The Science of Allergies and Why We Have Them
This week we talk to medical anthropologist and science writer Theresa MacPhail about her new book Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World.
Inquiring Minds
Hosted by neuroscientist and communicator Indre Viskontas, Inquiring Minds digs into the questions that shape our lives, where hard data meets human experience. This isn't just about lab results or abstract theories; it's about how scientific thinking directly influences our culture, our social structures, and the daily choices we all face. Every episode is a deep, thoughtful conversation that starts with curiosity and follows the evidence wherever it leads. You'll hear from researchers, thinkers, and sometimes skeptics, all in service of untangling complex issues with clarity and nuance. The goal is to move beyond headlines and hype to examine what we really know, what remains a mystery, and how that knowledge empowers us. Tuning into this podcast means joining a community that values rigor and open-minded inquiry, recognizing that understanding the mechanisms of our world is the first step toward navigating it more thoughtfully. It's for anyone who has ever wondered how science actually informs policy, art, relationships, and our sense of self, presented not as a lecture but as an engaging, ongoing exploration.
Episodes
Why It’s Important to Know What’s Actually in Your Clothes
This week we talk to journalist and sustainable fashion expert Alden Wicker about her book To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick—and How We Can Fight Back.
How You Could Have Survived History’s Disasters
This week we talk to writer Cody Cassidy about his new book How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes.
How to Stop Your Brain from Falling for Lies
This week we talk to psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris about their new book Nobody's Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It.
How Society Created “You”
This week we talk to social psychologist and Stanford professor Brian Lowery about his new book Selfless: The Social Creation of “You”. In it, he proposes that what you think of as “you” is actually a social construct cr…
The Science of Silo with Hugh Howey
This week we talk to Hugh Howey, author of the bestselling Silo series of books and executive producer of the new Apple TV+ series of the same name.
Improbable Experiments That Changed the World
This week we talk to accelerator physicist Suzie Sheehy about her most recent book The Matter of Everything: How Curiosity, Physics, and Improbable Experiments Changed the World.
The Perilous Combination of Brain Wave Data and Generative AI
On the show this week we talk to Nita A. Farahany, distinguished professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and the founding director of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, about her new book, "The Battle…
Everything you need to know about that fusion breakthrough
Last December, a team of scientists made history by creating a fusion reaction that—for the first time ever—gave off more energy that it took to start. It’s a groundbreaking milestone. We talked to two researchers who we…
Art can make you live longer
This week we talk to pioneering art & science researcher Susan Magsamen along with vice president of design for hardware products at Google, Ivy Ross, about their new book Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us. Wh…
