The fourth season of the podcast “Unearthed: The need for seeds” is being hosted by a very famous actress to mark its 25th anniversary, namely two-time Academy Awards winner Cate Blanchett. Cate Blanchett, Kew Ambassador for Wakehurst, takes listeners on a journey from the beginnings to the future plans of the Millennium Seed Bank, the world’s largest ex-situ plant conservation program.
Podcast URL: https://www.kew.org/about-us/virtual-kew-wakehurst/unearthed-kew-podcast
Episode Guide
| No. | Episode | Title | Guests | Listen to episode | Published | Description Excerpt | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | S04-E04 | The Future: Future-proofing seeds | Anne Visscher | 2025-11-05 | In this final episode of Unearthed: The need for seeds, Cate Blanchett looks ahead to the next 25 years of the Millennium Seed Bank – … | Seed conservation, Millennium seed bank, Seed banking science, Seeds in space, Space biology research, Cryopreservation, Recalcitrant seeds, Seed dormancy, Plasma seed treatment, Biodiversity conservation, Habitat restoration, Reforestation, Climate change adaptation, Global seed bank partnerships, Knowledge sharing | |
| 27 | S04-E03 | The Present: Inside the world’s largest seed bank | Ted Chapman, Isabel Negri | 2025-10-29 | The Millennium Seed Bank holds over 2.5 billion seeds – but where do they all come from, and how do they end up in those … | Seed collecting, Millennium seed bank, Yellow rattle, Chalk grassland, South Downs national park, Seed germination research, Climate change impact on seeds, Biodiversity conservation, Seed processing and cleaning, X ray seed analysis, Seed vault storage, Recalcitrant seeds, Global seed bank partnerships, Forest restoration research, Habitat restoration | |
| 26 | S04-E02 | The Past: The vision that got us here | Elinor Breman, Roger Smith | 2025-10-22 | The Millennium Seed Bank started life as a modest chest freezer housed in an English chapel. It’s now a multi-layered vault housing over 2.5 billion … | Millennium seed bank, Wakehurst botanic garden, Kew gardens, Wild seed conservation, Biodiversity loss, Plant extinction crisis, Climate change adaptation, Crop wild relatives, Seed banking science, Ecological restoration, Global conservation partnerships, Ex situ conservation, Habitat restoration, Genetic diversity, Bushfire recovery | |
| 25 | S04-E01 | Special episode: With His Majesty the King | King Charles III | 2025-10-19 | The new series of Unearthed: The need for seeds from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew launches with a very special conversation. A long-time champion of … | Millennium seed bank, Royal botanic gardens Kew, Seed conservation, Biodiversity loss, Plant extinction, Habitat restoration, Wildflower meadows, Indigenous knowledge, Fire adapted species, Bushfire recovery, Global conservation partnerships, Genetic diversity, Ecosystem restoration, Biodiversity credits, Agroforestry | |
| 24 | Unearthed returns - The need for seeds, with Cate Blanchett | 2025-10-14 | From the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Unearthed returns — celebrating 25 years of the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, the most biodiverse place on our … | ||||
| 23 | S03-E06 | How does nature network? | 2024-07-31 | How do nature’s wonderful systems all fit together? And how can science help us understand these for better conservation and restoration of species? In the … | |||
| 22 | S03-E05 | How can we regenerate nature successfully? | 2024-07-17 | In this episode of Unearthed: Nature needs us from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew we ask what it means to regenerate and restore degraded forests … | |||
| 21 | S03-E04 | How can we protect pollinators? | 2024-07-03 | As well as our beloved bees, pollinators include wasps, moths, hoverflies, butterflies, beetles, bats and birds. There are about 1,500 different insect species helping plants … | |||
| 20 | S03-E03 | Why do we save seeds? | 2024-06-19 | Seeds are the beginnings of life. From the food we can grow today, to the wondrous habitats they can create. They offer us a chance … | |||
| 19 | S03-E02 | Why does soil matter? | 2024-06-05 | There is still so much to learn about the mysterious realm of soil. From the microscopic organisms essential to life on Earth, to the complex … | |||
| 18 | S03-E01 | What is the biodiversity crisis? | 2024-05-22 | Nature needs us! In series 3 of Unearthed, Dr Mya-Rose Craig begins the journey into what biodiversity loss means and why it matters to … | |||
| 17 | Unearthed Returns: Nature needs us | 2024-05-21 | Wildlife is becoming extinct at an alarming rate and habitats are under strain. What can nature itself teach us about how to heal our planet … | ||||
| 16 | S02-E07 | Food, Health and Wellbeing in Daily Life | 2022-12-15 | To round off this series, we’re heading into our own kitchens and examining how our food choices can make for better health and a better … | |||
| 15 | S02-E06 | How Should We Be Growing Food? | 2022-12-01 | If you have a window box, veg patch or allotment, how does the way you are growing food change your relationship with it? In … | |||
| 14 | S02-E05 | Foods of the Future | 2022-11-17 | With so many of our favourite foods facing extinction, including bananas, chocolate and coffee, what will be on our kitchen tables in the future? In … | |||
| 13 | S02-E04 | Agriculture and Livelihoods | 2022-11-03 | This time, Poppy Okocha’s looking at our relationship with growing and producing foods around the world. She meets up with Jeremy Torz, one of the … | |||
| 12 | S02-E03 | “The Red List”: Biodiversity loss and food | 2022-10-20 | Advolly Richmond is exploring how food production methods and climate change today are exacerbating issues of biodiversity loss. As conditions change and human activity intervenes … | |||
| 11 | S02-E02 | Supermarkets, supply and waste | 2022-10-06 | James Wong takes a look at what you can do at home, versus what big business and supermarket giants are doing to make sure our … | |||
| 10 | S02-E01 | We have a problem | 2022-10-06 | The food we eat connects us to the wider world; to global history, cultures and traditions. But the practises we’ve ended up with today mean … | |||
| 9 | S02-E01 | Unearthed: Journeys Into The Future Of Food, From The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Coming on Thursday 6th October 2022 | 2022-09-26 | The way we produce and consume food is having a devastating impact on our natural world. How can we avoid disaster, and feed the world … | |||
| 8 | S01-E07 | Dirt on our hands: Overcoming botany’s hidden legacy of inequality | 2021-03-10 | Dirt on our hands: Overcoming botany’s hidden legacy of inequality In this special episode of Unearthed, professional plant geek, author, and broadcaster James Wong explores … | |||
| 7 | S01-E06 | The Disappearing Forests: Is ecocide a crime? | 2020-10-14 | Time is running out for the world’s forests, ecosystems and the life they support. The consequences for human life and climate could be catastrophic – … | |||
| 6 | S01-E05 | Harm or Harmony: How safe are we from the foods we eat? | 2020-09-30 | 4 years ago, 15 year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse lost her life to a severe sesame allergy. In this episode, James Wong speaks to Natasha’s parents Tania … | |||
| 5 | S01-E04 | Zombies, tripping and the everyday normality of fantastic fungi | 2020-09-16 | In this episode James Wong learns how there’s nothing weirder and more wonderful than the everyday. Hear about the depression trials that have seen sufferers … | |||
| 4 | S01-E03 | Curious cures and mysterious medicines | 2020-09-02 | Deep in some of the world’s most hard-to-reach places lies a wealth of plant knowledge that could offer the next life-saving cure. In this episode, … | |||
| 3 | S01-E02 | The curry killer: How Kew helped bring a murderer to justice | 2020-08-19 | Plants have the power to cure – and also kill. In this episode we hear how a spurned woman murdered her lover with just a … | |||
| 2 | S01-E01 | Uncovering a multi-million pound smuggling trade | 2020-08-05 | One wintery morning in 2014, somebody stole a tiny and extremely rare waterlily from the collection at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was never … | |||
| 1 | S01-E01 | Trailer | 2020-07-16 | James Wong introduces "Unearthed", launching August 5th 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. … |