Human Intelligence Podcast
In Human Intelligence, Naomi Alderman dissects the minds of brilliant thinkers from the past; examining the myriad ways in which humans think and realising that great minds don't, in fact, think alike.
Episodes to download
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Martha Graham—Perfectionists
Fri 16 Jan 2026
Martha Graham was to modern dance what Picasso was to painting.
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Leonardo Da Vinci—Perfectionists
Thu 15 Jan 2026
The quintessential Renaissance man, artist Leonardo da Vinci was curious about everything.
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Al-Khwarizmi—Perfectionists
Wed 14 Jan 2026
Al-Khwarizmi laid the groundwork for the modern world in setting down the rules of algebra
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Simone Weil—Perfectionists
Tue 13 Jan 2026
Simone Weil was a perfectionist of ethics, calling on us to attend to others鈥� suffering.
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel—Perfectionists
Mon 12 Jan 2026
Isambard Kingdom Brunel wanted all his work to be the best, but it came at a cost.
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Ovid—Exiles
Fri 9 Jan 2026
Ovid was Rome鈥檚 funniest, wittiest poet. How was his mind shaped by exile?
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Sor Juana In茅s De La Cruz—Exiles
Thu 8 Jan 2026
How did exile enable a self-taught intellectual and proto-feminist to do her best work?
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Marie Curie—Exiles
Wed 7 Jan 2026
Marie Curie had to go into exile to do her work, but she never forgot where she came from.
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Ishi—Exiles
Tue 6 Jan 2026
The mind of Ishi: how one man worked to preserve the knowledge of an entire community.
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Karl Marx—Exiles
Mon 5 Jan 2026
Exploring the mind of Karl Marx, a revolutionary political thinker and philosopher.
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Live from Hay Literary Festival 2025
Mon 29 Dec 2025
Naomi Alderman and guests celebrate Human Intelligence at the Hay Literary Festival.
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Aristotle—Travellers
Fri 28 Mar 2025
The very first scientist, who thought every part of the world could be a place of learning
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Ida Pfeiffer—Travellers
Thu 27 Mar 2025
A 19th century solo female traveller who opened up the idea of travel for everyone.
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Sir Patrick Manson—Travellers
Wed 26 Mar 2025
'Mosquito Manson' found a travelling parasite and unravelled a medical mystery.
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Jean Rhys—Travellers
Tue 25 Mar 2025
A novelist whose sequel to Jane Eyre turned storytelling on its head.
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Albert Einstein—Manhattan Project
Fri 21 Mar 2025
How a world famous pacifist jump-started the Manhattan Project and revolutionised science.
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Lise Meitner—Manhattan Project
Thu 20 Mar 2025
The woman who discovered nuclear fission but would have nothing to do with the bomb.
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John von Neumann—Manhattan Project
Wed 19 Mar 2025
The game theory pioneer who made the information age possible.
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Niels Bohr—Manhattan Project
Tue 18 Mar 2025
A scientific genius who saw poetry in the subatomic world.
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J Robert Oppenheimer—Manhattan Project
Mon 17 Mar 2025
The father of the atom bomb who longed to be an all-American hero.
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Charles Darwin—Collectors
Fri 24 Jan 2025
A life-long collector of curiosities, Darwin saw massive significance in tiny changes.
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Samuel Johnson—Collectors
Thu 23 Jan 2025
Working in chaos at a desk strewn with papers, 'Dictionary Johnson' left a great legacy.
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Pamphila—Collectors
Wed 22 Jan 2025
A prolific historian from ancient Greece 鈥� female, freelance and working from home.
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Denis Diderot—Collectors
Tue 21 Jan 2025
The Enlightenment encyclopaedist; the ultimate interdisciplinary thinker.
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Sei Sh艒nagon—Collectors
Mon 20 Jan 2025
The author of a Japanese masterpiece who saw the beauty and absurdity in everyday life.
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Diogenes—Teachers
Fri 17 Jan 2025
The irascible Greek thinker who lived in a barrel and argued for a simpler happier life.
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Peter Ramus—Teachers
Thu 16 Jan 2025
A radical teacher who believed passionately in knowledge and education for all.
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Mary Somerville—Teachers
Wed 15 Jan 2025
A remarkable 19th century polymath inspired by the natural world and the universe beyond.
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Maimonides—Teachers
Tue 14 Jan 2025
The celebrated medieval philosopher who reconciled faith and reason.
