What The If?

Latest Episodes:

2022-02-11 Eat ANYTHING! Oct 15, 2022

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An encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes! --- Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Want to support the show? Check out our membership rewards at Patreon.com/Whattheif And you can review the show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

Animals TALK Back! Oct 07, 2022

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Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

Atoms The Size of LEGOS! Oct 05, 2022

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An encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes! Check out our membership rewards at Patreon.com/Whattheif Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Enjoy the show and keep on IFFin'

Life Inside The STARLINK Sphere! Sep 30, 2022

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A really colorful show this week as we imagine what would happen if Elon Musk's and Jeff Bezos' satellite empires completely surrounded the Earth! --- Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

The Milky Way Is ALIVE - With Dr. Moiya McTier! Sep 23, 2022

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Our special guest this week is Dr. Moiya McTier, “Folklorist to the stars & Astrophysicist to the folks.” Dr. McTier is the host of the popular science podcast Exolore, and the author of the new book, The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy. She writes on her website: "I truly am my ancestors' wildest dream. I grew up in a log cabin in the middle of the woods in rural Pennsylvania. I didn't have TV, a heating system, or running water. My chores included carrying buckets of water from our outdoor pump and chopping firewood to fuel our wood-burning stove. The nearest confederate flag was flying much closer than the nearest Black person. It was an interesting place and way to grow up. Now I have 4 Ivy League degrees and work my dream job as a full-time science communicator in New York City. I've given hundreds of talks about science around the world, written a science fiction novel, helped design exhibits for the New York Hall of Science. I write books, host shows, and consult on movies." Tune in to this gigantic, galaxy spanning (and spawning!) episode in which Moiya asks, what the if… the Milky Way were SENTIENT? Visit Dr. McTier's website: moiyamctier.com Learn more about her podcast: moiyamctier.com/exolore Learn more about her book: https://www.grandcentralpublishing.com/titles/moiya-mctier/the-milky-way/9781538754153/ --- Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

Criminal COCKATOOS! Sep 16, 2022

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Alastair REYNOLDS & Brain RADIO! Sep 09, 2022

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A very special episode. One of the world’s greatest living science fiction authors, ALASTAIR REYNOLDS returns to the show! Al riffs with us on a concept he created in his “REVENGER” series: what (the!) if we could communicate our THOUGHTS via RADIO? Al takes us on an incredible, insanely imaginative adventure through a world in which you better be careful what you’re thinking when you're “talking” to your friends! What would the details of the technology be like, how would it make you feel, how would society be changed by such an astounding invention? This is a true tour de force of sci-imagination. Alastair Reynolds’ most recent book is the gripping, mind-bending adventure novel, “Eversion” https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alastair-reynolds/eversion/9781668604250/ Learn more about Al on his website: alastairreynolds.com. --- Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

PIG Necromancy? Sep 02, 2022

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Today's IF is ripped from the headlines! Read the article in The New York Times: "A ‘Reversible’ Form of Death? Scientists Revive Cells in Dead Pigs’ Organs." By Gina Kolata at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/science/pigs-organs-death.html?smid=url-share --- Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

CANCER Virus Hunters -- with Gregory J. Morgan! Aug 26, 2022

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Our guest is Gregory J. Morgan, an associate professor specializing in the history and philosophy of science at Stevens Institute of Technology. His newest book is “Cancer Virus Hunters: A History of Tumor Virology” from Johns Hopkins University Press Learn more about the book here: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/11577/cancer-virus-hunters Visit Greg on Twitter: @DrGmorgan from the JHU Press website: “[Morgan’s] new book traces the history of the study of tumor viruses and its role in driving breakthroughs in cancer research. ”Worldwide, approximately one-fifth of human cancers are caused by tumor viruses, with hepatitis B virus and HPV being the leading culprits. While the explosive growth in molecular biology in the late twentieth century is well known, the role that the study of tumor viruses has played in driving many of the greatest breakthroughs is not. Without the insights gained by studying tumor viruses, many significant theoretical advancements over the last four decades in cellular and molecular biology would not have been made. More practically, the study of tumor viruses has saved thousands, if not millions, of lives. In Cancer Virus Hunters, Gregory J. Morgan traces the high points in the development of tumor virology, from Peyton Rous's pioneering work on chicken tumors in 1909 to the successful development of an HPV vaccine for cervical cancer in 2006. Morgan offers a novel approach to understanding the interconnectedness of a long series of biomedical breakthroughs, including those that led to seven Nobel prizes. Among other advances, Morgan describes and contextualizes the science that prompted the discoveries of reverse transcriptase, RNA splicing, the tumor suppressor p53, the vaccine for hepatitis B, and the HIV test. He also explores how "cancer virus hunters" have demonstrated the virtue of beginning with a simple system, even when investigating a complex disease like cancer. “Based on extensive archival research and over fifty interviews with experts, Cancer Virus Hunters is a tour de force summarizing a century of research to show how discoveries made with tumor viruses came to dominate the contemporary understanding of cancer. By showcasing the scientists themselves, the book makes for an unusually accessible journey through the history of science. It will be of interest to biomedical professionals—especially in oncology, hepatology, and infectious disease—in addition to historians of science and anyone interested in cancer research.” --- Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

A Nation Without SANITATION! Aug 19, 2022

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