Podcast Episodes
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How the Sun Won (The Solar Era, Part 1)
Season 1 Episode 118
In the past 20 years, the price of solar panels has fallen by more than 97 percent. This extraordinary decline is good news for the world – and it’s …
1 year, 10 months ago
Drugs in Space
Season 1 Episode 117
Paul Reichert is a research scientist at Merck, working on improvements to how we administer drugs to patients. Paul's problem is this: How can you r…
1 year, 10 months ago
The World Is Getting Better (Really)
Season 1 Episode 116
Hannah Ritchie is a data scientist and the deputy editor of Our World in Data. She is also the author of Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the …
1 year, 10 months ago
Rabies: When Monsters are Real…from Incubation
Season 1
Why has rabies invaded our nightmares for centuries? Author and veterinarian Monica Murphy tells us about the cultural history of rabies (which invol…
1 year, 11 months ago
Using Gene Therapy to Help the Blind See
Season 1 Episode 115
After decades of research, gene therapy is starting to work. Shannon Boye is a professor of cellular and molecular therapeutics at the University of …
1 year, 11 months ago
Bringing Back Mammoths and Dodos*
Season 1 Episode 114
*Or at least, sort of bringing back mammoths and dodos.
Beth Shapiro is the chief scientific officer at Colossal Biosciences and the author of How to …
1 year, 11 months ago
What Elevators Teach Us About Technology, Design, and Human Behavior
Season 1 Episode 113
The elevator made the modern city possible: No elevators, no skyscrapers. Today, people are working on entirely new kinds of elevators that can go hi…
2 years ago
Can the Plant Microbiome Revolutionize Farming?
Season 1 Episode 112
The invention of synthetic fertilizer was one of the key breakthroughs of the 20th century. It’s the reason we can grow enough food to feed billions …
2 years ago
Turning Pollution into Jet Fuel
Season 1 Episode 111
Jennifer Holmgren is the CEO of LanzaTech. Her problem is this: How do you capture pollution from factories, feed it to bacteria, and get the bacteri…
2 years ago
Reinventing Mining to Power the World
Season 1 Episode 110
Moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy will require huge amounts of copper, lithium, and other metals. Kurt House is the co-founder and CEO of …
2 years ago