The Swiss Connection
Discover science and innovation in Switzerland with the Swiss Connection Podcast! From the tiniest particles to the vastness of space, satisfy your scientific curiosity and join our journalists while they talk to researchers working on projects ranging from rocket building and AI to medicine and climate solutions.
This podcast is produced by SWI swissinfo.ch, a multilingual public service media company in Switzerland.
- Update frequency
- every 11 days
- Average duration
- 20 minutes
- Episodes
- 77
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Meet the Swiss woman bringing open water swimming to Boston
Swiss architect Renata von Tscharner has devoted over two decades to improving the public spaces along the Charles River in Massachusetts. She even hopes to get people swimming in Bosto…
Are nuclear weapons really banned?
In this episode host Susan Misicka introduces our sister podcast, Inside Geneva. Nuclear weapons were banned by international treaty at the start of 2021. But the treaty doesn’t apply t…
Should kids be sweating for our chocolate cravings?
The success of Swiss chocolate depends on cocoa beans harvested far away, often with the help of minors. In this episode we discuss whether it's OK for children to work, and how to figu…
What soil sounds like and why it matters
What does soil sound like, and what do those sounds mean? We find out from the world’s first scientist to use acoustics to research the soil and underground biodiversity. Also, we explo…
Are electric cars and planes the way to go?
Switzerland missed its target to reduce its carbon footprint in 2020. But there are still some promising developments when it comes to electric mobility in Switzerland – on the roads an…
How to clean up the gold trade
In this follow-up to "The Dirt on Digging for Gold" we hear about some measures to make the gold trade more sustainable. Swiss anti-corruption champion Mark Pieth provides insight into …
Strange days: checking in with Swiss people in America
The past year has been a strange time for all of us. It can be even harder if you’re an expat. One in ten Swiss people lives outside of Switzerland. In this episode, we hear from a few …
What Covid-19 tells us about the pharma industry
Switzerland is the home of some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. But when it comes to coronavirus vaccines, the Swiss pharma giants are not part of the discussion. How d…
How to catch a child sex offender
The case of a Swiss couple abusing Indian children – and getting away with it – shows the limits of the international police network.
SWI swissinfo.ch is a public service media company…
Crypto – a spy thriller made in Switzerland
Multiple spy agencies, secret documents, international intrigue, and a Swiss company's encryption machines are at the heart of this episode. But does anybody really know the whole story…
Why women's suffrage took so long
Switzerland is celebrating a rather awkward anniversary this year. It was only 50 years ago that women got the right to vote at the federal level. What was the hold-up? And what’s still…
'Swiss Johnny Cash' Florian Fox walks the line between Zurich and Nashville
Sometimes changing names and continents is the best way to cope in a pandemic. For Swiss country music singer-songwriter Florian Fox, this meant moving to Nashville, Tennessee. He tells…
The dirt on digging for gold
Switzerland is the world’s leading gold refiner. But in spite of efforts to make the supply chain more transparent, there are still some big questions about the origins of all this gold…
Part 3: Why do we get nostalgic?
Part three of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. If a friend abandoned you in a foreign country, how angry would you be? And how healthy is it…
Part 2: Why do we get nostalgic?
Part two of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. We "meet" a medical student who attended Basel University in the 17th century, and we try to re…
Part 1: Why do we get nostalgic?
Part one of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. For this we travel back in time to join two backpackers exploring Europe in the 1980s, and we f…
Moving back to Switzerland in a pandemic
In 2020, getting the kind of schooling you want for your kids sometimes meant moving halfway across the world, at the drop of a hat. Meet a Swiss woman in California who did just that.
The jazz singer with Swiss folk roots
When you first see her with her sleek bob and glossy fingernails, it’s kind of surprising to learn that Gabriela Martina was raised on a farm. But it’s memories of her rural upbringing …
Inside Geneva: A decade of war in Syria
SWI swissinfo.ch is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
Inside Geneva: the United Nations and China
SWI swissinfo.ch is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.