The Jodcast

Astronomy in the North. In this month’s episode, we talk to Jane Hurley from RAL Space about how the space sector shapes daily life. Then, from our live event at the Chester Astronomy Society in March, we listen to Jodcasters Phoebe and Josh talk about their research.

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.