Inquiring Minds
464 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 21 hours 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
162 Paul Bloom - Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion
January 09, 2017 08:00 - 40 minutes - 37.6 MBWe welcome back cognitive scientist Paul Bloom to talk about his new book Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
161 Patrick Wolff - How to Become a Grandmaster Chess Champion
December 23, 2016 08:00 - 56 minutes - 52 MBWe talk to American chess Grandmaster Patrick Wolff. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
160 Helen Czerski - The Little Bits of Physics in Everyday Life
December 16, 2016 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBWe talk to physicist and oceanographer Helen Czerski about her new book Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
159 David Grinspoon - Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future
December 09, 2016 08:00 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBWe talk to astrobiologist David Grinspoon about his latest book Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
159 David Grinspoon - Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future
December 09, 2016 08:00 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBWe talk to astrobiologist David Grinspoon about his latest book Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
158 Lee van der Voo - The Fish Market: Inside the Big-Money Battle for the Ocean and Your Dinner Plate
December 02, 2016 08:00 - 42 minutes - 38.8 MBWe talk to investigative journalist Lee van der Voo about her new book The Fish Market: Inside the Big-Money Battle for the Ocean and Your Dinner Plate. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
157 Erik Vance - The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal
November 25, 2016 08:00 - 33 minutes - 30.9 MBWe talk to science writer Erik Vance about his new book Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
156 Heather Hill - Taking a Second Look at SeaWorld
November 18, 2016 08:35 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBWe talk to marine biologist and marine mammal specialist Heather Hill about her work on marine mammal training and why it might disagree with much of what we covered in episode #146 with John Hargrove. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
155 Chris and Evan Hadfield - An Astronaut Explores the Arctic
November 12, 2016 03:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBWe talk to Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield and his son Evan Hadfield about their recent exploration into the Arctic and Greenland on the legendary icebreaker, Kapitan Khlebnikov. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
154 Changing Political Minds - The Deep Story With Arlie Hochschild and Reckonings
November 04, 2016 07:00 - 1 hour - 72.1 MBWe team up with Stephanie Lepp from the Reckonings podcast and talk to sociologist Arlie Hochschild about whether or not this election is causing more people than usual to change their minds about politics. We then hear from two voters who did in fact make some kind of transformation during this election season—one young voter who was voting in his second presidential election and one long-time voter and political insider who has been voting for 40 years. Support the show: https://www.patre...
153 Merlin Tuttle - The Secret Lives of Bats
October 28, 2016 08:02 - 45 minutes - 42 MBWe talk to ecologist, conservationist and wildlife photographer Merlin Tuttle about his book The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
152 Abigail Tucker - How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World
October 22, 2016 01:13 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBWe talk to science writer Abigail Tucker about her new book The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
151 Irva Hertz-Picciotto - Should We Worry More About Toxic Environmental Chemicals?
October 14, 2016 07:00 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBWe talk to Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Professor at the University of California Davis MIND Institute, Director of the NIH-funded UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center, and co-founder of Project TENDR, a collaborative effort of scientists, clinicians, policy-makers and advocates that aims to decrease the incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders by reducing neurotoxicant exposures that contribute to them. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
150 Stuart Firestein - Why Science Needs to Fail
September 30, 2016 07:00 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBWe talk to Stuart Firestein, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, about his latest book Failure: Why Science Is So Successful. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
149 Sarah Ballard / Jackie Speier - The Appalling Reality of Harassment in Science
September 23, 2016 07:00 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MBWe talk to exoplanetary astronomer Sarah Ballard and congresswoman Jackie Speier about sexual harassment within the scientific community. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
148 Judith Schwartz - Hope for a Thirsty World
September 16, 2016 07:00 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBWe talk to science journalist Judith Schwartz about her new book Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
147 Dave Levitan - How Politicians Mangle Science
September 09, 2016 07:00 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBWe talk to science journalist Dave Levitan about his new book Not a Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
146 John Hargrove - Taking on SeaWorld
August 26, 2016 07:00 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MBWe talk to former Senior killer-whale trainer for SeaWorld and supervisor of Killer Whale Training for Marineland in the South of France about his book Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
145 Carin Bondar - Wild Sex
August 19, 2016 07:00 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBWe talk to biologist Carin Bondar about her new book Wild Sex: The Science Behind Mating in the Animal Kingdom. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
144 Ed Yong - I Contain Multitudes
August 12, 2016 07:00 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBWe talk to award-winning British science writer Ed Yong about his recent book I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
143 The Stories That Collection Museums Hold
August 08, 2016 01:11 - 1 hour - 60.1 MBWe talk about the significance of collection museums with Emily Grasile, Chief Curiosity Correspondent at the Field Museum; Shannon Bennett, Chief of Science at the California Academy of Sciences; and Jack Dumbacher, chairman and curator of the California Academy of Science’s Department of Ornithology and Mammalogy. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
142 Hank Greely - The End of Sex
July 22, 2016 07:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBWe talk to Hank Greely, director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford University’s School of Medicine about his new book The End of Sex and the Future of Human Reproduction. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
141 Marek Glezerman - The Science of Gender Medicine
July 15, 2016 07:00 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBWe talk to Marek Glezerman, professor emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynecology and currently chairman of the Ethics Committee at the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University about his book Gender Medicine: The Groundbreaking New Science of Gender- and Sex-Based Diagnosis and Treatment. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
140 Janna Levin - This Is the Sound of Two Black Holes Colliding
July 08, 2016 07:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBWe talk to Janna Levin, professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College and author of Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
139 Peter Willcox - Adventures in Protecting the Future of Our Planet
July 01, 2016 07:00 - 54 minutes - 50 MBWe talk to Peter Willcox, Captain for Greenpeace for over 30 years and author of Greenpeace Captain: My Adventures in Protecting the Future of Our Planet. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
138 Mary Roach - The Curious Science of Humans at War
June 24, 2016 07:00 - 45 minutes - 42 MBWe welcome best-selling science writer Mary Roach back on the show to talk about her latest book Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
137 Jonah Berger - The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior
June 17, 2016 07:00 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBWe talk to professor of marketing and New York Times bestselling author Jonah Berger about his latest book Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
136 Siddhartha Mukherjee - An Intimate History of the Gene
June 10, 2016 07:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBWe talk to cancer physician and researcher Siddhartha Mukherjee about his latest book The Gene: An Intimate History. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
135 Sean Carroll - Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
June 03, 2016 07:00 - 51 minutes - 47 MBWe talk to theoretical physicist Sean Carroll about his latest book The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
134 Anders Ericsson - How to Do Everything Better
May 20, 2016 07:00 - 55 minutes - 50.8 MBDoes it take 10,000 hours to become an expert at something? Probably not, says our guest this week—who happens to be the author of the paper which was the basis for Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule in the first place. We talk to psychologist Anders Ericsson about his new book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
133 Ben Beard - How Global Warming Is Making Some Diseases Even Scarier
May 13, 2016 07:00 - 47 minutes - 43.1 MBWe talk to Ben Beard, associate director for climate change and chief of the bacterial diseases branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
132 Hope Jahren - The Joy and Otherness of Trees
May 06, 2016 04:00 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBThis week we talk to geobiologist Hope Jahren about her recent book Lab Girl. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
131 Josh Willis - Greenland Is Melting!
April 29, 2016 07:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBEvidence is mounting that Greenland is melting at a faster and faster rate. We talked to Josh Willis—senior scientist at NASA JPL’s Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) project—about how changing water temperatures in our oceans are affecting the Greenland ice sheet. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
130 Bill Nye - Fighting Climate Denial
April 22, 2016 07:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBWe talk to Bill Nye about climate change denial and what we can do to fight it. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
129 Greg Marcus - Understanding Heart Disease With Big Data
April 15, 2016 07:00 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBWe talk to Dr. Greg Marcus, the Director of Clinical Research for the UCSF Division of Cardiology about heart disease and how things like smart watches might help us learn more about it. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
128 Sy Montgomery - The Soul of an Octopus
April 08, 2016 07:00 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MBWe talk to naturalist and author Sy Montgomery about her latest book The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
127 Carl Zimmer - The Mysterious World of Viruses
April 01, 2016 07:00 - 40 minutes - 37 MBWe talk to science writer and New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer about viruses. Viral fragments make up 8% of our entire genome—how much do we actually know about them? Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
126 Maria Konnikova - The Science of Why We Fall for Cons
March 25, 2016 07:00 - 57 minutes - 52.6 MBWe talk to Maria Konnikova about her new book The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
125 Anthony James - How Deadly Are Mosquitoes?
March 11, 2016 08:00 - 51 minutes - 47 MBWe talk to Anthony James, distinguished professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at UC Irvine about the most deadly animal to human beings: the mosquito. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
124 Joanne Ruthsatz & Kimberly Stephens - Is There a Link Between Prodigy and Autism?
March 04, 2016 08:00 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBWe talk to Joanne Ruthsatz and Kimberly Stephens, authors of The Prodigy's Cousin: The Family Link Between Autism and Extraordinary Talent. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
123 Kenji López-Alt - Better Home Cooking Through Science
February 26, 2016 08:00 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBOn the show this week we talk to Kenji López-Alt, managing culinary director of Serious Eats and author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
123 J. Kenji López-Alt - Better Home Cooking Through Science
February 26, 2016 08:00 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBOn the show this week we talk to J. Kenji López-Alt, managing culinary director of Serious Eats and author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
122 Nancy Krieger - Police Involved Killings Are Public Health Data
February 19, 2016 08:00 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBOn the show this week we talk to social epidemiologist Nancy Krieger about her research that suggests we should start tracking law enforcement involved deaths as public health data. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
121 Marah Hardt - Sex in the Sea
February 12, 2016 08:00 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MBOn this special Valentine’s Day episode we talk to marine biologist Marah Hardt about 8-foot long whale penises, shark ejaculation systems, vagina mazes, fish orgies, and all the other crazy sex-stuff happening in our oceans. She’s the author of Sex in the Sea: Our Intimate Connection with Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters, Kinky Squid, and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
120 Eric Weiner - The Geography of Genius
February 05, 2016 08:00 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBOn the show this week we talk to bestselling author Eric Weiner about his latest book The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
119 Kara Platoni - Hacking Human Perception
January 29, 2016 08:00 - 1 hour - 63.8 MBOn the show this week we talk to science reporter Kara Platoni about her new book We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
118 Kim Cobb - The Evolution of El Niño
January 22, 2016 08:00 - 44 minutes - 41 MBOn the show this week we talk to climate scientist Kim Cobb about the science of El Niño and climate change—and how studying coral can help us understand both. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
117 Douglas Fields - The Science of Rage and Why We Snap
January 15, 2016 08:00 - 1 hour - 61 MBOn the show this week we talk to neurobiologist Douglas Fields about his new book Why We Snap: Understanding the Rage Circuit in Your Brain. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
116 Indre and Kishore’s 2016 Science Predictions
January 08, 2016 08:00 - 38 minutes - 35.2 MBOn the show this week Indre and Kishore share their predictions for what some of the big science stories of 2016 will be. http://patreon.com/inquiringminds Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
115 Chris Ferguson - Violence in Video Games
December 18, 2015 08:00 - 1 hour - 65.1 MBOn the show this week we return to the topic of violence in video games. We spoke to psychologist Chris Ferguson who offers a contrasting view on the subject. For more discussion, check out episodes 106 & 107. http://patreon.com/inquiringminds Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds