Inquiring Minds
462 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★ - 821 ratingsEach week we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science and society collide. We’re committed to the idea that making an effort to understand the world around you though science and critical thinking can benefit everyone—and lead to better decisions. We want to find out what’s true, what’s left to discover, and why it all matters.
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Episodes
Telling the story of climate change with music
September 22, 2020 06:18 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBThis week we talk to Stephan Crawford about The ClimateMusic Project, an organization that hopes to, through music, tell the urgent story of climate change. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The ways in which our bodies don’t match how the world has been built
September 16, 2020 00:56 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBThis week we talk to Sara Hendren, an artist, writer, and professor at Olin College of Engineering about her new book What Can a Body Do?: How We Meet the Built World. Hendren's book explores the idea that perhaps many people are disabled not by the shape of their body or how they work, but instead by the shape of the built environment in which they live. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Why Elon Musk’s Neuralink could fail; and the worrying relationship between bad sleep and Alzheimer's disease
September 08, 2020 21:09 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBThis week: A deep look into new research on the relationship between how you sleep and the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease, including an interview with the study’s author, Matt Walker, and two neuroscientists review Elon Musk’s recent Neuralink announcement and explain what they got right and what they got very wrong. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Why you talk the way you do, and what it says about you
September 01, 2020 19:03 - 42 minutes - 39.2 MBWe talk to psychologist Katherine Kinzler about her new book How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do—And What It Says About You. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
How fraud, bias, negligence, and hype undermine the search for truth
August 17, 2020 20:30 - 50 minutes - 46.8 MBWe talk to Scottish psychologist Stuart Ritchie about his new book Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Why things spread and why they stop
August 06, 2020 20:17 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBWe talk to mathematician and epidemiologist Adam Kucharski about his recent book The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread—And Why They Stop. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Mosquitoes, robots, pupils, beavers, and Earth’s crust
July 28, 2020 20:41 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBThis week: A new study showing how you can, as a way to control their population, change blood-drinking female mosquitoes to male, non-biting mosquitoes by changing just one gene; research into new ways for robots to grab things; a study showing the ways in which the pupils of people who have PTSD react differently than others, even in emotionally-neutral situations; beavers in Alaska are working overtime in the Arctic tundra as a result of climate change and possibly damaging the ecosystem;...
A Story about Forests, People, and the Future
July 23, 2020 05:36 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBWe talk to science reporter Zach St. George about his new book The Journeys of Trees: A Story about Forests, People, and the Future. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
From the slave trade to climate change—why corporations defend the indefensible
July 16, 2020 07:10 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBWe talk to environmental attorney Barbara Freese about her new book Industrial-Strength Denial: Eight Stories of Corporations Defending the Indefensible, from the Slave Trade to Climate Change. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Language of Butterflies
July 08, 2020 04:29 - 39 minutes - 36 MBWe talk to science writer Wendy Williams about her new book The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World's Favorite Insect. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | The Drake equation 2.0; Nanotech yeast; Why are plants green?; Wasp boxing
June 30, 2020 02:21 - 21 minutes - 20.2 MBThis week: New astrophysics research on the likelihood of there being intelligent life on other planets in our solar system; a study in which atomic force microscopy was used to study the biology of yeast; research into why the chlorophyll in plants doesn’t absorb peak (green) sunlight; and a look at a study that involves watching wasps fight each other in front of a crowd. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Where educators go wrong
June 23, 2020 06:39 - 39 minutes - 36 MBWe talk to Tony Wagner, a globally recognized expert in education and senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, about his new book Learning by Heart: An Unconventional Education. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The history of structural racism in medicine
June 16, 2020 07:09 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBWe talk to Robert Rosencrans, an MD/PhD student at the The University of Alabama at Birmingham about the history of structural racism in medicine and the problems with race-based medicine. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another
June 09, 2020 06:52 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBIn her book, The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another, materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez explores how eight inventions—clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips—shaped human society. In this episode, we explore the importance of materials and learn about the unsung heroes who crafted them into tools we use every day. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Galileo’s fight is still relevant today
June 02, 2020 21:12 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBWe talk to astrophysicist Mario Livio about his new book Galileo: And the Science Deniers. A note before today’s episode: We have all been watching the escalation of police violence against protesters and Black people and if you consider yourself someone who cares about the injustices and racism being levied against Black communities, I want to ask you to do something about it. If you have a platform, use it. If you have money to spare, donate it. At the very least you have your voice a...
A History of the Afterlife
May 26, 2020 05:42 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBWe talk to noted historian Bart Ehrman about his new book Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life
May 06, 2020 02:45 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBWe talk to Lulu Miller, cofounder of NPR's Invisibilia, about her new book Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The behavioral economics of baseball
April 25, 2020 22:48 - 38 minutes - 35.3 MBWe talk to writer Keith Law about the behavioral economics of baseball and his new book The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Plastic-eating enzymes; 5,000-year-old egg decorating; why you still can’t buy love; and the neural basis of creativity
April 14, 2020 04:27 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBThis week: New research on a biological enzyme that can break down the plastic we use for water bottles; a brief look into the history of egg decorating; a new study on the social consequences of a financially contingent self-worth; and a summary of new research involving jazz guitarists improvising while wearing EEGs on their heads. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You
April 07, 2020 04:58 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBWe talk to journalist and founder of the Neurodiversity Project Jenara Nerenberg about her new book Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Revisiting the Dunning-Kruger Effect with David Dunning
March 31, 2020 03:49 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBWe talk to social psychologist David Dunning about his well-known 1999 study on why people are so bad at knowing how smart they are. He explains what people get wrong about it today, and what he’s learned since then. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
How the internet is changing the English language
March 24, 2020 06:16 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBWe talk to linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her new book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The science of streaks and the hot hand
March 17, 2020 06:28 - 38 minutes - 35 MBWe talk to Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Cohen about his new book The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The neuroscience of how we learn
March 10, 2020 06:12 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBWe talk to French neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene about his new book How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine … for Now. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
A Totally Fictional but Essentially True Silicon Valley Story
February 25, 2020 07:21 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBWe talk to Jessica Powell, a writer and former VP of Communications for Google, about her new book The Big Disruption: A Totally Fictional but Essentially True Silicon Valley Story. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Ancient Dates; Mummy Voices; Mouse Memories
February 12, 2020 06:37 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBThis week: scientists successfully germinated 2,000-year-old date palm seeds and we might soon know what 2,000-year-old dates taste like; another group of researchers 3D modeled a 3,000-year-old mummy’s vocal tract and what they may have sounded like; and new research on how support cells in brains, called microglia, affect memory in mice. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Poison Squad
February 04, 2020 04:29 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBWe talk to science journalist Deborah Blum about her new book The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Hidden World of the Fox
January 28, 2020 06:22 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBWe talk to wildlife researcher and writer Adele Brand about her new book The Hidden World of the Fox. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
We need a better, more democratic internet
January 21, 2020 05:05 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MBWe talk to professor of information studies at UCLA and director of the UC Digital Cultures Lab Ramesh Srinivasan about his new book Beyond the Valley: How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
2019 Year End Wrap-Up
December 31, 2019 06:23 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MBIndre, along with fellow neuroscientist and person who is her husband, Adam Bristol, recap their favorite science stories and interviews of 2019. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
We might be approaching the study of cancer all wrong
December 23, 2019 08:01 - 49 minutes - 45.7 MBWe talk to oncologist, professor of medicine, and director of the MDS Center at Columbia University Azra Raza about her new book The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution
December 16, 2019 18:00 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBWe talk to environmental journalist Beth Gardiner about her new book Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Blockchain and the Future of Everything
December 03, 2019 16:22 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBWe talk to Michael Casey, Senior Advisor for Blockchain Opportunities at MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative, about his new book, co-authored with Paul Vigna, The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Four-Billion-Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains
November 19, 2019 07:04 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBWe talk to neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux, author of the new book The Deep History of Ourselves: The Four-Billion-Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
How Language Shapes Thought
November 12, 2019 07:47 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBWe talk to cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsk about how language can influence the way we think. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The History, Science, and Future of Heart Disease
October 29, 2019 06:30 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBWe talk to cardiologist, writer, and clinical researcher Haider Warraich about his new book State of the Heart: Exploring the History, Science, and Future of Cardiac Disease. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini
October 22, 2019 04:35 - 45 minutes - 42.2 MBWe talk to author and journalist Joe Posnanski about his new book The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Silicon Valley: A Satire
October 16, 2019 05:13 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBWe talk to New York Times writer and journalist Matt Richtel about his new novel, written under the pen name A. B. Jewell, called The Man Who Wouldn't Die. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
October 08, 2019 04:20 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBWe talk to theoretical physicist Sean Carroll about his new book Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Science of Behavior-Altering Parasites
October 01, 2019 05:01 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBWe talk to parasitologist and co-author of Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything, Kelly Weinersmith. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Why We Need Insects
September 24, 2019 05:25 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBWe talk to professor of conservation biology Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson about her new book Buzz, Sting, Bite: Why We Need Insects. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Kishore’s Send-Off!
September 17, 2019 02:36 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBAfter nearly 5 years of co-hosting Inquiring Minds, Kishore is heading off to conquer the rest of the science world. He has been an incredible friend to us at the show, and we’re sad to see him go, but excited to see what amazing things he does next. Thanks, Kishore. If you want to reach out to him, he’s @sciencequiche on Twitter. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes
September 03, 2019 03:55 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBWe talk to science journalist David Robson about his new book The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
August 13, 2019 07:22 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBWe talk to sports and science writer David Epstein about his latest book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Sharks: The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians
August 07, 2019 04:44 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBWe talk to ocean conservationist William McKeever about his new book Emperors of the Deep: Sharks--The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind
July 30, 2019 06:38 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBWe talk to author Annaka Harris about her new book Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The American Automobile: Past, Present, and Driverless
July 17, 2019 04:19 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBWe talk to writer Dan Albert about his new book Are We There Yet?: The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Neal Stephenson - Fall; or, Dodge in Hell
July 02, 2019 05:06 - 32 minutes - 30 MBWe talk to celebrated speculative fiction writer Neal Stephenson about his latest book Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids
June 24, 2019 04:29 - 1 hour - 56 MBWe talk to bioethicist Travis Rieder about his new book In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Singing Mice; Six Fingered Hands; Dolphin Cliques
June 18, 2019 04:56 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBNeuroscientists found an on-off switch in mice brains that makes them sing; new research on the genetics of people who have six fingers on one hand and whether or not your brain could handle an extra robotic finger; and a look into how dolphins can be biased in who they associate with. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds