“I'm not saying Boots are the Mafia... Nivea for Men are,” Matt Gunther, nuclear physics PhD student, laughed as he aired his frustrations on the price of suntan lotion. In one of many strident opinions, he compares the skin protection industry to “how the Mafia would do captive business... if you don’t buy it you’re going to get cancer.”
We had somehow gone off on a tangent, but from his response to overpriced sun products, he is clearly a passionate guy.
I went to meet Matt on a rainy afternoon in Manchester to learn about his popular podcast “Hitchhiker's Guide to Nuclear”, where he and his co-host, Matt Gill, dispel the myths, update the news, and generally chat, in an hour long frenzy of all things nuclear.
Matt is on the Nuclear FiRST PhD, a joint doctoral training centre between The University of Sheffield and The University of Manchester.
He is part of the University of Manchester’s Nuclear Society who aim to “educate and inform the public as to how nuclear energy, as well as radiation and other related issues, affect us all”.
The 25 year old is a far cry from the stereotypical physicists portrayed in popular culture. He is not socially awkward, not afraid of the opposite sex, and not chained to his lab; starved of sunlight for the sake of research.
Although he does admit to enjoying a good science joke and I do catch a sneaky glimpse of a Marvel superhero postcard, stuck to the side of his computer, he’s definitely no Sheldon Cooper or Leonard Hofstadter.
iTunes following
Their monthly podcast began back in March, and for a small project that started out in Matt’s basement flat, it has gathered quite a following.
Each new episode receives about 1,500-2,000 hits, and they have around 200 unique subscribers on iTunes.
“I want to say it was by complete design,” he tells me when I ask him where the idea stemmed from. “But it wasn’t.”
In actual fact, it was started through irritation. “There was a news piece about nuclear on BBC news, it really got under my skin. I was fed up of people from the nuclear industry, as well as journalists, being very dry about the issue.
“The problem is that nuclear is such a divisive subject, you will always get extremists on both side, but they will never admit that, and then the journalists will be just as extreme.”
He tells me that he thinks the route of the misunderstandings surrounding nuclear energy , is because it is painted as such an uninteresting and dangerous topic, and it needs to be communicated in a better way.
“I suppose we wanted to do something where we got people engaged with nuclear as a subject, and to do that, we had to one, talk about new and media, and two, make it entertaining.”
The success of the venture has been born from people in the industry picking up on it, and tweeting and blogging about them.
Ironically, they have found that wherever nuclear is least popular is where they are most popular, gathering a following from Japan, Germany and the USA.
Having a listen through their back catalogue of podcasts, they have clearly gone from strength to strength, and I am thoroughly engrossed in their fascinating, thought-provoking, and often quite amusing window into the world of nuclear.
Episode guide
Each episode discusses a different issue, so far covering: radiation, weapons, Fukushima, and the economy.
The show usually includes guest speakers who join the hosts in debate and chatter with interjections of radiation and nuclear themed music separating each section.
They have also taken to the streets interviewing the public and finding out their thoughts and their misconceptions about nuclear.
“We asked the public what’s the first thing that comes into your head when you hear the word radiation? Nine time out of ten it was bomb, death or danger, that sort of thing, we then gave them some other examples, and they were quite surprised about where radiation can actually come from.”
The latest episodes talks about ‘The Nuclear Waste Problem’ and what the UK are planning to do with it, as well as relaying the bizarre story about the nuclear submarine commander who tried to end his affair by faking his own death, amongst other topics.
As nuclear energy has been moving ever more into the limelight over the last new month, ‘Hitchhiker's guide to Nuclear” is bound see ever increasing popularity.
Matt is modest about the endeavour, and hopes it colours the industry in a more interesting, and relatable way than current media: “We have been very fortunate with how it’s blossomed, people have said its good, and hopefully we are doing something good for the industry.”
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