

Unexplainable
Vox
Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles scientific mysteries, unanswered questions, and everything we learn diving into the unknown. New episodes Mondays and Wednesdays.From Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
Mentioned books

13 snips
Mar 15, 2023 • 26min
Origins: The meaning of “life”
For every definition of life, there’s a creature that sends us right back to the drawing board.This is the third episode in our three-part series, Origins, about the beginnings and boundaries of life on Earth.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

27 snips
Mar 8, 2023 • 28min
Origins: The first living thing
How did life on Earth start? To help answer that, researchers are trying to create some life for themselves.This is the second episode in our three-part series, Origins, about the beginnings and boundaries of life on Earth.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

38 snips
Mar 1, 2023 • 26min
Origins: How did Earth get its water?
Life as we know it needs water, but scientists can’t figure out where Earth’s water came from. Answering that question is just one piece of an even bigger mystery: “Why are we here?”This is the first episode in our new three-part series, Origins, about the beginnings and boundaries of life on Earth.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable It’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com We read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

14 snips
Feb 15, 2023 • 33min
What is love?
Can science help us predict whether a relationship will succeed? Or is it all just chaos?This episode originally ran on February 9, 2022.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

4 snips
Feb 8, 2023 • 30min
Why we hiccup
Listeners told us that eating baby carrots or telling lies can bring on the hiccups. Burping or kissing can make them stop. Um, what?For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Feb 1, 2023 • 22min
We booped an asteroid
Last fall, a NASA spacecraft slammed into an asteroid to test a way to avert a disaster on Earth. So are we safe now?For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jan 25, 2023 • 27min
Your creepy, crawly roommates
Our houses are homes to hidden worlds of bugs. And the more ecologists explore those worlds, the more they realize that some of our tiny roommates actually have a lot to teach us. For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

7 snips
Jan 18, 2023 • 32min
Henrietta Leavitt and the end of the universe
In the early 1900s, Henrietta Leavitt made one of the most important discoveries in the history of astronomy: a yardstick to measure distances to faraway stars. Using this tool, scientists eventually transformed our understanding of the universe. They realized space was expanding, that this expansion was accelerating, and that ultimately, everything will end.This episode originally ran on June 30, 2021.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

31 snips
Jan 11, 2023 • 27min
Plants with eyes?
In the temperate rainforests of Chile, there is a vine that can shapeshift to copy the look of other plants. But how? Can it... see them? Or is something weirder happening?For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

6 snips
Jan 4, 2023 • 30min
Unexplainable or Not: Bikes, planes, ice skates
Our game show is back! This week, Avery Trufelman, host of the Articles of Interest podcast, tries to guess which of these three mysteries of movement have been solved and which are still unexplainable.For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainableIt’s a great place to view show transcripts and read more about the topics on our show.Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices