Renowned Irish Science show takes gold at prestigious international Radio Awards

Published by Kate O'Brien on

June 20th, 2017

Newstalk’s science and technology radio programme Futureproof has today won two medals at the New York Festival’s World Best Radio Programme Awards.

Futureproof won two awards for the documentary “The Space Between Skeleton and Skin”, the story and science behind Irish adventurer Mark Pollock’s efforts to walk again despite his paralysis.

The programme won the Gold Radio Winner in the Information/Documentary section under the Science and Technology awards category. It also won the Silver Radio Winner in the News Reports/Features section under the Heroes awards category.

The programme, which first aired seven years ago, covers the latest developments from the world of science and technology. The show also includes short radio documentaries and special features on how scientific advancements can aid human progress.

The highly competitive and prestigious New York Festival awards saw entries from over 30 countries. Winners were announced yesterday evening at an awards ceremony in Manhattan Penthouse, New York.

The award for the World’s Best Radio Programmes honours radio programming and promotions of all lengths and formats from radio stations, networks and independent producers from around the world.

Accepting the award, Futureproof presenter Johnathan McCrea said that the show’s producers were absolutely thrilled to have their work recognised on the international stage.

“After seven years on air, we are still as passionate about telling the great stories of science as we were when we started at the quiet end of a Sunday night,” he said.

Mr McCrea is a multi-award-winning TV and radio broadcaster and founder of the science communications conference SCI:COM.

He also thanked Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) for supporting the show since its inception and also praised Newstalk for “having the vision to put science at the heart of the weekend programming schedule”.

Dr Ruth Freeman, Director of Strategy and Communication at SFI, sponsors of Futureproof, congratulated the show’s team and praised them for its “compelling” and “hugely engaging” content.

She added that the show manages to achieve an “elusive balance of both informing and entertaining its listeners”.

Futureproof airs every Saturday on Newstalk from 12 noon to 1pm.

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Kate O'Brien

Kate is a freelance writer with work published in The Guardian, the Financial Times and the New York Times blog. She is a former Editor of The Plant, a UK magazine on plants and other greenery