Podcasts like James Burke's Connections series?

December 19, 2022 9:15 PM

I read about James Burke's "Connections" series on the BBC in the '70s and it sounds very cool. Are there podcasts like it?
posted by musofire to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Have you seen the show? It may mostly be suitable for listening only. It's on youtube.

As far as podcasts go, I haven't come across one that quite covers topics the way Connections does. I listen to several podcasts that do lite history/science topics that are about as close as it gets. Stuff You Missed In History Class, The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week. There are several others that are very similar that I can't think of at this moment.
posted by 2N2222 at 10:19 PM on December 19, 2022

Connections is legendary for a reason; a lot, if not all of the series ,is on youtube. Another wonderful series is Tim Hunkin's The Secret Life of Machines Remastered; clever, fascinating, funny. And remastered, making it nicer to watch. I know you said podcasts, but these shows are exceptional. My at-that-time boss and I both came in to work saying of 'Secret Life' - I watched the coolest most interesting show.
posted by theora55 at 6:26 AM on December 20, 2022 [5 favorites]

Not at all the same, but for "smart people calmly telling you things," the BBC's In Our Time is great. Available as a podcast on a month's delay in the usual podcast directories.
posted by BungaDunga at 7:41 AM on December 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

I remember watching Connections in the 90s and loving it! Glad to learn that I can check this out again on YouTube.

I came in to recommend The History of the 20th Century podcast (hosted by Mark Painter, who is great). As you can tell, this is a history podcast, but it's quite different from the more common place/topic approach. There is the usual progression of "what happened and who did it" but also deep dives into specific topics from science, technology, art, culture, etc...and the connections between. For example, in an upcoming episode you get discussions about how ideas from Physics (quantum theory) and mathematics (limitations of axiomatic systems) contrast with the rhetoric and actions of the Nazis. This specific idea is based on another documentary series from the 1970s, Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man.

The podcast is over 300 episodes into the 20th century but only now just about to start World War II. That itself gives an indication of the amount time spent on background and making connections.
posted by El_Marto at 7:42 AM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also consider giving Burke's 'The Day The Universe Changed' a look - its got a bit more of an overarching theme, and is a bit more linear in its temporal course (as much as any of Burke's stuff) and it's very conspicuously of its time (1985), but I like it. I can't find a good-quality copy (I've tried), but there is a low-quality copy on the Internet Archive, and a slightly-better-quality copy on dailymotion.com.
posted by eclectist at 8:45 AM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

It isn’t identical, but I think many people who enjoyed Connections would also enjoy A History of the World in 100 Objects, which was bbc radio, but also released as a podcast.
posted by snofoam at 2:16 PM on December 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

You could point out several ways that it's not the same thing, but Tim Harford's Cautionary Tales podcast scratches some of the same itch.
posted by polecat at 9:29 PM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Ologies has some similar nerd appeal and enthusiasm for knowledge and learning.
posted by sindark at 5:57 AM on December 22, 2022

Sounds like you want James Burke's Web of Knowledge, which was a series of 5 x 15 minute essays in the style of connections but more up to date. Unfortunately they are only brief.
posted by Acey at 8:07 AM on December 25, 2022