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.
1
A period piece
Periods and menstrual fluid have long been overlooked by scientists.
17 min
2
Bird people and deep space shrapnel
Two mysteries we can't stop thinking about: Is lightning actually caused by cosmic rays? And why don't birds play chess?
24 min
3
Should we really kill all the lanternflies?
When an invasive bug landed on the East Coast, people embraced the order to squish it to death.
30 min
4
Sean tries raw milk
Sean Rameswaram, co-host of Today, Explained, recently went on a dairy adventure.
29 min
5
A new species in New York
Around 90% of life on Earth is unknown.
23 min
6
The disaster problem
Climate change is making hurricanes, floods, and wildfires harder to prepare for just as confidence in the government’s disaster response is collapsing.
56 min
7
The lost Lyme vaccine
Vijay Sikand is a family doctor in the Connecticut town that gave Lyme disease its name.
35 min
8
The cells we share
Fetuses leave cells behind in their parents' bodies, where they braid themselves into tissues, and remain, for years.
33 min
9
The man who bet against humanity — and lost
Paul Ehrlich was famous for predicting a population explosion that would destroy the planet, but he didn't count on human ingenuity.
14 min
10
The aftermath
What would life look like after a global nuclear war?
38 min
11
A better Black Death story
What happens when researchers reexamine some of the basic facts about the Black Death?
29 min
12
The hunt for a lost species
One of the world’s most biodiverse aquifers is full of strange, blind creatures that have evolved in isolation for millions of years. But one is missing.
25 min
13
Dark matter music
Pioneering musicians Beatie Wolfe and Brian Eno released their latest album Liminal by broadcasting it from a 50-foot microwave antenna.
31 min
14
I glow, therefore I am
Today on the show: a double feature — two mysteries in one episode.
25 min
15
Is everything inflammation?
To hear some people tell it — especially people on TikTok — inflammation is the root of all disease.
29 min
16
A show about nothing
A few months ago, we put out an episode about what silence sounds like, and it caught the attention of Rob Rosenthal, who hosts a podcast called Sound School about the craft of audio storytelling.
25 min
17
The Hitchhiking Microbe’s Guide to the Galaxy
Can microbes travel through space on meteorites?
23 min
18
Why did we go back to the moon?
For the first time in over 50 years, humans have gone to the moon and back.
29 min
19
Is male birth control finally here?
Typically, the burden of birth control falls on whomever has a uterus, but it seems like that might change — and soon!
25 min
20
Mi Vickicito
Host Julia Longoria signs off from Unexplainable with one final question: Why does her grandma love Vicks VapoRub so much?
16 min
21
Casey gets his voice back
Casey Harrell is a goofy, lighthearted chatterbox whose love for language helped him become an accomplished environmental activist.
34 min
22
Oliver Sacks's not quite nonfiction
Oliver Sacks was once crowned “the poet laureate of medicine."
28 min
23
The accidental rise of Botox
One of the deadliest poisons known to man is now used to treat wrinkles, migraines, and even, maybe, depression. How did that happen?
26 min
24
Who are we to fight the alchemy?
Many alchemical texts are full of bizarre, metaphorical language. But what if there's interesting science hiding behind some of those metaphors?
29 min
25
Snow day!
Grab some hot cocoa and a warm blanket and let’s talk about the tiny crystals that fall from the sky.
26 min