Main content

Harry Cliff

Michael Berkeley's guest is the physicist Harry Cliff, who works on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, in search of answers to some of the biggest questions in modern physics.

Harry Cliff is a particle physicist working on the Large Hadron Collider 鈥 the huge particle detector buried deep underground at CERN near Geneva. He鈥檚 part of an international team of around 1,400 physicists, engineers and computer scientists studying the basic building blocks of our universe, in search of answers to some of the biggest questions in modern physics.

Harry is also passionate about explaining these mysteries to the widest possible audience. He has curated two major exhibitions at the Science Museum in London 鈥 one about the Hadron Collider, another about the Sun, and his first book was called How To Make An Apple Pie from Scratch, a title which draws on a comment by the astronomer Carl Sagan: "if you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe". His most recent book Space Oddities looks at some of the strange things 鈥 anomalies - that are currently confounding scientists, and transforming our understanding of physics.

Available now

48 minutes

Last on

Sun 19 May 2024 12:00

Music Played

  • George Frideric Handel

    Zadok the Priest

    Choir: Choir of King鈥檚 College, Cambridge. Ensemble: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Stephen Cleobury.
    • Glorious Majesty.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.
  • Nick Keir

    Far Down The Line

    Ensemble: The McCalmans.
    • Greentrax.
  • Richard Strauss

    Also sprach Zarathustra (Prelude)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
    • Santtu Conducts Strauss.
    • Signum Records.
    • 24.
  • Igor Stravinsky

    The Rite of Spring (Part 1)

    Orchestra: The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor: Pierre Boulez.
    • DG.
  • Claude Debussy

    Clair de lune (Suite bergamasque)

    Performer: Jean鈥怸ves Thibaudet.
    • Debussy: Images, Etudes etc.
    • Decca.
    • 3.
  • William Byrd

    Ave Verum Corpus

    Ensemble: Sansara.
    • Sansara's private recording of a rehearsal which they gave permission to use in.
    • 1.
  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No.2 in C minor "Resurrection" (conclusion)

    Singer: Kate Royal. Singer: Magdalena Ko啪en谩. Choir: Berlin Radio Choir. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection".
    • Warner Classics.
    • 10.
  • David Bowie

    Space Oddity

    Singer: David Bowie.
    • ChangesOneBowie.
    • Parlophone UK.
    • 1.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cello Suite no.1 in G major BWV.1007 (Prelude)

    Performer: Yo鈥怸o Ma.
    • DECCA.

Broadcast

  • Sun 19 May 2024 12:00

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

For Private Passions, Jools Holland revealed his piano history to Michael Berkeley.

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield鈥檚 Private Passions

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield鈥檚 Private Passions

Harry doesn't usually give interviews 鈥 but he couldn't say no to Michael Berkeley.

Archive Unlocked: Two Decades of Private Passions

Michael Berkeley introduces memorable interviews from Private Passions' archives.

Podcast