SUBSTANCE is a podcast about the discoveries and innovations in chemistry and beyond helping us to develop sustainable solutions. Host Joe Hanson exchanges ideas with international guests and presents visionary projects and exciting innovations.
Light is all around us – from fireflies glowing in the garden to the screens in our pockets. In this illuminating episode of SUBSTANCE, host Joe Hanson explores how scientists are developing more sustainable ways to produce light and color, including bioluminescent glow sticks and next-generation display technologies.
16 Sept 2026
Enzymes
Enzymes are among nature’s most powerful catalysts and are helping scientists and industry tackle some of the world’s biggest sustainability challenges. In this episode of SUBSTANCE, host Joe Hanson explores how enzymes are improving everyday household items such as detergents and how cutting-edge enzyme research could help address climate change.
15 Jul 2026
Clay
Clay is one of the oldest materials humans have ever used, from early pottery to the walls of homes. In this episode, host Joe Hanson explores how this ancient material can inspire new solutions for an increasingly warming world.
17 Jun 2026
Sulfur
Sulfur might evoke matches, volcanic gases, or that yellow rock from chemistry class – but it’s far more powerful than you probably think. In this episode of Substance, host Joe Hanson explores the surprising story of an element that has shaped human history for centuries and plays a crucial role in our modern life.
20 May 2026
Fiber
15 Apr 2026
Salt
Salt may be one of the most familiar substances in everyday life, but in this episode of SUBSTANCE, host Joe Hanson explores how a special class of salts could help decarbonize one of the most overlooked parts of the energy system: heat. With the help of experts Dr. Nils-Olof Born of BASF and Assistant Professor Silvia Trevisan of KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Joe Hanson looks at how so-called molten salts can store and deliver heat for industrial processes without relying on fossil fuels.
18 Mar 2026
CO2
CO₂ is one of the gases most closely linked to global warming, but it is also deeply embedded in how modern industry and cities function. In this episode of SUBSTANCE, host Joe Hanson explores what it will take to reduce emissions in two places that matter enormously for the climate: industrial production and urban design
18 Feb 2026
Fabric
Fabrics and fashion are deeply tied to sustainability – not least because the scale of production and consumption means huge volumes end up as waste or pollution. This episode of SUBSTANCE asks what it would take to “close the loop” and move fabrics toward a circular economy. Host Joe Hanson draws on perspectives from both the Hong Kong–based nonprofit Redress and BASF in his exploration of why circularity is a useful way to turn intent into action; from designing for durability, repair and recyclability to building the systems needed for collection and sorting.
21 Jan 2026
Water
In this episode, our host Joe Hanson discusses a SUBSTANCE that is literally vital: water. Former NASA expert, now entrepreneur Diana Yousef and BASF scientist Ligia Azevedo make it clear in their stories, that the economical use of clean drinking water is essential for our survival and how new technologies can help us preserve it.
17 Dec 2025
Fungi
In this episode of SUBSTANCE, host Joe Hanson explores the surprising power of fungi with artist-turned-entrepreneur Phil Ross and BASF scientist Dr. Birgit Hoff. Far from being just mold or mushrooms, fungi are nature’s recyclers and bio factories, capable of producing antibiotics, vitamins, and even sustainable materials for fashion, packaging, and construction.
19 Nov 2025
Plastics - Part 2
Plastics are everywhere – but can they ever be truly sustainable? In this episode, host Joe Hanson asks how plastics fit into a circular economy – a system designed to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. From the familiar mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle to innovative strategies that go far beyond recycling, this conversation dives into what it takes to create a sustainable future for plastics and how waste can become a resource.
22 Oct 2025
Plastics - Part 1
Plastic is one of the most transformative materials of the modern age. It’s in our cars, our homes, and our clothes. Lightweight, durable, and endlessly moldable, plastic has revolutionized manufacturing and design across nearly every industry. But this material comes with a serious downside: it’s incredibly difficult to dispose of in the right way.
24 Sept 2025
Hydrogen
Researchers and companies around the globe are racing to tap into an invisible resource seen as a beacon of hope for achieving climate neutrality—hydrogen. Could the key to a green transformation lie beneath our very feet?
17 Sept 2025
Trailer
SUBSTANCE is a monthly podcast exploring the materials that shape our world. From hydrogen and plastic to fabric and fungi, each episode unpacks one essential substance — revealing its influence on our world and the surprising innovations that could redefine its role in our lives.
In conversations with leading scientists and industry experts, host Joe Hanson offers fresh perspectives on how chemistry and innovation can help us tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges.
Whether you’re a curious mind, a science enthusiast, or someone who simply wonders about the “stuff” all around us, SUBSTANCE tells the stories that matter — one material at a time.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
13 ratings
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