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 Dec 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 Dec 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
Monkeys, monogamy, and masculinity
Welcome back folks! Today's episode circles some big questions. What does it mean to be human? What's distinctive about the human mind and the human mode of being? What is human nature—if such a thing...
13 Okt 20211h 15min
The eye's mind
Welcome back folks! Today, we've got an audio essay for you. I won't say too too much—don't want to spoil it—but it's about pupils. Not as in students, but as in the dark cores of our eyes. This one o...
29 Sep 202113min
Bat signals
We've got something special for you today folks: bats. That's right: bats. Ever since Thomas Nagel wrote his famous essay on what it's like to be a bat, these flying, furry, nocturnal, shrieky mamma...
15 Sep 20211h 19min
