel of this podcast. We would have loved to continue, but right now, it is basically impossible for the two of us, as we are crazy busy right now and cloning - well. We are very sorry! If you, by any chance, learn or know German, though, there's still new episodes for you. Otherwise: Thanks for listening! It was a lot of fun bringing you stuff we love. The song is Vienna Ditto's "Stop" - the one we've used for our intro.
Fusion Facts
January 13, 2017 14:00 - 22 MBWe are investigating fusion! After trying to master the basics in our first episode, we answer the big questions: Why does anyone want fusion power? Why do governments spend that much money trying to handle plasmas? Also, you and a friend of yours will be running laps in a stadium just to collide and fusion at some point. Why have we been so infrequent lately? It's because there will be a book! We have been working on it for the last few months and still have to do a lot of stuff. We'll be...
Taylor, Kanye and Justin
October 10, 2016 22:45 - 21.2 MBWe're back on one of our favourite topics: generation of energy. In this episode, we talk to Thomas Klinger, scientific director of the fusion machine Wendelstein 7-X. But how did Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Justin Bieber get in here? And why do they appear the very moment natural scientists are asked to not listen too closely? For answers, you might have to listen to this episode. From now on, we'll list the music directly under each episode. We used: Broke For Free – Drop of Water In t...
Though this be madness, there is lead in't
August 31, 2016 22:01 - 18.3 MBThis time around, we stay with the books and agree with Jojen from Game of Thrones: "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. [...] The man who never reads lives only once." (G.R.R. Martin, of course, A Dance with Dragons). True, but sometimes, if you were a medieval illuminator, your manuscript could kill you before you could read it. Follow us into the world of hungry greens and poisonous ink! Does anyone of you read the text below the episode? If yes: You're cool! Hi! I want i...
Please laser my library
June 30, 2016 22:01 - 12.3 MBWe, together with Andy Beeby and Richard Gameson, will introduce you into the wonderful world of books! This episode is not about written stories, though. It's about the ink, the paper, the question "How did this get made?". How can we look at the different materials used to manufacture a book when we are not allowed to touch it, let alone take samples? This is part 1, an introduction, which will be followed by at least one more episode - so stay tuned! Science Pie is Annika Brockschmidt &...
Ice cream
June 01, 2016 08:13 - 11.4 MBIt's summer time! Which means that our most trusted companion for hot sticky days is out there again: ice cream! In our third episode with John Girkin, we explore the most important question of 'em all: Why does the the stick of an ice cream look the way it does? And is there such a thing as a luxury stick? This question actually requires us to consider things like liquid nitrogen, heat capacity and crystalline solids. You can find and support us on Patreon! Dennis is part of a group of pho...
Blood, lasers & hearts
April 30, 2016 22:01 - 13.1 MBZebra fish are gaining popularity compared to lab mice - their heart, for example, seems to be a remarkable model for the human heart, despite it looking completely different. But: Their heart has one superpower the human heart has not - which motivates people to use lasers to shoot at it. Why? And is it worth it? You decide. Music by Tchaikovsky, Chopin played by Edward Neeman, Vienna Ditto, Malaventura, Airglow, Chris Zabriskie and Portrayal. Beating heart sound by Mike Koenig, Intro b...
A Song of Heroes and Murderers
March 31, 2016 22:01 - 16.2 MBGame of Thrones fans, this is for you! Because it'll get bloody. And treacherous. We take a look at the German epic "The Song of the Nibelungs" and try to untangle the mess of love, hate, betrayal and war that it contains. And we'll look at one of the first baddies in German literary history: Hagen of Tronje, who seems to be all sorts of things: loyal vasall, treacherous schemer and ruthless politician (GOT character comparisons in the comments are welcome, btw). Tune in! Music by Fasan, Ke...
Gone with the Inertia
March 01, 2016 06:49 - 16.7 MBWe're back in the wind canal, on the rotor blade, on the wings of change, so to speak. We continue to tackle wind energy and the mysterious inertia (cue to Dennis singing creepily in the backgorund) with Professor Simon Hogg of Durham University. Hang your coat in the wind! (We think that saying only works in German, but we're not sure.) Music by The Fish Who Saved the Planet, Dennis Schulz, Chris Zabriskie, Frederic Chopin played by Zuzana Šimurdová. Final song: fasan - The Last Watch. Al...
The Wind in the Wheels
January 31, 2016 22:30 - 13.1 MBWe all need electricity. It's something we often don't even think about - we just switch the laptop on or plug our phone charger in. But electricity has to come from somewhere - and ideally it should be environmentally friendly. So is wind energy the solution we've all been waiting for? How eco-friendly is it, really? Join us and professor Simon Hogg from Furham University when we find out. Music by Scott Holmes, David Mumford, Rachmaninow played by Vadim Chaimovich and Chris Zabriskie. A s...
That side of the horizon
December 31, 2015 22:59 - 20.7 MBThis is part 2 of our episode on black holes - again with Chris Done from Durham University! We recommend listening to the first one, "This side of the horizon", first. In this episode: Stephen Hawking! Black holes of all sizes, supermassive, tiny, you name it! Collisions of black holes! Huge detectors to detect gravitational waves! And mouse droppings. Of course. We hope you enjoy it! Music by Malaventura, Rest You Sleeping Giant, Chris Zabriskie, Kai Engel, Vienna Ditto, Simon Mathewson ...
Death, Villains and hormones
December 26, 2015 14:42 - 31.8 MBAs on Christmas Eve, we now present (get it?) to you: the second crossover episode with our friends from Outside of a Dog! We talk about everyone's favourite wizard, death, villains and hormones in the wizarding world. Like death, this episode will get you, whether you subscribe or not. Do you want to lick it? (Listen in to understand) You can find all episodes of Outside of a Dog on their website, www.outsideofadogcast.com. Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New ...
You're a phenomenon, Harry!
December 24, 2015 17:57 - 31.7 MBIf you want to escape the holiday madness, here's our first crossover episode with the literature podcast "Outside of a Dog" who very kindly invited us as guests for this episode full of witchcraft and wizardry. We drank butterbeer (a 16th century recepy) and discussed themes of this beloved book series. Tune in and be happy that your family at least aren't the Durselys, or so we hope (sorry, Harry.) Produced by our friends of "Outside of a Dog". You can find them here. Photo: Les Haines ...
Us and our mistakes
December 20, 2015 09:00 - 5.3 MBOur fourth advent episode: Bloopers! Slip-ups! Gaffes! Goof-ups! Bumblers! We're not a live podcast and therefore can just cut stuff that didn't work out. Here's some of that stuff. Music by Malaventura. All the music is to be found here. Produced by Dennis Schulz and Annika Brockschmidt. Photo: Christian Schirner / flickr (CC-BY-SA).
Jo Fox on ads and social media
December 13, 2015 14:49 - 4.08 MBOur third advent episode is probably the last soundbit you'll hear from our interview with Jo Fox. Is advertising propaganda? Even if it is advertising for a good cause? And, in the century of social media, are we all propagandists ourselves? Produced by Dennis Schulz and Annika Brockschmidt. Music by Kelly Latimore. We have used a lot of music in all our episodes, and you can find all of it here. Photo: Wrote / flickr (CC-BY).
Chris Done on genius and white holes
December 06, 2015 18:10 - 6.42 MBThis is our second advent episode - this time with a snippet from our interview with Chris Done. She talks about the perception of mathematical genius in society and popular culture - and why she disagrees with the portrayal of Will Hunting in the academy award winning film Good Will Hunting. Also, we included what she told us about white holes - the opposite of black holes. Produced by Dennis Schulz and Annika Brockschmidt. Music by Chris Zabriskie. Find a list of all the music we used...
This side of the horizon
November 30, 2015 23:53 - 16.2 MBEver wondered what's inside of a Black Hole? Monsters? And how they form? We start our complete guide to one of the most fascinating phenomenons space has to offer. Our guide isn't Spock, but might just as well be - because she's an expert for astrophysics: it's Professor Chris Done from the Physics Department of Durham University. Let's travel to one of the great mysteries of space - just click play. Music by Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Airglow, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov played by The United Ar...
Jo Fox on teaching
November 29, 2015 11:55 - 3.88 MBWe decided to do advent episodes! Short bits from our interviews we wanted to release, but couldn't fit into a story. Few minutes each, few edits, one piece of music in the background. We start with Jo Fox, talking about the process of teaching and how she knows less the more she knows. More next week! Music by Maurice Ravel, played by Luis Sarro. Produced by Dennis Schulz and Annika Brockschmidt. A complete list of all the music for our episodes can be found here. Photo by Susanne Nilsson...
Into the Labyrinth
October 31, 2015 23:01 - 13.6 MBWe delve into the tricky field of atrocity propaganda. How does it work, why is it a thing we see time and time again? We travel through time to take a look at the form it took in World War 1 - and how it has changed since then. We follow the pictures into the present to the IS propaganda videos and discuss how we should deal with those images in the media. Follow us into the confusing labyrinth of atrocity propaganda, alongside Durham University professor Jo Fox who will guide us through! ...
No need to squash an eyeball
September 30, 2015 21:59 - 14.9 MBWhy does a physicist build a tiny replica of a dishwasher to put under a microscope? And what invention has made going to the optician or eye doctor that much more bearable (and also created a fun moment in TV history)? Join in as Durham University's Professor John Girkin answers these questions (and some more) and explains his optical toys to us. Yes, you read that correctly, toys. What they are? Click play and listen. Music by Josh Woodward, Robert Schumann, Frederic Chopin played by Don...
Why Harry?
June 15, 2015 21:38 - 19 MBWe belong to a generation that grew up alongside Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived - and yet, it is so much more than just a children's book. Alongside the lovely Anne-Sophie Charrière, who studied English Literature, especially the Harry Potter series, we dive into Rowling's elaborate and intricate world of magic and reveal the power behind the character's names. Be bewitched (and tune in. No password required. 7th-book reference. Teehee.) Music: Maurice Ravel played by Luis Sarro, Richard W...
The curious case of Rudolf Heß
June 13, 2015 17:17 - 21.5 MBImagine if Hitler had jumped out of an airplane over Britain and got captured in Glasgow. That didn't happen. But it happened to his deputy, Rudolf Heß. Join us as we dive into the strange and twisted story of Heß' caption alongside Durham University historian Jo Fox. We investigate what the curious case of Rudolf Heß can tell us about possible distinctions between democratic and totalitarian propaganda. Should we make a distinction between these at all? And what about rumours? Music by Ian...
Introducing Propaganda
May 26, 2015 01:18 - 7.77 MBWe are back! Join us as we dive into the fascinating field of propaganda with the help of Jo Fox, a specialist in the history of propaganda in twentieth-century europe and professor at Durham University. This is our first interview episode! Tune in as she unravels what we need to know in order to try to begin to understand propaganda and what propaganda does. There will be at least two more episodes based on this interview, both due soon! Music by Franz Schubert, Maurice Ravel, Leopoldo Mig...
The cumbersome trip through time
January 19, 2015 10:14 - 13 MBSciPie goes Sci-Fi: There are hardly any stories about a whole society being allowed to use time machines like we use planes today. Why is that? In our new episode, we talk about general relativity and Shakespeare oscillating between the literary figure he is today and a male version of an It-girl. We also give hints on how to destroy the financial system. Music by Kevin McLeod, Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Kevin McLeod, Chris Zabriskie, Jason Shaw, Kevin McLeod, Cloudkicker, Kelly Latimore and ...
The power of ten to the power of sixty
October 20, 2014 16:31 - 6.57 MBWhen we want to describe a big number, we say things such as "almost the distance between the earth and the moon" or utter some other attempt to make the number understandable. But there are numbers which force us to up our game of comparing. In this episode, we enter into the field of homeopathy, a field with numbers that are so exceptionally big that common comparisons just won't do the trick. This episode is an extended version of one of our blog posts. Music by Salapakka Sound System, ...
A Flutter Of Nerves
September 04, 2014 09:40 - 13.7 MBBurnout, depression, or whatever you want to call it, seems to be omnipresent these days - but not for the first time in history. As we look back, we feature strange treatments, an exhausted population, what people feared sex had to do with it, the horror of the trenches and a time in which the people and their nerves didn't seem to be able to keep up. Tune in, share this episode with all of your friends and keep Science Pie going! Produced by Annika Brockschmidt and Dennis Schulz. Music b...
A New Caesar
August 03, 2014 15:01 - 11.8 MBWe are really, really excited about our second episode, which will be the first episode for us to tackle the fields of history and literature! During the 1930s, many well-known writers (among lots of other people, of course) had to emigrate from Germany to avoid being prosecuted by the Nazi regime. One of the most famous immigrants to America: Nobel prize laureate Thomas Mann. Here I will talk about the way he saw America and especially the one person who, for him, encorporated everything th...
Knitting the way to the moon
July 27, 2014 13:13 - 12.4 MBFinally: Our very first episode! Getting to the moon today is a tricky business - it had been an even trickier one in the 1960s, during a time when computers tended to fill whole rooms. This is not a story about all that "First step for mankind" stuff you probably already know about. This is about what got all those twelve people to the moon. And it's not what you might think. Or did you have pocket calculators and Little Old Ladies in mind? Tune in, get excited and please share! We just s...