If you’ve ever experienced a state of creative flow, perhaps when writing, playing music, or even gardening, you’ll know that it feels like everything just clicks into place. But what is actually happening inside the brain? In this episode, we speak to a neuroscientist who scanned the brains of jazz musicians as they were improvising, and revealed the secret ingredients need to achieve a state of flow.

Featuring John Kounios, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Drexel University in the US, plus an introduction from Kate Kilpatrick, Philadelphia editor at The Conversation in the US.

This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany, with assistance from Katie Flood. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive editor. Full credits available here. A transcript will be available shortly. Subscribe to a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• Brain scans of Philly jazz musicians reveal secrets to reaching creative flow
• Flow: people who are easily absorbed in an activity may have better mental and cardiovascular health
• The biological switch that could turn neuroplasticity on and off in the brain – podcast

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Snake bites kill tens of thousands of people around the world each year. But we still use techniques invented in the late 19th century to make antivenom, and each bite needs to be treated with antivenom for that specific type of snake.

We hear from two scientists whose recent breakthroughs – and failures – could save many more lives and help achieve the holy grail: a universal antivenom. Featuring Stuart Ainsworth, senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool in the UK and Christoffer Vinther Sørensen, postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Antibody Technologies at the Technical University of Denmark.

This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood, with assistance from Mend Mariwany. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive editor. Full credits available here. A transcript will be available shortly. Subscribe to a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading:

• We’re a step closer to having a universal antivenom for snake bites – new study
• Snakebites: we thought we’d created a winning new antivenom but then it flopped. Why that turned out to be a good thing
• Snakebites can destroy skin, muscle, and even bone – exciting progress on drugs to treat them

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After six weeks of voting in the world’s largest democracy, on June 4, Indians will learn who is to be their next prime minister. Narendra Modi, standing for a third term, is the frontrunner. Critics of Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party argue that India’s democracy has been hollowed out during his premiership. Thousands of Indians have taken to the streets to protest against Modi’s policies.

For Indrajit Roy, professor of global development at the University of York in the UK, these pushbacks by Indians against threats to their democracy is an example of an audacious type of hope. He talks to us for this episode about what it means to be living in hope, and where he sees moments of that in India.

This episode was written by Gemma Ware and produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. Eloise Stevens does our sound design, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits available here. A transcript will be available shortly. Subscribe to a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

Further reading and listening:

• India Tomorrow: a podcast series from The Anthill – episode guide
• ‘We have thousands of Modis’: the secret behind the BJP’s enduring success in India
• Indian protesters pull from poetic tradition to resist Modi’s Hindu nationalism
• With democracy under threat in Narendra Modi’s India, how free and fair will this year’s election be?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.