About this episode
Yesterday
‘Everything is quagga mussel now’: can invasive species be stopped?
On a recent trip to Lake Geneva in Switzerland, biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston witnessed the impact of one of the planet’s most potent invasive species, the quagga mussel. In just a decade the mollusc, originally from the Ponto-Caspian region of the Black Sea, has caused irr ... Show More
16m 11s
Feb 3
Why are women turning to testosterone?
Just like men, women are increasingly being told by online influencers that the classic symptoms of middle age could be down to low testosterone. In the second part of this miniseries exploring the hormone, Madeleine Finlay finds out what testosterone supplementation is doing for ... Show More
15m 40s
Jan 29
Are men being misled over testosterone?
If TikTok influencers are to be believed, testosterone, or T, is the answer to everything from fitness frustrations and fatigue to low libido. But doctors are warning that social media misinformation is driving men to seek testosterone therapy that they don’t need. This in turn c ... Show More
17m 55s
Dec 2024
The Science Of Grief: What Helps, What Doesn't, And Why We Don't Talk About It Enough | Cody Delistraty
1h 12m
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
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
Jun 2023
Rewilding, Allergy Season, Sharing Science Rejections. June 2, 2023, Part 1
<p>Could Restoring Animal Populations Store More Carbon?</p>
<p>Did you know that land and ocean ecosystems absorb about half of the carbon dioxide we emit each year? But what if the earth had the capacity to absorb even more? With the help of some furry, scaly, and leathery crit ... Show More
47m 3s
Aug 2024
Why We Overthink (Amanda Montell)
43m 25s
Oct 2024
How To Feel Less Enraged And Hopeless When You Consume The News | Sharon McMahon
1h 19m
Jul 2025
The truth about the attention crisis with historian Daniel Immerwahr
In the age of social media and short-form content, many people insist that our attention spans are getting shorter. But historian Daniel Immerwahr reminds us that people have cried wolf for centuries about technology hijacking our attention. In this episode, Adam and Daniel dive ... Show More
35m 25s
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
May 2024
Your Mind Is Being Fracked
<p>The steady dings of notifications. The 40 tabs that greet you when you open your computer in the morning. The hundreds of unread emails, most of them spam, with subject lines pleading or screaming for you to click. Our attention is under assault these days, and most of us are ... Show More
1h 12m
Sep 2025
Algorithmic Social Media Is Driving New Slang
From viral slang such as “skibidi” to the rise of so-called brain rot, linguist and content creator Adam Aleksic, aka the “Etymology Nerd,” and associate editor Allison Parshall, who covers the mind and brain, unpack how social media and algorithms are reshaping the way we commun ... Show More
26m 55s
In 2024, the Oxford English Dictionary announced its word of the year was ‘brain rot’. The term relates to the supposedly negative effects of consuming social media content, but it struck a chord more widely with many who feel they don’t have the mental capacity they once had. Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, h ... 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
<p>Amanda Montell is the author of the <em>New York Times </em>bestseller <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/17662/9781668007976"><em>The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality</em></a>, as well as <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/17662/9780062993151"><em>Cultish: ... 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>"America's Government Teacher" has smart tips for staying calm in turbulent times.</p> <p>After years of serving as a high ... Show More
