Inquiring Minds
Indre Viskontas
Each week we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science and society collide. We’re committed to the idea that making an effort to understand the world around you though science and critical thinking can benefit everyone—and lead to better decisions. We want to find out what’s true, what’s left to discover, and why it all matters.
Episodes
Mentioned books
May 14, 2018 • 33min
The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods
We talk to Danna Staaf, a science writer with a PhD in invertebrate biology from Stanford University, about her new book Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
May 12, 2018 • 15min
Up To Date | Pre-pregnancy Genome Sequencing, Mass Prescribing Antibiotics, and the Trolley Problem
This week: A study looking at how much actionable information pre-pregnancy genome sequencing can actually give you; the benefits and consequences of mass mass prescribing antibiotics; and a new study looking at the trolley problem and how peoples’ hypothetical judgment compares to their real-life behavior.Links mentioned:https://www.wired.com/story/the-catch-22-of-mass-prescribing-antibiotics/https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(18)30136-8http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797617752640Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
May 7, 2018 • 49min
The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor
We talk to science writer and neurobiologist Lone Frank about her latest book The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
May 5, 2018 • 9min
Up To Date | Genetically Editing Fat Tissue, A Turing Test For Water, and Another Mars Lander
University of Copenhagen scientists managed to genetically delete an enzyme in mice that made it impossible for them to get fat, even on a very fatty diet; Alan Turing wrote a paper in 1952 that is still having impacts on science today in ways you may not expect; and NASA sends the InSight Lander to Mars.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
May 1, 2018 • 55min
Losing the Nobel Prize
We talk to astrophysicist Brian Keating about new his book Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science's Highest Honor.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Apr 28, 2018 • 11min
Up To Date | Anonymous Study Subjects, Genetically Engineered Livestock, and Asteroids Delivering Water
This week: Scott Pruitt’s fight against anonymous study subjects, a debate on should be regulating genetically engineered livestock, and new research that shows asteroids could have delivered water to the early Earth.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Apr 23, 2018 • 44min
How We Evolved to Have Free Will
We talk to biologist Kenneth R. Miller about his new book The Human Instinct: How We Evolved to Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Apr 20, 2018 • 13min
Up To Date | Night Owl Death, Space Launches, and Viagra’s Greater Purpose
This week: new research shows being a night owl might mean you’re at a greater risk of dying early, multiple interesting space launches are happening, and there’s new research into using phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors like Viagra and Cialis to help other drugs do their job better.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Apr 16, 2018 • 47min
Creating Empathy With Immersive Virtual Reality
We talk to the founding director of Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Jeremy Bailenson. Bailenson’s lab studies how virtual reality can affect empathy—how it makes you feel to virtually embody someone else. VR offers the ability to be in someone else’s shoes in a way that you can’t recreate in real life—and those immersive experiences, whether it be facing a day in the life of a person experiencing homelessness, or diving to the corals that are right now being bleached by climate change, have lingering effects on all of us.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
Apr 13, 2018 • 19min
Up-To-Date | Does It Fart?: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence
Kishore talks to Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti, authors of Does It Fart?: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
