Big Brains

By University of Chicago Podcast Network

Big Brains explores the groundbreaking research and discoveries that are changing our world. In each episode, we talk to leading experts and unpack their work in straightforward terms. Interesting con... more

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FAQs about Big Brains:

How many episodes does Big Brains have?

The podcast currently has 191 episodes available.

Big Brains episodes:

February 16, 2023 The History of Black Cinema Re-examined, With Jacqueline Stewart
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33min
February 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 three generations of families to uncover what contributed to their happiness. In their new book, The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz tell the stories behind their participants' lives and provide key insights on the recipe to happiness.
Marc Schulz, a professor at Bryn Mawr College, joins the podcast to discuss the book and their study.
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30min
January 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 diagnosing the causes of sleep disorders, to how sleep affects our metabolic health, and improving methods for good sleep hygiene. But at the core of sleep science, one fundamental question remains: Why do we sleep?
In our special series, The Day Tomorrow Began, we speak with two of the world's leading sleep researchers: Assoc. Prof. Esra Tasali, director of the UChicago Sleep Center; and Prof. Emmanuel Mignot, director of the Stanford Center for Narcolepsy.
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35min
January 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 U.S. politics so polarized? And are we headed for another civil war? These questions seem incredibly daunting, so we wanted to understand what the data really tell us.

William Howell, a University of Chicago professor and director of the Center for Effective Government, has been thinking about these questions, along with political scientists across the country. In this episode, Howell explains why claims of another civil war are overexaggerated, and instead, offers some correctives.
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31min
December 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 to help us. We wanted to re-release our episode with Katy Milkman, a behavior scientist who wrote the best-selling book, How To Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be.
Katy Milkman is a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, host of Charles Schwab’s popular behavioral economics podcast Choiceology, and co-founder and co-director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative. In this episode, she explores the best research—from “nudges” to “temptation bundles”—on how to change our behaviors and habits for good.
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28min
December 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 will revolutionize our world. Today is the day our quantum future is beginning. But what will the future look like, and what do we need to do to get there?
In the latest edition of our special series The Day Tomorrow Began, we talk with two of the leading minds helping build the field of quantum technology from the ground up: David Awschalom, professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the founding director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange; and Supratik Guha, professor at the University of Chicago, a senior advisor at Argonne National Laboratory and the former director of physical sciences at IBM.
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29min
November 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 remember that not everyone is so lucky. Global hunger is still a massive problem facing our society. By 2050 humanity will have to make 50% more food in order to feed a growing population. That’s a lot, especially since we currently have trouble feeding the current population, and that food production is already responsible for about a third of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
But Chuan He, a professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago, has discovered a new genetic breakthrough that may just give us a way to address all these problems.
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24min
November 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 that “tomorrow” began is, it’s archaeologists.
On this episode, we go back in time to learn about James Henry Breasted, a UChicago scholar who in the early 20th century revolutionized the field, founded the world-renowned Oriental Institute (the OI) and uncovered the roots of ancient civilizations. And we talk with leading scholars, who look to the future as the field of archaeology wrestles with its colonialist past.
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36min
October 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 us the secrets of paying attention. But what do we really know about what’s happening in the brain when we’re focused or not?
In a fascinating set of studies, University of Chicago neuroscientist Monica Rosenberg is using fMRIs to study the science of attention and answer all sorts of questions about focus. In this episode we ask her: Do some people have an easier time sustaining attention while others don’t, just because of the way their brain activity works? And if you have a harder time, are there things you can do to make your focus better?
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28min
October 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 discovery of black holes.

Chandrasekhar’s story is the first in a special series called “The Day Tomorrow Began,” in which we will examine the historical origins of some of the most breakthrough ideas to happen at the University of Chicago that have reshaped our world—and how scholars today are transforming our future.
Joining us in exploring the history of black hole research are University of Chicago cosmologist Daniel Holz, Nobel Prize-winning black hole scholar Andrea Ghez and renowned UChicago theoretical physicist Robert Wald.
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36min

FAQs about Big Brains:

How many episodes does Big Brains have?

The podcast currently has 191 episodes available.

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