528. Yuval Noah Harari Thinks Life is Me...

In the final episode of our whale series, we learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why Moby-Dick is still worth reading. (Part 3 of "Everything You Never Knew About Whaling.") SOURCES:Michele Baggio, professor of economics at the University of Connecticut.Mary K. Bercaw-E ... Show More

For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. ... Show More

Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did the U.S. come to dominate the whale market? Why did whale hunting die out here — and continue to grow elsewhere? And is that whale vomit in your perfume? (Part 1 of “Everything You Ne ... Show More

The author of Sapiens has a knack for finding the profound in the obvious. He tells Steve why money is fiction, traffic can be mind-blowing, and politicians have a right to say stupid things in private.   

Steve Levitt has spent decades as an academic economist, “studying strange phenomena and human behavior in weird circumstances.” Now he’s turning his curiosity to something new: interviewing some of the most interesting, unorthodox people around — from actresses to athletes, auth ... Show More

My guest today is Richard Dawkins. I assume most of you know who he is, but in case you've been living under a rock; Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and emeritus fellow at Oxford University. If I listed all the awards he's received in his lifetime, this description w ... Show More

Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying join Bridget to discuss their latest book A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century . They have a fascinating conversation covering how so much in evolutionary biology is obvious in retrospect, why an explicitly scientific and evolutionary un ... Show More

A few years ago, I came across a book called Signs on the Horizons. It’s about an individual’s personal encounters with extraordinary human beings from around the world. To be honest, it left such a profound impression on me that I just had to meet the author in person — and I fi ... Show More

Today in Closing Remarks, Steve shares with us his lowest point and how it lead to his highest points.  Along with that he brags on his faith in God and why.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

It’s official, the TED Interview has a new host! In Chris’s last episode as head of the show, he interviews his successor, bestselling science and technology author Steven Johnson. Two self-described intellectual soulmates, Chris and Steven take a deep dive in discussing where id ... Show More

Oprah sits down with New York Times bestselling author Dr. Abraham Verghese for a compelling six-part conversation on his latest book, The Covenant of Water. In this episode on parts 5 and 6, Abraham shares how his experiences influenced his characters and explains the origin of ... Show More

Is seeing believing? In an era of surveillance and “deepfakes” and camera phones, images are more powerful—and fraught—than they’ve ever been. The poet and writer David Levi Strauss, an authority on photography and its effect in society, and the renowned anthropologist Michael Ta ... Show More

“Today, we are supercompetent when it comes to efficiency, utility, speed, convenience, and getting ahead in the world; but we are at a loss concerning what it’s all for,” Leon Kass writes in his 2017 book “Leading a Worthy Life.” “This lack of cultural and moral confidence about ... Show More