Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
@inkerley.bsky.social
Subeditor and TV columnist at New Scientist, 🍅 approved. she/her
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Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
@inkerley.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Bethan Ackerley
Bethan Ackerley has been a subeditor at New Scientist since 2019. She writes a monthly column about TV covering sci-fi, drama and documentaries and has also been published in Empire magazine. Bethan w...
www.newscientist.com
All my TV writing can be found here ✨ Lots of sci-fi, lots of docs! www.newscientist.com/author/betha...
If you talk about your cats enough in the workplace, eventually you will have to review a book about them. I enjoyed the archaeological insights in Cat Tales very much www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
A purrfect guide to cats and our complex relationship with them
Our bond with cats – which has seen them go from hunter to house pet – may be more diverse than with any other animal. And Jerry D. Moore's Cat Tales: A history rounds up the lot, says Bethan Ackerley
www.newscientist.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
If you talk about your cats enough in the workplace, eventually you will have to review a book about them. I enjoyed the archaeological insights in Cat Tales very much www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
I am obviously all about Alien: Earth and I can’t wait to find out what happens in the final two eps. Morrow and Kirsh spin-off when www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Alien: Earth adds surprisingly good TV dimension to veteran sci-fi
After fifty years of books, games and movies, what more could the Aliens franchise deliver? An inventive TV show, with fresh monsters and new heroes, finds our TV critic Bethan Ackerley
www.newscientist.com
September 13, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I am obviously all about Alien: Earth and I can’t wait to find out what happens in the final two eps. Morrow and Kirsh spin-off when www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
Climate journalist and New Scientist contributor Alec Luhn has gone missing on a Norwegian glacier. His family is asking that anyone hiking in the region share any information with local authorities. www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
American climate journalist Alec Luhn missing on Norwegian glacier
A search is underway for award-winning climate journalist Alec Luhn, a Wisconsin native, who is missing on a Norwegian glacier.
www.cbsnews.com
August 6, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Climate journalist and New Scientist contributor Alec Luhn has gone missing on a Norwegian glacier. His family is asking that anyone hiking in the region share any information with local authorities. www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Post-watching 28 Years Later, I wanted to check out Devs, five years after it first aired www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Five years later, has sci-fi cult hit Devs aged well?
Alex Garland's tech company mystery is smart and compelling, though it can also be chilly and self-indulgent. Bethan Ackerley missed it in 2020, but after five strange years, she has decided to check ...
www.newscientist.com
July 31, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Post-watching 28 Years Later, I wanted to check out Devs, five years after it first aired www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
when they close it all up, I do believe this will go down as the funniest video on the internet
July 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
when they close it all up, I do believe this will go down as the funniest video on the internet
It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you the new season of Foundation isn’t very good. I am pro-Jared Harris and take no pleasure in reporting this www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Foundation's new season has dramatic potential – but sadly falls flat
Foundation's new series is full of new characters and dramatic potential. But instead of mining those rich seams, too many plotlines have become shallow and absurd. It's hard to see a good show go bad...
www.newscientist.com
July 11, 2025 at 10:41 AM
It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you the new season of Foundation isn’t very good. I am pro-Jared Harris and take no pleasure in reporting this www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Super official, not-at-all-exhaustive list of the best science and tech documentaries of the year so far! www.newscientist.com/article/2486...
The 14 best science and tech documentaries of 2025 so far
From David Attenborough to Hannah Fry via Bryan Johnson, our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley selects her favourite science and technology documentaries of the year to date
www.newscientist.com
July 9, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Super official, not-at-all-exhaustive list of the best science and tech documentaries of the year so far! www.newscientist.com/article/2486...
The Eternaut is a cut above a lot of the post-apocalyptic TV dramas out there, give it a watch www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
This stunning post-apocalyptic drama is the one you should be watching
There are hundreds of TV apocalypses to choose from, but The Eternaut, a fresh and compelling adaptation of a classic Argentinian comic book series, is the one to pick, says Bethan Ackerley
www.newscientist.com
June 19, 2025 at 11:31 AM
The Eternaut is a cut above a lot of the post-apocalyptic TV dramas out there, give it a watch www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
COUNTRY LAWYER: yuh honor could the esteemed opposin' council explain to me, in, uh, legal terms, this Shrek charactah
June 11, 2025 at 4:06 PM
COUNTRY LAWYER: yuh honor could the esteemed opposin' council explain to me, in, uh, legal terms, this Shrek charactah
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
The suit includes the legal definition of Shrek
June 11, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The suit includes the legal definition of Shrek
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
This lawsuit is brutal. One of the exhibits is the letter Universal sent to Midjourney, including a quote from a 2022 Forbes interview that I bet midjourney regrets
June 11, 2025 at 3:49 PM
This lawsuit is brutal. One of the exhibits is the letter Universal sent to Midjourney, including a quote from a 2022 Forbes interview that I bet midjourney regrets
I found the first Murderbot book a bit too elder millennial for my tastes, but I’ve decided the TV show is Good, Actually www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
How the new Murderbot TV series made me a reluctant convert
Murderbot fans will be thrilled to learn that the cyborg security unit that gains free will by hacking its governor module is now the star of a compelling adaptation. Bethan Ackerley has unexpectedly ...
www.newscientist.com
May 29, 2025 at 12:41 PM
I found the first Murderbot book a bit too elder millennial for my tastes, but I’ve decided the TV show is Good, Actually www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
Families Like Ours! What a show - and they read New Scientist
May 17, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Families Like Ours! What a show - and they read New Scientist
Families Like Ours is just the right amount of bleak. A terrific climate drama about how quickly our privileges can fall away in times of crisis. One for fans of Years and Years www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Climate drama Families Like Ours deserves to be a word-of-mouth hit
A disturbing new Danish TV series, which follows a wealthy family as rising seas force the evacuation of Denmark, is wildly popular in its home country. We should all be watching it, says Bethan Acker...
www.newscientist.com
May 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Families Like Ours is just the right amount of bleak. A terrific climate drama about how quickly our privileges can fall away in times of crisis. One for fans of Years and Years www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
If a popular TV drama is the only way to reach Keir Starmer and his colleagues, then we need an Adolescence for climate change www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Where is the TV drama to move the dial on climate change?
UK show Adolescence is sparking debate about the harm of social media. We need a series to do the same for the most pressing crisis of our times, says Bethan Ackerley
www.newscientist.com
April 25, 2025 at 12:31 PM
If a popular TV drama is the only way to reach Keir Starmer and his colleagues, then we need an Adolescence for climate change www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Black Mirror remains a mess of a show - but the USS Callister sequel is worth the wait www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Black Mirror returns full of delights and disappointments
Black Mirror's new season is a mixed bag, ranging from a sublimely plotted romp to one of the worst episodes to date. And it's still playing fast and loose with its sci-fi concepts, finds Bethan Acker...
www.newscientist.com
April 17, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Black Mirror remains a mess of a show - but the USS Callister sequel is worth the wait www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Common Side Effects is a beautifully animated show, and if you miss Scavengers Reign and wanna support one of the brains behind that series, you should check this out www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Stunning new animated series tells the story of a cure-all mushroom
A naturalist finds a hallucinogenic mushroom with the power to cure all ailments in the animated series Common Side Effects. Big Pharma is hot on his trail in this beautifully made show, says Bethan A...
www.newscientist.com
March 28, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Common Side Effects is a beautifully animated show, and if you miss Scavengers Reign and wanna support one of the brains behind that series, you should check this out www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Go see Weather Girl! Yes, it’s only on till 5 April. Find a way! It’s fantastic www.newscientist.com/article/2473...
New Scientist recommends Weather Girl, an electrifying one-woman show
Weather Girl, a play in London's Soho Theatre about a weather forecaster who finally snaps as the climate apocalypse looms, is frantic and funny
www.newscientist.com
March 20, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Go see Weather Girl! Yes, it’s only on till 5 April. Find a way! It’s fantastic www.newscientist.com/article/2473...
I miss David Lynch. Watching The OA helped me grieve him www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Rediscover The OA, a tv show with echoes of late director David Lynch
The death of David Lynch, who shaped decades of film and TV, is bound to hurt. Rediscovering a show called The OA helps, with its Twin Peaks-style echoes of small-town US and other Lynchian themes, sa...
www.newscientist.com
March 6, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I miss David Lynch. Watching The OA helped me grieve him www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
If I were married and watched My Husband, the Cyborg, I’d want to get divorced. A good documentary, but watch at your peril, folks ♥️🤖 www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Documentary-maker films the fallout as her husband opts to be a cyborg
Scott chooses to be a cyborg by implanting a piece of tech that vibrates whenever he faces north; Susanna copes by filming the effects on their marriage. Is this what modern love looks like?
www.newscientist.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:44 PM
If I were married and watched My Husband, the Cyborg, I’d want to get divorced. A good documentary, but watch at your peril, folks ♥️🤖 www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
trying to be her
January 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
trying to be her
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
Reposted by Bethan Ackerley 🇵🇸
Love you forever 🖤
January 16, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Love you forever 🖤