Why did our brains shrink 3000 years ago?
You have a big brain. I have a big brain. We, as a species, have pretty big brains. But this wasn't always the case. Way back when, our brains were much smaller; then they went through a bit of growth...
2 Feb 202246min
Architects of the underworld
You've probably seen those lists of the so-called "wonders of the world." Many are works of architecture: the Great Wall, the pyramids, the colosseum, Taj Mahal. But these lists are, in a sense, alway...
19 Jan 202258min
From the archive: Cultures of the deep
We're on a brief winter break right now, but we'll be back later in January. To tide you over, here's one of our favorite episodes from 2021: a conversation with Dr. Luke Rendell about culture in whal...
7 Jan 20221h 16min
Intoxication
A pharmacologist and a philosopher walk into a bar. This is not the start of a joke—it's the start of our 2021 finale and our first ever theme episode. The idea with these theme episodes is that we ha...
22 Des 20211h 19min
Why do we dream?
You may not remember much about it, but chances are last night you went on a journey. As you slept, your brain concocted a story—maybe a sprawl of interconnected stories. It took you to some unreal pl...
8 Des 202148min
Why is AI so hard?
I'm betting you've heard about the next generation of artificial intelligence, the one that's just around the corner. It's going to be pervasive, all-competent, maybe super-intelligent. We'll rely on ...
24 Nov 202153min
The brain's many maps
If you're a brain, it can be tough to stay organized. The world comes at you fast, from all angles, in different sensory formats—sights, sounds, smells. You need to take it all in, but you also need t...
10 Nov 20211h 4min
Plants, languages, and the loss of medicinal knowledge
Our planet is home to an astonishing diversity of plants—close to 400,000 species. Over the millennia, indigenous communities around the world have been studying those plants, experimenting with them,...
27 Okt 202141min
