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The Natural History Museum – a fine institution full of dusty, dead things. A bit like the House of Lords. Satire. But how do you get into the Museum’s collections? Win a raffle? The X Factor? Who knows? One man who hopes he does is Douglas Smith. Will he get his shrew past the tough […]

Things haven’t always been fair at Christmas. In the old days, before the Snapchat, some people didn’t get everything they wanted. Women. They haven’t always had it easy. But there are some who fight for their rights! And there’s no better time to do it than when the nights draw in and those shops open […]

Ooh be do. I want to be like you. I want to walk like you, talk like you. Ooooh. Modelling yourself after successful people can have ups and downs. For every “being open to new ideas” there’s a “wake every morning at 4am”. If only King Louie understood that. Of course this is unrelated to […]

Aaaaaaaachoo! Oof. Sorry about that. I really must stop rubbing my face with things I’m allergic to. Like cats. Of course scientists are doing their best to cure us of diseases – and to do this they like to stick things in our crevices. Get ready for international travel! Animals! And lots of hot nose […]

The 1980s. Cool music, solid haircuts, adventurous films and neoliberalism. Everything a decade should be. And it was when the big, successful computer companies started their rise. And not only the successful ones. Join us to for a story of the also-rans. The followers. The failures. The Great British computer companies. Chris Sessions – Brian Mackenwells […]

Guns. Dangerous things. Well, one end is. Really as long as you’re not standing in front of the little bit on the front you’ll be okay. They never point that out in gun statistics do they? What about all the people who were BEHIND the gun? Having established that guns are safe, let’s use one […]

Scientists. What are they like, eh? Not content with filling the world with “facts” and “ideas” they’re also very fond of weird experiments. One minute you’re waiting for the 49 bus, the next you’re being attacked by a murderous fog that’s escaped from a laboratory. They also like removing and adding brains to things. And […]

BOOM! I love mushrooms. They’re a tasty and healthy alternative to meat. And they’re great fried in butter, like so many things in life. But what about mushroom clouds? They don’t taste so good in garlic and breadcrumbs. How about an adventure about them though? That’s something you’d like isn’t it? Well, here you are. […]

Pie charts. Not as fattening as the name suggests. They’ve been miscommunicating information for a long time now, and baffling people with their unnecessary 3D effects. Of course the reason we have them at all is down to the ‘lady with the lamp’. She was always working in the dark which explains the bright default colours […]

Wait, 2 counter-clockwise turns off the upper-level should… No… 3 clockwise rotations of the left-most sector will… No. We all hate Rubik’s cubes. Hate them completely and utterly. More than life itself. But there are some total weirdos who do like them. Join some of these fine people as they grapple with lining up little […]

Have you ever had one of those friends? You know the type, will get you into trouble and then disappear when the going gets tough. Irish. Co-writer of the podcast you make. Named Brian. I think I may be giving you too much of a peek behind the curtains… There hasn’t been enough Scandinavia in […]

I bet you love all those expensive comic book super hero films, don’t you? I can tell by the pyjamas your you’re wearing. Well, have you ever wondered what it’s like for the people who help them? You can’t run a crime-fighting enterprise without back room staff. Join us for the tale of some of those […]

Space. A big, empty void full of nothing. That’s what the AST writers have to contend with every month. So, the easiest thing is to take someone else’s idea. PARODY! We’ve been here before with this fella, but this time he’s getting left on Mars. It’s just like a certain big budget blockbuster that came […]

Woooooaaaahhhhh! Wooooooaaaaaahhhhh! Scared? Enough to make you rethink your life choices and embrace the Christmas spirit? Of course. That’s how it always works. We have gone totally Christmas Carol crazy in this episode. Get ready for mistletoe, mulled wine, carol singers and our old friend Sir Isaac Newton. It’s our gift to you. Narrator – Dan […]

Travelling around the country is fun. And you can increase the fun by searching the airwaves to find local radio stations to listen to. The playlists, attitudes, and opinions have remained remarkably stable over the past 30 years. And that’s exactly what we all need more of in our lives. One such radio station is […]

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, and due to the fact I’ve been cloned it’s very similar to the wool you already have. Ah, I love a classic nursery rhyme. Get ready for this, as there’s a lot of skulking and flashbacks. Make a good 70’s cop duo wouldn’t […]

Nemesesises’s. We all have one. Whether it’s the newsreader who always seems to be giving all the bad news DIRECTLY TO YOU, or the man whose evil plans you keep thwarting. Or that guy who’s sleeping with your girl / boyfriend. Yep. Now you know. We’ve all known for ages. Stop whatever it is you’re […]

Which is best? Cowboys, ninjas, or pirates? The answer is cowboys. Well, it is right now. In this, the latest slice of drool-encouraging action science, we meet cowboys. And we don’t just mean the cast. Join Sheriff Brady and his assistant / sidekick / deputy, Parker, as they attempt to foil the machinations of that […]

Bah bah bah bah! Bah bah bah! Bah bah bah bah! Bah bah bah bah bah! You recognise it don’t you? Don’t you? Come on. No it’s not that one. The other one. The one with the guy in the hat. No I can’t just tell you in case the lawyers are reading. You’ll figure […]

They can’t get rid of me, you know. Do you know why? Because I know where the bodies are buried. The sweet, valuable bodies. That’s right, AST is going all dark and deathy. The best way to listen to this episode is to turn off the lights and close your eyes. Unless you’re in a […]