The Jodcast

Dawn of the Very Luminous Dinosaurs. In this month’s episode, we talk to John Weaver about EUCLID, galaxies, and black holes. Then, from our live event at the Chester Astronomy Society in March, we listen to Jodcaster Jamie’s talk about their research We want to hear more from our listeners, so if you would like to feature on one of our episodes, we will be releasing questions throughout the year and we want to hear what you think! Next month’s episode features an interview from RAL space, and so we want to know - ‘What would you like to see from the space sector in the next 10-20 years? (A future mission you look forward to, will space research solve a global problem or develop new technology for the future).’ Send your answers to our social media accounts or via our email.

Into the Cosmic Void. This month, we have a double cosmology interview special where Sohini and Jamie chat with Marika Asgari about her work on cosmic shear with KiDS and the future of KiDS, and her favourite models of dark matter and dark energy. Whilst Jamie talks with Leon Koopmans about his work on LOFAR, why LOFAR as an instrument will still have its own niches even in the post-SKA era.

Blue Skies Ahead! This month, we have an interview with Professor Jonathan Tennyson where he chats to Louisa and Lily about his founding of the satellite launching company Blue Skies Space, and in our Jodbite, Louis and Josh talk to postdoc Will McGenn about his work here at the Advanced Radio Instrumentation Group. In December, we also had an invite to attend RAL Space’s 21st Appleton Conference where Louisa and Phoebe chatted to some of the conference attendees.

Feeling the Cosmic Pulse. In this month's episode, Jessy and Barbara had the opportunity to speak to Dr Kai Schmitz of the University of Munster about the first results from the Pulsar Timing Array and how this could affect our understanding of early universe cosmology. Louisa and Sohini provide an end of year round up for the Jodcast, talking about the highlights of 2025 and where we are going in 2026. In our Jodbite, Louisa and Phoebe speak to PhD student Kathryn Edmundson about her work detecting and characterizing exoplanets.

Reaching the Stars. In this month’s episode, we’ve got lots of exciting interviews. This year, the UK Space Conference was held in Manchester so we had the opportunity to interview the CEO of the UK Space Agency, Paul Bate, and ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan. In our Jodbite, we hear more about the Simons Observatory from Berni Reid Guachalla.

Join Prof Michael Brown, a leading astrophysicist from the Jodrell Bank Centre, and Dr Katie Harrington, an expert in CMB instrumentation, as they dive into the groundbreaking Simons Observatory project. They discuss how the observatory will enhance our understanding of the universe's infancy and tackle challenges in detecting primordial B-mode polarization. Harrington shares insights on testing equipment and the meticulous calibration needed for this ambitious telescope. Get ready to explore the cosmos like never before!

Join Dr. Mel Ifran, a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge, as she discusses her fascinating journey from radio astronomy to cancer detection. She reveals how machine learning techniques used in studying stars can revolutionize medical imaging. The conversation highlights innovative methods for analyzing tissue samples, bridging the gap between astrophysics and healthcare. Mel also shares insights on the role of branding in scientific research and the collaborative potential of machine learning across fields, making for a thought-provoking and inspiring dialogue.

Galaxy Redshifts - A hard thing to nail down. In this month’s episode, we interview Prof Joe Zuntz about his research into clustering galaxies for cosmology. Our next Jodbite comes from this year’s PhD cohort, Georgie, as she submits her thesis on molecular line fitting using ALMA.

Infinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations. In this month’s episode, we have a double interview special as we get the opportunity to talk to Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell about her discovery of pulsars and resilience against the challenges she faced. We also talk to Louise Carvahlo, the diversity and inclusion programme leader at CERN, about how they are challenging the invisible barriers that academia face.

Bursting with Mysteries, FRBs. Welcome to our first themed episode of 2025. This month’s episode is everything to do with Fast Radio Bursts, or FRBs - their exciting discovery, mysterious origins and paving the way to using them as probes in space. This episode features double FRB interviews, with Dr Cherry Ng from CNRS Orleans giving an overview about these astrophysical mysteries, and Dr Ines Pastor Marazuela talking about her work here at Jodrell Bank to observe and understand the populations of FRBs we’ve found. But first, the news.