Illuminating Light - Jess Wade, Russell Foster and Bridget Christie

The Infinite Monkey Cage

BBC

Comedy, Science

4.7 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What is light? How has it shaped our understanding of the universe, our biology, and even our culture? In this illuminating episode Brian Cox and Robin Ince shine a spotlight on the fascinating science and history of light. From sun and circadian rhythms to the dazzling complexity of quantum, they explore how humans have understood and been influenced by light across time. Joining them to shed light on the subject are physicist Dr Jess Wade, Neuroscientist Professor Russell Foster and comedian Bridget Christie. Together, they trace the story of light from early scientific theories to the cutting-edge research of today. Expect tales of light emitting eyes, the mystery of wave-particle duality and why Bridget thinks that if we had understood light better, we’d never have believed in ghosts!

Series Producer: Melanie Brown Assistant Producer: Olivia Jani Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem

BBC Studios Audio Production

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:05.2	Hello, I'm Brian Cox.
0:06.3	I'm Robin Hicks, and this is the Infinite Monkey Cage.
0:09.3	Now, the process of science was once described as a man dropping his keys in the dark,
0:14.6	but then crossing the road and looking for them under a street lamp,
0:17.7	because that's where the light is.
0:19.3	It's a complete dribble, isn't it?
0:22.0	Who said that?
0:24.1	Nome Chomsky.
0:25.4	And what was his expertise?
0:26.9	He's a linguist and street lamp mender.
0:30.8	Today we're asking, how has the availability of light changed our culture and our understanding
0:34.9	of the universe?
0:35.8	How does light affect the rhythm of our lives and indeed the stretch of our bodies and what is light anyway? To help us understand light,
0:42.6	we are joined by a circadian neuroscientist, a Raman spectroscopist and an existential biker. And they are
0:51.1	Russell Foster. I'm the director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute.
0:56.1	And I've spent a big chunk of my life trying to understand how light is detected
0:59.5	and how it regulates lots of different parts of our biology,
1:03.2	but particularly how light is regulating circadian rhythms and sleep.
1:08.7	And what about light makes me happy? Well, it's something I will be
1:13.6	completely unaware of because it's the exposure to morning light that will set my internal body clock
1:20.5	and my sleep wake cycle, which will synchronise my rhythms and allow me to do what I need to do
	...

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