Big Brains

By University of Chicago Podcast Network

What's Big Brains about?

Translating groundbreaking research into digestible brain food. Big Brains, little bites. Produced by the University of Chicago Podcast Network & Winner of CASE "Grand Gold" award in 2022, Gold award in 2021, and named Adweek's "Best Branded Podcast" in 2020.

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Big Brains episodes:

04.18.2024
Why We Die—And How We Can Live Longer, with Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishan
They’re perhaps the oldest questions in the science: Why do we die? And could we find a way to live forever? But for decades, anti-aging research was a “backwater” of the scientific community, consider too fanciful and unrealistic. That is...
04.04.2024
What Dogs Are Teaching Us About Aging, with Daniel Promislow
Every dog owner has faced the hard realization that their dog won’t live as long as they do, but we’ve all probably wondered: Why do some dogs live longer than others? It turns out that several factors are at play,...
03.21.2024
Where Has Alzheimer’s Research Gone Wrong? with Karl Herrup
For more than a century, scientists have been studying Alzheimer’s disease and developing theories about its underlying cause. The leading theory for decades has been that abnormal amyloid plaques in the brains of those who suffer from the disease are...
03.07.2024
Why Breeding Millions of Mosquitoes Could Help Save Lives
Mosquito-borne diseases are one of the greatest global health threats, infecting around 700 million people every year with Zika virus, dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever — which can all be deadly if left untreated. Unfortunately, the mosquito population is...
02.22.2024
Why Shaming Other Countries Often Backfires, with Rochelle Terman
How do you stop a government from continuing to commit human rights abuses? You could take them to an international court of justice, or file a complaint at the UN. But none of those bodies have any enforcement power. Short...
02.06.2024
Can Trump Legally Be President?, with William Baude
The Supreme Court’s decision on whether Colorado can take former President Donald Trump off the ballot in the 2024 election may be one of the most consequential in its history. The case will turn on the court’s interpretation of Amendment...
01.25.2024
What Our Hand Gestures Reveal About Our Thoughts, with Susan Goldin-Meadow
Language shapes our world. But when we speak, there is actually a secret conversation happening beyond our words. It’s happening not with our mouths—but with our hands. Prof. Susan Goldin-Meadow is a distinguished scholar of psychology at the University of Chicago....
01.11.2024
Psychedelics Without Hallucinations: A New Mental Health Treatment? with David E. Olson
The United States is facing a real mental health crisis. In the last few years, one possible treatment has gotten a lot of press: psychedelic drugs. But what is actually happening in a person’s brain when they take a psychedelic?...
12.28.2023
The Science Of Happiness
The Big Brains team is taking some time off during the holidays but for all those travelers out there heading home, we wanted to make sure you still had your favorite podcast in your feed. So, we’re resharing one of...
12.14.2023
Do We Really Have Free Will? With Robert Sapolsky
Here’s the question you’re going to be asking for the next 30 minutes: Did I freely choose to listen to this podcast, or did I actually have no choice at all? Most of us probably believe we have free will....
11.30.2023
A Radical Solution To Address Climate Change, with David Keith
Climate change can feel like an impossible crisis these days. Every week there is some new report about the irreversible damage we’re doing to our planet and the havoc it will bring to people’s lives. We all know cutting emissions is...
11.16.2023
How PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Are Harming Our Health, with Linda Birnbaum
By now, you've probably heard about the dangers of PFAS “forever chemicals.” These chemicals are all around us—they're in waterproof hiking boots, electronics, nonstick pans and even our drinking water—but there's no way for them to break down in our...
11.02.2023
Are We Worse People Than We Used To Be? With Adam Mastroianni
How many times have you heard this phrase: “Back in the day, people were nicer” or “People aren’t as kind as they used to be?” Most of us have experienced the feeling that people are becoming meaner over time, year...
10.19.2023
Freakonomics’ Steven Levitt On The Secret To Making Tough Choices
Of the academic books that have become household names, “Freakonomics” must be at the top of the list. The 2005 book by University of Chicago scholar Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner created not only a whole new way of...
10.05.2023
Will Political Violence Destroy Our Democracy?, With Robert Pape
Since the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, University of Chicago Prof. Robert Pape has been closely observing the threats to our democracy. Now, the renowned terrorism expert says that violent ideas coming from a dedicated minority are...
09.22.2023
Defending Campus Free Speech In A Polarized Age, with Paul Alivisatos and Tom Ginsburg
Free speech is probably one of the most polarizing public topics of debate. And those arguments only become more intense when it comes to free expression on college and university campuses. Should professors be allowed to say whatever they want?...
09.07.2023
Why The Secret To Health Lies In The Mind-body Connection, with Ellen Langer
Can you heal faster just by tricking your brain? Could you lose weight with only a change of mindset? Could you think yourself into being younger? If you think the answer to all these questions is no, you haven’t read...
08.24.2023
Phonics Vs. Whole Word: The Science Of Reading, With Adrian Johns
Reading is one of the most significant practices in the modern age of information, but it has a complicated history. Scientists began studying reading over a century ago; they built eye movement devices to study how fast and efficiently we...
08.10.2023
How AI Is Transforming Scientific Research, With Rebecca Willett
One of the first areas to be affected by AI has been science. Researchers have already started to integrate these new technologies into their work., but what does it mean to let these systems into our labs? Can they be...
07.27.2023
How AI Could Change The Law
AI promises to change every part of our society, but one area that has already started to be affected is law. And AI may do more than just upend the profession of lawyers. One professor here at the University of...
07.20.2023
How AI Can Predict Future Scientific Discoveries
Science is facing a perplexing problem. Although there are far more scientists today than ever before, publishing research at a faster and faster pace, new and novel advancements have slowed not increased. But one expert at the University of Chicago...
07.13.2023
The Uncovered History of Space Travel & Its Privatized Future
Everyone is talking about the upcoming summer blockbuster, Oppenheimer. We are always incredibly captivated by behind the curtain looks at some of the most momentous events in our history. Uncovering the secret details and hidden motivations of the people that...
07.06.2023
The Health Costs of Air Pollution
Many cities in the US have been experiencing smoky and hazy skies lately. Some of you have probably been affected by poor air quality due to the ongoing wildfires in Canada that are causing pollution to travel as far as...
06.29.2023
How Your Brain Benefits From Music, With Larry Sherman
Music plays an important role in all of our lives. But listening to music or playing an instrument is more than just a creative outlet or hobby — it’s also scientifically good for us. Research shows that music can stimulate...
06.15.2023
Magic words: Can What You Say Help You Get Your way? with Jonah Berger
Everyone wishes they had a superpower. Well, it turns out you’ve had a secret power since you were a child, you just don’t know how to use it yet. That’s the power of language. In a fascinating new book, “Magic...
06.01.2023
Providing Basic Health Insurance For Every American, With Katherine Baicker
If there is something both sides of the political aisle can agree on, it’s that there is something deeply wrong with health insurance in the United States. What they can’t agree on is how to fix it. The right blames...
05.25.2023
Why We Fight, With Christopher Blattman
Why do we fight? It’s a seemingly simple question, but it turns out the answers are surprising, deep and crucial to understanding our world. Considering how costly any conflict is in lives and money, why do wars happen at all?...
05.11.2023
The Hidden Truths About Sexuality And Gender In The Medieval World, with Roland Betancourt
We often think our debates around sexuality and gender are a modern phenomenon. Some people argue that identities like trans and non-binary have only existed recently. But could the evidence for queer and gender-nonconforming lives actually stretch back centuries? In...
04.27.2023
How We Could Regrow Limbs And Organs, with Michael Levin
In the near future, birth defects, traumatic injuries, limb loss and perhaps even cancer could be cured through bioelectricity—electrical signals that communicate to our cells how to rebuild themselves. This innovative idea has been tested on flatworms and frogs by...
04.13.2023
A Nobelist’s Controversial Approach To Solving Inequality, With James Heckman
Over his distinguished career, Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman has dedicated his research to understanding and solving the problem of inequality. He has closely studied how investing in early childhood development is linked to better outcomes—from higher earnings, to violence...
03.30.2023
How The Food Industry Created Today’s Obesity Crisis, With Marion Nestle
In today's grocery stores, you can find more sugary snacks, artificial ingredients, and ultra-processed packaged foods. At the same time, the United States has seen an increase in obesity, which is costing our healthcare system, too. Nutritionist Marion Nestle says...
03.16.2023
Why Your Gut Health Is So Important, With Cathryn Nagler And Eric Pamer
Today, you can find claims about how to improve your gut health with foods in grocery stores, to the supplement aisle at your local pharmacy. But, do those claims hold true? The science about what constitutes a "healthy gut" is...
03.02.2023
Why Mourning Is Essential To Our Well-Being, With Jonathan Lear
Mourning is an inevitable part of our human existence. But what exactly does it mean to mourn, and why is it an essential part of our well-being and survival? These questions have long fascinated Prof. Jonathan Lear, a philosopher at...
02.16.2023
The History of Black Cinema Re-examined, With Jacqueline Stewart
We’re re-releasing this incredibly special episode about the history of Black cinema in honor of Black History month. Just a quick note to say that since this recording Prof. Stewart has been appointed as the Director and President of the...
02.02.2023
The Scientific Secret To A Happy Life, With Marc Schulz
What is the key to living a happy and fulfilling life? The answer is actually quite simple, according to the two scholars behind the longest scientific study of happiness every conducted. Beginning in 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development tracked...
01.19.2023
Unraveling Sleep’s Greatest Mysteries: The Day Tomorrow Began
Almost a century ago, the origins of sleep science research began at the University of Chicago with the opening of the world's first sleep laboratory. Since then, sleep science has evolved into a multi-disciplinary field — with scientists focusing on...
01.05.2023
Is The U.S. Headed Toward Another Civil War? Feat. William Howell
As we approach the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, we wanted to reflect on a few questions that many Americans are asking these days: Is democracy on the brink of the collapse? Why are...
12.22.2022
Follow Through On Next Year's Resolutions Using Science With Katy Milkman
As we head into 2023, many of us are setting our new year's resolutions and new goals for the year. It can be hard to stick to these resolutions or accomplish these goals, but there's a technique we can use...
12.08.2022
Why Quantum Tech Will Change Our Future: The Day Tomorrow Began
In the last few years, we’ve witnessed the birth of an entirely new field of science: quantum technology. With the power to create unbreakable encryption, supercharge the development of AI, and radically expedite the development of drug treatments, quantum technology...
11.24.2022
Fighting Global Hunger Through Genetics With Chuan He
We’re taking the week off to spend the holidays with our families, but we think this is a perfect moment to re-release one of our most important episodes. As we all dig into our delicious Thanksgiving dinners, we need to...
11.10.2022
The Origins Of Civilization And The Future Of Archaeology: The Day Tomorrow Began
When you name your special series The Day Tomorrow Began, you inevitably have to ask yourself: just how far back are we going to go? If there’s one group of scholars who could tell us what the earliest possible day...
10.28.2022
Can We Predict Your Capacity To Focus? With Monica Rosenberg
It can seem like our culture is obsessed with our ability to focus. Why can’t we focus, how we can focus better, why is our lack of focus ruining society? There are best-selling books and apps that promise to teach...
10.13.2022
The 'Legendary' Discovery Of Black Holes: The Day Tomorrow Began
Sometimes the biggest moments in scientific history happen in the most unlikely places. There’s no better example than the story of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a longtime University of Chicago scholar whose pioneering research paved the way to the...
09.29.2022
Celebrating Our 100th Episode
This episode marks the official 100th episode of the Big Brains podcast. To celebrate this milestone, our Senior Producer Matt Hodapp joins host Paul M. Rand for a behind-the-scenes conversation about the philosophy behind the program, their favorite moments, as...
09.22.2022
The Science Of Speech & Identity With Katherine Kinzler
Hello Big Brains listeners! Our podcast is coming up on an important milestone … our 100th episode! As part of the month-long celebration, we’re looking back at some of our favorite episodes—highlighting a different world-changing idea or discovery each week. The...
09.15.2022
Life’s Mysterious Origins With Jack Szostak
Hello Big Brains listeners! Our podcast is coming up on an important milestone … our 100th episode! As part of the month-long celebration, we’re looking back at some of our favorite episodes—highlighting a different world-changing idea or discovery each week. What...
09.08.2022
The Afterlife Of Mass Incarceration With Reuben Jonathan Miller
Hello Big Brains listeners! Our podcast is coming up on an important milestone … our 100th episode! As part of the month-long celebration, we’re looking back at some of our favorite episodes—highlighting a different world-changing idea or discovery each week. For...
09.01.2022
The Imbalance In Our Society With Raghuram Rajan
Hello Big Brains listeners! Our podcast is coming up on an important milestone … our 100th episode! As part of the month-long celebration, we’re looking back at some of our favorite episodes—highlighting a different world-changing idea or discovery each week. This...
08.18.2022
Does Welfare Reduce Crime? With Manasi Deshpande
There have been myths and tropes about welfare since it was created. We often hear critics say that welfare discourages people from working — but are these claims really true? This debate often plays out through theory and anecdotes, yet...
08.04.2022
The Crucial Race To Build A Better Battery With Shirley Meng
Batteries have revolutionized our lives, especially the invention of rechargeable batteries, which have enabled us to have cellphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. But as we transition to more forms of green energy, we're facing a serious dilemma: Will our current...

What's Big Brains about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Big Brains episodes:

Why We Die—And How We Can Live Longer, with Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishan

What Dogs Are Teaching Us About Aging, with Daniel Promislow

Where Has Alzheimer’s Research Gone Wrong? with Karl Herrup

Why Breeding Millions of Mosquitoes Could Help Save Lives

Why Shaming Other Countries Often Backfires, with Rochelle Terman

Can Trump Legally Be President?, with William Baude

What Our Hand Gestures Reveal About Our Thoughts, with Susan Goldin-Meadow

Psychedelics Without Hallucinations: A New Mental Health Treatment? with David E. Olson

The Science Of Happiness

Do We Really Have Free Will? With Robert Sapolsky

A Radical Solution To Address Climate Change, with David Keith

How PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Are Harming Our Health, with Linda Birnbaum

Are We Worse People Than We Used To Be? With Adam Mastroianni

Freakonomics’ Steven Levitt On The Secret To Making Tough Choices

Will Political Violence Destroy Our Democracy?, With Robert Pape

Defending Campus Free Speech In A Polarized Age, with Paul Alivisatos and Tom Ginsburg

Why The Secret To Health Lies In The Mind-body Connection, with Ellen Langer

Phonics Vs. Whole Word: The Science Of Reading, With Adrian Johns

How AI Is Transforming Scientific Research, With Rebecca Willett

How AI Could Change The Law

How AI Can Predict Future Scientific Discoveries

The Uncovered History of Space Travel & Its Privatized Future

The Health Costs of Air Pollution

How Your Brain Benefits From Music, With Larry Sherman

Magic words: Can What You Say Help You Get Your way? with Jonah Berger

Providing Basic Health Insurance For Every American, With Katherine Baicker

Why We Fight, With Christopher Blattman

The Hidden Truths About Sexuality And Gender In The Medieval World, with Roland Betancourt

How We Could Regrow Limbs And Organs, with Michael Levin

A Nobelist’s Controversial Approach To Solving Inequality, With James Heckman

How The Food Industry Created Today’s Obesity Crisis, With Marion Nestle

Why Your Gut Health Is So Important, With Cathryn Nagler And Eric Pamer

Why Mourning Is Essential To Our Well-Being, With Jonathan Lear

The History of Black Cinema Re-examined, With Jacqueline Stewart

The Scientific Secret To A Happy Life, With Marc Schulz

Unraveling Sleep’s Greatest Mysteries: The Day Tomorrow Began

Is The U.S. Headed Toward Another Civil War? Feat. William Howell

Follow Through On Next Year's Resolutions Using Science With Katy Milkman

Why Quantum Tech Will Change Our Future: The Day Tomorrow Began

Fighting Global Hunger Through Genetics With Chuan He

The Origins Of Civilization And The Future Of Archaeology: The Day Tomorrow Began

Can We Predict Your Capacity To Focus? With Monica Rosenberg

The 'Legendary' Discovery Of Black Holes: The Day Tomorrow Began

Celebrating Our 100th Episode

The Science Of Speech & Identity With Katherine Kinzler

Life’s Mysterious Origins With Jack Szostak

The Afterlife Of Mass Incarceration With Reuben Jonathan Miller

The Imbalance In Our Society With Raghuram Rajan

Does Welfare Reduce Crime? With Manasi Deshpande

The Crucial Race To Build A Better Battery With Shirley Meng