The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science
Leading scholars in History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (HPS) introduce contemporary topics for a general audience. Developed by graduate students from the HPS program at the University of Melbourne.
Lead Hosts: Thomas Spiteri (2025) and Samara Greenwood (2023-2024).
Season Five is now here! Episodes released weekly. More information on the podcast can be found at hpsunimelb.org
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 27 minutes
- Episodes
- 72
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
S3 Ep 2 - Kate Lynch on 'Causal Explanation in Science'
Today's guest is Dr Kate Lynch, who will discuss the topic of 'causal explanation in science'. Kate is a philosopher of biology and a lecturer in HPS at the University of Melbourne.
In this episode K…
S3 Ep 1 - Lorraine Daston & Peter Harrison on 'Scientists and History'
Today's episode is dedicated to the often complex, sometimes fraught relationship between practicing scientists and the history of science.
To discuss this topic, we are joined by two of the most dis…
S3 - Samara & Carmelina on 'Seeing Science Differently'
Welcome to Season 3 of the HPS podcast!
It's so great to be back.
Kicking off our third season, we have a new addition to the team, Carmelina Contarino.
Carmelina is an Honours student in HPS at the Uni…
BOOK LAUNCH - Mauricio Suárez on 'Inference and Representation'
Today on the podcast, Mauricio Suárez talks with Samara about his new book - Inference and Representation: A study in Modelling Science.
Mauricio is Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the…
S2 Ep 12 - Highlights from the 2023 AAHPSSS Conference
Welcome to the final episode of Season 2 (with a bonus ep coming next week!). We take a moment in this episode to reflect on the first year of the HPS podcast.
Just a few weeks ago Sam and Indi attend…
S2 Ep 11 - Hasok Chang on 'Epistemic Iteration'
"We get this instinct that true science must start from a firm foundation. Time and again, that's what I see NOT happening in the practice of science. We start from where we stand. The foundation is …
S2 Ep 10 - Katherine Furman on 'The Philosophy of Public Health'
"Philosophers of science are really good about thinking about causation and trying to figure out what the mechanisms are that make something work"
Today we welcome Katherine Furman, who talks to Indi …
S2 Ep 9 - Carl Bergstrom on 'Science and Misinformation'
Today's guest is Professor Carl Bergstrom from the University of Washington. Carl has been touring Australia over the last few weeks and we were delighted when he agreed to join us while he was in Me…
S2 Ep 8 - Gerhard Wiesenfeldt on 'The Unknown Scientist'
Welcome to another week of the HPS podcast. This week's guest is Gerhard Wiesenfeldt of the University of Melbourne. He joins us as he discusses the benefits and pitfalls of studying those in the his…
S2 Ep 7 - Ian Hesketh on 'Science History in Science'
This week's guest is Ian Hesketh, an intellectual historian and historian of science at the University of Queensland. His work in HPS revolves around 19th century scientific practices and their intri…
S2 Ep 6 - Sarah Qidwai on 'Science and Colonialism'
Today's guest is Sarah Qidwai, a Postdoctoral Researcher in the history of science who focuses on British Imperialism, Science and Colonialism, the relation of Science and Islam, as well as the histo…
S2 Ep 5 - Adrian Currie on 'Opportunistic Methods'
Today's guest on the podcast is Dr Adrian Currie, senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Exeter. Much of Adrian's research revolves around the question 'How do Scientists successfully gen…
S2 Ep 4 - Duane Hamacher on 'Indigenous Science'
"Everything on the land is reflected in the sky. So if you want to learn about indigenous astronomy, You have to learn about everything."
This week we welcome Duane Hamacher to the HPS podcast as he d…
S2 Ep 3 - Kristian Camilleri on 'The Turn to Practice'
Season 2 of the HPS podcast welcomes back friend of the podcast, Kristian Camilleri. This time he joins us to discuss the turn to practice in the philosophy of science.
The "turn to practice" is a com…
S2 Ep 2 - David Kaiser on 'Scientific Training'
"Scientists are not born, they are made" David Kaiser
Today's guest on the podcast is David Kaiser, Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and Professor of Physics at MIT.
In history of sci…
S2 Ep 0.5 - Season 2 Intro Episode
Welcome to season 2 of the HPS Podcast! To ease you into a new season, Samara and Indigo sit down to reflect on the first season.
They take a look at how the season performed, with listernership outs…
S2 Ep 1 - Rachel Ankeny on 'Research Repertoires'
"That's what ‘repertoires’ is trying to force philosophers to look at - that whole ecosystem that encompasses the doing of science." Prof. Rachel Ankeny
We start season 2 with the wonderful Rachel An…
BONUS EPISODE - Joshua Eisenthal & HPS Chat
In this final bonus episode for Season 1 we are doing things a little bit differently.
Instead of a one-way interview, philosopher of physics - Joshua Eisenthal - and host Samara Greenwood have a tw…
BONUS EPISODE - Simine Vazire on 'Making Science Better'
Welcome to a special bonus episode of The HPS Podcast with Professor of Psychology, Simine Vazire, discussing the ways in which HPS scholars and scientists can work together to create better science.
…
S1 Ep12 - Fiona Fidler on 'Collective Objectivity'
"It wouldn’t make sense to leave the entire burden of upholding objectivity in science on the shoulders of fallible individuals, right?" Prof. Fiona Fidler
To finish off our inaugural season with a b…