Inquiring Minds
Each week we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science and society collide. We’re committed to the idea that making an effort to understand the world around you though science and critical thinking can benefit everyone—and lead to better decisions. We want to find out what’s true, what’s left to discover, and why it all matters.
Episodes
Among his many achievements, the esteemed Venki Ramakrishnan has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, served as the President of the Royal Society, and shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Today, he adds being a special guest on the Inquiring Minds podcast to this impressive list of accomplishments as he joins Indre to tackle the age-old question: Is there a biological limit to human lifespan? Drawing upon information from his la...
Join Indre and guest Kurt Wagner, renowned business and technology journalist and author of Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter's Soul, as they embark on an insightful exploration of Twitter's evolution. From Jack Dorsey's humble beginnings to the platform's global prominence, pivotal themes of visionary leadership and the balance between profit and purpose emerge, offering invaluable ...
Welcome back to Inquiring Minds, where, after a brief hiatus, host Indre Viskontas returns with
yet another memorable episode, this time featuring Charan Ranganath, Director of the Memory
and Plasticity Program and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of
California at Davis. Over his illustrious career, Dr. Ranganath has received innumerable
distinguished awards, edited major neuroscience journals, consulted for...
This week we talk to Robert Sapolsky—MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Stanford—about his new book Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will.
This week we talk to medical anthropologist and science writer Theresa MacPhail about her new book Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World.
This week we talk to journalist and sustainable fashion expert Alden Wicker about her book To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick—and How We Can Fight Back.
This week we talk to writer Cody Cassidy about his new book How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes.
This week we talk to psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris about their new book Nobody's Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It.
This week we talk to social psychologist and Stanford professor Brian Lowery about his new book Selfless: The Social Creation of “You”. In it, he proposes that what you think of as “you” is actually a social construct created by your relationships and affected by every interaction you have.
This week we talk to Hugh Howey, author of the bestselling Silo series of books and executive producer of the new Apple TV+ series of the same name.
This week we talk to accelerator physicist Suzie Sheehy about her most recent book The Matter of Everything: How Curiosity, Physics, and Improbable Experiments Changed the World.
On the show this week we talk to Nita A. Farahany, distinguished professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and the founding director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, about her new book, "The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology."
Many people choose to give up unprecedented levels of privacy in exchange for convenience. So why not give up your brain data too? I...
Last December, a team of scientists made history by creating a fusion reaction that—for the first time ever—gave off more energy that it took to start. It’s a groundbreaking milestone.
We talked to two researchers who were part of that team—Sabrina Nagel and Matthias Hohenberger—about what exactly happened, why it’s been decades in the making, and why it’s such a big deal. This is everything you need to know about their team’s fusio...
This week we talk to pioneering art & science researcher Susan Magsamen along with vice president of design for hardware products at Google, Ivy Ross, about their new book Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.
While sometimes considered opposites, art and science are unequivocally linked in ways we’re still figuring out. Not only does our way of thinking and living impact our art, but art also has an impact on how we think a...
This week, with guest co-host Majel Connery, we talk to author and researcher Karen Bakker about her new book The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants.
The book explores stories of nonhuman sound and the often overlooked impact our own sound has on the natural world. Plus, things like: What do plants hear? How likely is interspecies communication? Will we one day be able t...
This week we talk to neuroscientist and author Patrick House about his new book Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness. The book explores the complexity of consciousness and how it’s possible that it has thus far eluded explanation. To do so he examines one single study about consciousness nineteen different ways. It’s unorthodox, accessible, and remarkable.
This week we talk to cognitive neuroscientist and multi-platinum record producer Susan Rogers about her new book This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You.
In this episode:
- The science behind how we perceive and process music and how it can affect our emotions and sense of self
- How our brains develop the ability to process sound and how formal music training can help us become "auditory athletes," or peo...
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