Today
Muons, massive waves and restored sight: the winners at the ‘Oscars of science’
Madeleine Finlay sits down with science editor Ian Sample to hear about some of the winners of the Breakthrough Prize, which held its ceremony in LA last weekend. Each prize is worth $3m and they’re awarded in physics, maths and life sciences. Madeleine and Ian hear from molecula ... Show More
16m 19s
Apr 21
Mythos: are fears over new AI model panic or PR?
Earlier this month the AI company Anthropic said it had created a model so powerful that, out of a sense of responsibility, it was not going to release it to the public. Anthropic says the model, Mythos Preview, excels at spotting and exploiting vulnerabilities in software, and c ... Show More
15m 50s
Jul 2024
The Science Of Memory: How To Get Better At Remembering And Be Okay With Forgetting | Charan Ranganath
<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p>---</p> <p>A neuroscientist's strategies to help you remember what really matters, and how mood, multitasking and other people can impact our ... Show More
1h 16m
Oct 2025
Jane G. Goldberg, "Wired for Why: How We Think, Feel, and Make Meaning" (2025)
WIRED FOR WHY: How We Think, Feel and Make Meaning. (Self-Published 2025) spans eighteen chapters exploring everything from how we manage to stay alive against all odds, to why language separates us from other species, to whether death might be a metaphor. It's a journey through ... Show More
1h 3m
Feb 2024
Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There
Today’s book is: Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2024), by Tali Sharot and Cass R. Sunstein, a book that asks why stimulating jobs and breathtaking works of art lose their sparkle after a while. People stop noticing what is mo ... Show More
48m 28s
May 2023
Experiencing Pain, Grief and the Cosmos, Ivory-Billed Controversy. May 26, 2023, Part 2
<p>The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Debate Keeps Pecking Away</p>
<p>Every so often, there’s a claim that the ivory-billed woodpecker is back from the dead. <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ivory-billed-woodpecker-extinction-debate/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&ut ... Show More
46m 52s
The Oxford English Dictionary announced its word of the year at the end of 2024: brain rot. The term relates to the supposedly negative effects of consuming social media content, but it struck a chord more widely with many of us who feel we just don’t have the mental capacity we once did. Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of Californi ... Show More
<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p><em>---</em></p> <p>A journalist explores one of humanity's most brutal and unavoidable experiences.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><a href="https://del ... Show More
