Unexplainable
Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles scientific mysteries, unanswered questions, and everything we learn diving into the unknown. New episodes Mondays and Wednesdays.
Episodes
May 7, 2025 • 25 mins
The magma chambers at the heart of volcanoes are very deep and very hot. So naturally, some researchers want to build an observatory in one.
Guests: Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory; Yan Lavallée, chair of magmatic petrology and volcanology at LMU München and scientific and technical board member of the Krafla Magma Testbed; John Eichelberger, volcanologist at the University of Alaska Fairb...
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May 5, 2025 • 20 mins
Rumors of Neanderthal brutishness have been greatly exaggerated.
Guest: Paige Madison, science writer
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
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April 30, 2025 • 33 mins
What happens when you get a life-changing device implanted into your body... and then the company that maintains it goes bankrupt?
Guests: Jennifer French, Executive Director and Founder of Neurotech Network, a nonprofit focused on education and advocacy for neurotechnology, and Liam Drew, freelance science journalist who reported on abandoned neurotech for Nature
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
...
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April 23, 2025 • 25 mins
Tens of thousands of lives could be saved each year if hospitals had more blood. So scientists are racing to understand how this living fluid does what it does in order to one day grow it from scratch.
Guest: Nicola Twilley, New Yorker contributor and host of Gastropod.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
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April 16, 2025 • 26 mins
We know life on Earth wouldn't be possible without the moon. Now scientists are finding the moon might even be influencing our biology on a molecular level.
Guest: Rebecca Boyle, science journalist and author of Our Moon: How Earth's celestial companion transformed the planet, guided evolution, and made us who we are
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unex...
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April 9, 2025 • 32 mins
Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups. Burping or kissing can make them stop. Um, what? (First published in 2023.)
Guests: Tyler Cymet, chair of medicine at The Chicago School, and Ali Seifi, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us...
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April 7, 2025 • 2 mins
We have an exciting announcement! Vox Members now get access to ad-free podcasts. If you sign up, you’ll get unlimited access to reporting on vox.com, exclusive newsletters, and all of our podcasts — including Unexplainable — ad-free. Plus, you’ll be playing a crucial role helping our show get made. Check it out at vox.com/members.
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April 2, 2025 • 26 mins
Deep inside the mud at the bottom of the ocean, scientists have found life that is so unusual they’ve had to create new branches on the tree of life to put it on. These life forms are not extraterrestrials: They’re “aliens” from Earth.
Guest: Karen Lloyd, microbiologist and author of Intraterrestrials: Discovering the Strangest Life on Earth
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
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March 26, 2025 • 26 mins
Scientists have been searching for aliens for decades. But if we ever do get a signal someday, how will we communicate back? And will anyone out there be able to understand us?
Guests: Doug Vakoch, president of METI, and Sheri Wells-Jensen, linguist at Bowling Green State University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every ema...
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March 22, 2025 • 53 mins
What can we actually do as our world gets populated with more and more robots? How can we take control? Can we take control?
This is the final episode of our four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.
Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every e...
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March 19, 2025 • 49 mins
A simple parable about a drowning child sparks a moral revolution. Is building AI the way to do the most good in the world?
This is the third episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.
Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable...
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March 15, 2025 • 57 mins
When a robot does bad things, who is responsible? A group of technologists sounds the alarm about the ways AI is already harming us today. Are their concerns being taken seriously?
This is the second episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.
Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks.
For show ...
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March 12, 2025 • 53 mins
Before AI became a mainstream obsession, one thinker sounded the alarm about its catastrophic potential. So why are so many billionaires and tech leaders worried about… paper clips?
This is the first episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI.
Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks.
For show ...
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March 5, 2025 • 36 mins
This week on Unexplainable or Not, the newest member of our team, Julia Longoria, tries to figure out which of three scientific mysteries about the sea, the land, and the sky has actually been solved.
Guest: Admir Masic, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every ...
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February 26, 2025 • 28 mins
Dylan got malaria on purpose. And he thinks you should, too.
Guest: Dylan Matthews, senior correspondent at Vox’s Future Perfect
This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more abo...
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February 19, 2025 • 28 mins
A neuroscientist argues that the focus on dreams has held back the scientific understanding of sleep. So he took dreams out of the picture and uncovered a new potential connection between the mind and body.
Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
S...
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February 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Funding cuts and research censorship have shaken the foundations of America’s health and science agencies, leaving researchers shocked, confused, and afraid. What does this mean for the future of science?
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn m...
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February 5, 2025 • 38 mins
For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to Kumiko Ninomiya (a.k.a. the Umami Mama), scientists finally accepted a fifth. Could there be even more? (First published in 2022.)
Guests: Kumiko Ninomiya, biochemist and former director of the Umami Information Center; Gary Beauchamp, former director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center; Sarah Tracy, historian of science; Camilla Ar...
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January 22, 2025 • 25 mins
Some of the largest lakes in the world have been buried under miles of ice for millions of years. Is there life hiding down there? And if so, could life be found in even more extreme places … beyond our planet?
Guest: John Priscu, microbiologist at Montana State University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Suppor...
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January 15, 2025 • 30 mins
Genetic libraries are treasure troves of information about life from around the world. They’re helping researchers develop everything from vaccines to crops to cosmetics. But who actually benefits from the discoveries scientists make using all this DNA and RNA?
Guests: Benji Jones, environmental correspondent at Vox’s Future Perfect; Deborah Fuller, professor of microbiology at the University of Washington
For show transcripts, go ...
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