Alle afleveringen
319 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
-
Oliver Sacks's not quite nonfiction
23 maart 2026 · 31 min
Oliver Sacks was once crowned “the poet laureate of medicine” — he's known as one of the greatest science writers of our time. But when New Yorker writer Rachel Aviv dug into his archives, she discovered that some details in his intimate portraits of patients mirrored his personal life a little too closely. Lees meer
Guest: Rachel Aviv, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of Strangers to Ourselves.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The accidental rise of Botox
18 maart 2026 · 29 min
One of the deadliest poisons known to man is now used to treat wrinkles, migraines, and even, maybe, depression. How did that happen? Lees meer
Guests: Jean Carruthers, ophthalmologist and “godmother” of cosmetic Botox. David Simpson, neurologist at Mount Sinai hospital in New York. Axel Wollmer, psychiatrist at the Asklepios clinic in Hamburg, Germany.
For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable
It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.
Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
Who are we to fight the alchemy?
16 maart 2026 · 32 min
Many alchemical texts are full of bizarre, metaphorical language. But what if there's interesting science hiding behind some of those metaphors? Lees meer
Guest: Lawrence Principe, professor of the history of science and professor of chemistry at Johns Hopkins University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
Snow day!
11 maart 2026 · 29 min
Grab some hot cocoa and a warm blanket and let’s talk about the tiny crystals that fall from the sky. Lees meer
Guest: Jessica Lundquist, professor of civil & environmental engineering at the University of Washington
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
My brain made me do it
9 maart 2026 · 27 min
A man committed a crime. He admitted it. Then something alarming showed up on an image of his brain. The criminal case that followed in 1991 brought neuroscience into the courtroom for good. How does our ever-changing understanding of the brain impact how we approach justice? Lees meer
Guests: Josh May, professor of philosophy, University of Alabama, Birmingham, author of Neuroethics: Agency in the Age of Brain Science, Anthony Wagner, neuroscientist and professor of psychology, Stanford University Memory Lab, and Adina Roskies, professor of philosophy, UC Santa Barbara.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
The Codfather
25 februari 2026 · 39 min
How many fish are in the sea? It's a question that has had enormous consequences for the fishing community in New Bedford, Massachusetts. But one man managed to find a way around it. That man? The Codfather. Lees meer
Guest: Ian Coss, host and producer of WBGH's Catching the Codfather
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Stress ages us on a cellular level
23 februari 2026 · 15 min
It's no secret that stress isn't good for you… But just how bad is it? NPR's Short Wave podcast gets some answers. Lees meer
Host: Regina G. Barber, host of NPR’s Short Wave podcast
Guest: Diana Kwon, science journalist
Follow NPR's Short Wave podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for more episodes like this, featuring new discoveries, everyday mysteries and the science behind the headlines.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The Amazing Extremophiles
11 februari 2026 · 26 min
In the dark depths of the Gowanus Canal, strange lifeforms lurk... Lees meer
Guests: Brad Vogel, volunteer at the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club; Elizabeth Hénaff, computational biologist and artist at New York University
For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable
It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.
Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Everyone does it. Why can’t I?
9 februari 2026 · 40 min
I’m about to burst. Lees meer
Guests: Laryngologist Dr. Robert Bastian and Noel King, co-host and editorial director of the Vox daily news podcast Today, Explained
For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable
It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.
Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Mysterious objects near the beginning of time
4 februari 2026 · 26 min
Astronomers are putting together a new picture of the early universe. It involves a lot of very weird black holes, and it could help us understand how our own galaxy formed. Lees meer
Guest: Caitlin Casey, astronomer at UC Santa Barbara
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Cloud atlas
2 februari 2026 · 29 min
It’s surprisingly hard to predict how clouds form, move, and change, but it’s essential to try. Because how clouds react to a warming world helps determine how hot our future will be. (Originally aired in 2021) Lees meer
Guests: Vox contributor Umair Irfan, scientists Scott M. Collis, Angeline Pendergrass, and author Gavin Pretor-Pinney
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
What's good sound?
28 januari 2026 · 26 min
Every hand-crafted instrument from violin maker Michael Doran holds its own unexplainable questions. Lees meer
Guest: Michael Doran of Doran’s Violin’s
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
No data, just vibes
26 januari 2026 · 23 min
There's been a real rollback of one of the US government's most fundamental tasks: gathering data. Vox correspondents Dylan Scott and Umair Irfan take a look at what a future with less data means for climate and health care in the US. Lees meer
Guests: Vox correspondent Umair Irfan and Vox senior correspondent Dylan Scott
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
It's not all bad
14 januari 2026 · 25 min
Things in the news have been feeling kind of…bleak, so we called in some reinforcements. Vox's senior editorial director and resident good news expert Bryan Walsh joins editor Joanna Solotaroff to remind us that there’s still a lot of good stuff happening, too. Lees meer
Guest: Vox senior editorial director Bryan Walsh. Sign up for the Good News newsletter HERE.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Superbabies?
12 januari 2026 · 26 min
Parents are supposed to provide the best life possible for their kids, right? But what does that mean when genetic testing for the baby enters the picture? And how far should they go? Vox senior reporter Sigal Samuel received that ethically ambiguous question for her advice column Your Mileage May Vary from a parent-to-be, and in this episode walks Noam through her thinking using a philosophical framework. Lees meer
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The G-word
7 januari 2026 · 27 min
Is geoengineering the answer to the climate crisis? Or is it too dangerous to even discuss? It’s been theoretical so far, but now, one startup says their technology could soon shield the Earth from the sun. Lees meer
Guest: Robinson Meyer, climate journalist and founding executive editor of Heatmap News.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Who's afraid of big, bad Yellowstone?
5 januari 2026 · 23 min
Yellowstone can be a deadly place... but not for the reasons you might think. Lees meer
Guest: Mike Poland, scientist in charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com.
We read every email
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Vitamin C and the common cold
17 december 2025 · 32 min
A two-time Nobel Prize-winning scientist changed chemistry, biology, and the politics of science. But when he pushed vitamin C as a cure-all, did he go too far? Lees meer
Guest: Daniel M. Davis, head of the department of life sciences and professor of immunology at Imperial College London. He is the author of Self-Defense: A Myth-Busting Guide to Immune Health.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Your moments of silence (The Sound Barrier #5)
15 december 2025 · 32 min
This episode is a follow-up to The Sound Barrier series, which explores our brain's relationship to sound. In our third episode of the series, we asked listeners to try to experience silence and record what they heard. Today, we share the sounds of quiet from across the world in a tribute to John Cage’s 4’33”. Plus, Tinnitus researcher and Unexplainable guest Dan Polley answers your questions from the series. Lees meer
Guest: Dan Polley, tinnitus researcher at Mass Eye and Ear.
Thank you to everyone who wrote in and shared their silences. If you still have thoughts or questions about the series, write us!
We also heard from a few teachers who plan to use the series as a part of their curriculum. Is this you? Let us know!
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com. We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Diary of a teenage brain, part 2
10 december 2025 · 27 min
As our brains develop throughout our childhood and teens, they form connections and then prune back the ones that aren't used. What can we learn from them? Lees meer
Guests: Alison Barth, professor in the life sciences at Carnegie Mellon University; Saket Navlakha, associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
This series was made possible by support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Diary of a teenage brain
8 december 2025 · 29 min
What's going on in teens' heads? Scientists working on a country-wide study following thousands of young people have spent the last decade trying to answer that question. Lees meer
Guests: Raul Gonzalez Jr., psychology professor at Florida International University
This series was made possible by support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
The trees of death
3 december 2025 · 27 min
Way back when forests first evolved on Earth... they might have triggered one of the biggest mass extinctions in the history of the planet. (Originally aired in 2024) Lees meer
Guests: Charles Ver Straeten, curator of sedimentary rocks at the New York State Museum; Lisa Amati, curator of invertebrate paleontology at the New York State Museum; Thomas Algeo, professor of geochemistry at the University of Cincinnati
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
That's no moon...
1 december 2025 · 21 min
It's a quasi-moon. Or, a quasi-satellite. Whatever you want to call it, it's hanging out near Earth. And it could be the source of some fascinating new science. Lees meer
Guests: Nick Moskovitz, astronomer at Lowell Observatory
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Lost on the road to enlightenment
19 november 2025 · 35 min
So many of us have been told that meditation can make us less stressed, more productive, and happier. But for a small group of people, it has a dark side. What’s going on? Lees meer
Guests: Willoughby Britton, associate professor at Brown University; Richard Davidson, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Pierce Salguero, professor at the Abington College of Pennsylvania State University
This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Is animal grief real?
17 november 2025 · 26 min
A dog on its owner’s grave. A killer whale carrying around its dead calf. A goose that isolates when its mate dies. These behaviors in animals may look like human mourning, but should scientists call them "grief"? (First published in 2023) Lees meer
Guests: Jennifer Vonk, comparative/cognitive psychologist at Oakland University; Jessica Pierce, bioethicist and author of several books about animals; Susana Monsó, animal ethicist and a philosopher and author of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The Sound Barrier #4: Listen to the universe
12 november 2025 · 37 min
When Wanda Diáz-Merced lost her sight as a college student, she thought her dreams of becoming an astronomer were over — until she learned to listen to space instead. Lees meer
Wanda is one of several pioneering scientists listening to space. For this episode, we also spoke to Robert Wilson, who used sound to help him discover the first direct evidence of the Big Bang, and Kim Arcand, who plays us what the center of the Milky Way sounds like.
This is the fourth episode in our of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Wanda Diáz-Merced, astronomer; Robert Wilson, Nobel laureate and senior scientist at at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Kim Arcand, emerging tech lead at NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
You can find Kim’s sonification of the center of the Milky Way (with visuals) here: https://chandra.si.edu/sound/gcenter.html
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The Sound Barrier #3: What does silence sound like?
10 november 2025 · 32 min
A scientist asked people to sit in a silent room for 15 minutes. Almost half of them decided to give themselves a painful electric shock instead. What is it about our brains that makes our relationship with silence so strange? And should we learn how to listen to it? Lees meer
This is the third episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Erin Westgate, assistant professor at the University of Florida; Rui Zhe Goh, doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University; Melody Baglione, professor at Cooper Union
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The Sound Barrier #2: The noise that isn't there
5 november 2025 · 34 min
Almost 15% of adults suffer from a persistent, often intolerable sound... that is literally just in their heads. Why does the brain do this to us? We help one of our listeners get some answers. Lees meer
This is the second episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Stéphane Maison, director of the tinnitus clinic at Mass Eye and Ear; Susan Shore, professor emerita at the University of Michigan, and Dan Polley, tinnitus researcher at Mass Eye and Ear
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
-
The Sound Barrier #1: The myth of hearing
3 november 2025 · 40 min
Just like optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. It makes scientists wonder: What exactly are we hearing, when we're hearing? Lees meer
This is the first episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier.
Guests: Diana Deutsch, emeritus professor at the University of California, San Diego; Matthew Winn, professor at the University of Minnesota; Michael Chorost, science writer
You can find more of Diana Deutsch’s auditory illusions at https://bit.ly/3Mdh6H4
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Solve me a river
29 oktober 2025 · 37 min
This week on Unexplainable or Not, Sally Helm, the newest member of our team, tries to figure out what's killing mussels, why rivers suddenly change course, and what the longest river in the world is. Lees meer
Guests: Douglas Edmonds, professor at Indiana University; Neel Dhanesha, science reporter
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
This episode is haunted and spooky
27 oktober 2025 · 20 min
Now why would you click on something like this? What's wrong with you?! Why are you — and so many other people — into scary stuff? Two scientists are trying to find out. (Originally aired in 2024) Lees meer
Guests: Mathias Clasen and Marc Andersen, co-directors of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Consider the shrimp
22 oktober 2025 · 24 min
Killing two people is worse than killing one. What about 440 billion crustaceans? Adapted from Dylan Matthews's essay on Vox.com. Lees meer
This story is part of a series supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from EarthShare.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
When talent vanishes overnight
20 oktober 2025 · 29 min
Think about the thing you’ve practiced more than anything else in the world. Maybe it’s painting. Or writing. Or playing baseball. Lees meer
Now, imagine you wake up one day, and you just can’t do it. You’re not sick. You’re not injured. But suddenly, that one thing is impossible. (Originally published in 2024)
Guests: Rick Ankiel, former Major League Baseball star; Sally Akehurst, sports psychologist and a dean at University of Roehampton, London; Steven Frucht, neurologist at NYU Langone
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Composing chaos
8 oktober 2025 · 28 min
Terry Riley's "In C" is one of the most influential pieces of music of the last century...but you'll never hear it the same way twice. Lees meer
Guest: Evan Ziporyn, composer, clarinetist, and producer of "In C"
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Does Tylenol cause autism?
6 oktober 2025 · 27 min
Donald Trump and RFK Jr. seem convinced that it does. But our friends at Science Vs say the data is far more complicated. Lees meer
Guest: Meryl Horn, senior producer at Science Vs
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Real-life zombies
1 oktober 2025 · 27 min
Zombies might seem like the stuff of horror movies, but there are lots of examples of parasites taking over bugs’ bodies and bending them to their will. Lees meer
Guest: Mindy Weisberger, author of Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
How to change your personality
29 september 2025 · 40 min
Who are you, really? Our friends at The Gray Area ask whether it's really possible to change. Lees meer
Guest: Olga Khazan, author of Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
What’s A
24 september 2025 · 27 min
The centuries-old international battle over the real sound of a musical note. Lees meer
Guest: Fanny Gribenski, historical musicologist and author of Tuning the World: The Rise of 440 Hertz in Music, Science, and Politics, 1859–1955
Reported for Unexplainable by Emily Siner
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Did we find signs of life on Mars?
22 september 2025 · 34 min
NASA found a Martian rock that might have traces of ancient life. It's perhaps the most tantalizing revelation in the century-long search for Martian life. (Updated from 2022) Lees meer
Guests: Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover; Lindsay Hays, astrobiologist at NASA; Morgan Cable, research scientist for Perseverance; and Camden Miller, rover driver for Perseverance
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The metabolism myth
17 september 2025 · 30 min
Recent research — and one surprising season of The Biggest Loser — has scientists wondering whether some of the most basic things they know about metabolism are wrong. Lees meer
Guest: Julia Belluz, author of Food Intelligence
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
The Vagina Voyages
15 september 2025 · 40 min
Join our friends at The Longest Shortest Time for a deep dive into the misunderstood world of vaginas. We’ll learn about orgasm-chasing royalty, clitoral wingspans, vagina lollipops, wandering wombs, and why we still know so little about the anatomy of half the people on Earth. Lees meer
Guests: Hillary Frank, host, The Longest Shortest Time; Rachel E. Gross, science writer
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
A rabbi and the Lorax walk into a bar...
10 september 2025 · 22 min
How the bedtime stories we grew up with inspire the stories we tell now. Lees meer
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Is a little alcohol bad for you?
8 september 2025 · 29 min
We spoke to two researchers who disagree about the answer to this question. But they do agree about why it's so hard to answer to begin with. Lees meer
Guests: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent at Vox; Kenneth Mukamal, physician and academic researcher at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Timothy Naimi, director of the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Ice Sheet Time Machine
27 augustus 2025 · 32 min
The US military carved a tiny city into the Greenland ice sheet. What they found, and lost, and found again, and what it tells us about climate change. Lees meer
Guests: Paul Bierman, geoscientist at the University of Vermont and author of When The Ice Is Gone; Richard Alley, geoscientist at the Pennsylvania State University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Animals in the year 20202025
25 augustus 2025 · 27 min
What do scientists think animals might be like millions of years from now? (First published in 2021) Lees meer
Guests: Benji Jones, senior correspondent at Vox; David Willard, ornithologist at Chicago's Field Museum; Liz Alter, marine biologist at San José State University; Jingmai O'Connor, paleontologist at the Field Museum; Sharlene Santana, biologist at the University of Washington; Julia Sigwart, malacologist at the Senckenberg Research Institute
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Nightmare at the end of the universe
18 augustus 2025 · 26 min
Dark energy is the strange stuff that makes up the vast majority of the universe and will ultimately lead to the end of everything. Unless it doesn't exist at all. Lees meer
Guests: Adam Riess, astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University, and Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille, director of the Physics Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and member of The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Life in plastic — not fantastic?
13 augustus 2025 · 30 min
Much of our modern world is made of plastic, but as more signs point to its dangers to human health, what can we even do about it? Lees meer
Guest: Annie Lowrey, Atlantic writer and author of I fought plastic. Plastic won.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
When waves go rogue
6 augustus 2025 · 28 min
Towering walls of water sometimes appear in the ocean without warning or apparent cause. What drives their terrifying power? (First published in 2023) Lees meer
Guest: Ton van der Bremer, associate professor of environmental fluid mechanics.
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Good news for people who love bad news
4 augustus 2025 · 28 min
Good news can be hard to find, especially when our brains — and the media — are biased against it. Lees meer
Guest: Bryan Walsh, senior editorial director of Vox, and author of the Good News newsletter
This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! unexplainable@vox.comWe read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
12 tiny worlds
30 juli 2025 · 36 min
If you went back 500 million years and re-ran evolution, would life be totally different today? Lees meer
Guests: Richard Lenski and Zachary Blount, evolutionary biologists at Michigan State University
For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts
For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable
And please email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members
Thank you!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices