logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2024
41m 49s

Cheating Death

Wnyc Studios
About this episode
In this episode, Maria Paz Gutiérrez does battle against the one absolute truth of human existence and all life… death. After getting a team of scientists to stand in for death (the grim reaper wasn’t available), we parry and thrust our way through the myriad ways that death comes for us - from falling pianos to evolution’s disinterest in longevity. In the p ... Show More
Up next
Sep 11
23 Weeks 6 Days
When Kelley Benham and her husband Tom French finally got pregnant, after many attempts and a good deal of technological help, everything was perfect. Until it wasn't. Their story raises questions that, until recently, no parent had to face… and that are still nearly impossible t ... Show More
1h 3m
Sep 4
60 Words
We’re coming up on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and it had us thinking about an episode we produced in 2014. It’s the story of one sentence, written in the hours after September 11th, 2001, that has led to the longest war in U.S. history. We examine how just 60 words ... Show More
58m 25s
Aug 28
Dolly Parton's America: Sad Ass Songs
The world lost a legend recently, and we wanted in some small way to pay tribute to the great Dolly Parton. So we’re playing you an episode from a series we had a small part in back in 2017, Dolly Parton’s America. The series kicked off with a simple question: How did the queen o ... Show More
1h 4m
Recommended Episodes
May 2021
Back From the Dead
Today we're telling tales that push life to the ultimate limit. We're bringing things back from the dead, diving into the mysteries of immortality and asking just how much can the human body take? We talk to Rohan Schoeman, Dr. Eduard Argudo, Audrey Mash, Prof. Ferdinando Boero, ... Show More
39m 56s
Jun 2023
When We Die
What happens in our brains when we die? Where does consciousness come from? And what can out of body experiences teach us about how we create our own realities? In this episode of How We’re Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin as she unpicks the neuroscience of ... Show More
32m 14s
Jul 2025
Do We Have to Die? with Venki Ramakrishnan
<p>Why do we die? Do we have to? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly explore the paradox of death, the science of aging, and the search for immortality with Nobel Prize-winning structural biologist Venki Ramakrishnan.</p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to thi ... Show More
1h 3m
Oct 2023
Redefining death
This Halloween, we look at how technology is forcing us to ask: When is someone actually dead? And we look into research that is raising a further question: Could death someday be reversible? This episode originally ran on November 22, 2022. For show transcripts, go to bit.ly/unx ... Show More
33m 55s
Aug 2021
Chasing Immortality
<p>Since humans have been living we've also been dying—best case scenario: after eight or nine decades and plenty of good times. But we're not wholly content with that. Never have been, probably never will be.</p> <p>In fact, working on how not to die is one of the most human thi ... Show More
40m 5s
Oct 2017
Thanatology (DEATH & DYING) with Cole Imperi
<p>Hoooo boy. We're all up in death and dying's bizness and to Alie's shock, it's not a bummer. Confront and perhaps OVERCOME existential anxiety as we discuss not only the science of death but the nature and goddamn beauty of life. Everything from burial methods, the latest in e ... Show More
1h 23m
Apr 2019
Sky Full of Ghosts
<p>A past caller who's made strides in living with grief, learning to tell her story and finding a path of acceptance catches up with Gethard in studio (no phones!). They ask: Are we living in a simulation? What's dark matter? What type of scientist parties the hardest?</p> <p><b ... Show More
1h 25m
Oct 2022
Death
Rutendo and Sebastian explore death and its role in the natural world. For Sebastian, death is a permanent state, a complete end to a life. But for Rutendo and her family, death is just a temporary parting. Around the world burial customs differ, but throughout nature, death and ... Show More
36m 24s
Jun 2025
Mostly dead is slightly alive
tail spinning
18m 51s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami