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PODCAST

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.

science life sciences

All Episodes

26:57

How to talk to aliens

Unexplainable ·

2025/03/26

Scientists have been searching for aliens for decades. But if we ever do get a signal someday, how will we communicate back? And will anyone out there be able to understand us?Guests: Doug Vakoch, president of METI, and Sheri Wells-Jensen, linguist at Bowling Green State University 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 by becoming a Vox Member today:

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53:54

Good Robot #4: Who, me?

Unexplainable ·

2025/03/22

What can we actually do as our world gets populated with more and more robots? How can we take control? Can we take control?This is the final episode of our four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI. Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. 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 by becoming a Vox Member today:

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49:57

Good Robot #3: Let’s fix everything

Unexplainable ·

2025/03/19

A simple parable about a drowning child sparks a moral revolution. Is building AI the way to do the most good in the world? This is the third episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI. Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays. 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

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57:40

Good Robot #2: Everything is not awesome

Unexplainable ·

2025/03/15

When a robot does bad things, who is responsible? A group of technologists sounds the alarm about the ways AI is already harming us today. Are their concerns being taken seriously? This is the second episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI. Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to

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53:41

Good Robot #1: The Magic Intelligence in the Sky

Unexplainable ·

2025/03/12

Before AI became a mainstream obsession, one thinker sounded the alarm about its catastrophic potential. So why are so many billionaires and tech leaders worried about… paper clips?This is the first episode of our new four-part series about the stories shaping the future of AI. Good Robot was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. Episodes will be released on Wednesdays and Saturdays over the next two weeks. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to

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36:56

A strange signal from space

Unexplainable ·

2025/03/05

This week on Unexplainable or Not, the newest member of our team, Julia Longoria, tries to figure out which of three scientific mysteries about the sea, the land, and the sky has actually been solved.Guest: Admir Masic, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT. 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 by becoming a Vox Member today:

en

28:24

Dylan got malaria on purpose

Unexplainable ·

2025/02/26

And why he thinks you should too.Guest: Dylan Matthews, senior correspondent at Vox’s Future Perfect This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. 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 by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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28:11

The problem with dreams

Unexplainable ·

2025/02/19

A neuroscientist argues that the focus on dreams has held back the scientific understanding of sleep. So he took dreams out of the picture and uncovered a new potential connection between the mind and body.Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa 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 by becoming a Vox Member today:

en

25:31

Is science in danger?

Unexplainable ·

2025/02/12

Funding cuts and research censorship have shaken the foundations of America’s health and science agencies, leaving researchers shocked, confused, and afraid. What does this mean for the future of science?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 by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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38:18

How umami blew up taste

Unexplainable ·

2025/02/05

For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to Kumiko Ninomiya (a.k.a. the Umami Mama), scientists finally accepted a fifth. Could there be even more? (First published in 2022.)Guests: Kumiko Ninomiya, biochemist and former director of the Umami Information Center; Gary Beauchamp, former director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center; Sarah Tracy, historian of science; Camilla Arndal Andersen, neuroscientist; Paul Breslin, professor at Rutgers

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25:46

What’s hiding under the Antarctic ice?

Unexplainable ·

2025/01/22

Some of the largest lakes in the world have been buried under miles of ice for millions of years. Is there life hiding down there? And if so, could life be found in even more extreme places … beyond our planet?Guest: John Priscu, microbiologist at Montana State University 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 by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn

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30:14

Biopiracy

Unexplainable ·

2025/01/15

Genetic libraries are treasure troves of information about life from around the world. They’re helping researchers develop everything from vaccines to crops to cosmetics. But who actually benefits from the discoveries scientists make using all this DNA and RNA?Guests: Benji Jones, environmental correspondent at Vox’s Future Perfect; Deborah Fuller, professor of microbiology at the University of Washington For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And

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28:03

Will AI ever ... feel?

Unexplainable ·

2025/01/08

Some scientists think an explosion of AI awareness and feeling might be just around the corner. Others think it’s impossible for an AI to ever become conscious. How will we know?Guest: Oshan Jarow, staff writer at Vox’s Future Perfect 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 by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

en

27:48

New year, new diet, live forever?

Unexplainable ·

2025/01/01

It’s that time of year again. If you’re changing things up, there’s a lot of diets out there that claim to help you live longer. Our friends at Today, Explained ask: How much of this is real and how much of it is nonsense? Guests: Anahad O’Connor, health columnist at the Washington Post; Saul Justin Newman, researcher at the University College London Centre for Longitudinal Studies For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us

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27:38

Mysteries we can’t stop thinking about

Unexplainable ·

2024/12/18

The wildest stories that never made it into our episodes. Until now. Guests: Amy Boddy, anthropological scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Jayme Locke, transplant surgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Jonathan Jiang, research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 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 by becoming a Vox

en

26:14

Who let the wolves in?

Unexplainable ·

2024/12/11

Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago. But how did wolves become dogs? To find the answer, scientists have to play with a lot of puppies. (First published in 2023.)Guest: Kathryn Lord, evolutionary biology researcher at UMass Chan Medical School 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 by becoming a Vox Member

en

31:19

Where to meet a Neanderthal

Unexplainable ·

2024/12/04

We know Neanderthals and early modern humans coupled up. But when did they meet, exactly? And where? Some fossilized smoke and a baby tooth might hold clues.Guest: Adam Cole of HowTown 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 by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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22:52

Pinky and the (lab-grown) Brain

Unexplainable ·

2024/11/20

It’s not great to be a lab rat. And it turns out, lab rats might not be that great for science either. Could the future be little lab-grown brain clumps?Guests: Rachel Nuwer, science journalist; Lisa Genzel, professor of neuroscience at Radboud University This episode has been updated. An earlier version didn’t differentiate between two stages of drug development. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com We

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29:50

Why are there lefties and righties?

Unexplainable ·

2024/11/13

This week on Unexplainable or Not, we’ve got three scientific mysteries all about left and right. Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox’s new podcast Explain It to Me, is going to guess which of them has been solved and which ones are still unexplainable.Guest: S. Furkan Ozturk, researcher at Harvard University 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 by becoming a Vox Member

en

27:57

Placebos work. Why?

Unexplainable ·

2024/11/06

For decades, scientists thought that placebos only worked if patients didn’t know they were taking them. Not anymore: You can give patients placebos, tell them they’re on sugar pills, and they still might feel better. No one is sure how this works, but it raises a question: Should doctors embrace placebos in mainstream medicine? (First published in 2021.) Guests: Ted Kaptchuk, professor at Harvard Medical School; Darwin Guevarra, professor of psychology at Miami University; Luana Colloca, professor

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228 results

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