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Professor Charles Godfray, Director of the the Oxford Martin School tells Jim Al-Kahlili about the intricate world of population dynamics, and how a healthy obsession with parasitic wasps might help us solve some of humanity’s biggest problems, from the fight against Malaria to sustainably feeding a global community of 9 billion people. Show less Source […]
Jonathan Van-Tam on Covid communication and the power of football analogies Show more Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, or ‘JVT’ as he’s arguably better known, first came to widespread public attention in his role as Deputy Chief Medical Officer during the Covid-19 pandemic. But even before that, Jonathan had built an impressive career based on a long-held […]
Dr Chris van Tulleken wrestles with the dilemma of slaughter. Could he bring himself to dispatch an animal himself? Is he happy supporting an industry which kills animals in his name? And if not, what could he eat instead? Chris explores the rise of the alternative protein industry – plant-based meat alternatives, lab-grown meat, or […]
Dr Chris van Tulleken ponders the global cost of keeping the world in wings. Show more We’re a planet addicted to chicken and our appetites fuel a massive global industry, but is it one we should support? While some cite it as a shining example of a super-efficient food production system, one that could help […]
Dr Chris van Tulleken gets a taste of a guilty pleasure – sinful yet delicious fast food. Show more Like many of us, Dr Chris van Tulleken is always trying to eat better food: healthy, high welfare, good for the environment. This kind of consumer demand is making the chicken industry better, in tiny increments. […]
You eat it every day, but how much do you know about the incredible science of salt? Show more For eons, salt has been crucial to human health, culture, and diet. On this episode of The Evidence, we explore the strange science of salt taste – why it can be sweet, salty, or even a […]
Do YOU know what you’re eating? Are you sure? Dr Chris van Tulleken is keen to make good food choices, and buy the best chicken possible for his dinner. High welfare, tasty, and good for the environment, ideally. But it’s not as easy as that. How CAN he make good food choices if he has […]
We’ve heard about the potential problems around chicken welfare. But how does that square with their impact on the environment? Dr Chris van Tulleken finds out what it takes to produce the most eco-friendly chicken meat possible. And makes a devastating discovery. Welfare concerns, and environmental credentials, often pull in OPPOSITE directions. Does he want […]
We eat chicken. A LOT of it. We might love the taste, but what about how we’re treating those birds? After witnessing first-hand the reality of indoor chicken farming – how most of the chicken we eat is raised – Dr Chris van Tulleken wants to know: are the birds happy enough, or is our […]
How human innovation turned chicken from backyard bird to multi-billion dollar industry. Show more So we started farming this bird called chicken, and it spread around the world. But what does it actually TAKE to feed us the amount of chicken we want to consume? 100 years ago this was a scrawny, egg-laying bird, only […]