Unexplainable

Life from scratch

Scientists stripped a cell down to its most essential genes in order to find out what makes life...alive. What they found was more bizarre than they could have imagined. This is the first episode of our new three-part series, Life from Scratch. Guests: Kate Adamala [https://cbs.umn.edu/directory/kate-adamala], associate professor at the University of Minnesota; John Glass [https://www.jcvi.org/about/john-glass], leader of the JCVI Synthetic Biology Group. For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG]⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠ [http://vox.com/unxtranscripts]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠ [http://vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠ [unexplainable@vox.com]⁠⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership]⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠ [http://vox.com/members]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The idea of a song

A few hundred milliseconds are often all you need to recognize a song, but a lot of recent hits have moved away from intros. Our friends at ⁠Switched on Pop⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1sgWaKtQxwfjUpZnnK8r7J] (along with the National's Aaron Dessner) break down how song intros can shape our perception and what we lose when they disappear. To watch this episode on video, find us on ⁠Netflix⁠ [https://www.netflix.com/title/83045846]! Guests: ⁠Charlie Harding⁠ [https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/charlie-harding] and ⁠Nate Sloan⁠ [https://music.usc.edu/nate-sloan/], hosts of ⁠Switched on Pop⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/1sgWaKtQxwfjUpZnnK8r7J]; ⁠Aaron Dessner⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/aarondessner], producer, songwriter, and member of ⁠the National⁠ [https://www.americanmary.com/]; ⁠Grace Spelman⁠ [https://gracespelmanmusicproject.substack.com/], music writer For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG]⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠ [http://vox.com/unxtranscripts]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠ [http://vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠ [unexplainable@vox.com]⁠⁠⁠ We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership]⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠ [http://vox.com/members]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Why can’t I remember being a baby?

And if babies forget their earliest experiences, do they still matter? This episode is a collaboration with Vox's Explain It to Me [https://open.spotify.com/show/1vSUO6Bg4abtjRF7fnGpT1] podcast Guests: Kristin Ohlson [https://www.kristinohlson.com/], writer; Tristan Yates [https://psychology.columbia.edu/content/tristan-yates], cognitive psychologist at Columbia University; Dana Suskind [https://surgery.uchicago.edu/faculty/dana-l-suskind-md], professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG]⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠ [http://vox.com/unxtranscripts]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠ [http://vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠ [unexplainable@vox.com]⁠⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership]⁠vox.com/members⁠ [http://vox.com/members]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Can these corals take the heat?

Warming waters are an existential threat to coral reefs, and for people who want to restore them. But in the Republic of Palau, researchers are testing out an approach to help restored reefs survive hotter temperatures — before it's too late. To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix [https://www.netflix.com/title/83045846]! Guests: Benji Jones [https://www.vox.com/authors/benji-jones], senior environmental correspondent at Vox For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG]vox.com/unxtranscripts [http://vox.com/unxtranscripts]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]vox.com/unexplainable [http://vox.com/unexplainable]⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com [unexplainable@vox.com]⁠⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership]vox.com/members [http://vox.com/members]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Why Hank Green takes pseudoscience seriously

Dismissing pseudoscience is too easy. Understanding why it spreads so quickly is harder. It can teach us why real science works and how to spot the difference between the two. To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix [https://www.netflix.com/title/83045846]! Guest: Hank Green [https://www.hankgreen.com/], creator of SciShow [https://www.youtube.com/@SciShow] and Crash Course [https://www.youtube.com/@crashcourse], co-host of Vlogbrothers [https://www.youtube.com/@vlogbrothers] For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG]⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠ [http://vox.com/unxtranscripts]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠ [http://vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠ [unexplainable@vox.com]⁠⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership]⁠vox.com/members⁠ [http://vox.com/members]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]