The HPS Podcast hits the top 25%

A podcast produced by the University of Melbourne’s History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) Program is gathering an international fanbase, pushing its downloads into the top 25% of podcasts*.

Pictured: Indigo Keel and Samara Greenwood

The brainchild of Professor Fiona Fidler and co-produced by University of Melbourne PhD candidate, Samara Greenwood and Honours student, Indigo Keel, the podcast is designed to bring history, philosophy and social studies of science to life for a wider audience.

The idea to launch a podcast has been a long time coming and a group conversation between Fiona, Samara and Indigo was the push the students needed to launch in June.

“We’ve been hearing that scientists sometimes find it difficult to access HPS,” Samara said. “When Fiona suggested we start a podcast, we realised that would be a great way to make the ideas more accessible. Six months later here we are.”

Interestingly, the podcast is a hit overseas with just 24% of the audience from Australia. Meanwhile, the bulk of listenership is based in Europe and North America, each comprising 34%.

“HPS is such a wonderful field, with rich insights into the making of knowledge. We want to share these ideas with people within and beyond the HPS community. We find HPS provides insights that can support researchers in extending their own practises.

“I would say if you’re at all interested in how science is made and how knowledge changes over time, you should tune in. There’s so much variety within HPS. There’s something for everyone,” she said.

Season 2 of The HPS Podcast kicked off with an episode on Research Repertoires with Professor Rachel Ankeny, exploring the complex ecosystem of components involved when analysing scientific practice.

Listen to The HPS Podcast online.

* According to the metrics provided by Buzzsprout (one of the largest podcast hosts in the world), the download data puts The HPS Podcast well into the top 25% of all podcasts hosted on the site.