Unexplainable

Many physicists dream of coming up with a unified theory of the universe. Rae Robertson-Anderson dreams of understanding ranch dressing, shampoo, and scrambled eggs. Guests: Rae Robertson-Anderson [https://www.sandiego.edu/news/biography.php?profile_id=399], a physics professor at the University of San Diego. (Find her TikToks at physics_mamma [https://www.tiktok.com/@physics_mamma].) For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable] And please email us! ⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠voxmedia.com/survey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://voxmedia.com/survey]. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

If matter is a result of vibration, what causes the vibration? Our friends at The Gray Area [https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area] ask, “Is the universe behaving like an instrument?” Guest: Stephon Alexander [https://vivo.brown.edu/display/salexan4], theoretical physicist at Brown University For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable] And please email us! ⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠voxmedia.com/survey⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://voxmedia.com/survey]. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

You’ll need your best friend, a computer in your shoe, and a working knowledge of physics. Guest: Doyne Farmer [https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/people/doyne-farmer], Director of Complexity Economics at Oxford For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable] And please email us! ⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠voxmedia.com/survey⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://voxmedia.com/survey]. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The answer isn’t as clear as you might think. And because of drastic cuts to climate science funding, this question might be getting even harder to solve. Guest: Umair Irfan [https://www.vox.com/authors/umair-irfan], Vox climate science correspondent  For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable] And please email us! ⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠voxmedia.com/survey⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://voxmedia.com/survey]. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Florida just became the second state to ban fluoride from its water system, which has made some public health experts pretty angry. Just how risky is fluoride really, and why is it so hard for us to get on the same page? Guest: Emily Oster [https://vivo.brown.edu/display/eoster1], professor of economics at Brown University and CEO of ParentData [https://parentdata.org/] For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1bMXuLuyy3zTLCnblKVWUBq4Gd84PY8sG] For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.vox.com/unexplainable] And please email us! ⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠ [https://www.vox.com/support-membership] Help us plan for the future of Unexplainable by filling out a brief survey: ⁠⁠⁠voxmedia.com/survey⁠⁠⁠ [http://voxmedia.com/survey]. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]