Entanglements, by Undark
Undark Magazine
After a two-year hiatus, the Undark podcast returns with a new format and a new name: Entanglements. Join science journalists Brooke Borel and Anna Rothschild as they invite guests with both expertise and divergent opinions on some of the most contentious and politicized areas of science today, from vaccines and GMOs to deep sea mining, AI, and the origins of Covid. Their goal: To see if they can break through the discord and find common ground. Far from an exercise in false balance, Entanglements, like Undark, seeks to bring civil discussion — and a bit of fun and wonder — back to the intersection of science and culture.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 16, 2026 • 36min
Is There a Population Crisis?
This week on Entanglements: Is there really a population crisis? To answer what seems like a simple question, our hosts talk to an economist and a demographer about the world population trends and fertility rates.
Oct 9, 2026 • 33min
Which Animals Are Conscious?
This week on Entanglements: Are octopuses conscious? What about lobsters? Or mosquitoes? Our hosts talk to two philosophers — one at the University of Southampton in the U.K, another is the director of the Critical Thinking Project at the University of Queensland in Australia — about which animals are sentient, and why.
Oct 2, 2026 • 36min
Is ADHD Actually a Disorder?
This week on Entanglements: Is ADHD a disorder? The symptoms are certainly real, but scientists are not in agreement whether or not to call ADHD a true disorder. Our hosts dig in with a professor of molecular psychiatry at Radboud University in the Netherlands and a developmental psychologist and professor at King's College London.
Sep 25, 2026 • 39min
Welcome to Season 3: Should We Put AI-Enabled Tech in Our Brains?
We're back again! This week on Entanglements: Should we allow AI technology to be put in our brains? It sounds like something out of science fiction, but our hosts discuss the current research on neural implants with a professor of neurology and neuroethics at the University of British Columbia and a physician scientist and medical ethicist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
Oct 8, 2025 • 17min
How to Cover Science Under Trump
In the Season 2 finale, our hosts talk to Tom Zeller Jr., Undark’s editor-in-chief, about covering science under the Trump administration. While the podcast's topics are always politically charged, they have become even more so in the current political climate.
Oct 1, 2025 • 32min
Do We Know Enough to Use Psychedelics As Medicine?
This week on Entanglements: Do we have enough scientific evidence to approve psychedelics as medicine? Our hosts unpack the data with Albert Garcia-Romeu, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Bertha Madras, a professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School.
Sep 24, 2025 • 36min
What Should We Risk to Settle Space?
This week on Entanglements: Should we live on Mars, and beyond? Our hosts talk to Tiffany Vora, a biologist and space advocate who has done three analog Mars simulations, and Kelly Weinersmith, a biologist and the co-author of the book “A City on Mars."
Sep 17, 2025 • 38min
Should Companies Decide Our Tech Future?
This week on Entanglements: Should tech companies — and the billionaires that often run them — decide for the rest of us how artificial intelligence is deployed? Our hosts dig into the topic with two book authors who have covered AI from essentially opposing perspectives: Greg Beato and Adam Becker.
Sep 10, 2025 • 32min
Should We Revamp Our Voting System?
This week on Entanglements: Should we switch all U.S. elections to ranked choice voting? Our hosts discuss the pros and cons with Deb Otis, director of research and policy for Fair Vote, a non-profit that works on election reform, and David McCune, a professor of mathematics at William Jewell College in Missouri.
Sep 3, 2025 • 25min
Should We Change Our Planet's Climate...On Purpose?
This week on Entanglements: Should we run outdoor geoengineering experiments? Our hosts dive into this fiercely debated topic with an atmospheric chemist from Harvard University and a planetary physicist from Oxford University.
