“We’re leaving these 16 contestants on an island with nothing but what they can scavenge from an abandoned factory and apartment block. Over the next 365 days, they’ll try to rebuild as much of civilisation as they can — from glass, to lenses, to microscopes. This is: The Knowledge!” If you were a contestant on such a

Lewis Dartnell is a Professor of Science Communication at the University of Westminster. He has won several awards for his science writing, and contributes to the Guardian, the Times and the New Scientist. He has also written for television and appeared on BBC Horizon, Sky News, Wonders of the Universe, Stargazing Live

There are strips of rock in the United States that are accurate predictors of whether a county will turn Democrat, or Republican. Lewis Dartnell's latest project demonstrates how the earth has and continues to shape our politics and our history, and Dan chatted to him to discover more. For ad free versions of our entir

This week's podcast guest is Lewis Dartnell, author, presenter, and professor of science communication at the University of Westminster. He's best known to the public as a popular science writer, especially for his book The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch. In that book and in his related TED Talk, Lewi