Each week the Inquiring Minds podcast brings you a new, in-depth exploration of the place where science, politics, and society collide. We're committed to the idea that making an effort to understand the world around you through science and critical thinking can benefit everyone—and lead to better decisions. We endeavor to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it all matters with weekly coverage of the latest headlines and probing discussions with leading scientists and thinkers.

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Inquiring Minds

Vintage Bather

How One Man Poured Chemicals Into New Jersey's Drinking Water and Changed Women's Fashion Forever

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 | Fri Oct. 17, 2014 6:15 AM EDT

How Daydreaming Can Fix Your Brain

Scientists are finally starting to understand what happens to the brain "at rest."

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 | Mon Oct. 13, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Science Says You Can Split Infinitives and Use the Passive Voice

Steven Pinker explains why you don't have to follow bogus grammar rules.

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 | Fri Oct. 3, 2014 6:00 AM EDT
Adam Savage

Live Event: Inquiring Minds Interviews Adam Savage in San Francisco

Inquiring Minds teams up with The Story Collider as part of the Bay Area Science Festival, October 28.

Wed Oct. 1, 2014 6:41 PM EDT

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smog illustration

Naomi Klein: Fossil Fuels Threaten Our Ability to Have Healthy Children

Why oil spills, fracking, and climate change pose a special danger to the youngest members of all species.

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 | Mon Sep. 29, 2014 6:00 AM EDT
Al Gore

Gore: Fracking Won't Solve Our Climate Crisis

Natural gas can't be a "bridge fuel" unless we crack down on methane leaks, he tells Climate Desk.

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 | Wed Sep. 17, 2014 1:39 PM EDT

This Man Wrote Hundreds of Letters Warning Politicians Not to Lie. It Worked.

Political scientist Brendan Nyhan explains why fact-checking keeps candidates honest…sometimes.

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 | Fri Sep. 12, 2014 6:15 AM EDT
flipping a coin

How Understanding Randomness Will Give You Mind-Reading Powers

Science writer William Poundstone gives practical advice on how to outwit just about anybody.

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 | Tue Sep. 2, 2014 4:32 PM EDT

Here Are the Psychological Reasons Why an American Might Join ISIS

Psychologist Arie Kruglanski explains how closed-mindedness and existential angst create the modern American jihadist.

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 | Fri Aug. 29, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Why Coal Is (Still) Worse Than Fracking and Cow Burps

Geoscientist Raymond Pierrehumbert argues that carbon dioxide is always worse than shorter-lived pollutants like methane.

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 | Fri Aug. 29, 2014 6:00 AM EDT
Gertrude Bell

26 Percent of Female Scientists Say They've Been Sexually Assaulted Doing Fieldwork

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 | Fri Aug. 22, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Why the Scientific Case Against Fracking Keeps Getting Stronger

Anthony Ingraffea argues that fugitive methane emissions turn natural gas from a climate benefit into yet another strike against fossil fuels.

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 | Fri Aug. 15, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Here's the Science to Refute Right-Wing Ebola Scaremongering

Epidemiologist Tara Smith lays out the facts about the scary, but controllable, disease.

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 | Fri Aug. 8, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Will Humans Ever Learn to Hibernate?

The idea isn't as crazy as you might think. Here's why we might need hibernation to save lives and (maybe) get to the stars.

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| Fri Aug. 8, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Science Says You Should Leave Work at 2 p.m. and Go for a Walk

A new book tells you how to change your habits to improve at math, science…or whatever else you want to learn about.

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 | Fri Aug. 1, 2014 6:00 AM EDT
Eero Mäntyranta

The Science Behind the World's Greatest Athletes

Sports writer David Epstein explores the genetic basis of athletic acheivement.

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 | Mon Jul. 21, 2014 9:58 PM EDT

How Western Civilization Ended, Circa 2014

Two historians turn to science fiction to scare the hell out of you about climate change.

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 | Fri Jul. 18, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Designer Butterflies, See-Through Frogs, Giant Neural Networks…and Other Works of Modern Art

The distinction between art and science is becoming obsolete, and the results will amaze you.

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 | Sat Jul. 12, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

The Science of Turning Plants Into Booze

Amy Stewart explains the science of cocktails, and for this July 4, gives some advice about patriotic boozing.

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 | Fri Jul. 4, 2014 6:00 AM EDT

Baby Catapulting and Other Batshit Hypotheses That Teach You How Science Works

Zach Weinersmith, creator of the Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic strips, on the humor of bad science.

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| Fri Jun. 27, 2014 6:00 AM EDT