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Big Brains

Big Brains explores the groundbreaking research and discoveries that are changing our world. In each episode, we talk to leading experts and unpack their work in straightforward terms. Interesting conversations that cover a gamut of topics from how music affects our brains to what happens after we die.

Could AI Models Forecast Extreme Weather Events? with Pedram Hassanzadeh

35 mins; April 02, 2026

Are Judges Too Powerful? The Rise of Universal Injunctions, with Samuel Bray

40 mins; March 19, 2026

Could Data Centers Break Our Power Grid? with Andrew Chien

37 mins; March 06, 2026

Remarkable New Treatments for Spinal Cord Injuries, with Mohamad Bydon

26 mins; February 19, 2026

Can You Improve Your Working Memory and Attention? with Edward Awh

35 mins; February 05, 2026

Why Knowing Your True Self Is So Difficult, with Eric Oliver

31 mins; January 22, 2026

The Breakthrough Quantum Sensor That Sees Inside Your Cells, with Peter Maurer

35 mins; January 08, 2026

How to Manifest Your Destiny with the Late James Doty

31 mins; December 29, 2025

What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift

35 mins; December 11, 2025

How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes

38 mins; November 24, 2025

Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

32 mins; November 13, 2025

How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson

34 mins; October 30, 2025

Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath?

35 mins; October 16, 2025

Why We Haven’t Solved Brain Disorders—And How To Fix It, with Nicole Rust

36 mins; October 02, 2025

Life On Mars: Is It Possible For Humans? with Edwin Kite

30 mins; September 19, 2025

How To Use Nature To Restore Your Focus, with Marc Berman

32 mins; September 04, 2025

Could Plants Unlock Quantum Medicine’s Potential? with Greg Engel

25 mins; August 21, 2025

How Microplastics Are Invading Our Bodies, with Matthew Campen

28 mins; August 07, 2025

Why We Get Stuck—And How to Finally Move Forward

34 mins; July 24, 2025

Inside the AI Debate: Hope, Hype, Or Harm? A Big Brains Panel Weighs In

47 mins; July 10, 2025

Are Your Medications Safe And Effective?, with Jerry Avorn

36 mins; June 26, 2025

Are We Making AI Too Human?, with James Evans

31 mins; June 12, 2025

Inside The Disease That Changes Your Personality, with Bruce Miller

26 mins; May 29, 2025

Meet The ‘Planet Hunter’ Searching For Alien Life, with Jacob Bean

34 mins; May 15, 2025

How To Stop Gun Violence Before It Starts, with Jens Ludwig

30 mins; May 01, 2025

Can Your DNA Predict Your Future?, with Dalton Conley

34 mins; April 17, 2025

Can You Really Die of a Broken Heart? The Hidden Dangers of Grief, with Mary Frances O'Connor

31 mins; April 03, 2025

The Science Behind Raising Successful Kids, with Ariel Kalil

31 mins; March 20, 2025

Do Animals Understand Death?, with Susana Monsó

32 mins; March 06, 2025

Why Measles Is Resurging—And The Rise Of Vaccine Hesitancy, with Adam Ratner

35 mins; February 20, 2025

The Little-Known Secrets To A Good Life, with Shigehiro Oishi

33 mins; February 06, 2025

How Bioelectronics Could Heal Our Bodies And Minds, with Bozhi Tian

29 mins; January 23, 2025

Could A Fungal Pandemic Be “The Last of Us?", with Arturo Casadevall

27 mins; January 09, 2025

The "Magic Words" That Turn Resolutions Into Reality

32 mins; January 02, 2025

What’s The Truth About Alcohol’s Benefits And Risks? with Tim Stockwell

33 mins; December 19, 2024

What Happens When We Die? with Sam Parnia

30 mins; December 05, 2024

The Illusion of Moral Decline

32 mins; November 21, 2024

Can We Predict The Unpredictable? with J. Doyne Farmer

33 mins; November 14, 2024

Unlocking The Secrets Of ‘SuperAgers’, with Emily Rogalski

22 mins; October 31, 2024

2024 Nobel Laureate Explains What Makes Countries Fail Or Succeed, with James A. Robinson

29 mins; October 17, 2024

Why Can’t Scientists Agree On The Age Of The Universe? with Wendy Freedman

24 mins; October 03, 2024

What Are We Getting Wrong About Young Voters?, with Cathy Cohen

28 mins; September 19, 2024

Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

32 mins; September 05, 2024

How Homeownership Shaped Race In America, with Adrienne Brown

27 mins; August 22, 2024

Fighting Back Against AI Piracy, with Ben Zhao and Heather Zheng

28 mins; August 08, 2024

The Bioelectric Future of Regenerative Medicine

28 mins; July 25, 2024

Is Mindfulness The Secret To Health?

33 mins; July 11, 2024

Feeling Stuck? Here’s How To Achieve a Breakthrough, with Adam Alter

33 mins; June 27, 2024

What Makes Something Memorable (or Forgettable?) with Wilma Bainbridge

26 mins; June 13, 2024

Learning To Speak To Whales Using AI, with David Gruber

26 mins; May 30, 2024

Storm Warning: Why Hurricanes Are Growing Beyond Measure, with Michael Wehner

27 mins; May 16, 2024

How To Manifest Your Future Using Neuroscience, with James Doty

31 mins; May 02, 2024

Why We Die—And How We Can Live Longer, with Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan

32 mins; April 18, 2024

What Dogs Are Teaching Us About Aging, with Daniel Promislow

32 mins; April 04, 2024

Where Has Alzheimer’s Research Gone Wrong? with Karl Herrup

29 mins; March 21, 2024

Why Breeding Millions of Mosquitoes Could Help Save Lives, With Scott O'Neill

30 mins; March 07, 2024

Why Shaming Other Countries Often Backfires, with Rochelle Terman

33 mins; February 22, 2024

Can Trump Legally Be President?, with William Baude

36 mins; February 06, 2024

What Our Hand Gestures Reveal About Our Thoughts, with Susan Goldin-Meadow

26 mins; January 25, 2024

Psychedelics Without Hallucinations: A New Mental Health Treatment? with David E. Olson

32 mins; January 11, 2024

The Science Of Happiness

29 mins; December 28, 2023

Do We Really Have Free Will? With Robert Sapolsky

34 mins; December 14, 2023

A Radical Solution To Address Climate Change, with David Keith

33 mins; November 30, 2023

How PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Are Harming Our Health, with Linda Birnbaum

29 mins; November 16, 2023

Are We Worse People Than We Used To Be? With Adam Mastroianni

31 mins; November 02, 2023

Freakonomics’ Steven Levitt On The Secret To Making Tough Choices

39 mins; October 19, 2023

Will Political Violence Destroy Our Democracy?, With Robert Pape

28 mins; October 05, 2023

Defending Campus Free Speech In A Polarized Age, with Paul Alivisatos and Tom Ginsburg

32 mins; September 22, 2023

Why The Secret To Health Lies In The Mind-body Connection, with Ellen Langer

32 mins; September 07, 2023

Phonics Vs. Whole Word: The Science Of Reading, With Adrian Johns

34 mins; August 24, 2023

How AI Is Transforming Scientific Research, With Rebecca Willett

31 mins; August 10, 2023

How AI Could Change The Law

27 mins; July 27, 2023

How AI Can Predict Future Scientific Discoveries

29 mins; July 20, 2023

The Uncovered History of Space Travel & Its Privatized Future

28 mins; July 13, 2023

The Health Costs of Air Pollution

28 mins; July 06, 2023

How Your Brain Benefits From Music, With Larry Sherman

29 mins; June 29, 2023

Magic words: Can What You Say Help You Get Your way? with Jonah Berger

31 mins; June 15, 2023

Providing Basic Health Insurance For Every American, With Katherine Baicker

31 mins; June 01, 2023

Why We Fight, With Christopher Blattman

28 mins; May 25, 2023

The Hidden Truths About Sexuality And Gender In The Medieval World, with Roland Betancourt

29 mins; May 11, 2023

How We Could Regrow Limbs And Organs, with Michael Levin

28 mins; April 27, 2023

A Nobelist’s Controversial Approach To Solving Inequality, With James Heckman

32 mins; April 13, 2023

How The Food Industry Created Today’s Obesity Crisis, With Marion Nestle

31 mins; March 30, 2023

Why Your Gut Health Is So Important, With Cathryn Nagler And Eric Pamer

34 mins; March 16, 2023

Why Mourning Is Essential To Our Well-Being, With Jonathan Lear

25 mins; March 02, 2023

The History of Black Cinema Re-examined, With Jacqueline Stewart

32 mins; February 16, 2023

The Scientific Secret To A Happy Life, With Marc Schulz

29 mins; February 02, 2023

Unraveling Sleep’s Greatest Mysteries: The Day Tomorrow Began

34 mins; January 19, 2023

Is The U.S. Headed Toward Another Civil War? Feat. William Howell

30 mins; January 05, 2023

Follow Through On Next Year's Resolutions Using Science With Katy Milkman

28 mins; December 22, 2022

Why Quantum Tech Will Change Our Future: The Day Tomorrow Began

28 mins; December 08, 2022

Fighting Global Hunger Through Genetics With Chuan He

23 mins; November 24, 2022

The Origins Of Civilization And The Future Of Archaeology: The Day Tomorrow Began

35 mins; November 10, 2022

Can We Predict Your Capacity To Focus? With Monica Rosenberg

27 mins; October 28, 2022

The 'Legendary' Discovery Of Black Holes: The Day Tomorrow Began

35 mins; October 13, 2022

Celebrating Our 100th Episode

17 mins; September 29, 2022

The Science Of Speech & Identity With Katherine Kinzler

31 mins; September 22, 2022

Life’s Mysterious Origins With Jack Szostak

22 mins; September 15, 2022

The Afterlife Of Mass Incarceration With Reuben Jonathan Miller

36 mins; September 08, 2022

The Imbalance In Our Society With Raghuram Rajan

25 mins; September 01, 2022

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