Little Atoms

Little Atoms is a weekly show about books, with authors in conversation. Produced and presented by Neil Denny.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent Episodes
Episodes loading...
Recent Reviews
  • patedwards
    Intelligent
    Books, music, and science I would never know about otherwise. Well interviewed, but some of the audio is very bad -- even the alleged studio pieces. If you can get past that, they're worth the time.
  • 7 xp
    Great interviews
    one of the great podcasts available. The host brings the best questions to his fine guests, and does so in a way that informitive and often funny. highly recommended.
  • KevinICdesigner
    Used to be interesting, now nearly useless
    This show has gone so far down hill. No longer interesting.
  • Fotograf4
    Buy another mic!
    It'd be better if the host weren't sitting 10 feet away from the microphone. Also, it would be nice if the episode guide gave a hint of what the subject is, rather than being an exhaustive biography of the guest.
  • Derrick_Fields
    Great
    "Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality" is one of my favorite books. The interviews with Manjit Kumar lead me to your podcast. I haven't listened to many shows but so far you have a new fan.
  • adrienne10
    British Radio Show
    I started listening to Little Atoms when Rebecca Watson of the Skeptic's Guide moved to Britain and joined the hosts of this podcast. I listen to several British shows and have many British friends, even though I'm an American. I find Little Atoms to be very British. It's a very dry podcast. Even the interesting topics and guests (which is most of the topics and guests) are interviewed in such a manner that it feels as though you are listening to two gentlemen speak over tea. The female voices really help to alleviate some of that feel because it really isn't a good thing. My other complaint is that you can hear one of the hosts breathe, often. Is he a smoker? Does he just breathe very noisily? It's very distracting and has caused me to turn off an episode in the middle when I can't listen past the breathing. Oddly, this is hardly ever a problem with guests, who presumably do not speak on the radio for a living. Those complaints aside, this is an extremely informational podcast. They cover a wide variety of topics (I loved their food and wine episodes) from atheism to skepticism to psychology to science. Often the guests are those who have recently written a non-fiction book. I've added quite a few books to my wishlist by listening to this podcast. The length of the podcast varies from less than half an hour to over an hour. Overall, I do recommend this podcast because you will learn something in every episode and likely a whole lot.
  • Pagan Scum
    We're quickly running out of time!
    Seriously, just run a longer show then, amirite? Is Rebecca still on the show? The only reason I knew about Little Atoms is from her mention of it on Skeptic's Guide, and Little Atoms became one of my favorite podcasts very quickly. Great show, often clever, often inciteful, and always enlightening.
  • Gatogreensleeves
    Great Show, Terrible Mix
    I love the topics and the show is really fun in general, but I had to remove a star for the abysmal quality of the audio. Do they know what a (software and/or hardware) compressor/limiter is? It evens out the volume so that when guests mumble or the producers/interviewers fail on proper mic placement (or a proper mic), the volumes are not an almost intolerable mash of highs and lows (let alone the balance from episode to episode). The volume of the theme music at the beginning and ending are so rediculously loud in comparison with the dialogue as to almost almost blow out my car speakers that I must turn up to even remotely hear the voice just before and/or afterwards. Please put a limiter on the track itself, then AGAIN on the overall mix. Thank you!
  • stmx3
    Great Interviews
    I love this podcast for the great interviews with a wonderful guest selection. Neil Denny and the rest of the group are getting better with each podcast. My only suggestion is to revamp the cheesy, scripted intro. Make it something a little more professional. You know, first impressions and all that.
  • RationalPragmatist
    NOT a truly scientific or skeptical podcast
    This podcast does not pass muster as a scientific and/or skeptical podcast. Neil Denny allows his guests to spew unrealistic idealisms and general woo without challenge. In one case, he even supported and made excuses for his guest’s woo-woo statements. In The World That Never Was: They mention that Alex’s definition of anarchy can’t exist for long because it requires all people to be totally altruistic all the time. Alex even gives an example of a famous anarchist who went bad. Yet they forget the general and specific unfavorable evidence and pretend such a utopia is possible. In City of Disappearances: 1. Ian spewed rhetoric about the abundances of “blotches and splots and cancers and poison” affecting the people around Enfield waste burning facility. Neil allowed this subjective judgement to go by with a chuckle and never asked for actual incidence rates or sources or any kind of corroborating information. 2. Ian started talking about spirit paths through a neighborhood, mapping the energies of the place. He jokes about this being a “rational radio show”, but again ignores the facts and makes excuses for why this woo is important and necessary. They go even farther to explain how much better belief in “toad gods” is than rationality. I'm absolutely certain that many people feel better after taking homeopathic remedies too, but it's still wrong to hawk them to desperate people. It is our responsibility to maintain rationalism in the face of feel-good deception. This podcast does not bear that standard.
  • Harold Sacks
    Top quality stuff - refreshing and thought provoking
    Anyone with an open mind and curiosity won't fail to find this podcast fascinating. They have such a wide range of different guests and subjects, and as they say during the opening, it's ALWAYS interesting. I've listened to many of the programs multiple times as they are often very deep and complex, not to mention a source of really valuable information! It's really opened my eyes having discovered Little Atoms, i use the material as a constant source of interesting topics and having followed up the subjects gone on to dominate many dinner party tables with intellectual banter. It's also a great show for jogs/bikerides/exercise etc. keeping not only the mind healthy but the body too. People i'd like to see on the show include: - Dawkins (obviously, maybe he's already been on?) - Malcolm Gladwell - Steven Pinker - Charlie Brooker - Derren Brown To Niel and Padraig - You've done an excellent job, thanks for creating such good quality entertainment for the world of free-thinkers.
  • micktravis
    Outstanding
    Although it's been available for at least a couple of years I only discovered this excellent podcast a few days ago. It features many of the same topics covered by other skeptical podcasts like The Skeptics Guide to the Universe but in much greater depth, as well as a healthy recap of the science, philosophy, and technology of the last few hundred years. I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork on this page are property of the podcast owner, and not endorsed by UP.audio.