Towering walls of water sometimes appear in the ocean without warning or apparent cause. What drives their terrifying power? (First published in 2023)

Guest: Ton van der Bremer, associate professor of environmental fluid mechanics.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Good news can be hard to find, especially when our brains — and the media — are biased against it.

Guest: Bryan Walsh, senior editorial director of Vox, and author of the Good News newsletter

This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team.
For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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If you went back 500 million years and re-ran evolution, would life be totally different today?

Guests: Richard Lenski and Zachary Blount, evolutionary biologists at Michigan State University

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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It's easy to assume there is objective truth in basketball stats. A clear story of what happened in the past. But our friends at Pablo Torre Finds Out uncovered something that throws an entire era into question.

Guest: Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Is a solution to climate change…pouring water on hot rocks?

Guest: Dylan Matthews, Senior Correspondent at Vox's Future Perfect

This episode was made in partnership with Vox's Future Perfect team.

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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How does any animal know what to do? A neuroscientist argues it's not “instinct.” Something bigger is going on. (First published in 2022)

Guest: Mark Blumberg, behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Iowa

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We have a cure for tuberculosis. Why does it still kill over a million people every year?

GUEST: John Green, podcaster, YouTube creator and award-winning author of Everything is Tuberculosis and many young adult novels

This episode was made in partnership with Vox’s Future Perfect team. 

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We read every email.

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Figuring out the perfect healthy diet remains stubbornly out of reach. Our friends at Gastropod ask: Why?

Guests: Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, co-hosts of Gastropod

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We read every email.

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In coastal California, researchers grapple with potentially losing a landscape they love.

Guests: Rebecca Johnson, Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Community Science at the California Academy of Sciences; Peter Roopnarine, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology at the California Academy of Sciences

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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We read every email.

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We love our pets. And think we understand them. Are we fooling ourselves?

Guests: ⁠Alexandra Horowitz⁠, dog cognition researcher at Barnard College; ⁠Holly Molinaro⁠, animal welfare scientist; ⁠Jared Martin⁠, filmmaker and dog owner

For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠

We read every email.

Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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