Stay ConnectedUnexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles scientific mysteries, unanswered questions, and everything we learn diving into the unknown. New episodes Mondays and Wednesdays.
From Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Copyright: © 2021 Vox Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
A scientist asked people to sit in a silent room for 15 minutes. Almost half of them decided to give themselves a painful electric shock instead. What is it about our brains that makes our relationship with silence so strange? And should we learn how to listen to it?
This is the third episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Erin Westgate, assistant professor at the University of Florida; Rui Zhe Goh, doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University; Melody Baglione, professor at Cooper Union
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
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Almost 15% of adults suffer from a persistent, often intolerable sound... that is literally just in their heads. Why does the brain do this to us? We help one of our listeners get some answers.
This is the second episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Stéphane Maison, director of the tinnitus clinic at Mass Eye and Ear; Susan Shore, professor emerita at the University of Michigan, and Dan Polley, tinnitus researcher at Mass Eye and Ear
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
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Just like optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. It makes scientists wonder: What exactly are we hearing, when we're hearing?
This is the first episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Diana Deutsch, emeritus professor at the University of California, San Diego; Matthew Winn, professor at the University of Minnesota; Michael Chorost, science writer
You can find more of Diana Deutsch’s auditory illusions at https://bit.ly/3Mdh6H4
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
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This week on Unexplainable or Not, Sally Helm, the newest member of our team, tries to figure out what's killing mussels, why rivers suddenly change course, and what the longest river in the world is.
Guests: Douglas Edmonds, professor at Indiana University; Neel Dhanesha, science reporter
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
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Now why would you click on something like this? What's wrong with you?! Why are you — and so many other people — into scary stuff? Two scientists are trying to find out. (Originally aired in 2024)
Guests: Mathias Clasen and Marc Andersen, co-directors of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
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Killing two people is worse than killing one. What about 440 billion crustaceans? Adapted from Dylan Matthews's essay on Vox.com.
This story is part of a series supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from EarthShare.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
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And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
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Think about the thing you’ve practiced more than anything else in the world. Maybe it’s painting. Or writing. Or playing baseball.
Now, imagine you wake up one day, and you just can’t do it. You’re not sick. You’re not injured. But suddenly, that one thing is impossible. (Originally published in 2024)
Guests: Rick Ankiel, former Major League Baseball star; Sally Akehurst, sports psychologist and a dean at University of Roehampton, London; Steven Frucht, neurologist at NYU Langone
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
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Terry Riley's "In C" is one of the most influential pieces of music of the last century...but you'll never hear it the same way twice.
Guest: Evan Ziporyn, composer, clarinetist, and producer of "In C"
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
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Donald Trump and RFK Jr. seem convinced that it does. But our friends at Science Vs say the data is far more complicated.
Guest: Meryl Horn, senior producer at Science Vs
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
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Zombies might seem like the stuff of horror movies, but there are lots of examples of parasites taking over bugs’ bodies and bending them to their will.
Guest: Mindy Weisberger, author of Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
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