Unexplainable
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.
26
Mysterious objects near the beginning of time
Astronomers are putting together a new picture of the early universe.
23 min
27
Cloud atlas
It’s surprisingly hard to predict how clouds form, move, and change, but it’s essential to try.
26 min
28
What's good sound?
Every hand-crafted instrument from violin maker Michael Doran holds its own unexplainable questions.
23 min
29
No data, just vibes
There's been a real rollback of one of the US government's most fundamental tasks: gathering data.
20 min
30
It's not all bad
Things in the news have been feeling kind of…bleak, so we called in some reinforcements.
22 min
31
Superbabies?
Parents are supposed to provide the best life possible for their kids, right?
23 min
32
The G-word
Is geoengineering the answer to the climate crisis?
24 min
33
Who's afraid of big, bad Yellowstone?
Yellowstone can be a deadly place... but not for the reasons you might think.
20 min
34
Vitamin C and the common cold
A two-time Nobel Prize-winning scientist changed chemistry, biology, and the politics of science.
29 min
35
Your moments of silence (The Sound Barrier #5)
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.
29 min
36
Diary of a teenage brain, part 2
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?
24 min
37
Diary of a teenage brain
What's going on in teens' heads?
26 min
38
The trees of death
Way back when forests first evolved on Earth... they might have triggered one of the biggest mass extinctions in the history of the planet.
24 min
39
That's no moon...
It's a quasi-moon.
18 min
40
Lost on the road to enlightenment
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.
32 min
41
Is animal grief real?
These behaviors in animals may look like human mourning, but should scientists call them "grief"?
23 min
42
The Sound Barrier #4: Listen to the universe
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.
34 min
43
The Sound Barrier #3: What does silence sound l...
A scientist asked people to sit in a silent room for 15 minutes.
29 min
44
The Sound Barrier #2: The noise that isn't there
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?
31 min
45
The Sound Barrier #1: The myth of hearing
Just like optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears.
37 min
46
Solve me a river
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.
34 min
47
This episode is haunted and spooky
Now why would you click on something like this?
17 min
48
Consider the shrimp
Killing two people is worse than killing one.
21 min
49
When talent vanishes overnight
Think about the thing you’ve practiced more than anything else in the world.
26 min
50
Composing chaos
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.
25 min