About Us
The Cosmic Shambles Network was officially born in 2016, created by comedian, author and broadcaster Robin Ince and director and producer Trent Burton, but its genesis came many years before.
In 2005 Robin Ince began a variety based comedy night called The Book Club which combined music, comedy, poetry and, within a year, science. One year later, Robin would meet Trent as they worked together on a documentary series.
The Book Club would morph into the groundbreaking science variety show Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People by 2008 and around the same time Robin and fellow comedian Josie Long had started a podcast titled Utter Shambles, one of the first successful UK comedy podcasts.
The three of them would continue working together on a variety of live shows, tours and podcasts over the next few years. Trent and Robin would create the science magazine app The Incomplete Map of the Cosmic Genome, another pioneering adventure, in 2013 which The Guardian would call, ‘a smorgasbord of curiosity’.In late 2016 it was decided that all the live shows, podcasts, apps, documentaries and other shenanigans needed a central place to call home and so The Cosmic Shambles Network was born, officially being announced by Robin and Professor Brian Cox at that year’s Compendium of Reason show at Hammersmith Apollo.
The aim of the network was to be a place where creativity and curiosity took centre stage. The team would create and curate independent content fuelled by curiosity with the same ethos of everything that came before.
Shambles teams up with some of the biggest and best names in science and entertainment, and dives into a Universe of interesting things, with interesting people, in our uniquely Shambolic style. Our approach has always been one of fun and accessibility. Big ideas should be exciting, not intimidating.
The network continues to grow and alongside our incredible roster of presenters and contributors such as Helen Czerski, Brian Cox, Josie Long, Dean Burnett, Chris Jackson, Chris Hadfield, Lucie Green, Matt Parker, Suze Kundu and more there is a core group of people making all the magic happen:
Trent Burton – Producer, Director, Curator and Co-Founder
Robin Ince – Co-founder, Curator and Lead Presenter
Melinda Burton – Associate Producer and HR
Alice Degrassi – Production and Camera Assistant
Jo Gostling – Merchandise and Event Support
Luisa Gomes – Runner
Paul Sullivan – PR
Ellen Jones – Digital Strategy and Branding
Andrew Mickelburgh – Director of Photography
Nola – Shambles Dog and Walkies Officer
The Cosmic Shambles Network is incredibly proud to be independent and we can only continue to be so thanks to the incredible support of our subscribers and fans. You can sign up to support what we create at Patreon or Substack or buy something from our store.
