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 latest book, Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality, Venki provides valuable insights on this topic, including the intricate dynamics of aging, DNA damage, stress, and so much more, as he unravels the underlying factors that shape human longevity.
Links:
Inquiring Minds Homepage: https://inquiring.show/
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information
Discover even more about Why We Die:
https://www.amazon.ca/Why-We-Die-Science-Immortality/dp/0063113279
-
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 insights into the intersection of technology and entrepreneurship. As they delve into the transformative journey of social media, themes of algorithm-driven dynamics, the influence of key figures like Elon Musk, and the ethical considerations of moderation and misinformation take center stage. This episode offers a tantalizing glimpse into Kurt's compelling narrative, reflecting the ever-shifting landscape of digital innovation and the future of social media governance.
Show Links:
Inquiring Minds Homepage: https://inquiring.show/
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information
Uncover more about the Battle for the Bird: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Battle-for-the-Bird/Kurt-Wagner/9781668017357
-
Missing episodes?
-
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 neuroscience research
funding agencies across the world, and has served on several review panels. In celebration of his
50th birthday, he has written a book for the masses, Why We Remember, which examines âthe
powerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our livesâ, and which also provides the
springboard for todayâs lively discussion about the fascinating journey of memory in the human
experience. Be sure to download and enjoy this highly anticipated return of Indreâs Inquiring
Minds, and revel in the unforgettable insights into memory's intricate interplay with cognition
and society offered here today, courtesy of these two giants in the field.
Show Links:
Inquiring Minds Homepage: https://inquiring.show/
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
The Cadence Podcast: https://cadence.show/
Learn more about Charan and Why We Remember: https://charanranganath.com/
-
This week we talk to Robert SapolskyâMacArthur âGeniusâ Fellow and professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Stanfordâabout 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 Sickâand 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 âYouâ. In it, he proposes that what you think of as âyouâ 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? Is it really that different? While the proposition may seem analogous, and despite how itâs often presented, says Farahany, what could get decoded from your brain is a very different thing.
âEverybody has something to hide when it comes to whatâs in their brain. Not in the sense of like, youâre thinking about committing some horrible crime. But it is the space where you work out everything. And if you donât have that space to work out everything, suddenly what it means to be human is fundamentally different.â
https://inquiring.show/episodes/400-the-perilous-combination-of-brain-wave-data-and-generative-ai
-
Last December, a team of scientists made history by creating a fusion reaction thatâfor the first time everâgave off more energy that it took to start. Itâs a groundbreaking milestone.
We talked to two researchers who were part of that teamâSabrina Nagel and Matthias Hohenbergerâabout what exactly happened, why itâs been decades in the making, and why itâs such a big deal. This is everything you need to know about their teamâs fusion breakthrough.
-
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 weâre 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 and live.
-
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 to talk to dolphins?
More info on Majel Connery, our guest host this week, can be found on her website.
-
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 itâs possible that it has thus far eluded explanation. To do so he examines one single study about consciousness nineteen different ways. Itâs 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 selfHow our brains develop the ability to process sound and how formal music training can help us become "auditory athletes," or people who can analyze sound on a deeper levelThe concept of the "default mode network," a group of brain structures that are active when we are âin our own heads,â and how our favorite records can light up this network and create a private, emotional connection with us. Rogers talks about her time as Princeâs full-time recording engineer during which she worked on albums like Purple Rain. (!) -
This week we talk to behavioral scientist Michael Slepian about secrets: keeping them, telling them, and the powerful ways in which they influence our lives. His new book is The Secret Life of Secrets: How Our Inner Worlds Shape Well-Being, Relationships, and Who We Are.
-
The show this week features an interview with science writer Maria Konnikova about her book The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time. We recorded this interview back when the book first came in out in 2016, but it is, perhaps depressingly, still as relevant as ever. While it hasnât always involved pillow salesmen and crypto billionaires, there have always been people trying to con you. So thereâs no better time than right now to brush up on all the ways people get conned, the psychology of why it works, and what you can do to avoid it.
-
This week we welcome back theoretical physicist and philosopher Sean Carroll to talk about how his most recent book, The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion, attempts to bridge the gap between how scientists talk about physics and how they usually go about explaining it to non-scientists. The goal is to help you understand what physicists are talking aboutâequations and allâwithout needing to know much more than some algebra.
- Show more