Alan Davies fronts new BBC Radio 4 podcast series
A new Radio 4 podcast will explore what happens when everyday essentials disappear from the world.
Life Without is a new ten-part series fronted by Alan Davies, examining the consequences of losing things often taken for granted, from the moon and sleep to salt, sex and even worms.
The podcast will launch on Friday 13th February, with episodes released weekly on BBC Sounds and also broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 2.45pm.
Produced by ITN Productions, each episode brings together two guests drawn from fields including science, psychology, economics, sociology and journalism. Together, they consider the immediate impact of a sudden absence, how society might respond, and how quickly wider systems could begin to strain.
Each discussion is framed around a single question posed by Alan, focusing on the knock-on effects rather than hypothetical spectacle, and keeping episodes short and tightly structured.
Alan said the format appealed because it combined humour with more troubling ideas, adding that he enjoyed meeting a wide range of experts and learning more about how the world works, while still having fun along the way.
The series is designed to work both as an on-demand podcast and a short-form Radio 4 broadcast, reflecting the BBC’s continued investment in ideas-led audio that can move easily between platforms.