Podcast
Unexplainable
Hosted by Vox · EN
Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles scientific mysteries, unanswered questions, and everything we learn diving into the unknown. New episodes Mondays and Wednesdays.
From Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
303episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Life in plastic — not fantastic?
Aug 13, 202500:29:35Summary readyMuch 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? 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
SummaryWhen waves go rogue
Aug 6, 202500:28:26Summary readyTowering walls of water sometimes appear in the ocean without warning or apparent cause. What drives their terrifying power? (First published in 2023) 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
SummaryGood news for people who love bad news
Aug 4, 202500:28:10Summary readyGood news can be hard to find, especially when our brains — and the media — are biased against it. 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
Summary12 tiny worlds
Jul 30, 202500:35:40Summary readyIf you went back 500 million years and re-ran evolution, would life be totally different today? 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
SummaryHow good was Michael Jordan, really?
Jul 28, 202500:45:54Summary readyIt's easy to assume there is objective truth in basketball stats. A clear story of what happened in the past. But our friends at Pablo Torre Finds Out uncovered something that throws an entire era into question. Guest: Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out 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
SummaryOne weird trick to get unlimited clean energy
Jul 23, 202500:23:56Summary readyIs a solution to climate change…pouring water on hot rocks? Guest: Dylan Matthews, Senior Correspondent at Vox's Future Perfect 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 Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryWho taught beavers to build dams?
Jul 21, 202500:29:17Summary readyHow does any animal know what to do? A neuroscientist argues it's not “instinct.” Something bigger is going on. (First published in 2022) Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa 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 Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryThe disease we let win
Jul 16, 202500:32:01Summary readyWe have a cure for tuberculosis. Why does it still kill over a million people every year? GUEST: John Green, podcaster, YouTube creator and award-winning author of Everything is Tuberculosis and many young adult novels 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 Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryScience! Tell me what to eat!
Jul 14, 202500:58:12Summary readyFiguring out the perfect healthy diet remains stubbornly out of reach. Our friends at Gastropod ask: Why? Guests: Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, co-hosts of Gastropod 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 Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
SummaryA magical world at the ocean’s edge
Jul 2, 202500:36:42Summary readyIn coastal California, researchers grapple with potentially losing a landscape they love. Guests: Rebecca Johnson, Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science at the California Academy of Sciences; Peter Roopnarine, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology at the California Academy of Sciences 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 Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: voxmedia.com/survey. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Summary