Where The Wild Thoughts Are
Episodes
What is 'Now'?
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Exciting news: I have a new book coming out! It’s called In Search of Now: the science and mystery of the present moment, and I’d love to sha...
End of season special
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since September we've met 16 scientists, in fields from neuroscience and quantum physics to archaeology and ecology, who are asking wild questions, ex...
Can we hear the secret life of ponds?
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens if we let go of our expectations about nature – all the things we think it is, or isn’t, or should be – and just… listen?Our guid...
How does the moon shape biology?
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
People have long told stories about the moon’s power, from werewolves shapeshifting by the moon, to the belief that drinking water soaked with moonl...
Can slow AI make us more human?
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How does using AI change who we are? Last week on Where the Wild Thoughts Are, we talked about freeing AIs to have their own creative ideas and expres...
Can AI reveal its true self through art?
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can an AI have wild thoughts? Are machines capable of true creativity, true art, of going beyond the training and the prompts we give them in order to...
What was Einstein's 'cosmic religion'?
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thinkers don’t come much wilder than Albert Einstein. His out-of-the-box physics transformed how we think about the universe: with his famous equati...
What happens when consciousness meets chaos?
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Standing waves and resonant frequencies appear everywhere in the world around us, from musical notes and swaying bridges to electron orbits and animal...
What awakened at Göbekli Tepe?
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Steady your nerves and light up your torches, because this week we’re clambering into the deep, dark Neolithic underworld with archaeologist Jens No...
Can life transcend physics?
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re talking about life, the universe and everything – literally! My guest is cosmologist Marina Cortês of the University of Lisbon. Marina...
Why do placebos work?
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Placebo effects are not about expectation, or positive thinking, and you don’t have to believe you’re taking a real drug to feel better. In fact, ...
Can we talk to whales?
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're diving into the world of whales - as well as dolphins and other cetaceans - with biologist and filmmaker Tom Mustill, author of the fascinating ...
Can we sense magnetic fields?
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're digging into how living creatures – including us – sense and respond to magnetic fields with quantum biologist Margaret Ahmad of the Univers...
How do you read a library turned to ash?
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're delving into one of the ancient world's biggest mysteries: the Herculaneum scrolls. Computer scientist Brent Seales of the University of Kentuck...
Can epilepsy reveal the secrets of perception?
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re exploring the secrets of bliss – with neurologist and epilepsy specialist Fabienne Picard of the Medical School of Geneva. Fabienne bec...
Can plants think?
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of Where the Wild Thoughts Are, I chat to Paco Calvo, prof of cognitive science from the University of Murcia in Spain. He’s a...
What if there are no laws of physics?
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When physicists investigate the very smallest components of reality – atoms and subatomic particles – they famously find all sorts of things that ...
Is there life on Venus?
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the search for alien life, we don’t always hear much about Venus. There’s a lot of effort going into detecting possible signs of life on Mars, ...
Where The Wild Thoughts Are - Coming soon
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Listen to some clips from Jo Marchant's new science podcast in which she interviews scientists who are asking deep questions, chasing outrageous dream...