Curious Cases

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Curious Cases
Other namesThe Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry
Running time~28 minutes (originally ~14 minutes)
Home stationBBC Radio 4
Hosted byHannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain
Original release15 February 2016 (2016-02-15)
No. of episodes167 (As of 10 July 2025)
WebsiteCurious Cases at BBC Online

Curious Cases is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain. Each episode tackles a question sent in by a listener (who are collectively known as The Curios), which they attempt to solve "using the power of science". Currently in its 24th series, it is broadcast weekly on Saturdays.[1][2][3][4]

Originally called "The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry", the first 21 series were presented by Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry, with the first episode airing on Monday, 15 February 2016. After the end of the 21st series, there was a break of just over 19 months. The first episode of series 22 was broadcast on 04 October 2024 with Ó Briain replacing Rutherford.

Presenters

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  • Hannah Fry has co-hosted the series since its inception to the present. Fry was appointed the Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, UK on 1 January 2025.[5] She was awarded the David Attenborough Award by the Royal Society in 2024.[6]
  • Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, writer and author and lecturer at University College London. He was awarded the David Attenborough Award by the Royal Society in 2021.[6], and appointed President of Humanists UK in 2022.[7]
  • Dara Ó Briain took over from Rutherford from series 16. He is a comedian and television presenter, and was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance in 2012.

Regular Contributors

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Producers

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  • Michelle Martin - series 1-15, 17
  • Jen Whyntie - series 16-18
  • Fiona Roberts - series 17, 18
  • Pamela Rutherford - series 18
  • Ilan Goodman - series 19 onwards
  • Marijke Peters - series 23, ep 2, 6, 7, 9, 13

Episodes

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As well as being broadcast live on BBC Radio 4, episodes are available as podcasts from many sources, including its home on BBC Sounds.[4] The broadcast episodes are 12.5 minutes long (series 1-15), and 28 minutes long (series 16 onwards). The podcasts include extra material, and so are slightly longer, the longest being 50 minutes and 14 seconds.

There have been a number of special programmes outside the normal series, including 2 short ASMR episodes in February 2020 and a 4-part special mini-series on "Living with AI" in December 2021.

Past episodes include[8]

Series Episode Title Air Date Episode page
23 1 The Diamond Throwdown 4 April 2025 [9]
23 2 Liar, Liar 12 April 2025 [10]
23 3 Invisibility Quest 19 April 2025 [11]
23 4 Love Neurons 26 April 2025 [12]
23 5 Furnishing with Fungi 3 May 2025 [13]
23 6 Aches and Rains 10 May 2025 [14]
23 7 Don't Bite Me! 17 May 2025 [15]
23 8 Chuckle, Snigger and LOL 24 May 2025 [16]
23 9 Nano Sharks 31 May 2025 [17]
23 10 Colossal Creatures 7 June 2025 [18]
23 11 Clowns in Spacetime 14 June 2025 [19]
23 12 Memory Swap 21 June 2025 [20]
23 13 Clever Crows 28 June 2025 [21]
24 1 To Crab, or Not to Crab? 4 October 2025 [22]
24 2 Good Vibrations? 11 October 2025 [23]
24 3 Just My Luck 18 October 2025 [24]
24 4 We Didn't Start the Fire 25 October 2025 [25]
24 5 Going Viral 1 November 2025 [26]

Trivia

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  • In S05E05, "The Forgetful Child", Adam Rutherford ironically forgets which series it is, and initially refers to it as Series 3.
  • At the end of S08E05, "Goldfinger's Moon Laser", Hannah says that she thinks they should give out badges for Curio of the Week.
  • In S11E05, "A World of Pain", Adam Rutherford mentions that he likes the interrobang symbol (‽). In a later episode, several Curios reveal that they've included one in their theses.

References

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  1. ^ Sawyer, Miranda (3 June 2018). "The week in podcasts: Any Stupid Questions?; How Syria Changed the World; The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  2. ^ Cunliffe, Rachel (6 October 2021). "The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry is intellectual escapism". The New Statesman. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  3. ^ "The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry". Ahmedabad Mirror. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Curious Cases". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  5. ^ "Award-winning broadcaster Hannah Fry joins Cambridge as Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics". University of Cambridge. 22 November 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Royal Society David Attenborough Award and Lecture". Royal Society. 29 November 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  7. ^ "Alice Roberts hands Humanists UK Presidency to Adam Rutherford". Humanists UK. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  8. ^ "Spotify: Curious Cases". Spotify. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  9. ^ "The Diamond Throwdown". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  10. ^ "Liar, Liar". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  11. ^ "Invisibility Quest". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  12. ^ "Love Neurons". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  13. ^ "Furnishing with Fungi". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  14. ^ "Aches and Rains". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  15. ^ "Don't Bite Me!". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  16. ^ "Chuckle, Snigger and LOL". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  17. ^ "Nano Sharks". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  18. ^ "Colossal Creatures". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  19. ^ "Clowns in Spacetime". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  20. ^ "Memory Swap". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  21. ^ "Clever Crows". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  22. ^ "To Crab, or Not to Crab?". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  23. ^ "Good Vibrations?". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  24. ^ "Just My Luck". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  25. ^ "We Didn't Start the Fire". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.
  26. ^ "Going Viral". Curious Cases. BBC Radio 4.