Inquiring Minds
Summary: Each week Inquiring Minds brings you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics, 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 endeavor to find out what’s true, what’s left to discover, and why it all matters with weekly coverage of the latest headlines and probing discussions with leading scientists and thinkers.
- Visit Website
- RSS
- Artist: Indre Viskontas
- Copyright: 2020 Indre Viskontas
Podcasts:
We talk to Joanne Ruthsatz and Kimberly Stephens, authors of The Prodigy's Cousin: The Family Link Between Autism and Extraordinary Talent.
On the show this week we talk to Kenji López-Alt, managing culinary director of Serious Eats and author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
On the show this week we talk to social epidemiologist Nancy Krieger about her research that suggests we should start tracking law enforcement involved deaths as public health data.
On this special Valentine’s Day episode we talk to marine biologist Marah Hardt about 8-foot long whale penises, shark ejaculation systems, vagina mazes, fish orgies, and all the other crazy sex-stuff happening in our oceans. She’s the author of Sex in the Sea: Our Intimate Connection with Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters, Kinky Squid, and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep.
On the show this week we talk to bestselling author Eric Weiner about his latest book The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley.
On the show this week we talk to science reporter Kara Platoni about her new book We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time.
On the show this week we talk to climate scientist Kim Cobb about the science of El Niño and climate change—and how studying coral can help us understand both.
On the show this week we talk to neurobiologist Douglas Fields about his new book Why We Snap: Understanding the Rage Circuit in Your Brain.
On the show this week Indre and Kishore share their predictions for what some of the big science stories of 2016 will be. http://patreon.com/inquiringminds
On the show this week we return to the topic of violence in video games. We spoke to psychologist Chris Ferguson who offers a contrasting view on the subject. For more discussion, check out episodes 106 & 107. http://patreon.com/inquiringminds
On the show this week we talk to Mark Schatzker, author of The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor, “a lively and important argument from an award-winning journalist proving that the key to reversing America’s health crisis lies in the overlooked link between nutrition and flavor.” http://patreon.com/inquiringminds
Robert Sapolsky is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, and a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research at the National Museum of Kenya. We talked to Sapolsky about what it means to be human, what we humans can learn from other species, and why he—despite being a self-described pessimist—feels optimistic about our prospects as a species. This week’s episode was recorded live in San Francisco for the 2015 Bay Area Science Festival and was produced in collaboration with The Leakey Foundation and their podcast Origin Stories. http://leakeyfoundation.org/ http://leakeyfoundation.org/originstories http://patreon.com/inquiringminds
Ed Lu is a former astronaut and current CEO of the B612 Foundation. On the show this week we talked to him about the threat of asteroids hitting our planet—and what we can do about it. http://patreon.com/inquiringminds
On the show this week we talk to UC Berkeley astronomy researcher Steve Croft about the science of supermassive black holes. http://patreon.com/inquiringminds
On the show this week we talk to astronaut Dr. Cady Coleman about the human side of space exploration. “Leaving the planet is just something people are going to do because we live off the planet as well as on—we live in the universe.” http://patreon.com/inquiringminds
