Today we launch episode 11 of Geek Chic’s Weird Science podcast: The Halloween Special. We discover from a Professor of Cardiac Pharmacology whether it is actually possible to die of fright, interrogate a zombie expert about whether they are a reality, interview a genuine witch and speak to a nutrition expert about what to do with all that leftover pumpkin! It’s completely free and will be available from iTunes at 10am – just click here to listen.

Geek Chic Weird Science is a weekly podcast covering some of the more unusual and eye-catching stories from the worlds of biology, physics and medical science. At its inception Geek Chic was a cheeky little weekly 3 min item on Lliana Bird’s Sunday show on XFM, which ran for the first 8 months of the 2014. Yet it soon became clear that 3mins wasn’t enough time to pack in all the juicy stories that pop up every single week. And to be brutally honest, not having time to “go beyond the headlines” was a tad frustrating. Consequently Geek Chic has matured into a 20 min vocal foray into weird and wonderful world of scientific discovery.

Every now and again we come across a story where even a share of 20mins is not sufficient to do it justice. So we often ring up an expert and get the scoop from the horse’s mouth in our Geek Chic Specials. Along the way we’ve dedicated the entire podcast to interviews with wizards of science like Prof Gisin (head of a lab in Switzerland investigating quantum teleportation) and Dr Hugo Spiers (interviewed during a champagne reception for 2014 Nobel Prize winner Prof O’Keefe describing future directions for the Brain’s GPS).

Lliana Bird is ace. Her energy and enthusiasm has never waivered. She is absolutely determined to grow, shepherd and nurture this thing we’ve created into the best it can be. She’s not just the co-presenter, she’s the producer, the recording technician, the head of PR, the art director and so much more. Then there’s Boff – the chef who cuts it all together, with a sprinkling of curious sound effect here and a hilarious or profound quote from film and television there.

Geek Chic Weird Science is not a job – it is a labour of love. And I genuinely believe this has something to do with why we have, through some mysterious black magic no doubt, rocketed up through the science podcast charts on iTunes. Fingers crossed it all continues in this direction.

As well as following me on Twitter (@drjacklewis) for the latest breakthroughs in brain science, you can also now follow Geek Chic Weird Science (@GCweirdscience) for regular updates on strange/fascinating news from science in general.