

Probably Science
Andy Wood, Matt Kirshen
Professional comedians with so-so STEM pedigrees take you through this week in science. Incompetently. Featuring hosts Matt Kirshen, Andy Wood (and sometimes Jesse Case or Brooks Wheelan) along with a rotating cast of special guests from the worlds of comedy and science.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 13, 2023 • 1h 13min
Episode 492 - Dr. Heather Berlin
Neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Dr. Heather Berlin (@heather_berlin) joins Matt, Jesse and Andy to talk about hosting the upcoming PBS series Your Brain, the hard problem of consciousness, evolutionary mismatches, panic attack strategies, flow state performance, debating Deepak Chopra about god, the Stanford marshmallow experiment, impulse control, the downside of getting a hangry judge, debunking brain myths, creating consciousness in different substrates, the thermal grill experiment and the fact that we're all going to die.

May 5, 2023 • 1h 24min
Episode 491 - Jon Gabrus
Comedian and host of the podcasts High and Mighty and ActionBoyz Jon Gabrus (@Gabrus) joins Matt, Jesse and Andy to talk about his hilarious show 101 Places to Party Before You Die, the WGA strike, whether AI can write a 30 Rock scene, the shrinking middle class in entertainment, buffet memories, the benefits of an all-female Mars mission team, curing parrot loneliness with video calls, the insane number of pet birds in the US and advice for a precocious young listener.

Apr 22, 2023 • 1h 22min
Episode 490 - Andrew Weinberg
Longtime Conan writer and co-creator of Eagleheart Andrew Weinberg joins Andy, Jesse and Matt to talk about his ridiculously funny new show Jury Duty, which follows the workings of a jury trial through the eyes of Ronald Gladden, a juror who is unaware the entire case is fake, the insane hoops they had to jump through to bring the show to life, the truth about weed and creativity, and the unsurprising link between arousal and a desire to have sex with a robot.

Apr 12, 2023 • 1h 6min
Episode 489 - Andy Hendrickson
Comedian Andy Hendrickson (@andyhendrickson) joins Jesse, Matt and Andy to talk about magic tricks that only work on monkeys with opposable thumbs, how mirrors know where eggs are, a math formula for achieving orgasm, how quickly you can create false memories and Andy's neighbor Tony's commentary track on Birdemic 3.

Apr 7, 2023 • 1h 3min
Episode 488 - Nate Craig
Comedian Nate Craig (@hypeman) returns to the podcast to talk about a deadly fungal infection, terrible maps, building cities on shaky ground, the history of plate tectonics, nanoplastics interfering with chicken embryos and a 3D-printed cake.

Mar 28, 2023 • 1h 18min
Episode 487 - Noman Hosni
Comedian Noman Hosni (@NomanHosni) joins Matt, Jesse and Andy to talk about Tunisia, bad fan art, hair transplants, a bad embryo swap, Paris' City of Science and Industry, a blood test for anxiety, storing carbon dioxide in the ocean as baking soda, how much lift the space shuttle lander can generate and mapping the brain of a fruit fly.

Mar 17, 2023 • 1h 13min
Episode 486 - Sarah Lane
Host of Daily Tech News Show Sarah Lane (@sarahlane) joins Jesse, Matt and Andy to talk about ballerina doppelgangers, Tom Cruise stunts, Cocaine Bear, accidentally ending up on the air, bumblebees learning to solve puzzles by watching their friends, talkin' transoms, more medical tourism, Meta's VR play and DuckDuckGo's new AI-assisted search.

Mar 8, 2023 • 1h 11min
Episode 485 - AI Talk with Kevin Roose
New York Times technology columnist and host of the Hard Fork podcast Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) joins Andy, Jesse and Matt to talk about his infamous, amorous encounter with Bing Chat/Sydney, Sydney's response to his story, getting backhanded compliments from John Oliver, how ChatGPT was dismissed by its own creators, generative AI and the future of deepfakes, AI's capability overhang, explaining LLMs' weirdness with the Waluigi effect, artists' lawsuits over training AI on their creations, whether we care how art is made, which jobs could soon be on the chopping block and Futureproof, Kevin's handbook for the weird times ahead.

Feb 24, 2023 • 1h 10min
Episode 484 - Amanda Brooke Perrin
Comedian and writer Amanda Brooke Perrin (@brookeperrin) joins Matt, Andy and Jesse to discuss haboobs, a Tony update, a 2200-year-old flush toilet found in China, DIY Poo-Pourri, how soft food gave us the F-word, Andy's consonant invention, ChatGPT developing a theory of mind, and dolphin handjobs.

Feb 13, 2023 • 1h 17min
Episode 483 - Erica Spera
Comedian Erica Spera (@Spericaa) joins Andy, Jesse and Matt to talk about almost going into dentistry, prehistoric teeth, Andy's Mexican dental tourism, what we're supposed to call mummies now, monster cereals, AI Seinfeld's heel turn, Roko's basilisk, mummy chemicals, ancient stone tools and more stone tools and Soylent.