After enjoying a Twitter thread about the world’s most beautiful university campuses, the Canadian theoretical physicist Cliff Burgess was left wondering why physicists are often stuck working in ungainly buildings. He reached out to his Twitter followers to ask for nominations for the ugliest physics buildings and was overwhelmed by the response.

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, Burgess – who is based at McMaster University and the Perimeter Institute – chats with Physics World editors about what makes a good physics building and why some edifices don’t work at all.

We also speak with the physicist Marie Hemingway, who is co-founder and chief technology officer of Speak Out Revolution. The not-for-profit organization works to cancel the culture of silence on harassment and bullying in the workplace.

Hemingway talks about her recent article in Physics World (co-authored with Mark Geoghegan) that looks at how non-disclosure agreements are routinely used to silence people who have suffered bullying and harassment at work. She explains how people can document their experiences using the organization’s safe online platform and how this information is analysed to provide insights into how employers can better deal with bullying and harassment.

Hemingway and Geoghegan’s article is “Bullying and harassment in physics affects us all”.