Starting from Ancestors, the latest book by Alice Roberts, we chat about storytelling and the excitement of embarking on science projects. We hear about some of the protagonists in Ancestors, including stories around gender and the role of women in stories and in science. Using her experience as an anatomist, Alice tells stories of human and bodily experience. She reminds us: “The body doesn’t make sense without the environment around it”. You will hear an extract from Ancestors that illustrates this point vividly. The stories that Alice tells show how the past is here in the present. One of the examples we discuss is the histories of diseases and what we know about viruses. In very practical terms, Alice shares some of her own experience of working with words, how teaching has affected her TV work, and what it means to write for children. She explains her specific approach to producing documentaries, and how conversation is a way of learning: stories are created through conversations. We chat about different types of evidence and how there is a place for fiction, too, as an important source of historical knowledge. I ask Alice about her views on the future of universities – and you will also get a bit of a preview of one of Alice’s next books!

Alice Roberts is an academic, writer and broadcaster. She’s written numerous popular science books. She was the first recipient of the Royal Society’s David Attenborough award for Public Engagement in 2020. She is professor of Public engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham.