Human Intelligence Podcast
In Human Intelligence, Naomi Alderman dissects the minds of brilliant thinkers from the past; examining the myriad ways in which humans think and realising that great minds don't, in fact, think alike.
Episodes to download
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Perfectionists: Martha Graham—Series 2
Friday
Martha Graham was to modern dance what Picasso was to painting.
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Perfectionists: Leonardo Da Vinci—Series 2
Thursday
The quintessential Renaissance man, artist Leonardo da Vinci was curious about everything.
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Perfectionists: Al-Khwarizmi—Series 2
Wednesday
Al-Khwarizmi laid the groundwork for the modern world in setting down the rules of algebra
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Perfectionists: Simone Weil—Series 2
Tuesday
Simone Weil was a perfectionist of ethics, calling on us to attend to others’ suffering.
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Perfectionists: Isambard Kingdom Brunel—Series 2
Tomorrow
Isambard Kingdom Brunel wanted all his work to be the best, but it came at a cost.
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Exiles: Ovid—Series 2
Friday
Ovid was Rome’s funniest, wittiest poet. How was his mind shaped by exile?
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Exiles: Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz—Series 2
Thursday
How did exile enable a self-taught intellectual and proto-feminist to do her best work?
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Exiles: Marie Curie—Series 2
Wednesday
Marie Curie had to go into exile to do her work, but she never forgot where she came from.
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Exiles: Ishi—Series 2
Tuesday
The mind of Ishi: how one man worked to preserve the knowledge of an entire community.
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Exiles: Karl Marx—Series 2
Last Monday
Exploring the mind of Karl Marx, a revolutionary political thinker and philosopher.
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Live from Hay Literary Festival 2025—Series 2
Mon 29 Dec 2025
Naomi Alderman and guests celebrate Human Intelligence at the Hay Literary Festival.
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Travellers: Aristotle—Series 1
Fri 28 Mar 2025
The very first scientist, who thought every part of the world could be a place of learning
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Travellers: Ida Pfeiffer—Series 1
Thu 27 Mar 2025
A 19th-century solo female traveller who opened up the idea of travel for everyone.
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Travellers: Sir Patrick Manson—Series 1
Wed 26 Mar 2025
'Mosquito Manson' found a travelling parasite and unravelled a medical mystery.
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Travellers: Jean Rhys—Series 1
Tue 25 Mar 2025
A novelist whose sequel to Jane Eyre turned storytelling on its head
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Manhattan Project: Albert Einstein—Series 1
Fri 21 Mar 2025
How a world famous pacifist jump-started the Manhattan Project and revolutionised science.
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Manhattan Project: Lise Meitner—Series 1
Thu 20 Mar 2025
The woman who discovered nuclear fission but would have nothing to do with the bomb.
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Manhattan Project: John von Neumann—Series 1
Wed 19 Mar 2025
The game theory pioneer who made the information age possible.
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Manhattan Project: Niels Bohr—Series 1
Tue 18 Mar 2025
A scientific genius who saw poetry in the subatomic world
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Manhattan Project: J Robert Oppenheimer—Series 1
Mon 17 Mar 2025
The father of the atom bomb who longed to be an all-American hero.
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Collectors: Charles Darwin—Series 1
Fri 24 Jan 2025
A life-long collector of curiosities, Darwin saw massive significance in tiny changes.
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Collectors: Samuel Johnson—Series 1
Thu 23 Jan 2025
Working in chaos at a desk strewn with papers, 'Dictionary Johnson' left a great legacy.
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Collectors: Pamphila—Series 1
Wed 22 Jan 2025
A prolific historian from ancient Greece – female, freelance and working from home.
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Collectors: Denis Diderot—Series 1
Tue 21 Jan 2025
The Enlightenment encyclopaedist; the ultimate interdisciplinary thinker.
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Collectors: Sei Shōnagon—Series 1
Mon 20 Jan 2025
The author of a Japanese masterpiece who saw the beauty and absurdity in everyday life.
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Teachers: Diogenes—Series 1
Fri 17 Jan 2025
The irascible Greek thinker who lived in a barrel and argued for a simpler happier life.
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Teachers: Peter Ramus—Series 1
Thu 16 Jan 2025
A radical teacher who believed passionately in knowledge and education for all.
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Teachers: Mary Somerville—Series 1
Wed 15 Jan 2025
A remarkable 19th-century polymath inspired by the natural world and the universe beyond.
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Teachers: Maimonides—Series 1
Tue 14 Jan 2025
The celebrated medieval philosopher who reconciled faith and reason.
