Inquiring Minds

Tesla, the man

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Columbia professor of mechanical engineering P. James Schuck about the released film Tesla, starring Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla, for which...

Up To Date | Autumn fires and climate change; plastic bottle eating enzymes; singing blue whales

08 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week: new research on how climate change is affecting autumn wildfires; a study that attempts to use a biologically inspired and technically enha...

As the World Burns: The New Generation of Activists

01 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to journalist and author Lee van der Voo about her new book As the World Burns: The New Generation of Activists and the Landmark Legal Fight A...

Telling the story of climate change with music

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk to Stephan Crawford about The ClimateMusic Project, an organization that hopes to, through music, tell the urgent story of climate c...

The ways in which our bodies don’t match how the world has been built

16 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This 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...

Up To Date | Why Elon Musk’s Neuralink could fail; and the worrying relationship between bad sleep and Alzheimer's disease

08 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week: A deep look into new research on the relationship between how you sleep and the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease, including a...

Why you talk the way you do, and what it says about you

01 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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...

How fraud, bias, negligence, and hype undermine the search for truth

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Scottish psychologist Stuart Ritchie about his new book Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Tr...

Why things spread and why they stop

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to mathematician and epidemiologist Adam Kucharski about his recent book The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread—And Why They Stop.Support...

Up To Date | Mosquitoes, robots, pupils, beavers, and Earth’s crust

28 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week: A new study showing how you can, as a way to control their population, change blood-drinking female mosquitoes to male, non-biting mosquito...

A Story about Forests, People, and the Future

23 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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: ...

From the slave trade to climate change—why corporations defend the indefensible

16 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to environmental attorney Barbara Freese about her new book Industrial-Strength Denial: Eight Stories of Corporations Defending the Indefensib...

The Language of Butterflies

08 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to science writer Wendy Williams about her new book The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unloc...

Up To Date | The Drake equation 2.0; Nanotech yeast; Why are plants green?; Wasp boxing

30 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week: New astrophysics research on the likelihood of there being intelligent life on other planets in our solar system; a study in which atomic f...

Where educators go wrong

23 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Tony Wagner, a globally recognized expert in education and senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, about his new book Lear...

The history of structural racism in medicine

16 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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 ...

How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another

09 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In her book, The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another, materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez explores how eight inventions—clo...

Galileo’s fight is still relevant today

02 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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...

A History of the Afterlife

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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/inquir...

A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life

06 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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.S...

The behavioral economics of baseball

25 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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 B...

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

14 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This 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 decorati...

Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You

07 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to journalist and founder of the Neurodiversity Project Jenara Nerenberg about her new book Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't De...

Revisiting the Dunning-Kruger Effect with David Dunning

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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 ...

How the internet is changing the English language

24 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her new book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language.Support the show: https://www.patr...

The science of streaks and the hot hand

17 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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.pa...

The neuroscience of how we learn

10 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to French neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene about his new book How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine … for Now.Support the s...

A Totally Fictional but Essentially True Silicon Valley Story

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Jessica Powell, a writer and former VP of Communications for Google, about her new book The Big Disruption: A Totally Fictional but Essenti...

Up To Date | Ancient Dates; Mummy Voices; Mouse Memories

12 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This 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 grou...

The Poison Squad

04 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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...

The Hidden World of the Fox

28 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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/inquiri...

We need a better, more democratic internet

21 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We 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...

2019 Year End Wrap-Up

31 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Indre, along with fellow neuroscientist and person who is her husband, Adam Bristol, recap their favorite science stories and interviews of 2019.Suppo...

We might be approaching the study of cancer all wrong

23 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We 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 t...

Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution

16 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We 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...

The Blockchain and the Future of Everything

03 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Michael Casey, Senior Advisor for Blockchain Opportunities at MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative, about his new book, co-authore...

The Four-Billion-Year Story of How We Got Conscious Brains

19 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We 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 Bra...

How Language Shapes Thought

12 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsk about how language can influence the way we think.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringmin...

The History, Science, and Future of Heart Disease

29 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to cardiologist, writer, and clinical researcher Haider Warraich about his new book State of the Heart: Exploring the History, Science, and Fu...

The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini

22 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We 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/in...

Silicon Valley: A Satire

16 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We 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...

Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime

08 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to theoretical physicist Sean Carroll about his new book Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime.Support the sh...

The Science of Behavior-Altering Parasites

01 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to parasitologist and co-author of Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything, Kelly Weinersmith.Support the ...

Why We Need Insects

24 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to professor of conservation biology Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson about her new book Buzz, Sting, Bite: Why We Need Insects.Support the show: https:...

Kishore’s Send-Off!

17 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

After 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 ...

Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes

03 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to science journalist David Robson about his new book The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes.Support the show: https://www...

Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

13 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to sports and science writer David Epstein about his latest book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.Support the show: https...

Sharks: The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians

07 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to ocean conservationist William McKeever about his new book Emperors of the Deep: Sharks--The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, an...

A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind

30 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We 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.patre...

The American Automobile: Past, Present, and Driverless

17 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We 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...

Neal Stephenson - Fall; or, Dodge in Hell

02 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to celebrated speculative fiction writer Neal Stephenson about his latest book Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel.Support the show: https://www....

In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to bioethicist Travis Rieder about his new book In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids.Support the show: https://www.patreo...

Up To Date | Singing Mice; Six Fingered Hands; Dolphin Cliques

18 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Neuroscientists 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 an...

The Age of Living Machines

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to neuroscientist and former president of MIT Susan Hockfield about her new book The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next T...

A Life in Math and Football

04 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to mathematician and former NFL player John Urschel about his new book, co-written with Louisa Thomas, called Mind and Matter: A Life in Math ...

The State of the Art in Alzheimer's Research

21 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Katja Brose, neuroscientist and Science Program Officer at the Chan Zuckerberg Science Initiative about the latest, best prospects in neuro...

BONUS: Introducing Science Rules! with Bill Nye

18 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Former guest of Inquiring Minds, Bill Nye, is on a mission to change the world—one phone call at a time. On his new podcast, Science Rules!, he tack...

Salty Erotica of the Deep

14 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Indre talks to marine biologist Marah Hardt about her book Sex in the Sea: Our Intimate Connection with Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters, Kinky Sq...

Up To Date | Bioprinting a Liver; Tasting with Genes; Stopping the World’s Worst Venom

07 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

New research on 3D printing vasculature around which organs could be created; recent work on the effects of genetics on the way you taste things; and ...

Completing the Darwinian Revolution

01 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to influential evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson about his new book This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution.Support the...

How Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Indre talks to science writer Abigail Tucker about her book The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World.Support the s...

How Music Can Make You Better

16 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Indre wrote a book! It’s called How Music Can Make You Better and this week we hear all about it.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiring...

Up To Date | Neurogenesis; Predicting Death with AI; Rethinking Nose Jobs

09 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A careful look into research on whether or not we can generate new neurons as adults; new research into using machine learning to predict premature de...

A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning

29 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Jeremy Lent about his book The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning.Support the show: https://www.patre...

The Strange Science of Recovery

25 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Christie Aschwanden about her new book Good To Go: What the athlete in all of us can learn from the strange science of recovery.Support the...

The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System

19 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Matt Richtel about his new book An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives.Support the sh...

Up To Date | Bug census, global warming, young blood, microwaving grapes

25 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A study taking a deep look into insect populations and their decline; bad news about global warming four generations from now, new research showing wh...

2018’s Best Science Movies (and TV)

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Jennifer Ouellette, science writer and former director of The Science & Entertainment Exchange, about last year’s best and the worst scie...

Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality

12 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Blake J. Harris about his new book The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality.Support the s...

Up To Date | Polar Vortex Science, Brainwaves to Speech, Blowing Up the Brain

05 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The science behind the polar vortex, a new study attempting to directly translate brain signals into speech, and an update on the incredible work of n...

Why We Fall for It Every Time

29 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to New York Times best-selling science writer Maria Konnikova about her book The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time.Support ...

The Science of How Art Works

22 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to psychologist Ellen Winner about her new book How Art Works: A Psychological Exploration.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiring...

The Science of Perfect Timing

15 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to bestselling author Daniel Pink about his latest book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.Support the show: https://www.patreon.c...

Up To Date | New Horizons Finds BB-8; Defining Death; Differential Privacy

08 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This week: The New Horizons spacecraft took pictures of an object in the Kuiper belt; a study that brings up questions about how to define death; ther...

The Neuroscience of Prejudice

01 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to David Amodia, a social neuroscientist and psychology professor at NYU and the University of Amsterdam, about the science of prejudice.Suppo...

Up To Date | Top 10 Science Stories of 2018

29 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Kishore looks back through 2018 and lays out his favorite science stories of the year.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringmi...

Lessons from the Edge of the Universe

24 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Dave Williams, a Canadian astronaut, neuroscientist, physician, and author of the new book Defying Limits: Lessons from the Edge of the Uni...

Up To Date | Hummingbird Divebombs; Collapsing Ice Sheets

22 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: A study looking into how male hummingbirds divebomb fast enough that their tail feathers make high-pitched squeaks; and new evidence explai...

The Laws of Human Nature

17 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to author Robert Greene, most known for the bestselling The 48 Laws of Power, about his new book The Laws of Human Nature.Support the show: ht...

Up To Date | Talking Viruses; Creativity Waves

15 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: A look into quorum sensing, a field of research looking into if bacteria, particularly bacteria that are trying to invade another host, can...

She Has Her Mother's Laugh

11 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Carl Zimmer is a New York Times columnist and author of 13 books about science. We talked to him about his latest book, She Has Her Mother's Laugh: Th...

Up To Date | Migration Myths and Negative Mass

08 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: The UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Heath released a new report that busts some common migration myths; and a scientist at Oxford ...

Music as Medicine

05 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Concetta Tomaino is a pioneer in the field of music therapy and the executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Fu...

Up To Date | Ants with backpacks; Neuron DNA affects Alzheimer's

30 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: A study that tracked ants using little backpacks and a look at a new study suggesting a connection between differences in the DNA of our ne...

A New History of a Lost World

29 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We follow up last week’s dino-episode by talking to paleontologist at University of Edinburgh Steve Brusatte about his new book The Rise and Fall of...

A Radical New History of Life

23 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to science writer David Quammen about his new book The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/i...

Up To Date | A Polio-Like Virus and Genes Deciding Your University

20 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Up To Date: 10/19/2018Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for infor...

What It’s like to Discover a Dinosaur

20 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to paleontologist, professor, expeditioner, and science communicator Ken Lacovara about his book Why Dinosaurs Matter. Ken has unearthed some ...

Up To Date | Smelling Stingrays and a 16 Billion Scoville Cactus

17 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Stingrays are especially affected by oil spills because they’re so good at smelling; and research into using a spicy cactus to treat pain...

Life at the Extremes of Our Capacity

13 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to evolutionary biologist and managing editor at New Scientist Rowan Hooper about his new book Superhuman: Life at the Extremes of Our Capacit...

Up To Date | Election results, stealth moths, and a retired kilogram

10 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: A look into what the midterm election results mean for science; moths developed a ‘stealth shield’ to hide from bats; and the kilogram ...

The Beauty and Utility of Maps: A Cartographic Odyssey

06 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to journalist, geologist, and author Betsy Mason about her latest book, co-authored with Greg Miller, All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey...

Up To Date | The Definitive Field Guide to Filthy Animal Facts

03 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week Kishore catches up with previous guests Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti to talk about their new book True or Poo?: The Definitive Field Guide...

What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World

30 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to science writer at Wired magazine Matt Simon about his new book Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World—a...

Up To Date | Doubling worm lifespans; the recent failed Soyuz launch

27 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: A new study attempts to extend the life of worms and what it might mean for us; and a detailed look into the recent failed Soyuz rocket lau...

The Remarkable History of Surgery

16 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to Arnold Van de Laar, a surgeon in the Slotervaart Hospital in Amsterdam, about his new book Under the Knife: A History of Surgery in 28 Rema...

Up To Date | Nobel Prizes and Electrical Nerve Regeneration

13 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week: We recap the 2018 Nobel Prizes and look at a study exploring a new way to use electrical stimulation to regenerate nerves.Support the show:...

Being Human in the Age of Algorithms

12 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to mathematician and science writer Hannah Fry about her latest book Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms.Support the show: https...

China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order

07 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk to artificial intelligence expert and former president of Google China Kai-Fu Lee about his recent book AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley,...

Steven Pinker: Enlightenment Now

27 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We talk with cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker about his recent book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.Suppor...