Almost every year since 1972 has contained a 61-second minute. In this podcast Tom Whipple joins Matthew Sweet to discuss where these “leap seconds” come from and why we should be worried about them

The most forbidding corner of the world is now taking guests. In this podcast, our travel editor Sophy Roberts talks about what it was like to spend a week in Antarctica as a tourist, and explains why the continent is as much an idea as it is a place on the map

To the leader of the nationalistic revival sweeping Europe, politics is like a virus: "Once you have it, you can never get away from it." In this podcast, The Economist's Paris correspondent Sophie Pedder examines the rise of Marine Le Pen, discusses her transformation of the National Front party, and explains why it's simplistic to call her a racist

Modern-day travel becomes more irritating by the day, just like globalisation. In this podcast, our jaded new columnist gripes about life in an age of hyper-connectivity – and travels to the country of the future

In the last decade, the number of Chinese students enrolling in American colleges has quintupled. On this podcast, Brook Larmer talks about why – despite fears of westernisation – the Chinese elite wants its children to study in America, and the lengths parents will go to in order to guarantee admission

As we live longer, death gets pushed further to the fringes of our lives. In this podcast, Maggie Fergusson discusses how our relationship with death is changing, the question of assisted dying, and how she might face her own end

Having journeyed through South Dakota's Badlands in countless westerns, Simon Barnes was determined to hear the coyote chorus for himself. He talks to Matthew Sweet about the history of the National Parks, their impact on American culture, and how they are now wilder than ever

They are usually associated with kitsch and white bell bottoms. But ABBA’s life and work are darker and more complicated than we often think. In this podcast, Matthew Sweet discusses their sophistication, their museum and their philosophy

Their light takes billions of years to reach us, and they are bigger than whole solar systems. But science hasn’t just understood quasars, it has found a use for them. In this podcast, our science columnist Oliver Morton explains how they help us navigate our own planet

In this podcast, our film critic Tom Shone joins Matthew Sweet to discuss how audiences influence film directors from Woody Allen to Michael Haneke – a relationship that is sometimes warm, sometimes cold, and sometimes violent