It’s faster than a speeding bullet. It’s smarter than a polymath genius. It’s everywhere but it’s invisible. It’s artificial intelligence. But what actually is it?Today we ask this simple question and explore why it’s so damn hard to answer.Special thanks to Stephanie Yin and the New York Institute of Go for teaching us the game. Mark, Daria and Levon Hoover Brauner for helping bring NETtalk to life Grant Sanderson for his unending patience explaining the math of neural nets to us.EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Simon AdlerProduced by - Simon AdlerOriginal music from - Simon AdlerSound design contributed by - Simon AdlerFact-checking by - Anna Pujol-Mazzini Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty
When he wrote Messiah (in 24 days), Handel was past his prime and nearly broke. One night in Dublin changed all that. (Part two of “Making Messiah.”) SOURCES:Charles King, political scientist at Georgetown University.Chris Scobie, curator of music, manuscripts, and archives at the British Library.Ellen Harris, musicologist and professor emeritus at MIT.Mark Risinger, teacher at St. Bernard's School.Philip Rushforth, organist and master of the choristers at the Chester Cathedral.Proinnsías Ó Duinn, conductor and music director of Our Lady's Choral Society. RESOURCES:Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah, by Charles King (2024)."Arnaud du Sarrat and the international music trade in Halle and Leipzig c.1700," by Tomasz Górny (Early Music, 2023).George Frideric Handel: A Life with Friends, by Ellen Harris (2014).Handel (Composers Across Cultures), by Donald Burrows (2012)."Georg Händel (1622–97): The Barber-Surgeon Father of George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)," by Aileen Adams and B. Hofestädt (Journal Of Medical Biography, 2005).Handel's Messiah: A Celebration: A Richly Illustrated History of the Music and Its Eighteenth-Century Background, by Richard Luckett (1995).Handel's Messiah The Advent Calendar, podcast series. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
First up on the podcast, we’ve likely only found about half the so-called city-killer asteroids (objects more than 140 meters in diameter). Freelance science journalist Robin George Andrews joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the upcoming launch of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor, an asteroid hunter that will improve our ability to look for large objects that might crash into Earth, particularly those hiding in the Sun’s glare.
Next on the show, freelancer producer Elah Feder talks with Wendy Valencia-Montoya, an organismic and evolutionary biology Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University, about heated conversations between plants and their pollinators. Her work suggests infrared radiation might be the oldest cue for animals to come hither, more ancient than color.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
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All of us think we know what addiction looks like. It’s the compulsive consumption of drugs, alcohol, or nicotine. But psychiatrist Anna Lembke argues that our conception of addiction is far too narrow — and that a broader understanding of addiction might help us to understand why so many people are anxious and depressed. This week, we revisit a 2023 episode that remains of the most popular in the history of our show. We'll explore how and why humans are wired to pursue pleasure, and all the ways the modern world tempts us with addictive substances and behaviors.Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the Hidden Brain fan in your life? How about a membership to our podcast subscription, Hidden Brain+? You can learn more about gift subscriptions at patreon.com/hiddenbrain/gift. If t-shirts, tote bags and mugs are more your thing, you can find all kinds of Hidden Brain swag at our online store -- just go to shop.hiddenbrain.org. And if you prefer to give the gift of an experience, consider tickets to our live tour! To see where we’re headed in 2026, go to hiddenbrain.org/tour. Thanks and Happy Holidays! Episode image by adriandra karuniawan for Unsplash+ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
A new CBC Marketplace investigation has named the worst commute in Canada, the stretch west of Toronto from the 905 into the downtown core. But we're not just talking about one city. Our question: What’s your nomination for Canada’s worst commute? What impact is it having on you, and your family?
It's the most expensive time of the year, and it's hitting just as many people are falling behind.Many Canadians have changed their spending habits and have even given up buying gifts for family members.Our question: How is personal debt affecting your holiday season? What’s your workaround? What are you giving up?
A year ago we brought you a show called Shell Game where a journalist named Evan Ratliff made an AI copy of himself. Now on season 2 of the show, Evan’s using AI to do more than just mimic himself — he’s starting a company staffed entirely by AI agents, and making a podcast about the experience. The show is a smart, funny, and truly bizarre look at what AI can do—and what it can’t. This week we bring you the first episode of Shell Game Season Two, Minimum Viable Company. You can sign up to get the rest of the Shell Game ad-free, and the Shell Game newsletter, at shellgame.co .EPISODE CREDITS: Shell Game Hosted by Evan Ratliff, Produced and edited by Sophie Bridges. Shell Game’s Technical Advisor Matty Bohacek Executive Produced by Samantha Henig, Kate Osborn and Mangesh Hattikudur at Kaleidoscopeand Katrina Norvell at IHeart Podcasts.Radiolab portions Hosted by Simon Adler Produced by Mona Madgavkar.Sign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Why does an 18th-century Christian oratorio lend such comfort to our own turbulent times? Stephen Dubner sets out for Dublin to tell the story of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. (Part one of “Making Messiah.”) SOURCES:Charles King, political scientist at Georgetown University.Katrine Nyland Sørensen, Danish broadcaster, host of Handel's Messiah - The Advent Calendar.Mark Risinger, teacher at St. Bernard's School.Michael and Aileen Casey, Dublin conservationists.Proinnsías Ó Duinn, conductor and music director of Our Lady's Choral Society.Stuart Kinsella, tenor soloist and consort singer. RESOURCES:Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah, by Charles King (2024)."Two Men Wrote ‘Messiah.’ You Know One of Them." by Charles King (New York Times, 2024)."On Fishamble Street, family lives among four centuries of relatives’ keepsakes," by Zuzia Whelan (Dublin Inquirer, 2018).Hallelujah: The Story of a Musical Genius & the City That Brought His Masterpiece, by Jonathan Bardon (2016).George Frideric Handel: A Life with Friends, by Ellen Harris (2014).Handel: The Man & His Music, by Jonathan Keates (2010)."Handel's Messiah," performed by The London Symphony Orchestra (2007).Handel's Messiah The Advent Calendar, podcast series. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
First up on the podcast, Science celebrates 100 years of quantum mechanics with a special issue covering the past, present, and future of the field. News Contributing Correspondent Zack Savitsky joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a more philosophical approach to quantum physics and the mysterious measurement problem.
Next on the show we have Anne Goujon, program director at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria. She talks about her Expert Voices column on the uncertain future of demography and how the field is grappling with new theories on what happens after the global population peaks. How will different countries deal with falling populations? Will they try to reverse the trend? What are the goals going into the next century?
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
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Why are so many of us drawn to horror, gore, and true crime? Why do we crane our necks to see the scene of a crash on the highway? Psychologist Coltan Scrivner says that our natural morbid curiosity serves a purpose. We talk with Coltan about our fascination with tales of murder and mayhem, and what this tendency reveals about our minds.In this episode, you'll learn:*Why there's often a surge of interest in scary entertainment after a violent or tragic incident in the real world. *The potential evolutionary roots of our curiosity about scary events or violent stories.*What researchers have found about the impact of scary movies and books on the people who watch them. *How horror content can be a vehicle for connecting with other people. *What we know about the personality traits of people who are drawn to dark and sinister stories. If you have a question or personal story related to today's episode that you'd be willing to share with the Hidden Brain audience, please record a voice memo on your phone and email it to us at ideas@hiddenbrain.org. Use the subject line "scary." Looking for the perfect holiday present for the Hidden Brain fan in your life? We've got you covered. Give your loved one a gift membership to Hidden Brain+, or visit our online shop for t-shirts, mugs, totes, and more! Here's another idea: grab tickets for one of our upcoming live shows. We'll be in Philadelphia on March 21 and New York on March 25. Thanks and Happy Holidays!This December, Hidden Brain is proud to join #PodsFightPoverty. We're teaming up with other podcasts to raise funds to lift three villages in Rwanda out of extreme poverty. Your donation goes directly to the families who know best what they need. Visit GiveDirectly.org/HiddenBrain to make a difference for someone who needs it most. Episode image by Riswan Ratta for Unsplash+ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
New CBC data shows violent incidents on buses, streetcars and subways have jumped sharply in major cities — raising concerns about safety, vulnerability and the crises converging on public transit. Our question: Do you feel safe on public transit? How can cities make riders safer?
According to research, as prices climb and first-time buyers rethink their expectations, many Canadians say owning a home feels further away than ever — with some giving up entirely. Our question: What’s stopping you from owning a home? What needs to change to make homes more affordable?
Our original host Jad Abumrad returns to share a new podcast series he’s just released. It’s all about Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician who created a genre, then a movement, then tried to use his hypnotic beats to topple a military dictatorship. Jad tells us about the series and why he made it, and we play the episode that, for us at least, gets to the heart of the matter: How exactly does his music work? What actually happens to the people who hear it and how does it move them to action?You can find Jad’s entire nine-part series, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, on Apple or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Jad AbumradRadiolab portions produced by - Sindhu GnanasambandanSign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Signup (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Macy’s wants to recapture its glorious past. The author of the Wimpy Kid books wants to rebuild his dilapidated hometown. We just want to listen in. (Part two of a two-part series, first published in 2024) SOURCES:Mark Cohen, former professor and director of retail studies at Columbia Business School.Will Coss, vice president and executive producer of Macy’s Studios.Jeff Kinney, author, cartoonist, and owner of An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café.Tony Spring, chairman and C.E.O. of Macy’s Inc. RESOURCES:"How Macy’s CEO Tony Spring Is Turning the Retailer Around," by Suzanne Kapner (The Wall Street Journal, 2025).“NBC Ready to Pay Triple to Gobble Up Thanksgiving Parade Broadcast Rights,” by Joe Flint (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).“How Macy’s Set Out to Conquer the Department Store Business — and Lost,” by Daphne Howland (Retail Dive, 2022).An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café. EXTRAS:“Can the Macy’s Parade Save Macy’s?” series by Freakonomics Radio (2024). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
First up on the podcast, when will the world hit peak carbon emissions? It’s not an easy question to answer because emissions cannot be directly measured in real time. Instead, there are proxies, satellite measures, and many, many calculations. Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how close we are to the top of carbon mountain and the tough road to come after the peak passes.
Vani Rajendran, senior researcher in the cognitive neuroscience department at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Institute of Cellular Physiology, talks about macaques that can keep the beat. She explains how this intriguing ability challenges a long-standing view that animals with complex vocalizations and rhythm are inextricably linked.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
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