Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchHow to Read Scientific Papers: A Discussion with David Evans
Episode 137
Listen to this interview of David Evans, Professor of Computer Science, University of Virginia. We talk about what makes scientific reading different…
2 years, 7 months ago
Jeremy Howick, "The Power of Placebos: Unlocking Their Potential to Improve Health Care" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2023)
Episode 105
Should your doctor prescribe a placebo for you, instead of conventional medicine? And if she did, would it work? Is the double-blind placebo-controll…
2 years, 7 months ago
Shark Sciences: A Conversation with Carlee Jackson
Episode 188
Today’s book is Minorities in Shark Sciences: Diverse Voices in Shark Research (CRC Press, 2022), edited by Jasmin Graham, Camila Caceres and Deborah…
2 years, 8 months ago
The Future of Paying Attention: A Discussion with Carolyn Dicey Jennings
Episode 83
Is it really harder to pay attention to something than it used to be? No doubt the world is getting faster, and social media platforms are so good at…
2 years, 8 months ago
Trenton W. Holliday, "Cro-Magnon: The Story of the Last Ice Age People of Europe" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Episode 134
During the Last Ice Age, Europe was a cold, dry place teeming with mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, reindeer, bison, cave bears, cave hyenas, and cave …
2 years, 8 months ago
Joshua May, "Neuroethics: Agency in the Age of Brain Science" (Oxford UP, 2023)
Episode 25
Is free will an illusion? Is addiction a brain disease? Should we enhance our brains beyond normal? Neuroethics: Agency in the Age of Brain Science (…
2 years, 8 months ago
Kevin J. Mitchell, "Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will" (Princeton UP, 2023)
Episode 71
Scientists are learning more and more about how brain activity controls behavior and how neural circuits weigh alternatives and initiate actions. As …
2 years, 8 months ago
Michael D. Gordin, "Pseudoscience: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford UP, 2023)
Episode 24
Everyone has heard of the term "pseudoscience," typically used to describe something that looks like science, but is somehow false, misleading, or un…
2 years, 9 months ago
A Better Way to Buy Books
Episode 109
Bookshop.org is an online book retailer that donates more than 80% of its profits to independent bookstores. Launched in 2020, Bookshop.org has alrea…
2 years, 9 months ago
Herlinde Koelbl, "Fascination of Science: 60 Encounters with Pioneering Researchers of Our Time" (MIT Press, 2023)
Episode 133
An intimate collection of portraits of internationally renowned scientists and Nobel Prize winners, paired with interviews and personal stories. What…
2 years, 9 months ago