Aug 25

Weirdhouse Cinema Rewind: Venom (1981)

In this classic episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe wrestle with their first full-blown snake movie: 1981’s “Venom.” It stars Oliver Reed, Klaus Kinski and a live black mamba snake from the London Zoo. Film historians still debate which was the more difficult actor of the t ... Show More

1h 16m

Aug 23

From the Vault: Ancient Oars on the Wine-Dark Sea, Part 1

In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe explore the mysteries and marvels of oar-powered galleys and warships in the ancient Mediterranean world. How many oars did they depend on? How many rowers and how many levels of rowers? And what are we to make of ... Show More

40m 59s

Aug 22

Weirdhouse Cinema: Quatermass and the Pit

In this episode of Weirdhouse Cinema, Rob and Joe discuss the 1967 sci-fi horror film “Quatermass and the Pit” starring James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley and Julian Glover.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1h 35m

Dec 2015

Episode 08: Being Human with Robert Sapolsky

This episode of Origin Stories was recorded live in San Francisco as part of the Bay Area Science Festival. It was the first of The Leakey Foundation and the Baumann Foundation’s new “Being Human” event series. Our speaker was Robert Sapolsky, a professor of biology and neurology ... Show More

38m 34s

Mar 2017

Babbage: Dragon’s blood medicine

Komodo dragon blood contains compounds that help combat human diseases. So can lizards help in the battle against antibiotic-resistant infections? Also: switch the power off and a microprocessor forgets everything but now there’s a way to give it a permanent memory. And did life ... Show More

17m 42s

Dec 2024

'They Might Be Giants' Sings About Science

As part of Science Friday’s 33rd anniversary show, we’re revisiting our listeners’ favorite stories, including this one from 2009.In the album “Here Comes Science,” the band They Might Be Giants tackled the scientific process, plasma physics, the role of blood in the body, and th ... Show More

26m 44s

Jul 2024

CLASSIC: Third Eye Spies, the CIA and the Quiet Mind with Russell Targ

What if you could travel outside your body at will, sending your consciousness across the planet and beyond? While it may sound like a tale of science fiction to some, the phenomenon known as remote viewing was the subject intense government scrutiny for years. Join the guys as t ... Show More

56m 52s

Jul 30

12 tiny worlds

If you went back 500 million years and re-ran evolution, would life be totally different today? Guests: Richard Lenski and Zachary Blount, evolutionary biologists at Michigan State University For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more, go ... Show More

35m 40s

Dec 2021

Top Human Origins Discoveries of 2021

2021 was a big year in science! Fossil discoveries introduced new relatives to our family tree, new findings added fascinating twists to the human story, and breakthroughs in research methods opened new worlds to explore. In this episode, five scientists discuss their favorite hu ... Show More

31m 16s

Jul 21

Who taught beavers to build dams?

How does any animal know what to do? A neuroscientist argues it's not “instinct.” Something bigger is going on. (First published in 2022) Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ... Show More

29m 17s

Apr 2020

Ah, BATS!

What in the world does Guy Raz's new micro house have in common with a tree hollow for vampire bats? And how in the world can humans learn about sharing from these blood slurping, flying mammals? And why in the world are they barfing into each other's mouths?! Join Mindy, Guy Raz ... Show More

28m 4s

Mar 2022

The Deadliest Fart in the Animal Kingdom!

Ben Garrod, presenter, biologist and author joins us to chat about the animals that no longer exist and those that are currently endangered this week! Professor Hallux and Nurse Nanabot are back this week too and they have all the information for us about opticians and how our ey ... Show More

27m 56s

Oct 2022

Nadine Weidman, "Killer Instinct: The Popular Science of Human Nature in Twentieth-Century America" (Harvard UP, 2021)

A historian of science examines key public debates about the fundamental nature of humans to ask why a polarized discourse about nature versus nurture became so entrenched in the popular sciences of animal and human behavior. Are humans innately aggressive or innately cooperative ... Show More

1h 9m

The Devil You Know, Part 1