Podcast Summary: The Rest Is Politics — Introducing: The Rest Is Science

Date: December 2, 2025
Guests: Michael Stevens and Professor Hannah Fry
Duration Covered: 00:21–12:00
Theme: An engaging, accessible introduction to scientific curiosity, using gravity as a lens to discuss the history, fundamentals, and mysteries of physics while previewing the upcoming podcast, The Rest Is Science.

Episode Overview

In this special crossover episode, Michael Stevens and Professor Hannah Fry take over The Rest Is Politics feed to introduce their new show, The Rest Is Science. They invite listeners to join them in unraveling scientific concepts that underpin our everyday world, emphasizing the importance of inquisitiveness and questioning even the most "obvious" phenomena. Their sample discussion explores gravity—what it is, how it was understood historically, and how contemporary science reveals its deeper mysteries and implications.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Purpose of the New Podcast

• Science as Questioning, Not Just Answers
  • Hannah Fry sets the tone:

    "We're going to pull apart what we take for granted to reveal the unexpected patterns and hidden logic just beneath the surface." (00:33)

  • Michael Stevens emphasizes curiosity:

    "It's curiosity that sparks those 'Hey, wait, how does that actually…?' kind of a moments that change the way we see the world." (00:53)

2. Setting the Scene: How Would You Explain Gravity to an Alien?

• Gravity as Attraction Between Masses

  • Fry:

    "In our universe, objects are attracted to each other...if you just have two objects near each other, they will come together. That's it, really." (01:27)

  • Stevens adds a thought experiment with two baseballs in space:

    "Two baseballs placed in intergalactic space a meter apart would very slowly collapse in towards each other until they touched. It would take three days for that to happen..." (02:09)

• Everyday Gravitational Forces and Astrology’s Limits

  • Fun debunking of astrological gravity:

    "The gravitational influence of Pisces on you is less than the gravitational influence of the doctor who delivered you..." (02:51)
    "People are like, oh, so you're an Aquarius? And I'm like, no, I'm a Schnit cookie. Because Dr. Schnit cookie was there, influencing me to catch you at a physical level." (03:07)

3. Mutual Attraction: Even Small Objects Pull the Earth

• Mutual Gravitation, No Matter the Scale
  • Stevens:

    "If you dropped a pen from six feet up, it actually pulls the Earth up towards it. 9 trillionths the width of a proton." (04:00)

  • Fry, humorously:

    "By my calculation, small." (04:06)

4. Newton vs. Einstein: Evolving Theories of Gravity

• Newton’s View (Gravity as a Force)

  • Fry lays out Newton’s law:

    "Everything you're describing so far is essentially like a Newtonian view...gravity is all about objects accelerating towards each other." (05:12)

  • Limitation: Newton's model can’t explain instant gravitational changes if the sun disappears, defying the cosmic speed limit.

• Einstein’s Theory (Gravity as the Shape of Space-Time)

  • Transition to Einstein:

    "...space time itself has this curvature to it. So the sun...is literally bending and warping space time between us and it..." (07:59)

  • Visualization:

    "Imagine taking a bowling ball on a rubber sheet and then removing it. That rubber sheet is going to kind of bounce up and down and ripple as you remove the weight." (08:17)

  • Validation: Explains Mercury's orbit precisely—something Newton’s gravity couldn't fully account for.

• Philosophy of Scientific Progress

  • Stevens, on Einstein’s leap:

    "First, that leap from 'there's a force acting on things'...to 'maybe gravity is just a change in the shape of space-time' is really gigantic." (09:13)

5. Analogy and Everyday Relevance

• Explaining Curved Space-Time with Everyday Objects

  • Stevens analogizes with a crumpled curtain and two-dimensional creatures:

    "If I crumple the curtain up, they're still stuck on it and they're going over all of these crinkles, but they don't even know it." (09:35)

• Gravity’s Variation, Even on Earth

  • Fry contrasts gravitational strength in Boulder, Colorado vs. Greenwich, UK:

    "Boulder...the gravitational effect in Boulder is 9.796 meters per second...in Greenwich...9.812. I've got higher gravitational effect than you." (11:14)

  • Stevens explains why:

    "You are more attracted to the center of Earth than I am in Boulder because I'm further away." (11:17)

• Relativity and Time Dilation

  • Fry delivers a memorable, mind-bending insight:

    "Time travels slower in Greenwich than it does in Boulder...the difference is about 5.6 microseconds a year. So what I will say is that you are aging faster than me." (11:29)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Curiosity Sparks Understanding:

  "It's curiosity that sparks those 'Hey, wait, how does that actually...?' kind of a moments that change the way we see the world." – Michael Stevens (00:53)

• Astrology vs. Physics:

  "People are like, oh, so you're an Aquarius? And I'm like, no, I'm a Schnit cookie. Because Dr. Schnit cookie was there, influencing me to catch you at a physical level." – Michael Stevens (03:07)

• The Impact of a Pen:

  "If you dropped a pen from six feet up, it actually pulls the Earth up towards it. 9 trillionths the width of a proton." – Michael Stevens (04:00)

• The Leap from Forces to Shapes:

  "The leap from 'there's a force acting on things'...to...maybe gravity is just a change in the shape of space-time is really gigantic." – Michael Stevens (09:13)

• You Age Faster in Boulder:

  "Time travels slower in Greenwich than it does in Boulder...the difference is about 5.6 microseconds a year. So...you are aging faster than me." – Hannah Fry (11:29)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:21 — Introduction from Michael Stevens & Hannah Fry; Purpose of The Rest Is Science
• 01:20 — Explaining Gravity for Aliens; The Essence of Gravitational Attraction
• 02:49 — Debunking Astrology with Physics; The Influence of Mass
• 03:23 — Mutual Attraction: Object and Earth both move
• 05:12 — Newton's Theory of Gravity Explained
• 07:59 — The Einsteinian Revolution: Gravity as Curved Space-Time
• 09:35 — Analogies: Crumpled Curtains and Space-Time
• 11:11 — Measuring Gravity: Boulder vs. Greenwich
• 11:29 — Relativity: Time Dilation and Aging at Different Altitudes

Summary

In this preview, Stevens and Fry combine humor, simplicity, and depth to make the physics of gravity comprehensible and fascinating. They show how basic questions can open up sweeping changes in scientific understanding—from Newton’s force to Einstein’s spacetime—and ground abstract concepts in everyday analogies and witty banter. The new show, The Rest Is Science, promises to continue this approach, exploring profound questions with the same mix of clarity, intelligence, and warmth.

For more, join Michael and Hannah every Tuesday and Thursday on The Rest Is Science.