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
The roots of rhythm
Why do we make music? Why do we love music? Well, you say, because it's in our nature. Our brains were sculpted over the course of evolution to delight in sonic sequences, to remember melodies, to rev...
1 Sep 20211h 4min
Babies, grandmas, and our most human capacities
Welcome back friends! Cue the kazoos and the champagne—after a short summer snooze, we're much revived and ready for a third season of Many Minds! I could not be more thrilled about the guest we have ...
18 Aug 20211h 5min
From the archive: Revising the Neanderthal Story
We're on summer break this week. Back in a couple weeks with the kick-off of Season 3! In the meanwhile, here's a favorite episode from our archives: a conversation with Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes about ...
4 Aug 20211h 18min
