''Catalyst'' is an Australian science journalism television program broadcast by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. The program is currently the only science show on

primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

television in Australia. Launched in 2001, it replaced Quantum (TV series) which had ceased the previous year. ''Catalyst'' was regularly broadcast on ABC TV at 8:30 pm on Tuesdays and repeated at 6:00 pm on Sundays.

Overview

The show broadcasts stories on scientific themes, and in particular significant recent developments and discoveries. It focuses primarily on stories relevant to Australia, but the series covers international developments as well. It attempts to convey information in a way that is not only accurate but also interesting and informative to the general population, often discussing the ethical, political and other implications of scientific discoveries and research as well as the discoveries themselves. The show's website says that "Catalyst, Australia's flagship weekly science program, showcases Australian and global science discoveries". Examples of ''Catalyst'' featured segments include "Corporate

Psychopath Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality Construct (psychology), construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with boldness, bold, disinhibited, and egocentrism, egocentric traits. These traits are often ma ...

s", "The Truth About

Vitamins Vitamins are organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolic function. Essential nutrients cannot be synthesized in the organism in suff ...

", and " Smell and

Schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

". The show originally was broadcast in a 30-minute format. Following a series of controversies and an internal review of the program, the ABC announced in November 2016 that ''Catalyst'' would shift to a 60-minute format starting in 2017. The new format utilises out-of-house experts in their respective fields, presenting 60-minute in depth documentaries. Episodes have included "The Great Australian Bee Challenge", "Bionic Revolution", "Feeding Australia" and "The Secret To Making Better Decisions".

Staff

Over ''Catalyst's'' history, staff have included:

Presenters and reporters

*Paul West, former chef and farmer *Dr Caroline West, GP *Dr Sarah McKay, neuroscientist. *Prof Tamara Davis, astrophysicist *Dr Preeya Alexander, GP *Dr Ann Jones, 'nature nerd' *Angharad "Rad" Yeo, technology reporter * Matt Okine, comedian and actor *

Tom Gleeson Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson currently hosts '' Hard Quiz'' and '' Taskmaster Australia'' and previously co-hosted ''The Weekly with Charlie Picker ...

, comedian and physics grad * Myf Warhurst, radio announcer and television presenter *Dr Garnett Hall, veterinarian *Dr Niraj Lal, energy researcher and author * Lily Serna, mathematician * Nikki Stamp, cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon * Brad McKay, GP *Dr Joanna McMillan, dietitian *Dr Shalin Naik, stem cell biologist *

Derek Muller Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is a science communicator and media personality, best known for his YouTube channel Veritasium, which has over 17.8 million subscribers and 3.3 billion views as of April 2025. He currently lives in ...

, physicist *Jonica Newby, veterinarian * Jordan Nguyen, biomedical engineer * Graham Phillips, astrophysicist * Anja Taylor, model, actress, reporter and producer * Maryanne Demasi, investigative journalist and presenter * Alan Duffy, astronomer *

Tim Flannery Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, conservationist, explorer, author, science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities tha ...

, palaeontologist and environmental activist

Controversy

A series of episodes ("Heart of the Matter", parts 1 and 2) broadcast in October 2013 which questioned the link between

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds between the carbon atoms. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone, and fatty acids that each cont ...

cholesterol Cholesterol is the principal sterol of all higher animals, distributed in body Tissue (biology), tissues, especially the brain and spinal cord, and in Animal fat, animal fats and oils. Cholesterol is biosynthesis, biosynthesized by all anima ...

and

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

, as well as the widespread use of anti-cholesterol drugs known as

statin Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of medications that lower cholesterol. They are prescribed typically to people who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carriers of cholesterol play ...

s, came under criticism from doctors and the National Heart Foundation of Australia. The foundation estimates that in the wake of those episodes up to 55,000 patients may have stopped taking their medication, leading to a potential increase in heart attacks and strokes over the next five years. In May 2014 the ABC removed both episodes from its website, after an internal review found that the second episode (but not the first) involved one breach of ABC standards on impartiality and there was a problem of omission of important information. "Wi-Fried?", an episode broadcast in February 2016 featuring American epidemiologist Devra Davis, courted further controversy by claiming that electromagnetic radiation emitted by devices such as

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s lead to an increased risk of

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

in heavy users, contrary to the mainstream view that exposure to such emissions is largely safe. The show faced criticism from local experts, viewers and scientists disputing the episode's claims, with public health professor Simon Chapman stating that "this is not the first time ''Catalyst'' have aired a questionable episode, and there really needs to be a review of their editorial process". An investigation by the ABC's independent Audience and Consumer Affairs Unit found that the episode breached editorial policies standards on accuracy and impartiality, later leading to the withdrawal of the episode from the ABC website. The controversy led to the temporary suspension of reporter Dr. Maryanne Demasi from the show and is the second time since ''Heart of the Matter, Parts 1 and 2'' to have breached editorial standards. It also led to the ABC reviewing the future strategy and direction of the program, leading to format changes for the following series.

References

External links