Inquiring Minds

Welcome back to Inquiring Minds, where, after a brief hiatus, host Indre Viskontas returns withyet another memorable episode, this time featuring Charan Ranganath, Director of the Memoryand Plasticity Program and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University ofCalifornia at Davis. Over his illustrious career, Dr. Ranganath has received innumerabledistinguished awards, edited major neuroscience journals, consulted for neuroscience researchfunding agencies across the world, and has served on several review panels. In celebration of his50th birthday, he has written a book for the masses, Why We Remember, which examines ‘thepowerful role memory plays in nearly every aspect of our lives', and which also provides thespringboard for today's lively discussion about the fascinating journey of memory in the humanexperience. Be sure to download and enjoy this highly anticipated return of Indre's InquiringMinds, and revel in the unforgettable insights into memory's intricate interplay with cognitionand society offered here today, courtesy of these two giants in the field.Show Links:Inquiring Minds Homepage: https://inquiring.show/Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringmindsThe Cadence Podcast: https://cadence.show/Learn more about Charan and Why We Remember: https://charanranganath.com/

This week we talk to Robert Sapolsky—MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Stanford—about his new book Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will.

This week we talk to medical anthropologist and science writer Theresa MacPhail about her new book Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World.

This week we talk to journalist and sustainable fashion expert Alden Wicker about her book To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick—and How We Can Fight Back.

This week we talk to writer Cody Cassidy about his new book How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes.

This week we talk to psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris about their new book Nobody's Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It.

This week we talk to social psychologist and Stanford professor Brian Lowery about his new book Selfless: The Social Creation of “You”. In it, he proposes that what you think of as “you” is actually a social construct created by your relationships and affected by every interaction you have.

This week we talk to Hugh Howey, author of the bestselling Silo series of books and executive producer of the new Apple TV+ series of the same name. 

This week we talk to accelerator physicist Suzie Sheehy about her most recent book The Matter of Everything: How Curiosity, Physics, and Improbable Experiments Changed the World.

On the show this week we talk to Nita A. Farahany, distinguished professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and the founding director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, about her new book, "The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology."Many people choose to give up unprecedented levels of privacy in exchange for convenience. So why not give up your brain data too? Is it really that different? While the proposition may seem analogous, and despite how it's often presented, says Farahany, what could get decoded from your brain is a very different thing.“Everybody has something to hide when it comes to what's in their brain. Not in the sense of like, you're thinking about committing some horrible crime. But it is the space where you work out everything. And if you don't have that space to work out everything, suddenly what it means to be human is fundamentally different.”https://inquiring.show/episodes/400-the-perilous-combination-of-brain-wave-data-and-generative-ai

Last December, a team of scientists made history by creating a fusion reaction that—for the first time ever—gave off more energy that it took to start. It's a groundbreaking milestone.We talked to two researchers who were part of that team—Sabrina Nagel and Matthias Hohenberger—about what exactly happened, why it's been decades in the making, and why it's such a big deal. This is everything you need to know about their team's fusion breakthrough.

This week we talk to pioneering art & science researcher Susan Magsamen along with vice president of design for hardware products at Google, Ivy Ross, about their new book Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.While sometimes considered opposites, art and science are unequivocally linked in ways we're still figuring out. Not only does our way of thinking and living impact our art, but art also has an impact on how we think and live.

This week, with guest co-host Majel Connery, we talk to author and researcher Karen Bakker about her new book The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants. The book explores incredible stories of nonhuman sound along with the often overlooked impact human sound has on the natural world. Plus, things like: What do plants hear? How likely is interspecies communication? Will we one day be able to talk to dolphins? More info on Majel Connery, our guest host this week, can be found on her website.

This week we talk to neuroscientist and author Patrick House about his new book Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness. The book explores the complexity of consciousness and how it's possible that it has thus far eluded explanation. To do so he examines one single study about consciousness nineteen different ways. It's unorthodox, accessible, and remarkable.

This week we talk to cognitive neuroscientist and multi-platinum record producer Susan Rogers about her new book This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You. In this episode:The science behind how we perceive and process music and how it can affect our emotions and sense of selfHow our brains develop the ability to process sound and how formal music training can help us become "auditory athletes," or people who can analyze sound on a deeper levelThe concept of the "default mode network," a group of brain structures that are active when we are “in our own heads,” and how our favorite records can light up this network and create a private, emotional connection with us. Rogers talks about her time as Prince's full-time recording engineer during which she worked on albums like Purple Rain. (!)

This week we talk to behavioral scientist Michael Slepian about secrets: keeping them, telling them, and the powerful ways in which they influence our lives. His new book is The Secret Life of Secrets: How Our Inner Worlds Shape Well-Being, Relationships, and Who We Are.

The show this week features an interview with science writer Maria Konnikova about her book The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time. We recorded this interview back when the book first came in out in 2016, but it is, perhaps depressingly, still as relevant as ever. While it hasn't always involved pillow salesmen and crypto billionaires, there have always been people trying to con you. So there's no better time than right now to brush up on all the ways people get conned, the psychology of why it works, and what you can do to avoid it.

This week we welcome back theoretical physicist and philosopher Sean Carroll to talk about how his most recent book, The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion, attempts to bridge the gap between how scientists talk about physics and how they usually go about explaining it to non-scientists. The goal is to help you understand what physicists are talking about—equations and all—without needing to know much more than some algebra.

This week we're joined by returning guest, animal behavior scientist, and autism rights advocate Temple Grandin to talk about her latest book Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions.

This week: new research into using nanoparticles and programmable magnets to clean your teeth; a potentially breakthrough study on a drug for Alzheimer's disease featuring the first positive trial ever for a disease of aging; recapping NASA's recent Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission; and a look into how much control you actually have over what Youtube decides to show you.

This week we talk to theoretical physicist and cosmologist Antonio Padilla about his new book Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A Cosmic Quest from Zero to Infinity.It's a book about nine unusual numbers that, once understood, can help you grasp how the universe actually works—from black holes, to gravity, to the passing of time itself.

This week we talk to Alexandra Horowitz from the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College about her new book The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves. Horowitz's book examines how a dog's brain works and develops—how it dramatically changes during their first 12 months of life, her shifting perspective on dog cognition, and the vast differences between humans and dogs that we tend to overlook.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringmindsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we talk to cognitive neuroscientist Chantel Prat about her new book The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours. The book is the result of Prat's decades of work on the biological basis of individual differences in cognition—what makes you you.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringmindsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we talk to philosopher and animal ethicist David Peña-Guzmán about his new book When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness. David explores the idea that there really is a subjective world—a dream world—that lights up when animals sleep, what that actually looks like, and its moral implications. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we're joined by podcaster, journalist, and author David McRaney to discuss his latest book How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion. It's a deep look at what we know about what it takes to change someone's mind and why it's more complicated than you might think. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we welcome back James Beard award winning food science writer J. Kenji López-Alt. He talks about growing up around science, studying architecture at MIT, and how, strangely enough, both subjects pertain to cooking. Kenji is the author of the bestselling The Food Lab and the recently released The Wok: Recipes and Techniques. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might not be aware of it, but the UK is experiencing a wildlife crisis. Ecologist Derek Gow joins us this week to talk about what we ought to do about it and how he's trying to rewild the country with his farm-turned-wildlife breeding center. Gow wrote the bestselling Bringing Back the Beaver and will soon release his latest book Birds, Beasts and Bedlam: Turning My Farm into an Ark for Lost Species. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the show this week we're joined by naturalist, author, and returning guest Sy Montgomery. Throughout her career, Montgomery has repeatedly shown an incredible ability to understand, befriend, and interact with animals. We last heard from her in episode #128 where she talked about her 2016 book The Soul of an Octopus, but she's written about everything from tigers to snakes to hummingbirds. In this episode we explore her latest book, where she covers her perhaps most challenging animal yet, The Hawk's Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the show this week we're joined by Brian Butterworth, emeritus professor of cognitive neuropsychology and author of the new book Can Fish Count? What Animals Reveal About Our Uniquely Mathematical Minds. He's spent his career looking at the genetics and neuroscience of mathematical ability—and not just in humans.  Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you feel fear and be creative anyway? How is letting your mind wander key to coming up with, and following through on, creative ideas? Returning to the show this week is journalist Matt Richtel, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series on distracted driving, and author of numerous books. His latest book, Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul, is devoted to a deeper understanding of creativity and he joins us this week to talk about it. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you define how painful something is? On the show this week we welcome back physician, writer, and clinical researcher Haider Warraich to talk about his new book The Song of Our Scars: The Untold Story of Pain. Warraich explores the idea that far from being something objective and easily defined, pain is complex, misunderstood, and culturally influenced. The book delves into the history of pain and explains how our understanding of it has been “shaped not just by science but by politics and power, by whose suffering mattered and whose didn't.” Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we're joined by Benjamin Ehrlich, author of The Brain in Search of Itself: Santiago Ramón y Cajal and the Story of the Neuron. It's a book about the discoveries and life of Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, who has been called the ‘father of modern neuroscience.'  While today relatively unknown outside of his field, Cajal's discoveries about the brain changed the field of neuroscience forever. In 1906 he won a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work on neurons, which he called “the mysterious butterflies of the soul … whose beating of wings may one day reveal to us the secrets of the mind.” https://inquiring.show/episodes/378-the-untold-story-of-the-neuron Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Indre is joined by Adam for a new Up-to-Date segment, in which they check out the latest science in the news that has captured their interest. First up, Adam introduces a recent article published in Nature about the discovery that certain types of cancer cells may have the potential to allow us to better understand how cells adapt to the intracellular environment. Indre then discusses how she and her students have recently been working on methods of measuring creativity, and finally, Adam introduces some research just published in The Journal of Experimental Biology that focuses on the hunting method used by archerfish in order to study aspects of visual perception. While a variety of topics are presented here today, they all share the common theme that they are current, fascinating, and definitely worth a listen. Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the pandemic, one thing we've had a little more of--at least sometimes--is time. Time to panic and stress and worry, but also time to think and reflect. This week, in the spirit of reflection, we're revisiting a conversation with theoretical physicist Sean Carroll recorded back in 2016. At the time he had just written a book called The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself, which explores questions about purpose and belief and meaning. Today, in 2022, his book is even more poignant. If you've ever found yourself feeling woefully insignificant relative to the vastness of space and time, Carroll's perspective might just change your life. He argues that since we only have a limited time in a tiny part of space, we need to make good use of every heartbeat. The Big Picture is a poetic overview of the known universe, with deep insights into the human experience. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We can never know what it's like for a bat to be a bat. Or even if there is something that it is like for a bat to be a bat. But if there is something, we would speculate that the bat has some kind of consciousness or sentience. That's the argument Jackie Higgins makes in the premise of her new book Sentient: How Animals Illuminate the Wonder of Our Human Senses, in which she takes us on a deep dive into the sensory experience of many different animals, from fish to owls, to moles, to cheetahs. Jackie is a television documentary director and writer. She read zoology at Oxford University as a student of Richard Dawkins and then worked for Oxford Scientific Films, where she spent a decade making wildlife films for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, and The Discovery Channel. She then moved in-house at the BBC for another decade, working for their Science Department, researching, writing, directing, and producing films for many programs, from Horizon to Tomorrow's World. Join Indre and Jackie today for their fascinating conversation regarding Jackie's ‘joyful exploration of what it means to be human'. Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information Sentient: How Animals Illuminate the Wonder of Our Human Senses Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the fascinating things about neuroscience is that it gives us something tangible to study in the biology of the brain that can tell us something about the mind, which is so intangible. But what if that approach leaves us missing a big piece of the puzzle? What if the mind actually extends far beyond the biology of the body? Today, Indre is joined by Annie Paul Murphy, an acclaimed science writer, who makes this claim in her new book The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain. Annie's work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, and The Best American Science Writing. She has held the Bernard Schwartz Fellowship and the Future Tense Fellowship at New America; currently, she is a fellow in New America's Learning Sciences Exchange. Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.   The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than a hundred million people watched the Netflix movie Don't Look Up, which focused on our fear that something could crash into our planet from space and destroy it. But what if things that come from space don't just have the potential to destroy life but also to create it? That's Greg Brennecka's argument, and he joins Indre on today's episode to talk all about it. Greg is a staff scientist and cosmochemist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whose research has appeared in Science, Nature, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS). He won the prestigious Sofja Kovalevskaja fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to study the early solar system and is a leader in understanding how things from space affect us down here on Earth. His new book is Impact: How Rocks from Space Led to Life, Culture, and Donkey Kong, and he discusses it and so much more (including Tom Selleck and his famous mustache) with Indre here today. Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Impact: How Rocks from Space Led to Life, Culture, and Donkey Kong Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode, Indre revisits a topic that has been covered a couple of times on the podcast: addiction. This time, she's joined by addiction physician and bioethicist Carl Erik Fisher, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University. Carl works at the intersection of law, ethics, and psychiatry and has had his own struggles with addiction, which he documents in his new book, The Urge: Our History of Addiction. He discusses this fascinating book and so much more in his revealing and informative conversation with Indre here today. Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Carl's website Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this last episode of 2021, Adam Bristol joins Indre to talk about the major highlights of 2021, one being the journey through COVID.  They map out the key episodes of Inquiring Minds throughout 2021, talk through their personal highlights, and recommend books to read. Recapping episodes touching on the history of quarantine, food and science, the interaction between nature and humans, and quantitative approaches to human dating, today's episode wraps up 2021 in a neat bow, providing an excellent springboard to even more entertaining and informative shows in the coming year.   Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes: Science-Based Strategies for Better Parenting--from Tots to Teens Project Hail Mary: A Novel  A (Very) Short History of Life On Earth Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The holidays are a time for storytelling, and what better story to re-experience than the greatest one of all: the history of the universe and life on Earth. In today's episode, Indre is joined by writer and editor Henry Gee to discuss this most epic of all stories and how it's depicted in Henry's new book, A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth. Henry is a senior editor at Nature and the author of several books, including Jacob's Ladder, In Search of Deep Time, and The Accidental Species. He's appeared on BBC Television and Radio and has written for The Guardian, The Times, and BBC Focus. Condensing 4.6 billion years into one 50-minute conversation is no easy task, but if anyone can do it, and do it in a way that is both accessible and fun, today's fascinating guest Henry Gee is that person.    Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Emily Willingham joins Indre to talk about tailoring the brain, a subject on which she's an expert and about which she writes extensively in her book The Tailored Brain: From Ketamine, to Keto, to Companionship, A User's Guide to Feeling Better and Thinking Smarter. Emily is a journalist, a science writer, the author of previous books, including Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis, a coauthor of The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resource for Your Child's First Four Years, and is a regular contributor to Scientific American and other publications. She is the joint recipient with David Robert Grimes of the 2014 John Maddox Prize which is awarded by the science charity Sense About Science to those who stand up for science in the face of personal attacks. If you want to learn how to to feel better and think smarter – and, really, who doesn't? – then today's episode of Inquiring Minds is definitely a ‘must listen'.   Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. The Tailored Brain: From Ketamine, to Keto, to Companionship, A User's Guide to Feeling Better and Thinking Smarter Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's up to date episode, Adam Bristol is back to highlight three scientific papers that have caught his eye lately. The first two are about our evolutionary history of life on this planet, filling in some of the holes in the fossil record, and making some unexpected discoveries along the way. The third paper has us looking at potential biosecurity concerns in the distant future, which may actually arise earlier than expected given humans' exploration of planets. From the distant past to the possibly not too distant future, Adam's got the news for you here today.   Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Fossil evidence unveils an early Cambrian origin for Bryozoa Crab in amber reveals an early colonization of nonmarine environments during the Cretaceous Planetary Biosecurity: Applying Invasion Science to Prevent Biological Contamination from Space Travel Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In early 2020, experts predicted the development of the COVID-19 vaccine would take 12 to 18 months. Fast forward to today and there are at least five vaccines approved by the World Health Organization. Joining Indre today is Brendan Borrell, a health scientist and business journalist who's written for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Wired, and The New York Times. He also happens to be the author of a new book, The First Shots: The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine, and in today's show, he discusses his book, providing valuable insights into the early days of the virus, the political football and money plays involved, and other enthralling details surrounding the race to the COVID-19 vaccine.                                                    Show Links:   Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. The First Shots: The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The topic of cancer is one that has been addressed more than once before on Inquiring Minds, and today Indre visits it once again, this time looking at the impact that exercise can have on those undergoing cancer treatment. Joining her for this revelatory discussion is Dr. Kathryn Schmitz, whose many, many accomplishments include holding the position of Distinguished Professor of Public Health Sciences at Penn State's College of Medicine and Penn State Cancer Institute, and as a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine. A tireless researcher and advocate in the field of exercise oncology, Dr. Schmitz has recently authored Moving Through Cancer: An Exercise and Strength-Training Program for the Fight of Your Life - Empowers Patients and Caregivers in 5 Steps. It is essentially a thoroughly science-based guide to how to strategically use exercise and strength training to help people fight cancer and recover from it, and Dr. Schmitz discusses it and so much more in today's highly informative and thought provoking episode.   Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Moving Through Cancer Homepage   Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Indre continues to pursue her fascination with the neural basis of consciousness in this week's episode. In her never ending quest to understand how the biology of the brain gives rise to every experience we've ever had, ever will have, and everything in between, she has picked the brains of a number of experts in the field over the years. Today is no exception as she revisits this favorite topic by welcoming to the podcast Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, and Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, for a discussion about his new book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness.    Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Being You: A New Science of Consciousness Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It seems like it's been a couple months since the last ‘up to date' segment of the podcast, so Adam Bristol is back to share just what exactly has been on his mind lately. From genetically modified mosquitoes to NASA knocking asteroids off course, it turns out there's quite a lot occupying his thoughts. Not to be outdone, Indre counters with some protein-fuelled musical composition news of her own, so you know this is yet another wide ranging and thoroughly intriguing episode tailor made for inquiring minds.   Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Protein music of enhanced musicality by music style guided exploration of diverse amino acid propertie Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there's one thing we can probably all agree on, it's that water is a necessary component for life, right? Well, here to muddy up that argument is the adorable tardigrade which, it turns out, can survive extreme drying or dehydration, and can be revived by simply adding water. Much of what is known about these remarkable creatures comes courtesy of John and Lois Crowe, two retired UC Davis scientists who devoted much of their lengthy careers to the study of this phenomenon, and Indre's very special guests on the podcast today.    Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nina Kraus, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist who has done groundbreaking research on sound and hearing for more than three decades. She's the Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology, Communication Sciences, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University, and she has been a frequent guest on Indre's other podcast, Cadence: What Music Tells Us About the Mind. Nina has just released her first trade book called “Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World”. Today she joins Indre to explain just how important sound is, how the hearing brain engages how we think, feel, move, and incorporate information from our other senses, and why the “sound mind” is so integral to how we experience the world.   Show Links: “Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World” by Nina Kraus Brainvolts Website https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/ Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds Listen to the Cadence Podcast See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.   Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who among us hasn't, at some point, wondered just what exactly a bear manager or a danger tree feller blaster does? Well, Mary Roach, America's funniest science writer, TED 20 Most Watched list member, and increasingly frequent guest on this podcast has, and now she's written a book for our collective enlightenment. In today's episode, Mary discusses her latest offering, FUZZ: When Nature Breaks the Law, taking us on a fascinating journey around the world to explore these and other unique professions dealing with animals and plants whose interactions with humans can be dangerous and even fatal.    Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Episode 31 - The Science of Your Guts Episode 138 - The Curious Science of Humans at War Mary's Homepage  Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No one would be surprised to hear that anxiety has become a staple of modern life, particularly over the past year and a half, but what may surprise some is that anxiety is a necessary component in our lives that can be managed and kept at a level which actually optimizes our performance. On today's podcast, Indre is joined by the legendary Dr. Wendy Suzuki, Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University, who is best known for her extensive work studying areas in the brain critical for our ability to form and retain new long-term memories. Wendy discusses the shift in her research to understanding how aerobic exercise can be used to improve learning, memory and higher cognitive abilities in humans, and examines anxiety and the gifts it offers as outlined in her new book, Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion. Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Good Anxiety Healthy Brain, Happy Life       Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Indre welcomes back Sam Kean, the New York Times bestselling author of The Icepick Surgeon, The Bastard Brigade, Caesar's Last Breath, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, and more. Sam has won many awards for his writing, and he's been featured on Radiolab, All Things Considered, and of course, Inquiring Minds. His own podcast, The Disappearing Spoon, is also high up on the iTunes science charts. Sam joins the show to discuss his latest book, which features true crime stories about scientists who take things too far. He also talks about his goal to demonstrate that there may be some bad actors within the scientific realm, and what we can learn from the ways in which science steers people wrong.    Show Links: Inquiring Minds Podcast Homepage Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. Sam Kean Homepage   Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.