Best Nesta Podcasts (2024)

1
Net zero neighbourhoods and financing change, with Cat Magill (Living Places) 1:10:55

25m ago1:10:55

1:10:55

Something-like twelve months on from inception we thought we'd catch up with what's happening at Living Places, the multi-disciplinary, impact-focused consultancy co-founded by this week's guest Cat Magill. Where last year Rufus Grantham came on the podcast to tell us all about the organisation he was in the midst of founding, this year Cat joined …

1
Running a successful retrofit one-stop-shop isn't easy but it can be done, with Caroline Ashe Brady (KORE Retrofit) 1:16:22

12d ago1:16:22

1:16:22

This week's guest is Caroline Ashe Brady of KORE Retrofit in Ireland, one of the objectively successful one-stop-shop retrofit providers to have emerged over the past few years. Caroline is a business leader who we’re a proper fan of, so apologies in advance for our ‘so Caroline please tell us, why are you so great’ style questioning. That said, yo…

1
The challenging life of a retrofit coordinator: problems with process, products, and performance, with returning champion Lisa Pasquale 1:13:50

26d ago1:13:50

1:13:50

Returning champion Lisa Ann Pasquale rejoins us on Zero Ambitions to talk about dogs and retrofit. Mainly retrofit though. Informed by Lisa's experiences as a retrofit coordinator, technical lead at RetrofitWorks, and Technical Manager at The Retrofit Academy she knows an awful lot about the challenges faced by retrofit practitioners. Windows, vent…

1
What should we do to get more women into retrofit? Well, we should get behind 'Her Retrofit Space', with Ellora Coupe (Her Own Space and now Her Retrofit Space) 1:29:10

1M ago1:29:10

1:29:10

Returning champion Ellora Coupe joins us to talk about the recent report that Her Own Space has published about the place of women in the retrofit sector, which is heartening, insightful, and damning in equal measure. A great piece of work that everyone interested in the sector should heed. Perhaps more importantly, she's with us to promote the inc…

1
Ep. 131: SEASON 5 FINALE Coriolanus Snow & Lucy Gray Baird WITH SPECIAL GUESTS, The Book Was Better Podcast 1:16:01

1M ago1:16:01

1:16:01

Join us as we end THE SEASON THAT NEVER ENDS with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Do we ship Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray? Listen to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/weshipitpodcast/support

1
Building better performance: raising construction standards on site and in education, with Joseph Little (TUD) 1:22:39

1M ago1:22:39

1:22:39

This week we're going by Joseph Little, Head of Construction & Building Performance in the School of Architecture, Building and Environment at TU Dublin. He joined us to talk about the journey he's been on leading the MSc in Building Performance over the last seven years, but we got into a lot more. Joseph has been deeply involved in the promotion …

1
Retrofit as a movement for social change (there's more to it all than fabric and finance), with Dan Hill (Dark Matter Labs) 1:13:09

2M ago1:13:09

1:13:09

This week we're thinking about retrofit differently with Dan Hill from Dark Matter Labs (DML). Or rather, we're talking about retrofit's potential to become a movement for social change. In reality, retrofit is about much more than fabric and economics, it's about people and how they live. With that in mind we should be thinking much more about eng…

1
Ep. 130: The Marvelous Parents: Rose & Abe AND Moishe & Shirley 58:46

2M ago58:46

58:46

We finish our Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series with the marvelous parents of Midge and Joel! Do we ship them? Who do we ship more? Listen to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/weshipitpodcast/support

1
Place-based hybrid finance to rebuild Ukraine and catalyse better building standards everywhere, with Iva Merheim Eyre (SMARTER4EU) 1:11:08

2M ago1:11:08

1:11:08

This week we're joined by Iva Merheim Eyre from SMARTER4EU to talk about her recently published report the Catalogue of Good Practices, a document that details a variety of place-based hybrid finance models that have been used to rebuild and renovate homes in locations as wide-ranging as the postwar Balkan states to London's own Westminster. This i…

1
Peter Rickaby returns to ZAP: a lot of words about energy, retrofit, and natural building materials, all the way from South Africa 1:20:52

2M ago1:20:52

1:20:52

Jeff and Dan are joined by Dr. Peter Rickaby again. We were due a catch up so we recorded the conversation because he's always interesting. Peter should need little introduction, so we'll just say he's our favourite retrofit expert (sorry everyone else) and our most frequent guest on the show. He's only returned to the pod, not to the UK. In princi…

1
Pick the right weight for your workout 6:45

2M ago6:45

6:45

In this episode, let’s learn how to pick the right weight for your workout. Often, we’re clueless about the weight for the prescribed workout. While a coach can help with this, understanding the logic behind it can help you improve your strength.

1
The UK has a weird relationship with heat pumps: under appreciated influencers, wild pricing, and bad vibes. With Andrew Sissons (Nesta) 1:21:03

2M ago1:21:03

1:21:03

This week we're joined by Nesta's Deputy Mission Director, Andrew Sissons, to discuss his take on why the UK has such a weird relationship with heat pumps. It was inspired by an excellent Twitter thread on the subject that gained quite a bit of attention the other week. We talk through it all so you might as well listen, or just take a look at the …

1
Ep. 129: FriendSHIP: Midge & Susie from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! 49:53

2M ago49:53

49:53

In this week's episode, Steph and Dev dissect the marvelous friendship of Midge and Susie. Do we tits up (ship) this friendship? Listen to find out!--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/weshipitpodcast/support

1
Building with straw on a continental scale and experiencing retrofit as a resident. With Cypren Edmunds (European Straw Building Association) 1:16:34

2M ago1:16:34

1:16:34

The other week we had a chance to have a conversation with Cypren Edmunds, President of the European Straw Building Association about building with straw, experiences in retrofit, and the meandering path that led him to the green building trade. For us, it was a really interesting chat because we got to talk about how he got into greed building via…

1
The energy performance of buildings matters, to me and EU and everyone you know, with Ciarán Cuffe (MEP) 51:04

3M ago51:04

51:04

The Recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is now enshrined in EU law, which has big implications for the built environment everywhere. Even the South East of England. To mark the occasion and get the lowdown on what this all means, we invited friend of the show Ciarán Cuffe back on to talk about it. For those who might not remember, he's…

1
What’s your grip? 5:43

3M ago5:43

5:43

Want to improve your deadlifts? Try the different grips and see which one gives you a better lift:

1
A new way to measure performance, negative energy use, and learning from disaster zones, with Kate Crawford (KLH Sustainability) 1:17:08

3M ago1:17:08

1:17:08

Kate Crawford is a building nerd who is obsessed with measuring performance. She's currently, Technical Director at KLH Sustainability, a multidisciplinary consultancy working in the built environment. Kate has a very interesting background in terms of her experience and she's now working on a very fascinating project in which she's researching and…

1
Biomechanics of running 7:13

3M ago7:13

7:13

Most of us like to run. Understanding the basic biomechanics of running could help you run optimally without any injuries.

1
Designing for deconstruction using natural building materials. With Chloe Donovan (Natural Building Systems) 1:12:39

3M ago1:12:39

1:12:39

This week we're talking about modular construction and Natural Building Systems with MD Chloe Donovan. Chloe is a really interesting character with a fascinating product that she's bringing to market. Unusually, she's a farmer who got into building and then found herself as an entrepreneur in the febrile world of modular building and MMC. We talk a…

1
Importance of training the respiratory muscles 6:58

3M ago6:58

6:58

Post COVID there’s so much awareness on improving and managing lung function. In this episode, I’m discussing on how to train the respiratory muscles and what happens when you do train them!

1
Monitoring will make your buildings be worth more money, Utopi has proved it, with Falk Bleyl (CTO at Utopi) 1:20:21

3M ago1:20:21

1:20:21

Up next we're speaking with Falk Bleyl, CTO at Utopi, about their sensor-based data platform technology. He describes it as an ESG platform which is true but it massively underplays the true value of what their product offers. Heads up, normally, we'll at least try to couch the conversation within a broader context but in this episode, we've barely…

1
Five tips to “ageing well” 10:59

4M ago10:59

10:59

Worried about growing old? Listen to this episode to understand how you can prepare yourself from now to enjoy your senior years!

1
“Use less stuff”: embodied carbon, value chains and the potential for change in the Declaration de Chaillot. With Lloyd Alter (Carbon Upfront), Kelly Alvarez Doran (Ha/f Climate Design), and Will Arnold ... 1:16:05

4M ago1:16:05

1:16:05

Lloyd has been in Paris. He came back very enthused and excited by his experience there and wanted to communicate why to our listeners. “In the face of the climate emergency, a swift transition of the buildings sector is a direct requirement to achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement”. Approximately, 1,400 people from 70 countries gathered in …

1
What does “engage your core” mean? 5:58

4M ago5:58

5:58

A cue that’s given very often, and a cue il that’s not completed understood mostly. Let’s understand what it actually means and how it helps us!

1
Ep. 128: Midge and Joel from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! 1:11:52

4M ago1:11:52

1:11:52

Dev and Steph near the end of Season 5 starting with our first episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series! We focus on Midge and Joel...and their many other lovers! Do we ship it? Listen to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/weshipitpodcast/support

1
What do we do about ‘the office’? A retrofit challenge we don't speak about enough. With Harry Browne and Séamus Guidera (RKD) 1:20:03

4M ago1:20:03

1:20:03

This week we got into an area of retrofit that feels neglected: commercial space. It's a subject we definitely touch upon but never really get into , so in order to remedy that we're getting stuck in. First up is a conversation with architects Harry Browne and Séamus Guidera of RKD Dublin who came recommended to us by friend of the show Richard O'H…

1
What does progress mean? 7:50

4M ago7:50

7:50

Progress at the gym looks different for each one. I’m discussing some of the most important points of progress. Let me know what you think!

1
5 things that mean you’re doing well in life 5:49

4M ago5:49

5:49

Yayyy this is my 50th episode! I am super thrilled. The best way to celebrate I thought was to make a grateful episode. Most often, we forget to pause and appreciate our life, let’s take time to do that NOW!

1
Fundamental problems in building design and how we manage thermal comfort, with Susan Roaf (Heriot-Watt; ICARB) 1:33:08

4M ago1:33:08

1:33:08

We are delighted to bring you a conversation with Professor Emeritus Susan Roaf, of Heriot-Watt University this week to talk about a bunch of fundamental problems in building design and the management of thermal comfort. She is a wonderful guest and we're looking forward to having her back. Originally, we planned to talk about her article COP 28: N…

1
Fabric fifth: rethinking the hierarchy of retrofit, with Nigel Banks (Octopus Energy) 1:10:20

4M ago1:10:20

1:10:20

This week we're joined by Nigel Banks, Technical Director - Zero Bills & Low Carbon Homes at Octopus Energy. Nigel joined us to discuss his recent article: Fabric Fifth, a slightly polemical riposte to fabric-first dogma, and an interesting philosophy for retrofit. As it turned out, it’s an apposite follow-up to last week's episode with Fionn Steve…

1
What does transformation mean to you? 5:33

5M ago5:33

5:33

This is a question I put up in my insta story and got some very interesting responses. Let’s discuss!

1
Ep. 127: Hester & Dimmesdale from Scarlet Letter 52:25

5M ago52:25

52:25

Devin and Steph travel back in time to the spooky tale of Scarlet Letter. This story follows the affair of Hester Prynn and Arthur Dimmesdale. Do we ship it? Listen to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/weshipitpodcast/support

1
Embrace discipline for growth 5:33

5M ago5:33

5:33

We brush discipline aside and wonder why we don’t see results! In this episode, I’m sharing three points that’ll help you embrace discipline for your overall growth.

1
Retrofit: "We need to tackle low hanging fruit first", so what does that mean? With Fionn Stevenson 1:28:14

5M ago1:28:14

1:28:14

We were blessed to enjoy a great conversation about retrofit and what we should consider our priorities, with the vastly experienced retrofit firebrand Fionn Stevenson. It was a challenging, surprising, and free-wheeling conversation spurred by a call to action she made on LinkedIn some time ago, in which she decried fabric-first approaches and dec…

1
Sir Jim Ratcliffe: full exclusive interview 50:23

5M ago50:23

50:23

Sir Jim Ratcliffe sits down with BBC sports editor Dan Roan after completing his deal to buy a 27.7 per cent stake in Manchester United. The British billionaire's investment is worth about £1.25bn. He says it's a boyhood dream to be involved in United and that restoring them to the pinnacle of English and European football is the greatest challenge…

1
Natural materials, healthier homes, and the culture of sustainable building, with Will Kirkman (Ecomerchant) 1:16:15

5M ago1:16:15

1:16:15

We enjoyed the company of Ecomerchant’s Will Kirkman a business that's specialised in sustainable and natural building materials for the building trade and consumers. We mainly rambled our way around the culture of building in the UK, how embodied carbon has always been on the Ecomerchant agenda and the impact that sustainable and natural building …

1
How much is too much? 4:08

5M ago4:08

4:08

I’m answering three interesting questions on how much to workout? How often and if rest is necessary. Listen to the episode and let me know your comments!

1
Ep. 126: VALENTINES DAY SPECIAL! BATTLE OF THE PODS with Special Guests Page Rage Podcast and Checked Out and Overdue! 1:42:31

5M ago1:42:31

1:42:31

As we near the end of Season 5, we are joined by two of our guest pods from this season, Ashley and Kat from Page Rage Podcast...and Chelsea and Taryn from Checked Out and Overdue. As always, our Valentine's Day Special is when we all get together and each podcast picks their favorite and least favorite couples of the season...and then...we BATTLE …

1
Engineering low-impact buildings and advice from self build, with Tara Fraser (Build Collective) 1:00:16

5M ago1:00:16

1:00:16

This week is all about the challenges of low-impact building in the sphere of self build with Tara Fraser, a chartered civil and structural engineer, and a director of Build Collective in Bristol. On the recommendation of former guest (and Tara's colleague) Beth Williams, we recently had a chat with her about a self-build project she worked on that…

1
Eating clean without hating food 5:00

5M ago5:00

5:00

We’ve all had our share of bad relationship with food, especially when trying to lose weight. I’m sharing my views on how we can mend this and build a better bond with food.

1
Ep. 125: Othello & Desdemona 50:21

5M ago50:21

50:21

Join us today as we do our annual Shakespeare episode! We really enjoyed Othello in a whole new light since our first readings in HS...do we ship this fatal pair, Othello and Desdemona? Listen to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/weshipitpodcast/support

1
Harry Kane on breaking records and building resilience 32:42

5M ago32:42

32:42

We catch up with England captain Harry Kane after his brilliant start to life at Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Kane talks to Alex Howell about his pre-move nerves, his pride at his goalscoring feats and his hopes of ending his personal trophy drought. We also hear from Bayern fans, who have taken Kane to their hearts. Kane also talks about the w…

1
Shady business #2: shading for housing in a changing climate, with Tom Dollard (Pollard Thomas Edwards) 1:28:59

5M ago1:28:59

1:28:59

Part two of our series on shading, this time with a return appearance from Tom Dollard of Pollard Thomas Edwards who joined us in January 2023 to talk about lazy thinking. Ostensibly, this time we met to talk about the Good Homes Alliance design guide for shading, as a follow-up to December's episode with Zoe De Grussa. On reflection we realised th…

1
Should you workout with shoes or without? 6:07

5M ago6:07

6:07

This is an ongoing debate. Hear me out discussing pros and cons of both! And let me know if it helped you:

1
A view from COP28, and relearning how to be an architect for after the Oil Age, with Kelly Alvarez Doran (Half Climate Design; Architecture 2030 Senior Fellow) 1:21:36

6M ago1:21:36

1:21:36

With us this week is new friend, Kelly Alvarez Doran, via an introduction from Lloyd to talk about his experiences at COP28 and his carbon reduction consultancy Ha/f Climate Design that's challenged itself to reduce Canadian construction's emissions by half. We get sidetracked almost immediately while we talk about Kelly's background as an architec…

1
Mental well-being over physical health 6:57

6M ago6:57

6:57

Why is your mental well-being more important than physical health? Is it that important? I’m talking about five points that’ll help you understand why and also fix it.

1
Conservation-led retrofit and energy efficiency for working buildings, with with Heidi Hopper-Duffy and David Hughes (Iarnród Éireann) 57:32

6M ago57:32

57:32

This one is about conservation-led retrofit and the retrofit of commercial (or institutional) building stock. We were invited to see a recent Iarnród Éireann (Irish Railway) retrofit project and meet with Heidi Hopper-Duffy (Environmental & Sustainability Manager) and its architect David Hughes (Senior Conservation Architect & Energy Specialist). O…

1
The cost of sustainability, accounting for language, and the taxonomy, with Archie O'Donnell (KOSMOS) 57:42

6M ago57:42

57:42

The first of our Dublin field recordings is with Archie O'Donnell a long-time face green building in Ireland, a fella who Jeff has a lot of time for, and someone Alex and I hadn't met yet. It was a good call. Originally trained as an architect, Archie has worked his way through the industry, recently joining Danish/Irish consultancy KOSMOS, so ther…

1
Cardio vs conditioning 6:07

6M ago6:07

6:07

I’m discussing the difference between cardio and metabolic conditioning and how useful each one is!

1
PH+ Revisited: that archive building in Hereford, the one that uses passive house preservation, with Nick Grant and Alan Clarke 56:05

6M ago56:05

56:05

This week we have Lloyd's latest Passive House Plus Revisited, a conversation with passive house heads Alan Clarke and Nick Grant about the passive house archive project that left Lloyd so smitten when he visited it last summer. That we’re discussing archive systems shouldn’t put folk off - the point is about thinking differently, about what the ch…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Nesta Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide