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Latest Episodes:

How The Internet Reveals Our Innermost Desires May 12, 2017

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Racism doesn’t just exist in the South, men really care about penis size, and having mutual friends doesn’t mean your relationship will work out. Turns out, there’s a lot you can learn from online data.

The AARP For Kids? May 12, 2017

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Older Americans have the AARP. Gun owners have the NRA. But one of the biggest swaths of our population has very little political power.

Full Show: What We Really Think May 12, 2017

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It can be difficult to know what people are thinking. So how can we unearth our real selves? Google, says Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Older Americans have the AARP. Gun owners have the NRA. And now, kids have Common Sense Media. What can a couple of inkblots say about you? Apparently, a lot. We talk with Damion Searls about the rise of the Rorschach test.

The Dark Side Of Scientific Progress May 05, 2017

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Science gave us penicillin, space travel, and computers. But, it also gave us TNT, guns, and heroin. Paul Offit tells us about when science goes wrong.

The Science Of Freezing May 05, 2017

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Scientists experiment, test, hypothesize… and sometimes they discover something completely and utterly by accident.

Sleep's Restless History May 05, 2017

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You may spend a third of your life asleep… but how much do you know about it, really? Benjamin Reiss walks us through the history of sleep.

How The World Revolves Around Superhubs May 05, 2017

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Who pulls the levers of the global financial system? Superhubs. Sandra Navidi explains who they are and what they’re doing.

Full Show: Strange Shifts May 05, 2017

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Science is great. Except when it gives us stuff like heroin and TNT. Paul Offit explains what we can all learn from science’s mistakes. A small, insular group controls the world’s financial system. No, they aren’t lizard-people. They’re superhubs. The way we sleep now was invented in the 18th century. Benjamin Reiss takes us on a tour of sleep’s history.

Full Show: The Days Of Our Lives Apr 28, 2017

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What happens when people regularly start living past 100? Plus, if you haven’t made that big scientific discovery yet, don’t worry: there’s time. Finally, we work four more weeks a year now than we did in the 1970s. And that’s a problem.

The Right To Free Time Apr 28, 2017

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It feels great to carve out a few leisure hours each week. But, Professor Julie Rose says that free time should be a right, not a privilege.