They wriggle and writhe in the earth beneath us, surely, we’d be fine if they vanished? In this episode of Life Without, Alan Davies looks beneath our feet deep into the soil and the hard workers who live there.

This episode features Mark Hodson, Professor of Environmental Science and soil sister, horticulturist, and founder of GoGrowWithLove, Sandra Salazar D’eca.

An ITN production for BBC Radio 4

Surely a world without the rodents we look to exterminate anyway would be fine? In this episode of Life Without, our host Alan Davies thinks about how our cities might look if all the rats were removed.

From the sewers in mega cities to the barren countryside, rats are highly adaptable, but what happens when we remove them from their hiding spots? Are we pest-free and will hygiene ratings in restaurants go up? Or will losing them have an impact on all our major scientific break throughs, as rats are regularly used to test drugs that we may consume.

This episode features Steven Belmain a Professor of Ecology and the Centre Leader for Sustainable Agriculture at the Natural Resources Institute; and Joe Shute, a nature writer, journalist, and the author of Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat.

An ITN production for BBC Radio 4

Full moon, half-moon, total eclipse. What happens when we look up and the moon is missing? In this episode of Life Without, our host Alan Davies imagines a world where the moon just ceases to exist, the Earth’s natural satellite gone.

What would happen to our tides and how would creatures who depend on moonlight to hunt survive? The loss of the Moon would also have a huge impact on our psyche and connection to the lunar calendar.

This episode features Sara Russell a Merit Researcher in Cosmic Mineralogy and Planetary Science and artist Luke Jerram who toured the world with his replica in Museum of the Moon.

An ITN production for BBC Radio 4