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PODCAST

Rabbit Hole of Research

Jotham Austin, II PhD, Nick Elizalde, and Georgia Geis

Our goal is to have fun learning science through the lens of science fiction, fantasy, and pop-culture. We will start in one place and let the conversation lead us down the winding scenic road exploring the science in science fiction, separating the facts from the Handwavium. We’ll have a little fun and you’ll learn a few facts you can use to impress your friends at a party or use as a conversation starter to go down your own rabbit holes. jothamaustin.substack.com

science science fiction

All Episodes

45:30

The Mini: Let's Chat about the HUMAN in AI

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/03/25

In Episode 59: The Mini: Joe, Nick, and Georgia revisit their conversation from Episode 58: The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection with the amazing plasticgrapes duo, Lily (MIT Computational Cognitive Scientist) and Generoso (Illustrator and Film Critic), in that episode they talked about how we know chatbots are “just math” predicting words, yet we can’t shake that “human” feeling that they are something more, and this may be revealing more about the want for human connection and

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79:01

The Science of Chatbots & Future of Human Connection

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/03/18

In the 58th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by Lily (MIT Computational Cognitive Scientist and Writer) and Generoso (Illustrator and Film Critic)—the comics duo behind Plastic Grapes—to explore where artificial intelligence meets human connection, and whether chatbots reveal more about machines or about ourselves.The conversation starts with the fundamentals: what chatbots actually are under the hood. Lily breaks down decoder architectures, dense neural

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37:31

The Mini: Future of Medicine

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/03/11

In this episode of The Mini, Joe, Georgia, and a virtual Nick (recovering from norovirus) revisit their conversation, Episode 56: Medicine of the Future with fantasy author and physician Davis Ashura, emphasizing his key message: your best health starts in your kitchen, not your doctor’s office, and focusing on health span (quality of years) over lifespan (quantity of years).This forked into a conversation about vegetable/fruit biodiversity and seed preservation. The crew discusses a Midwest native

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61:00

Medicine of the Future: From Fantasy to Patient Care

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/03/04

In the 56th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by Davis Ashura, endocrinologist, epic fantasy author, and creator of the Anchored Worlds universe, to explore where magical healing meets medical reality. Davis brings a unique dual perspective: treating chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension by day, and writing epic fantasy with detailed healing systems by night.The conversation starts with the real world complexities of healing and recovery. Davis explains

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34:00

Who Turned Off the Lights?

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/02/25

In this mini recap of Episode 55: Directed Energy Weapons, the RHR crew recaps their conversation with guest Bruce Landay about the science (and Handwavium) behind energy weapons.They break down natural EMP events: lightning, meteoric, and coronal mass ejections that could knock out power grids, how Faraday cages protect airplanes from electromagnetic interference, why the El Paso laser incident forced the FAA to shut down airspace, and how hypersonic missiles can maneuver and change targets

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65:31

Energy Directed Weapons: Who Turned Off the Lights?

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/02/18

In the 55th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, Georgia, and new co-host Mary are joined by guest Bruce Landay, former US Air Force officer and author of the upcoming near-future military techno-thriller Electromagnetic Assault (out April 7th), for a deep dive into directed energy weapons, the science, the fiction, and everything in between.And this isn’t just science fiction Handwavium anymore. Days after recording the episode it was reported that, a military anti-drone laser system

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19:50

Mini Recap of EP54 Love: What's Smell Got to Do With It?

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/02/11

In this mini recap of Episode 54: What’s Love Got to Do With It?, Joe, Nick, and Georgia recap their conversation with guest Joe Compton about the science and magic of love.Joe, as promised in the Episode 54, discusses human pheromones, the challenges of researching sex pheromones in humans, and the McClintock effect (menstrual cycle synchronization among women. The crew discusses the cultural obsession with masking natural body odors, and why aphrodisiacs might be more folklore than fact.Beyond the

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57:00

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/02/04

In the 54th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, a special Valentine’s episode, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by guest Joe Compton, independent author, filmmaker, and creator of Go Indie Now, for an exploration of love in all its forms.What is love, really? Strip away the poetry and you’re left with chemistry: dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin, and endorphins firing neural circuits in predictable patterns. But if love is just biology, why does it feel transcendent? Why does it reorganize our

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17:31

Space Arks episode recap

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/01/28

In this mini recap of Episode 53, Joe, Georgia, and Nick revisit their conversation with Roland Pitts, author of Salvation Protocol and former army officer turned cybersecurity expert, about the massive challenge of building a space ark and restarting civilization on a new world.The crew reflects on selecting 1,000 people and 1,000 resources for humanity’s survival, and discuss the practical realities of colonization, like surgeons needing to double as blacksmiths or teachers during year one, and

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63:30

Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/01/21

In this 53rd episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia welcome guest Roland Pitts, author of Salvation Protocol, to discuss the monumental challenge of space arks and colonizing new worlds. Roland, a former army officer now working in cybersecurity, shares insights into his sci-fi thriller where aliens warn Earth of hostile forces, prompting a secret mission to select 1,000 people and 1,000 items to restart civilization on a new planet.The conversation ranges from the practical,

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18:00

Extreme Performance episode recap

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/01/14

In this mini recap of Episode 52, Joe and Nick return to the basement studio (Georgia’s feeling under the weather) to revisit the physics and biology of extreme performance and their chat with guest Hayley Reese Chow: author, ultramarathoner, retired Air Force engineer, and fencer. The crew clears up some episode questions: Yes, whales can get the bends (decompression sickness), despite their lung-collapsing adaptations that normally prevent nitrogen buildup. Turns out, sudden ascents caused by

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68:01

The Physics and Biology of Extreme Performance

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2026/01/07

In this 52nd episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, the first episode of season 3, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by author, Air Force engineer, and ultramarathoner Hayley Reese Chow to explore the physics and biology of extreme performance. They discuss what the human body can endure, where it breaks, and why we keep trying to push past the red line anyway. From the “second wind” and the infamous invisible wall to pain tolerance, recovery, and the evolutionary logic of persistence hunting, the

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24:00

Season 2 recap and a Happy New Year

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/12/31

In this Season 2 recap, the Rabbit Hole of Research crew rings in the New Year from the Basement Studio while looking back on the ideas, guests, and moments that defined Episodes 26–50. The conversation ranges from a deep dive into the Die Hard Christmas movie debate—tracing it back to Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever—to favorite episodes like The Heart of a Superhero, Perception vs. Perspective, Godzilla and the Kaiju Genre, and The Thing. Along the way, they reflect on

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76:31

RHR Season 2 Finale: What Makes a Christmas Movie?...

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/12/24

In this lively Season 2 finale of Rabbit Hole of Research, hosts Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by returning guest Mary Schons and first-time guest Kathryn “Kat” Sterbenc to do two things at once: look back at a season spent separating science from handwavium—and finally tackle the perennial holiday argument, Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?Over the course of Season 2, the show explored science through the lens of fiction, asking how fast is too fast, what happens when time misbehaves, and what it

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12:01

Gremlins recap: A Mini Batch

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/12/17

In this mini recap of Episode 50, Joe, Georgia, and Nick revisit the chaos, science, and fuzzy destruction of Gremlins, Joe Dante’s 1984 holiday horror-comedy produced by Steven Spielberg. They unpack the speculative biology of the Mogwai one more time, diving into the infamous three rules: no bright light, no water, and never feed after midnight—especially not raw chicken.The crew adds fresh layers of science to the discussion: the real-life Turritopsis dohrnii immortal jellyfish challenges

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67:01

Gremlins and Holiday Science

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/12/10

In this episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia team up with special guest Chris Guzman to unwrap one of the weirdest holiday phenomena in film history: Gremlins (1984). What starts as a gift from a Chinatown curio shop turns into a full-blown creature-feature apocalypse—and the team wants to know: how do the rules actually work?They break down the film’s infamous care instructions—no bright light, no water, and never feed them after midnight—through the lens of speculative

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11:00

Heart to Heart

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/12/03

In this mini recap of Episode 49, Joe, Nick, and Georgia return to the wild intersection of cardiac science and superhero world-building, revisiting their conversation with bioengineer Rengasayee “Sai” Veeraraghavan. They also clean up a few nerdy misfires from the full episode, including the adrenal-versus-pituitary mix-up and the moment Joe accidentally described the origins of life using a term that actually refers to radioactive decay. That detour opens the door to panspermia, radiopanspermia,

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73:01

The Heart of a Superhero

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/11/26

n this episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia team up with special guest Rengasayee “Sai” Veeraraghavan, professor of biomedical engineering at The Ohio State University and head of a nano-cardiology lab, to ask a deceptively simple question: what kind of heart could a superhero actually have? Starting from the nanoscale structure of heart cells and the way electrical signals orchestrate each beat, Sai walks us through how real hearts move blood, adapt to stress, and sometimes

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18:30

Is Your Brain Lying to You?

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/11/19

In this mini recap of Episode 48, Nick, Georgia, and Joe reflect on the themes of perception and perspective that shaped their conversation with Katie from the DC Punk Archive. They revisit how shifting realities, sensory limits, and narrative framing influence what we believe is true. They discuss the listener-suggested film, Inception, and its infamous spinning top. The discussion turns toward real-world implications, from the disorienting landscapes of Alzheimer’s and dementia to the tension

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64:00

EP 48: Perception vs Perspective

Rabbit Hole of Research ·

2025/11/12

In this episode of Rabbit Hole of Research hosts Joe, Nick, and Georgia joined by librarian Katie Lichtle-Mullenix from the DC Punk Archive for a deep dive into the strange, slippery territory between perception and perspective. Together, they untangle how the brain builds its own version of reality. Asking what we truly “see” versus what we merely believe we see.From optical illusions and VR experiments to The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, and the time-bending logic of Kurt Vonnegut, the crew explores

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103 results

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