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.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
How Intuition and Reason Divide Our Politics
August 28, 2018 05:14 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBWe talk to political scientist Eric Oliver about the surprisingly high percentage of people who believe in conspiracy theories and the reasons behind those beliefs. His forthcoming book is Enchanted America: How Intuition and Reason Divide Our Politics. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Attention Is an Illusion; Ant Highways
August 26, 2018 02:59 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBThis week: A new study shows we only focus on something a few milliseconds at a time, but we don’t notice because we’re pulsing that focus; and research on how ants avoid traffic jams so perfectly. Thanks to guest co-host Trace Dominguez! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
A Pianist Rebuilds Her Brain
August 21, 2018 04:18 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBWe talk to author Andrea J. Buchanan about her experience with a brain injury and how she used playing the piano to recover. Buchanan’s new book is The Beginning of Everything: The Year I Lost My Mind and Found Myself. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Monsanto Cancer Case and Kids Believe Lying Robots
August 19, 2018 19:11 - 13 minutes - 12.2 MBThis week: A jury decided that Monsanto’s Roundup caused a man’s cancer but the science is murky and a new study shows that children are susceptible to peer pressure by robots. Links: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-cancer-lawsuit/monsanto-ordered-to-pay-289-million-in-worlds-first-roundup-cancer-trial-idUSKBN1KV2HB http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/3/21/eaat7111 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Material That Will Revolutionize the World
August 14, 2018 06:43 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBWe talk to chemist Joseph Meany about his book Graphene: The Superstrong, Superthin, and Superversatile Material That Will Revolutionize the World. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Google Glass Lives! and Breaking Dog Urine News
August 12, 2018 01:12 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBThis week: A Standford study used Google Glass to help kids with autism understand others people’s emotions; and breaking news regarding the way dogs pee. Links: http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/08/google-glass-helps-kids-with-autism-read-facial-expressions.html https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/dog-spies/small-dogs-aim-high-when-they-pee/ Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | How Plants Tell Time, Lab-Grown Pig Lungs, Stolen Fields Medal
August 03, 2018 19:11 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBThis week: A new study from the University of Bristol showing the way plants accumulate sugar helps them tell what time it is; scientists have successfully transplanted lab-grown lungs into pigs; and Caucher Birkar was awarded the Fields Medal—and then it was immediately stolen. Links: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/uob-pct073118.php https://www.sciencenews.org/article/scientists-transplant-lab-grown-bioengineered-lungs-pigs https://www.npr.org/2018/08/02/634889308/pres...
The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers
July 31, 2018 03:58 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBBen Goldfarb is a writer covering wildlife conservation and fisheries management. We talk to him about his new book Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | A Lake on Mars, Dog Empathy, and TBI & the Military
July 28, 2018 05:02 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBThis week: Italian scientists found a body of liquid water on mars using radar; a new study suggests that while dogs do feel empathy for us, training them to be therapy dogs doesn’t make them care more, it makes them more obedient; and research shows that military training can result in traumatic brain injuries even outside of combat. Links: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/07/liquid-water-spied-deep-below-polar-ice-cap-mars https://hub.jhu.edu/2018/07/24/dogs-comfort-owners-canine-ps...
Revisiting Flint: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope
July 24, 2018 16:01 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MBWe talk to Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who first proved that Flint’s kids were exposed to lead about her new book What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City. Links: https://inquiring.show/episodes/2018/4/1/171-siddhartha-roy-the-science-behind-the-flint-water-crisis Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | GMO Acceptance, Elle Macpherson, and Friendly Fish
July 21, 2018 17:40 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBThis week: New research suggests labeling can increase GMO acceptance; Elle Macpherson’s terrible new boyfriend (it’s relevant, I swear); and research looking into the personality of caught fish. Links mentioned: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/6/eaaq1413.full https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180716114546.htm Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
How Neuroscience Is Redefining Athletic Genius
July 17, 2018 08:46 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBWe talk to sports and business journalist Zach Schonbrun about his new book The Performance Cortex: How Neuroscience Is Redefining Athletic Genius. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date - Killing Cancer Cells and Exploring the Sunk Cost Fallacy (In Rats)
July 14, 2018 21:15 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBThis week: New research into using CRISPR to destroy cancer cells with other cancer cells and a study suggesting rodents aren’t immune to the sunk cost fallacy. Links: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cancer-cells-engineered-crispr-slay-their-own-kin http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6398/178 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Nikola Tesla: Inventor of the Modern
July 10, 2018 07:05 - 39 minutes - 36 MBWe talk to author Richard Munson about his new Nikola Tesla biography Tesla: Inventor of the Modern. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Air Pollution and Diabetes, Large Scale Microbiome Studies, and Why Driving Makes You Sleepy
July 07, 2018 17:57 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBThis week: New research exploring the link between air pollution and diabetes; the huge potential of doing large scale microbiome studies; and a look into why driving makes babies (and the rest of us) sleepy. Links mentioned: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/05/594078923/scott-pruitt-out-at-epa https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pollution-diabetes/air-pollution-may-account-for-1-in-7-new-diabetes-cases-idUSKBN1JV25W https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05522-1 https://www.tandf...
Up To Date | Air Pollution and Diabetes, Large Scale Microbiome Studies, and Why Driving Makes You Sleepy
July 07, 2018 17:57 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MBThis week: New research exploring the link between air pollution and diabetes; the huge potential of doing large scale microbiome studies; and a look into why driving makes babies (and the rest of us) sleepy. Links mentioned: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/05/594078923/scott-pruitt-out-at-epa https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pollution-diabetes/air-pollution-may-account-for-1-in-7-new-diabetes-cases-idUSKBN1JV25W https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05522-1 https://www.tandf...
Aroused: The History of Hormones
July 03, 2018 01:55 - 38 minutes - 35 MBWe talk to Randi Hutter Epstein, M.D, lecturer at Yale university, writer in residence at Yale Medical School, and author of the new book Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Longevity Pioneers, Leaky Methane, and Predicting Earthquakes
June 29, 2018 22:12 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBThis week: New research shows mortality rates level off if you can reach a certain age; the problem of methane gas leaking from power plants; and a new likely candidate for where California’s next big earthquake will take place. Links mentioned: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6396/1459 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180619164153.htm http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/06/20/science.aar7204 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Motherhood in the Animal Kingdom
June 26, 2018 04:03 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBWe talk to biologist and science writer Carin Bondar about her latest book Wild Moms: Motherhood in the Animal Kingdom. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Mind Controlling Robots, Viral Alzheimer's Link, and Remembering Koko
June 23, 2018 05:26 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBThis week: New research into controlling robot arms with your brain, a surprising link between a common virus and Alzheimer's Disease, and remembering Koko the gorilla. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Intelligent Machines Are Changing Everything
June 18, 2018 15:40 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBHow do we create artificial intelligence that isn't bigoted? Can we teach machines to work exactly like our brains work? “You don’t program a machine to be smart,” says our guest this week, “you program the machine to get smarter using data.” We talk to James Scott, statistician, data scientist, and co-author (with Nick Polson) of the new book AIQ: How People and Machines Are Smarter Together. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Virtual Reality Is Changing Human Connection
June 12, 2018 21:05 - 54 minutes - 50.4 MBWe talk to Peter Rubin, editor at Wired and author of Future Presence: How Virtual Reality Is Changing Human Connection, Intimacy, and the Limits of Ordinary Life. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Don’t Eat Clay, Do Eat Dark Chocolate
June 09, 2018 05:27 - 19 minutes - 17.6 MBThis week: New research shows a 6-month treatment for breast cancer is nearly as successful as the previously-standard 12-month course; the surprising effects that clay can have on your body; and a look into new studies that give new reasons why dark chocolate is good for you. Huge thanks to guest co-host Adam Bristol! Links mentioned: https://www.jwatch.org/fw114187/2018/05/18/herceptin-study-suggests-shorter-6-month-course-breast https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-26958-5 Supp...
The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
June 05, 2018 03:21 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBWe talk to Carl Zimmer, New York Times columnist and author of 13 books about science about his latest book She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Where Happiness Comes From, and Why
June 01, 2018 22:46 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBIn this mini-episode, Kishore talks to neuroscientist and author Dean Burnett about his new book Happy Brain: Where Happiness Comes From, and Why. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Why We're Addicted to Screens
May 28, 2018 19:28 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBWe talk to Adam Alter, author and marketing and psychology professor at NYU's Stern School of Business about his book Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto
May 22, 2018 05:09 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBWe talk to planetary scientist and New Horizons’ mission leader Alan Stern and astrobiologist David Grinspoon about their new book Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Snail Memory Transplants, Eyes In The Back Of Your Head, and Treating Epilepsy with CBD
May 18, 2018 08:13 - 16 minutes - 14.7 MBThis week: There are reports that scientists have ‘transferred a memory' in snails—what does the research actually say?; we examine a study that suggests people can form a “sphere a sensitivity” around their heads; and we look at new research on using Cannabidiol (CBD), a compound derived from the cannabis plant as treatment for a severe form of epilepsy. Links mentioned: https://www.inquisitr.com/4898738/we-have-eyes-in-the-back-of-the-head-study-shows/ http://www.bbc.com/news/science-en...
The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods
May 14, 2018 22:09 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBWe talk to Danna Staaf, a science writer with a PhD in invertebrate biology from Stanford University, about her new book Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Pre-pregnancy Genome Sequencing, Mass Prescribing Antibiotics, and the Trolley Problem
May 12, 2018 02:38 - 14 minutes - 13.6 MBThis week: A study looking at how much actionable information pre-pregnancy genome sequencing can actually give you; the benefits and consequences of mass mass prescribing antibiotics; and a new study looking at the trolley problem and how peoples’ hypothetical judgment compares to their real-life behavior. Links mentioned: https://www.wired.com/story/the-catch-22-of-mass-prescribing-antibiotics/ https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(18)30136-8 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/ful...
The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor
May 07, 2018 21:38 - 48 minutes - 44.5 MBWe talk to science writer and neurobiologist Lone Frank about her latest book The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Genetically Editing Fat Tissue, A Turing Test For Water, and Another Mars Lander
May 05, 2018 04:07 - 9 minutes - 8.49 MBUniversity of Copenhagen scientists managed to genetically delete an enzyme in mice that made it impossible for them to get fat, even on a very fatty diet; Alan Turing wrote a paper in 1952 that is still having impacts on science today in ways you may not expect; and NASA sends the InSight Lander to Mars. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Losing the Nobel Prize
May 01, 2018 03:17 - 55 minutes - 50.8 MBWe talk to astrophysicist Brian Keating about new his book Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Anonymous Study Subjects, Genetically Engineered Livestock, and Asteroids Delivering Water
April 28, 2018 08:53 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBThis week: Scott Pruitt’s fight against anonymous study subjects, a debate on should be regulating genetically engineered livestock, and new research that shows asteroids could have delivered water to the early Earth. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
How We Evolved to Have Free Will
April 23, 2018 07:01 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MBWe talk to biologist Kenneth R. Miller about his new book The Human Instinct: How We Evolved to Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up To Date | Night Owl Death, Space Launches, and Viagra’s Greater Purpose
April 20, 2018 07:01 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBThis week: new research shows being a night owl might mean you’re at a greater risk of dying early, multiple interesting space launches are happening, and there’s new research into using phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors like Viagra and Cialis to help other drugs do their job better. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Creating Empathy With Immersive Virtual Reality
April 16, 2018 20:25 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBWe talk to the founding director of Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Jeremy Bailenson. Bailenson’s lab studies how virtual reality can affect empathy—how it makes you feel to virtually embody someone else. VR offers the ability to be in someone else’s shoes in a way that you can’t recreate in real life—and those immersive experiences, whether it be facing a day in the life of a person experiencing homelessness, or diving to the corals that are right now being bleached by ...
Up-To-Date | Does It Fart?: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence
April 13, 2018 21:25 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBKishore talks to Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti, authors of Does It Fart?: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
April 09, 2018 07:01 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBWe talk to astrophysicist Adam Becker about his new book What Is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Up-To-Date | James Webb, Shrimp, and Chilled-Out Monkeys
April 07, 2018 20:21 - 10 minutes - 9.8 MBWe're introducing a new, additional weekly episode! Every Friday, listen to Indre and Kishore do a quick recap of some of the week's most interesting science news. Today, we talk about why shrimp and lobster fishing might be worse for the environment than you think, the ongoing troubles with the James Webb Space Telescope, and a study that sort of shows monkeys who go to the spa are more relaxed. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Neuroscience of How We Think
April 02, 2018 22:01 - 47 minutes - 43.3 MBWe have a big announcement! After 220 episodes, we are striking out on our own. Thanks to Mother Jones for being our home for the past 5 years. Look for new segments and episodes as we expand creatively, while still bringing you in depth conversations with scientists. This week, we talk to neuroscientist Daniel Krawczyk about his book Reasoning: The Neuroscience of How We Think. Dan also studies traumatic brain injury in veterans, using virtual reality as a part of cognitive behavioral the...
Jellyfish Science
March 27, 2018 07:25 - 34 minutes - 32.1 MBWe talk to ocean scientist and science writer Juli Berwald about her new book Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Politics of Rainforests
March 20, 2018 23:05 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MBWe talk to Rhett Butler, editor-in-chief and CEO of Mongabay, a nonprofit organization which seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
What We Really Know About Gun Violence
March 13, 2018 08:31 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBWe talk to Stanford law professor and economist John Donohue who for the better part of the last 20 years has been doing research into understanding gun violence. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
100% Renewable Energy by 2050
March 06, 2018 00:59 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBWe talk to Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Jacobson about his research that shows it’s possible for the world to be using 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Broad Potential of Psychoactive Drugs
February 27, 2018 20:49 - 42 minutes - 39 MBWe talk to journalist and science writer Hamilton Morris about his Viceland docuseries “Hamilton's Pharmacopeia” and the history and science of psychoactive drugs. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
February 19, 2018 22:20 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBWe talk to Alex Hutchinson, author of Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
It's Time to Rethink Ocean Conservation
February 06, 2018 22:45 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBWe talk to marine biologist, policy expert, and conservation strategist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson about why we need to rethink ocean conservation. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Science Got Women Wrong
January 23, 2018 07:01 - 51 minutes - 47 MBWe talk to science journalist and author Angela Saini about her latest book Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
A Volcano Scientist Runs for Congress
January 16, 2018 03:22 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBWe talk to Jess Phoenix, a volcanologist, geologist, and 2018 Democratic candidate seeking election to California's 25th Congressional District. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds