The Rest Is Science
Join mathematician Professor Hannah Fry and science creator Michael Stevens (Vsauce) as they dig into the weird scientific questions that often go unexplored. Welcome to The Rest Is Science, a show that sits in the fascinating space between what we think we know, and what we actually know. Why do we assume we understand things like time, randomness, or even gravity? Once you start questioning these familiar ideas, reality becomes astonishingly strange and completely fragile. Whether you're a lifelong science fan or just naturally curious, The Rest Is Science will change your perception of reality, and prove that the biggest questions are always the most fun.
Episodes
June 10, 2026 • 51 mins
Most people use just a fraction of the words they understand. But how big is your vocabulary, really?
When a listener builds a tool that claims to measure it, Hannah and Michael put themselves to the test.
If you'd like to try for yourself, follow the link and tell us what score you get in the comments: https://vocabowl-870366514258.us-west1.run.app/
Along the way they uncover forgotten words, obscure linguistic curiosit...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
June 7, 2026 • 44 mins
Do you think your thoughts belong to you? How would feel if you found out they don't?
In this episode Hannah and Michael discuss a tangible future where the last bastion of privacy is breached and the thoughts that run through out heads no longer belong to us.
Why is it that in 2026 police can open your phone using face ID any time they want, but they can't do the same with your password? When might a single brain wave called P...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
June 3, 2026 • 35 mins
What do lightning, wireless electricity, Cambridge dining etiquette, hypnosis, and a lovestruck pigeon have in common?
The answer is (of course) Nikola Tesla.
In this episode of The Rest Is Science: Field Notes, Michael and Hannah experience a real Tesla coil, exploring the spectacular physics behind one of Tesla's most famous inventions.
Why do these devices create miniature lightning storms? How did Tesla dream of deli...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 31, 2026 • 47 mins
Is there a new way to make twins? If there is, Michael's might just have discovered it. And hint: it's going to hard work.
From Hannah’s twin-like sister to the most famous cells in human history, in this episode Hannah and Michael continue to explore whether we truly own of ourselves, this time at a microscopic level.
From our genome, to our cells and even our personalities, what happens in a future where cloning is ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 27, 2026 • 47 mins
What can be revealed about a person by their choice of…lead?
In this gloriously nerdy episode of Field Notes, Michael Stevens arrives armed with an entire collection of mechanical pencils, sparking a series of passionate debates about graphite, the merits of ink, and whether the perfect pencil will ever really exist.
Plus: what happens to fizzy drink bubbles in zero gravity? Why did early scientists believe sperm conta...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 24, 2026 • 50 mins
What happens to a body part once it’s been removed from your body? Can you take it home? Cremate it? Bury it? Even give it a funeral?
In the first episode of a new mini-series on ownership, Hannah and Michael explore a deceptively simple question: what parts of ourselves do we actually own?
From amputated limbs and stolen skulls to black markets for human organs, they uncover the strange, unsettling, and often lucrative wor...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 20, 2026 • 63 mins
What if the next pandemic could be predicted before it even begins?
Hannah and Michael step into the unsettling world of outbreak simulations, where scientists map invisible infections, model human behaviour, and try to stop global catastrophe before it starts.
Some warnings save millions. Others get ignored, until it’s too late.
After the break the conversation takes a turn into space stations, fizzy drinks in zer...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 17, 2026 • 54 mins
Why are black cars more dangerous, white chess pieces more successful, and pandas apparently incapable of coping with minor inconvenience?
Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens (VSauce) unpack one deceptively simple question - which would win in a fight between black and white? - and end up exploring everything from colour psychology and radioactive frogs to quasars, fantasy literature, and whether the universe itself ultimat...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 13, 2026 • 31 mins
What if one of the most valuable objects on Earth has been sitting untouched at the bottom of the ocean for 100 million years?
In this Field Notes episode, Professor Hannah Fry brings Michael Stevens (VSauce) a strange metallic rock formed in the deepest parts of the Atlantic over millions of years.
What begins with a bizarre Cold War CIA cover story involving Howard Hughes and a sunken Soviet submarine quickly turns into a ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 11, 2026 • 43 mins
* This episode contains descriptions of warfare and use of chemical weapons *
How do you feed a world that’s running out of food?
In this episode of The Rest Is Science, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens uncover one of the strangest and most unsettling stories in modern science: the tale of the man who learned how to pull fertiliser out of thin air.
This discovery transformed agriculture. It made modern civilisation possibl...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 6, 2026 • 39 mins
Why does one of the most familiar numbers on a nutrition label turn out to be far more complicated than it looks?
What can a can of fizzy drink teach us about thermodynamics, human metabolism, and the strange ways scientists measure energy?
Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce’s Michael Stevens dive into the weird science of calories. From century-old experiments involving fire, body heat, and human digestion to the hidden q...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
May 4, 2026 • 52 mins
What if the universe is recording everything you’ve ever seen and done?
In this episode, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the idea that light itself might carry a record of the past. And if it did, how could we watch history unfold by capturing it.
Could a perfectly placed mirror or even a black hole bend that ancient light back to us? Could we watch the pyramids being built, or hear Einstein’s final words...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 29, 2026 • 50 mins
What can a humble airplane sick bag teach us about physics, engineering, and the limits of the human stomach; And why are there people out there collecting thousands of them?
Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce’s Michael Stevens turn an unlikely holiday prompt into a surprisingly rich exploration of flight. From the biology of motion sickness to the physics of turbulence, and from exploding crisp packets to next-generation air...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 27, 2026 • 60 mins
How does a perfectly symmetrical ball of cells become an animal, with a head, a tail, and complex zebra or leopard like patterns?
In this episode, we dive into the mind bending science of how order emerges from chaos, guided by an unexpected genius: Alan Turing.
From leopard spots and human embryos to crime hotbeds, Hannah and Michael discover the hidden mathematical rules shaping life itself…and the ethical dilemmas ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 22, 2026 • 50 mins
How do you convince people you aren't a witch if you travel back in time, and where can you actually find something decent to eat when you're there?
Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce, Michael Stevens, tackle the most practical and delicious logistics of surviving a trip through history.
Check out one of Hannah's favourite chemistry YouTube channels - https://www.youtube.com/@cnliziqi
-------------------
For more inform...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 20, 2026 • 62 mins
Why do almost all of us struggle with a simple reasoning test, yet get it right the moment it’s about a pint in a pub? This week, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens take on the Wason Selection Task, one of the most intensely studied problems in the history of psychology.
They unpack why a rule involving letters and numbers can feel strangely difficult, while the exact same logic becomes immediate and instinctive when ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 15, 2026 • 40 mins
Does a teapot secretly hold the laws of physics? And what do soap, sugar and mint have to do with the perfect cup of tea?
Whilst in Morocco, Professor Hannah Fry takes Michael Stevens (VSauce) into the surprising science of mint tea, from foamy bubbles that trap desert sand to the elegant S-shaped spout that appears to solve some of the hardest problems in fluid dynamics.
Plus, your questions, including whether rising sea levels...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 13, 2026 • 46 mins
Is the kitchen home to some of the most extraordinary technology humans have ever invented?
Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the science of everyday appliances, from the strange physics of coldness to the wartime origins of the microwave. They explore how humanity learned to trap 'coolth', beam heat into leftovers, and turn the most ordinary room in the house into a high performance laboratory!
From ice merc...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 8, 2026 • 47 mins
Does "the cloud" hold more data than a clouds hold raindrops? Can a new organ literally rewrite your personality?
Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens, VSauce, weigh our massive digital servers against a standard downpour, before unpicking the biology of transplant patients suddenly waking up with entirely new cravings.
Michael also has a new Curiosity Box coming featuring an altertative periodic table disguised as a sna...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
April 6, 2026 • 51 mins
What happens when you finally reach the end of forever? And what exactly is the difference between Omega and Aleph-null?
Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens (VSauce) return for the final (possibly not) chapter of our infinity series, unpicking the frankly absurd mechanics of multiple infinities. They reveal how mathematicians don't just measure the endless void, but actively organise it, exploring the bizarre gap between t...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
A weekly podcast where host, Robert Smigel, and a rotating panel, his friends, assist callers seeking help in making something in their real life funnier. Anything. A best man speech, a eulogy, a breakup letter, a cover letter, an apology, a Tinder profile - Robert, with a panel of professional comedy writers and comedians, will punch it up and get results. Want help with your writing assignment? Submit it to: speakpipe.com/humorme