18 April:
Tracklist:
Emiliana Torrini - Sunny Road
Belle & Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo
Lily Allen - LDN
Cake - Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
~ Lost Wisdom in the History of Environmental Chemistry ~
Janis Joplin - Move Over
Beastie Boys - Groove Holmes
~ Ladies' Book Club - Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut ~
Pulp - Underwear
Beck - Nausea
Crackpot - Foot Through a Cloud
Laurie Anderson - Big Science
John Lee Hooker - Wednesday Evening Blues
~ Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Fit the Fifth ~
Electric Six - Danger High Voltage
Tenacious D - Tribute
11 April: Primo Levi. The best science book ever written. Yuri's Night. Amateur extraterrestrial planetary photography. Mice, men and Magrathea. Free spacey community events. Strange sleeping patterns. Archives, archives, archives, archives, archives. Apollo 13. All this and music too.
Tracklist:4 April: Google's April Fool's prank this year got me for a few moments - how did you fare on April 1st? On tonight's show I'm going to tell you about some of the greatest sciencey April Fool's hoaxes of all time, including the elusive elementary particle called the bigon and the great BBC gravitational scam. In the book club we're talking about Karl von Frisch's Bees, at the forum the discussion is about polyphasic sleep (with new references posted, and a listener actually up to day 6 of the experiment). After 12, Fit the Third of the BBC Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Series.
Tracklist:21 March:
If you took a poet, John Keats, say, and sat him down to dine
With a hard-core nerdy scientist like Albert Einstein,
Would they find some things in common to sustain their conversation,
Or, like matter/antimatter, would they spark a detonation?
It's UNESCO World Poetry day today so I want to hear about your favourite science poems - is it possible for poets to appreciate the aesthetics of the world through the filter of science? There is some discussion here to start things off. Also: in the book club I'll be telling you about a book that purports to be an encyclopaedia of an alien culture, and we'll be talking about polyphasic sleep patterns - a way of getting by on two hours sleep every day without suffering from sleep deprivation. The Nerd Word of the Week will celebrate the passing of summer. After 12, your weekly dose of sci-fi radio is Episode 1 of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - see where the phenomenon began all those years ago.
Tracklist:
Tool - The Pot
Sleepy Jackson - Rich as a King, Weak as a Dead Fish
Bjork - Who Is It
Crackpot - Tippy Tippy Toe
The Grates - Science is Golden
The White Stripes - Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Lily Allen - LDN
XTC - I'd Like That
Bob Marley vs Funkstar De Luxe - Sun is Shining
Jamiroquai - Little L
Stone Roses - Fool's Gold
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Homeless
Simon and Garfunkel - Bleeker Street
Jimmy Little - Under the Milky Way
14 March: good grief, it's 3/14 - International Pi Day! Why not celebrate by memorising Pi to 100,000 digits, or calculating Pi using spaghetti and a tiled kitchen floor? There are no limits to the wacky party games you can do with friends today! Also on tonight's show, we celebrate the birthdays of quite a lot of famous scientists including the most iconic of them all, Albert Einstein. Tune in to hear about shapes with infinte borders but zero area, mistranslations that changed the way the world thought about the planet Mars, and someone who did a hell of a lot for modern medicine. There's also the Ladies' Late Night Sci-Fi Book Club [new segment!] talking about Stanislaw Lem's Solaris tonight, and the inaugural Nerd Word of the Week. Wow, you don't want to miss that one. As usual, old-school sci fi after 12: tonight, James Blish's Surface Tension.
Tracklist:
Bjork - Human Behaviour
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Simon and Garfunkel - Wednesday Morning 3 a.m.
Papa M - Over Jordan
Portishead - Wandering Star
Mr Bungle - Sweet Charity
Angelique Kidjo - Voodoo Chile
Primus - Shake Hands With Beef
Rammstein - #2
Run Lola Run Soundtrack - Wish (Komm Zu Mir)
X Minus One - Surface Tension by James Blish
Biftek - Wired for Sound
Mia Dyson - Lonely
Crow - Kilkeel
Royal Crown Revue - Barflies at the Beach (Live)
28 February: tonight I'll mention in passing the infamous Webster's Dictionary 'dord' incident, pass smoothly onto the 'nihilartikel' paradox, ask for your further opinions on whether this is the most important or the most naive idea in science for a long time, flit hither and thither over the maths-ability / bikini-wearing correlation (hint: it's an inverse relationship), and land squarely on my feet to play you some old-time radio science fiction that involves the phrases "the biochemistry of the earthite", "What's that? That's my gun!", and "Why do you invade my disconnection chamber?" As usual I will also be begging students to get involved with the show and contribute.
Tracklist:
Gling-Glo - Kata Rokkar
The Hive - Pan Animal
Jamiroquai - The Kids
Electric Six - Rock and Roll Evacuation
Nick Cave - As I Sat Sadly By Her Side
They Might Be Giants - Why Does the Sun Shine?
Wizo - Raum der Zeit
Mr Bungle - Carousel
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood - Ed Case Refix
Tenacious D - One Note Song / Tribute
Lovage - To Catch a Thief
Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man
Paul Simon - The Boy in the Bubble
White Stripes - The Hardest Button to Button
Cake - Frank Sinatra
MIA - Sunshowers
Cornelius - Count Five or Six
Isaac Hayes - Theme from Shaft
Moloko - Come On
William Shatner - Common People
Scala - Teenage Dirtbag
21 February: It's 2007 and where are our flying cars, huh? Well, astonishingly, they're celebrating their 70th birthday today, no joke. Listen in for the history of the flying car tonight, as well as some astonishing facts about other futuristic devices we've been waiting for. Also: visit the forum and give your ideas on the Science Hippocratic Oath - if scientists and engineers hold more power over the well-being of humans than doctors, then why doesn't such an oath exist? After midnight: the Orson Welles Mercury Theatre radio adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days.
Tracklist:
The Cat Empire - How To Explain
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Frida Hyvonen - Driving My Friend
Joanna Newsom - The Book of Right-On
Led Zeppelin - Black Dog
Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now with the Fire
The Magnetic Fields - Infinitely Late at Night
Jamiroquai - Just Another Story
White Stripes - In The Cold, Cold Night
Royal Crown Revue - Everyone Knows You're Crazy
Beastie Boys - Groove
Labi Siffre - I Got The...
14 February: Valentine's day, a date traditionally reviled by dateless nerds and geeks the world over. Hello to all of you listening in. This show I'm going to be talking about the science of lerv, and gathering evidence for why scientists should not be trusted with investigating the nature of romance and attraction. Exhibit One: "It was found that after ten days, the rats began to show diminished sexual attraction toward other rats and enhanced atraction toward tennis balls." (From research done by Ohio State University.) Exhibit Two: disco-dancing mice become homosexuals. (From the Aegean University in Ankara.) And so forth. After 12: 'Nightfall' by Isaac Asimov, the c.1950 radio adaptation.
Tracklist:
Sekiden - Alexander
Royal Crown Revue - Datin' With No Dough
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - How Indiscrete
Cake - Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
Dizzee Rascal - I LUV U
Super Furry Animals - Herman Loves Pauline
Wizo - Hund
Stroker Ace - Lovage
Suzanne Vega - Caramel
Radiohead - Creep
Gomez - Las Vegas Dealer
The Whitlams - No Aphrodisiac
Jimmy Little - Into Temptation
Ben Folds Five - Underground
Bjork - Possibly, Maybe
Goldfrapp - Human
George - special ones
The Streets - Could Well Be In
7 February: An auspicious date in the history of Soyuz, Mir, Pluto, spacewalks and Pioneer 10 - and also for the Helix mp3 archives, which go online tomorrow morning here. To celebrate I'll be broadcasting some of the Pioneers of Science segments, including the groundbreaking Melbourne study on office teaspoon migration as a manifestation of counterphenomenological resistentialism (it got published in the BMJ - must be true) and the seminal MIT investigation into alfoil beanies as mind-control countermeasures. Also: after 12, a Robert Heinlein double feature from the 1955 X Minus One radio adaptation series.
Tracklist:
Tool - The Pot
Janis Joplin - Move Over
Gomez - Shot Shot
James Brown - I Got You (I Feel Good)
Queen - Killer Queen
Grand Popo Football Club - Men Are Not Nice Guys
The Lucksmiths - The Year of Driving Langorously
Frida Hyvonen - Today, Tuesday
Joanna Newsom - The Sprout and the Bean
Gotye - Heart's a Mess
Tracky Dax - Wabba
Ani di Franco - Evolve
Tim Minchin - If You Open Your Mind Too Much
Tripod - In The Countryside
The Swingers - Counting the Beat
Deltron 3030 - Things You Can Do
Bjork - Scatterheart
Helix will be off-air 31 January - I'm on holidays.
24 January: Argh! Klingons and Vulcans are in the US senate! Hear more tonight, plus the Helix Science Community Calendar; a song by Darwinist band Genomic Dub Collective celebrating the Dover School Board 'Intelligent Design' defeat; and Explosive Decompression from the Helix archives. After 12, the Dimension X radio adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's sci-fi short story 'The Barnhouse Effect' (1950).
Tracklist:
John Benjamin Band - More Science
White Stripes - Ball and Biscuit
Royal Crown Revue - Port-au-Prince
Jamiroquai - Alright
Harry Connick Jr - She
The Waifs - London Still
Darren Hanlon - She Cuts Hair
Genomic Dub Collective - Dub Fi Dover
Nick Drake - Road
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Weeping Song
Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan
XTC - I'd Like That
The Kinks - Lola
Sinead O'Connor - Why Don't You Do Right?
Blossom Dearie - Blossom
17 January: We'll be talking about Antarctic exploration and the science that gave the 18th century prancing zombie kittens. Also: clips from the instructional DVD series 'Bikini Calculus' ("so utterly horrible yet completely awesome") and, after midnight, a very special treat - the Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio play from 1938. As usual the Helix Science Community Calendar will be there and lots of music.
Tracklist:
Pulp - Misshapes, Mistakes, Misfits
PJ Harvey - This Mess We're In
Cake - Frank Sinatra
White Stripes - Dead Leaves and Dirty Ground
Buddy Rich Big Band - Beat Goes On
Blues Brothers - Messin' With The Kid
Crackpot - Tippy Tippy Toe
Cat Empire - Hotel California
Lily Allen - Everything's Just Wonderful
Jamiroquai - Little L
Glina Mkhize - Click Song
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Hello My Baby
Future Bible Heroes - Doris Day The Earth Stood Still
10 January: will Superman survive a fall out of a tenth-story window??? Discover the startling answer in the continuation of the 1940 Superman radio adaptation just before 12 tonight. Also: this week's X Minus One episode is Robert Sheckley's "Skulking Permit" - hear that at quarter past 12 - and of course there will be the Helix Science Community Calendar updates and music including Lovage, Postal Service, Natacha Atlas, White Stripes and lots more.
3 January 2007: happy new year! Tune in at 11:45 pm for Superman pt II (10 mins), and at 12:15 am for the 1955 radio dramatisation of "Mars is Heaven" by Ray Bradbury. Music tonight will include comedy by Tripod, bizarre love-struck whimsy from Stephin Merritt; and also Nick Cave, Le Tigre, The Cat Empire, Laurie Anderson and more.
27 December 2006: listen in for the first ever radio instalment of Superman, first aired in 1940, plus the 1956 radio dramatisation of Frederick Pohl's fantastic short story "The Tunnel Under The World". Also: comedian Tim Minchin's take on pseudoscience; the Twelve o'Clock Schlock; the weekly science community calendar; and music including Lily Allen, Tool, Joanna Newsome, Pulp, MIA and much much more.
Selected previous shows: Apr 12 :: Mar 08 :: Mar 01 :: Feb 22 :: Feb 15 :: Feb 8
