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.
101
Is science in danger?
Funding cuts and research censorship have shaken the foundations of America’s health and science agencies, leaving researchers shocked, confused, and afraid.
21 min
102
How umami blew up taste
For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures.
33 min
103
What’s hiding under the Antarctic ice?
Some of the largest lakes in the world have been buried under miles of ice for millions of years.
21 min
104
Biopiracy
Genetic libraries are treasure troves of information about life from around the world.
25 min
105
Will AI ever ... feel?
Some scientists think an explosion of AI awareness and feeling might be just around the corner.
23 min
106
New year, new diet, live forever?
It’s that time of year again.
23 min
107
Mysteries we can’t stop thinking about
The wildest stories that never made it into our episodes.
23 min
108
Who let the wolves in?
Dogs were the first domesticated animal in history, emerging from wolves some 20,000 years ago.
21 min
109
Where to meet a Neanderthal
We know Neanderthals and early modern humans coupled up.
26 min
110
Pinky and the (lab-grown) Brain
It’s not great to be a lab rat.
18 min
111
Why are there lefties and righties?
This week on Unexplainable or Not, we’ve got three scientific mysteries all about left and right.
25 min
112
Placebos work. Why?
For decades, scientists thought that placebos only worked if patients didn’t know they were taking them.
23 min
113
Why is horror so fun?
It makes sense that we run away from scary things.
17 min
114
Are psychedelics breaking science?
Drugs like ecstasy and mushrooms have shown promise as mental health treatments, but they’re also exposing some major cracks in how scientists study the brain.
22 min
115
Your gut’s feelings
How we feel emotionally may be influenced by unseen troves of microbial life that live inside us.
25 min
116
Is insurance doomed?
As the world gets warmer and storms get worse, insurance companies are jacking up rates — or refusing to cover homeowners altogether. Is the future uninsurable?
26 min
117
My animal heart
Doctors have started transplanting animal organs into people, hoping this experimental procedure could one day solve an organ shortage crisis that kills 17 Americans every day.
22 min
118
How hot could the world get?
Scientists have lots of ways to try to answer that question, and lots of different predictions.
21 min
119
Should you be eating poison oak?
Probably not.
26 min
120
Dark oxygen could rewrite Earth’s history
Scientists just discovered oxygen being produced without sunlight — without photosynthesis — at the bottom of the ocean.
20 min
121
You're lost in the wilderness. Now what?
For decades, search and rescue teams followed an accepted playbook.
19 min
122
Viral dark matter
With antibiotic resistance on the rise, some scientists are starting to turn to viruses as a medical tool.
21 min
123
The good virus
Our bodies are teeming with viruses.
17 min
124
Ecstasy therapy
The FDA is about to announce whether it’s going to approve MDMA as a treatment for PTSD.
27 min
125
What did dinosaurs sound like?
They probably didn’t roar like lions.
36 min