Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchThe Python Challenge: Reclaiming the Everglades
Season 1 Episode 285
In the Florida Everglades, an ecological disaster is being fought with headlamps, airboats, and prize money. Invasive Burmese pythons—massive, elusiv…
4 months ago
The Bloody History of the Barber-Surgeon
Season 1 Episode 284
Before surgeons were scientists, they were barbers. In medieval Europe, when learned physicians shunned manual work and the church forbade clergy fro…
4 months ago
The Rapid Rise of High-Speed Listening
Season 1 Episode 283
The play button now comes with a throttle. From podcasts to lectures, variable playback speeds are reshaping how people listen, pitting efficiency ag…
4 months ago
The Rollercoaster Life of Saturation Diving
Season 1 Episode 282
For weeks at a time, saturation divers live sealed inside steel chambers, descending daily to the ocean floor to maintain the hidden infrastructure o…
4 months ago
The Octagon: Britain's New Cultural and Political Battleground
Season 1 Episode 281
Once dismissed as brutal spectacle, mixed martial arts has taken deep root in Britain’s former industrial towns, growing into a mainstream sport with…
4 months ago
The Synthetic Pursuit of the Masculine Ideal
Season 1 Episode 280
Across Britain, a growing number of men are turning to anabolic steroids not to win medals, but to build an idealized body that signals toughness, co…
4 months ago
Faith and the Furry Companion: Islam’s Dog Debate
Season 1 Episode 279
For centuries, dogs have occupied an uneasy place in Islamic thought—useful as guards or hunters, yet often regarded as ritually impure. Today, that …
4 months ago
The Chameleon Mind: The Fluid Personalities of Genius
Season 1 Episode 278
Psychology is good at describing the average mind—but it falters when faced with genius. The personalities of exceptional creators often refuse to st…
4 months ago
The Endurance of Speed: Why Distance Trumps the Sprint
Season 1 Episode 277
Olympic sprinting dazzles in an instant, but distance running tells a richer story. Where the 100 meters is over in a blink, longer races unfold with…
4 months ago
The Forensic Science of Decay at Freeman Ranch
Season 1 Episode 276
On a quiet stretch of land at Freeman Ranch in Texas, scientists are studying death to better serve the living. At a forensic “body farm,” donated hu…
4 months ago