Freya Blekman is the lead scientist at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY and professor in elementary particle physics at the University of Hamburg. Freya’s research interests include the search for signs of “new physics” using the large hadron collider at CERN and future colliders. In this episode, Ben and Freya discuss how she went from being cast as a “crazy scientist” in a school play to sitting in the control room of the largest particle collider in the world! OUTLINE: Here’s approximate timestamps for the episode. 0:17 Please rate, subscribe and review the podcast!  01:12 Freya Blekman 02:18 Passion for physics 03:46 CERN CMS https://home.cern/science/experiments/cms 07:07 Location of CERN 08:27 What particles does CERN smash together? 09:47 Discovery of the Higgs Particle 11:08 LHC closed for 3 years  13:40 Aim of LHC 16:21 Quarks 18:38 Control room  20:45 Space and particle physics 23:00 Safety at LHC 26:24 Future discoveries at CERN 28:40 Future colliders  30:26 Advice to next generation of scientists/physicists 33:40 DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) and Professor at Hamberg 34:41 Wrap up and socials Follow Freya Blekman Website: https://freyablekman.wixsite.com/website Twitter: https://twitter.com/freyablekman Stay connected with us! Use #Astroben across various social media platforms to engage with us! (NEW - YOUTUBE): www.youtube.com/@astrobenpodcast Website: www.astroben.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobenpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Gambleonit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/astrobenpodcast/