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. From Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
November 19, 2025 • 35 mins
So many of us have been told that meditation can make us less stressed, more productive, and happier. But for a small group of people, it has a dark side. What’s going on?
Guests: Willoughby Britton, associate professor at Brown University; Richard Davidson, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Pierce Salguero, professor at the Abington College of Pennsylvania State University
This episode was made in partnership w...
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November 17, 2025 • 26 mins
A dog on its owner’s grave. A killer whale carrying around its dead calf. A goose that isolates when its mate dies. These behaviors in animals may look like human mourning, but should scientists call them "grief"? (First published in 2023)
Guests: Jennifer Vonk, comparative/cognitive psychologist at Oakland University; Jessica Pierce, bioethicist and author of several books about animals; Susana Monsó, animal ethicist and a philos...
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November 12, 2025 • 37 mins
When Wanda Diáz-Merced lost her sight as a college student, she thought her dreams of becoming an astronomer were over — until she learned to listen to space instead.
Wanda is one of several pioneering scientists listening to space. For this episode, we also spoke to Robert Wilson, who used sound to help him discover the first direct evidence of the Big Bang, and Kim Arcand, who plays us what the center of the Milky Way sounds lik...
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November 10, 2025 • 31 mins
A scientist asked people to sit in a silent room for 15 minutes. Almost half of them decided to give themselves a painful electric shock instead. What is it about our brains that makes our relationship with silence so strange? And should we learn how to listen to it?
This is the third episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Erin Westgate, assistant professor at the University of Florida; Rui Zhe...
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November 5, 2025 • 33 mins
Almost 15% of adults suffer from a persistent, often intolerable sound... that is literally just in their heads. Why does the brain do this to us? We help one of our listeners get some answers.
This is the second episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Stéphane Maison, director of the tinnitus clinic at Mass Eye and Ear; Susan Shore, professor emerita at the University of Michigan, and Dan Polley, tinnit...
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November 3, 2025 • 40 mins
Just like optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. It makes scientists wonder: What exactly are we hearing, when we're hearing?
This is the first episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Diana Deutsch, emeritus professor at the University of California, San Diego; Matthew Winn, professor at the University of Minnesota; Michael Chorost, science writer
You can find more of Di...
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October 29, 2025 • 37 mins
This week on Unexplainable or Not, Sally Helm, the newest member of our team, tries to figure out what's killing mussels, why rivers suddenly change course, and what the longest river in the world is.
Guests: Douglas Edmonds, professor at Indiana University; Neel Dhanesha, science reporter
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to ...
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October 27, 2025 • 19 mins
Now why would you click on something like this? What's wrong with you?! Why are you — and so many other people — into scary stuff? Two scientists are trying to find out. (Originally aired in 2024)
Guests: Mathias Clasen and Marc Andersen, co-directors of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox....
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October 22, 2025 • 24 mins
Killing two people is worse than killing one. What about 440 billion crustaceans? Adapted from Dylan Matthews's essay on Vox.com.
This story is part of a series supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from EarthShare.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplaina...
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October 20, 2025 • 28 mins
Think about the thing you’ve practiced more than anything else in the world. Maybe it’s painting. Or writing. Or playing baseball.
Now, imagine you wake up one day, and you just can’t do it. You’re not sick. You’re not injured. But suddenly, that one thing is impossible. (Originally published in 2024)
Guests: Rick Ankiel, former Major League Baseball star; Sally Akehurst, sports psychologist and a dean at University of Roehamp...
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October 8, 2025 • 27 mins
Terry Riley's "In C" is one of the most influential pieces of music of the last century...but you'll never hear it the same way twice.
Guest: Evan Ziporyn, composer, clarinetist, and producer of "In C"
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable ...
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October 6, 2025 • 26 mins
Donald Trump and RFK Jr. seem convinced that it does. But our friends at Science Vs say the data is far more complicated.
Guest: Meryl Horn, senior producer at Science Vs
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 ...
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October 1, 2025 • 26 mins
Zombies might seem like the stuff of horror movies, but there are lots of examples of parasites taking over bugs’ bodies and bending them to their will.
Guest: Mindy Weisberger, author of Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unex...
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September 29, 2025 • 39 mins
Who are you, really? Our friends at The Gray Area ask whether it's really possible to change.
Guest: Olga Khazan, author of Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change
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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September 24, 2025 • 26 mins
The centuries-old international battle over the real sound of a musical note.
Guest: Fanny Gribenski, historical musicologist and author of Tuning the World: The Rise of 440 Hertz in Music, Science, and Politics, 1859–1955
Reported for Unexplainable by Emily Siner
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And plea...
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September 22, 2025 • 33 mins
NASA found a Martian rock that might have traces of ancient life. It's perhaps the most tantalizing revelation in the century-long search for Martian life. (Updated from 2022)
Guests: Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover; Lindsay Hays, astrobiologist at NASA; Morgan Cable, research scientist for Perseverance; and Camden Miller, rover driver for Perseverance
For show transcripts, go to vo...
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September 17, 2025 • 30 mins
Recent research — and one surprising season of The Biggest Loser — has scientists wondering whether some of the most basic things they know about metabolism are wrong.
Guest: Julia Belluz, author of Food Intelligence
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Suppo...
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September 15, 2025 • 39 mins
Join our friends at The Longest Shortest Time for a deep dive into the misunderstood world of vaginas. We’ll learn about orgasm-chasing royalty, clitoral wingspans, vagina lollipops, wandering wombs, and why we still know so little about the anatomy of half the people on Earth.
Guests: Hillary Frank, host, The Longest Shortest Time; Rachel E. Gross, science writer
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtr...
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September 10, 2025 • 22 mins
How the bedtime stories we grew up with inspire the stories we tell now.
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/member...
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September 8, 2025 • 28 mins
We spoke to two researchers who disagree about the answer to this question. But they do agree about why it's so hard to answer to begin with.
Guests: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent at Vox; Kenneth Mukamal, physician and academic researcher at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Timothy Naimi, director of the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research
For show transcripts, go to ...
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