The alpha myth

What would life look like after a global nuclear war? Would underground bunkers work? What would we do for food? What about radioactive snow?! In this episode of ⁠Are We Doomed?⁠, reporter Ben Bradford tries to find out. Guest: Ben Bradford, host of ⁠Are We Doomed?⁠ For show tran ...  Show more

What happens when researchers reexamine some of the basic facts about the Black Death? They start rewriting history and rethinking blame. Guests: Hannah Barker, professor at Arizona State University; Ulf Büntgen, professor at the University of Cambridge; Martin Bauch, historian a ...  Show more

This episode begins with a rant. This rant, in particular, comes from Dan Engber - a science writer who loves animals but despises animal intelligence research. Dan told us that so much of the way we study animals involves tests that we think show a human is smart ... not the ...

Today it’s great to chat with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch on the podcast. Lori Gottlieb is a psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, which has sold over a million copies and is currently being adapted as a television series. In a ...  Show more

Fat women make less money than thin women and get fewer raises and promotions. It’s going to take more than a wonder drug to fix fatphobia in America. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Anouck Dussaud and Laura Bullard, engine ...  Show more

Time can feel like a subjective experience—different at different points in our lives. It’s also a real, measurable thing. The universe may be too big to fully comprehend, but what we do know could help inform the ways we approach our understanding of ourselves, our purpose, and ...  Show more