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PODCAST

The Quanta Podcast

Quanta Magazine

Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. In each episode, Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by

science life sciences

All Episodes

26:37

‘Jumping Genes’ Are More Than Parasitic DNA

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/09/29

You might imagine that the DNA in your cells has a simple history. But that’s not the entire story. Nearly half of your genome is a wild drama, thanks to a genetic material called transposons that can clip itself out of the DNA sequence, float off, and paste itself somewhere else. While these “jumping genes” may seem pathological, they’re more than just junk. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Hannah Waters speaks with writer Jake Buehler about these unruly genetic fragments and

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27:16

Audio Edition: For Hong Wang, Living Fully in the...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/09/24

Focus, commitment, and insight resulted in a “once in a century” proof. Hong Wang is now just the third woman to win a Fields Medal.The article Living Fully in the Math World Means Threading the Needle first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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33:46

Are the Little Red Dots Actually Black Hole Suns?

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/09/22

When all you can see is a speck, it’s hard to tell what you’re looking at. Astronomers first argued that little red dots spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2022 were distant galaxies on the cosmic horizon, mainly because of their brightness. Later, they concluded that little red dots look more like the supermassive black holes that sit at the heart of most galaxies. But in the spring of 2025, two teams of astronomers simultaneously announced observations of a pair of little red

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29:41

Four-Color Theorem Is Still a Math Favorite

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/09/15

In 1852, the mathematician Francis Guthrie was coloring in a map of English counties when he noticed that he needed only four colors. Was this always true, he wondered? The question captured the imagination of hobbyists and professionals alike — and in 1976, the mathematicians Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken proved it, rather controversially using computers. Recently, mathematicians have revisited the four-color theorem and found a more efficient way to color maps with just four colors.On

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11:37

Audio Edition: ‘Reverse Mathematics’ Illuminates Why...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/09/10

Researchers have used metamathematical techniques to show that certain theorems that look superficially distinct are in fact logically equivalent.The article ‘Reverse Mathematics’ Illuminates Why Hard Problems Are Hard first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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29:34

Does Computer Science Need Computers?

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/09/08

In popular culture, computer science is practically synonymous with programming. There are obviously branches of computer science in which computer hardware and software are essential, such as in the design of operating systems or the study of memory management. But in the theoretical side of the field, researchers need not ever touch a real, physical computer. Do computers play an essential conceptual role in that kind of theoretical work? On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir

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31:14

How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/09/01

If you are well rested and full, your brain tells you that a bruised overripe apple is a piece of subpar fruit to be passed over. However, if you are exhausted and hungry, an overripe apple is categorized as much-needed food. But how is the brain able to categorize that same apple in these situations? On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, co-host Hannah Waters speaks with contributing writer Conor Feehly about how the brain manages to categorize similar sets of sensory signals in radically

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16:32

Audio Edition: A Cell So Minimal That It Challenges...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/08/27

The newly described microbe represents a world of parasitic, intercellular biodiversity only beginning to be revealed by genome sequencing.The article A Cell So Minimal That It Challenges Definitions of Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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31:07

Picking Teams With the Math of Imbalance

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/08/25

Combinatorial discrepancy theory is a branch of mathematics concerned with balance. If you’re making two teams — sports, trivia, you name it — how can you make sure that they’re perfectly balanced and fair, skill-wise? You start with vectors. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with award-winning science journalist and regular contributor Max Levy on an “absurd,” “holy grail” conjecture, and the major breakthrough made in fall 2025 by two theoretical computer

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36:00

What Makes a Fluid a Fluid?

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/08/18

The Navier-Stokes equations are enormously successful at predicting how fluids flow and swirl. But they fail to account for the microscopic bits that make up matter. But now math based on symmetries offers a new conception of fluids and why they behave the way that they do.On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with writer Charlie Wood on the longstanding effort to rebuild the theory of fluids from the bottom up, including a strange connection to black holes and

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14:01

Audio Edition: New Proofs Probe Soap-Film Singularities

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/08/13

Mathematicians have broken through a long-standing barrier in the study of “minimizing surfaces,” which play an important role in both math and physics.The article New Proofs Probe Soap-Film Singularities first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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38:02

Is AI Reasoning Right for the Wrong Reasons?

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/08/11

Reasoning comes in many technically defined forms, but the basic procedure is easily recognizable: arriving at a sound conclusion by linking together intermediate steps that logically follow from each other. But when it comes to artificial intelligence, it appears AI can either solve famous mathematical research problems in one shot — or experience a “complete accuracy collapse” under the simplest conditions. So which is it: Can AI reason reliably or not?On this episode of The Quanta

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26:26

Why Am I Left-Handed?

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/08/04

Why are only 10% of people left-handed? Geneticists, developmental biologists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists have all sought explanations, resulting in an astronomical amount of research into the mystery of handedness. No one has put all the pieces together yet, but over the last few years, some major new clues have emerged.On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Hannah Waters speaks with writer Natalie Wolchover and traces these new clues to uncover the mystery of human

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21:13

Audio Edition: Old ‘Ghost’ Theory of Quantum Gravity...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/07/30

Has the secret to understanding gravity been hiding in plain sight for nearly 50 years?The article Old ‘Ghost’ Theory of Quantum Gravity Makes a Comeback first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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29:56

A Dark Dimension Could Link Two of the Universe’s...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/07/28

Generally, dark energy and dark matter are regarded as separate entities, but recent astronomical observations have spurred scientists to look further into a less widespread idea — that the two are in fact physically intertwined.On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with Physics Editor Kathryn Jepsen about the theories surrounding dark energy’s ties to dark matter and the possibility of a shared dark universe.This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta

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35:49

Is Life Just Different?

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/07/21

There’s no scientific consensus about what makes living things so different from inorganic material. Some scientists cite replication or metabolism. Others have another answer: Living organisms are different because they do stuff — for reasons. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with writer Philip Ball on the hotly contested idea of “biological agency” and what it means to be alive.This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The

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09:42

Audio Edition: ‘World Models,’ an Old Idea in AI,...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/07/16

You’re carrying around in your head a model of how the world works. Will AI systems need to do the same?The article ‘World Models,’ an Old Idea in AI, Mount a Comeback first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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29:41

How Many Shuffles Do You Really Need to Randomize...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/07/14

In 1992, mathematicians Dave Bayer and Persi Diaconis proved that seven riffle shuffles are enough to shuffle a deck of cards — but only if you can cut your deck with precision. Decades later, a new proof has finally extended the finding to less precise cuts. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with math editor Jordana Cepelewicz about how a mathematical cutoff phenomenon still exists for riffle shuffling — randomness seems to happen all at once.This topic was

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22:01

Will We Ever Be Able To Forecast Volcanic Eruptions...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/07/07

Volcano forecasting can save countless lives. But most of the time warnings are more like educated guesses. How close are we to forecasting volcano behavior the way we forecast the weather? On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Hannah Waters speaks with writer and volcano expert Robin George Andrews about just how close we are to accurately forecasting volcanic eruptions. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine

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13:32

Audio Edition: Tiny Tubes Reveal Clues to the...

The Quanta Podcast ·

2026/07/02

Scientists have identified tubulin structures in primitive Asgard archea that may have been the precursor of our own cellular skeletons.The article Tiny Tubes Reveal Clues to the Evolution of Complex Life first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

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