The acclaimed podcast When Science Finds A Way returns for its fourth season, tackling some of the world’s most urgent health challenges. Hosted by botanist-turned-Hollywood actor Alisha Wainwright, the series brings together scientists, researchers and people with lived experience to explore how breakthroughs move from the lab into real-world impact.
Across nine episodes, Alisha acts as a bridge between scientific research and everyday understanding. The opening episodes focus on the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in mental healthcare, exploring both its potential and its risks.
Experts including psychiatrist John Torous and Professor Andrea Cipriani discuss how AI tools could transform the diagnosis and management of conditions like depression. They also raise questions around trust and safety, asking how mental health apps and chatbots should be evaluated, and why the experiences of the people using them need to be central to their development.
The season also explores what research is revealing about how we might live longer, healthier lives, the impact of extreme heat on mental wellbeing, and medical breakthroughs helping to prevent maternal death during childbirth.
Speaking to contributors from the UK, United States, South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Nepal and Australia, Alisha says “I hope listeners enjoy hearing directly from the people working to understand these challenges and bring these stories to light.”
