Unexplainable

Greg Holland, a San Diego State University biochemist, studies the chemistry and production of spider silk. He explores why silk can outperform steel and Kevlar, why spiders are so difficult to farm, and the race to engineer strong, versatile fibers. The conversation also probes silk’s potential in defense, medicine, textiles, and research into neurodegenerative disease.

Lizzie Peabody, a journalist and host of the Smithsonian’s Sidedoor, investigates the mysteries behind wild orchids. She visits orchid competitions and searches for the rare small whorled pogonia in a secret Virginia grove. Along the way: orchid poaching, mysterious fungus partnerships, living tree roots, and scientists racing to preserve species before they disappear.

Dylan Scott, a senior Vox correspondent covering health and medical science, explores whether Alzheimer’s research is finally turning a corner. They discuss promising prevention strategies, new drugs that modestly slow decline, and a controversial surgery claiming to clear brain plaques. The conversation also examines the science behind the disease, desperate treatment choices, caregiver anguish, and why optimism still needs caution.

Tomasz Hollanek, a Cambridge AI designer and technology ethicist, explores deadbots and the risks of commercializing digital afterlives. Psycholinguist and writer Julie Sedivy examines how language, memories, and unfinished conversations keep loved ones present. Audio journalist Lissa Soep considers privacy, consent, grief, and whether an AI replica can truly preserve an intimate relationship.

Zack Savitsky, a science journalist and author of Cold Rush, explores the extreme refrigeration powering quantum computing. Discover why absolute zero is unreachable, how superfluids and superconductivity emerge in the deep cold, and why rare helium-3 links quantum technology to nuclear weapons, lunar mining, and even Party City. A chilly journey into the future of computing.

Amelia Meath, singer-songwriter with Sylvan Esso and Mountain Man, joins Elizabeth Margulis, a Princeton music cognition researcher. They explore why musical surprises trigger goosebumps, how expectations and repetition shape emotion, and why rhythm makes bodies move together. They also discuss chills, tears, shared connection, and whether music can communicate beyond language.

Bevil Conway, a visual artist and neuroscientist at the National Eye Institute, explores why color is more than a property of light. He unpacks the tennis-ball debate, color constancy, the blue-and-black dress mystery, and why our brains, language, culture, and assumptions shape what we see. Along the way, rainbows and paintings reveal just how flexible color can be.

Anna North, journalist and novelist, explores the eerie world of bog bodies. She explains how peat preserves skin, clothing, food, and even butter for millennia, what ancient remains reveal about travel and daily life, and why people may have been buried in bogs. The conversation also turns to peatlands as vital carbon stores and efforts to restore damaged bogs.

Ned Snelling, a University of Pretoria professor who studies metabolism and oxygen delivery, explores Earth’s ancient giant insects. They discuss dragonfly-sized flyers, two-meter millipedes, and whether oxygen-rich air enabled their enormous bodies. Climate shifts, predators, flight muscles, and modern insect declines add fresh twists to the mystery.

Joseph Howlett, a science writer and former physicist, explores dark matter’s cosmic mystery and the decades-long search for its elusive particle. He recounts building a detector beneath an Italian mountain, confronting null results, and wondering whether nature permits a complete answer. The conversation moves from scientific optimism to uncertainty, humility, and why he left physics for science writing.