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The most popular podcasts in science  now. Last updated an hour ago.

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This week: the story of astrophysicist Charity Woodrum. Charity is an extragalactic astronomer who studies the life and death of galaxies, why some galaxies burn bright and others dim and sputter out. And in the midst of an unthinkable grief in her personal life, she discovers something in the sky – a new kind of light that would guide her path forward. Special thanks to Megan Stielstra, Jad Abumrad, Michael Woodrum, Gina Vivona, and Clair Reilly-Roe.

EPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Lulu MillerProduced by - Jessica YungFact-checking by - Diane Kelly

Radiolab | Lateral uts:Our episode The Darkest Dark (https://radiolab.org/podcast/the-darkest-dark) could be of interest to those seeking the deepest unknowns. EPISODE CITATIONS:Music -Clair Reilly-Roe’s song “Sky Full of Ghosts” (https://zpr.io/JgauhRnj7qpX)

Articles -A new documentary on Charity Woodrum’s story: Space, Hope and Charity (https://www.spacehopecharityfilm.com/)

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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.

Galaxy Quenching

We all tell stories about ourselves, often without realizing we’re doing so. How we frame those stories can profoundly shape our lives. In our latest You 2.0 episode, we bring you a favorite conversation with psychologist Jonathan Adler. He shares how to tell our stories in ways that enhance our wellbeing. Then, Max Bazerman answers your questions about the science of negotiation.

You 2.0: Change Your Story, Change Your Life

Linda writes “I wanted to share my experience I had back in April of this year. This was in a large natural area in Southeast Michigan. I was suppose to meet up with my research/ investigating friend on a Friday night in May at a camp. The weather was not so great on the way down. It was storming off and on throughout the afternoon. When I got to the camp nobody was there. My friend Gabe was still working and had not been able to come yet. It wasn’t dark yet but raining so I stayed in my van. Finally after texting back and forth, we established that He would come out the next morning because the radar showed a huge storm approaching and there were already flash flood warnings out. So as twilight approached I decided to go outside even though it was sprinkling and load up on my drinks for the night so I would not have to get out again after dark in the storm approaching. I did not have a fire going didn’t see the sense in that. After grabbing two pops from my cooler I approached the opening of my van the slider door on the side. I had miscalculated my timing and now it was fairly dark with almost no light..I looked toward my left out into this neighboring field there were 4 sets of eyes kind of greenish, and they were heading right at me. Now I figured they were about the right height for coyote or deer but I was a bit confused as to why they were coming at me. I grabbed my little flashlight from behind the seat and turned it on the eyes and yelled out in a very stern voice “Whatever you are that’s far enough!” The creatures stopped and I realized now they were whitetails. All adult deer no fawns or bucks with them. In that second I thought to myself Why are these deer running up to me that’s not normal behavior, light went off in my head, they were trying to escape a predator. Soon as I thought that they all raised their heads and looked back at the wood line on the other side of the field. Then bolted across the field taking off and away to the left. I started panning the wood line and bingo there about 7 or 8 feet ( a guess) up in the air were two huge round forward facing eyes set wide apart..And NOW its watching me instead of following the deer. I called out “I see you” in a casual voice but loud enough to let it know I knew it was there. It kept watching me, I grabbed my bigger flashlight thinking i would light this thing up with my 1500 lumen but no all I could see was the eyes watching me still. Now its very dark and sprinkling harder. I decide to get into my van and get my thermal out thinking Im going to try and thermal this thing. Its still standing in the tree line. I step up into my slider door turn around and sit down on my bed, grab my key fob thinking id shut the slider door while its raining and I’m getting my thermal out..now I hit the keyfob and as the door slides shut I hear this very loud growl/roar and it sounds like it is 6 feet from my van!! The door finishes shutting I hit lock and alarm. I am in shock now and sitting inside in the dark thinking no way am I going back out there and am I going to have to climb over the middle console to jump in the drivers seat to escape?! I listened intently waiting to see if my door was going to be torn off or what this thing was going to do and then the torrential storm hit …I was not going to turn on any interior light and would just keep quiet..even though it rained most of the rest of the night i could hear screams and howls throughout the night. Something screamed and the coyotes sounded off going nuts…Gabe showed up next morning and crossed over there and found suspicious tracks…upon his return to camp he was going to go back and cast the one but it had been scuffed out, very strange. I was happy to not be alone anymore at camp Ill tell you that! Then in June in a different area I was attempting to hike a trail but stopped on top of a berm to look at a print and got charged from behind in the woods behind me but I couldn’t see it..you are welcome to call me if you want the rest of that experience. Since I have talked to you on the phone years ago.”

SC EP:1176 It Was Six Feet From My Van

When were glasses invented? What happened back then if your horse stepped on them? How is the digital age changing adults’ and kids’ vision? The first half of this special bonus episode about Optical Technology features the charmingly hilarious director of the Museum of the Eye in San Francisco, Jenny Benjamin. Then we bop over to Houston, Texas for the ultra-knowledgeable real-life optometrist, Dr. Nadia Sledge to chat about the importance of annual exams and where our eyesight is trending in the digital age. Also: dark Roman trivia, Downton Abbey fashion, how online eye tests overlook critical conditions, and how you would have survived in the past without spectacles.

Bonus Episode: Optical Technology (HISTORY OF EYEGLASSES + MODERN DAY VISION)

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice chat with Jeff Goldblum about Jurassic Park, science, and more—joined by Bill Nye, a paleomammalogist and other experts.

Making Science Cool, with Jeff Goldblum

This week, two conversations from the archives about parts of the world that are imperceptible to us, verging on almost unthinkable. We start with a moment of uncertainty in physics. Inspired by an essay written by physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, called The Accidental Universe (https://zpr.io/4965dUdNqtpQ), taken from a book of the same name. Former Radiolab co-host Robert Krulwich pays a visit to Brian Greene to ask if the latest developments in theoretical physics spell a crisis for science. He finds that we've reached the limit of what we can see and test, and we’re left with mathematical equations that can't be verified by experiments or observation.

Then, come along as we kick rocks. And end up tumbling down a philosophical rabbit hole where the solid things around us might not be solid at all. We talk to Jim Holt, author of Why Does the World Exist? (https://zpr.io/UqHpLnDx2QNx) who points out that when you start slicing and sleuthing in subatomic particle land, trying to get to the bottom of what makes matter, you mostly find empty space. Your hand, your chair, the floor, it's all made up of mostly nothing. Robert and Jim go toe-to-toe over whether the universe is made up of solid bits and pieces of stuff, or a cloudy foundation that more closely resembles thoughts and ideas.

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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.

The Nothing Behind Everything

From TikTok: More on 3I/Atlas and Aliens; News Items: Artery Calcium Scan, Microwave Beam for Geothermal Drilling, World's Largest Cargo Plane, Dental Floss Vaccine; Your Questions and E-mails: Apes Sign Language, Mama Cass; Name That Logical Fallacy; Science or Fiction

The Skeptics Guide #1047 - Aug 2 2025

The “endangerment finding” is the basis for regulations on emissions from cars, power plants, and more. Plus, a robot performs surgery.

EPA Seeks To Revoke Scientific Basis For Greenhouse Gas Rules

What does it mean to be stoic? Many of us assume it means you have a stiff upper lip, or that you suppress your emotions. That's what Massimo Pigliucci thought — until he started to peruse a book called Meditations. It was written nearly two thousand years ago by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. But Massimo, now a philosopher, says Meditations, and Stoic philosophy more broadly, offer wisdom that continues to speak to our lives. This week, we explore Stoic ideas and the lessons they hold for what it means to live well.

You 2.0: The Wisdom of Stoicism

Smell and culture. Scent descriptions in novels. Fragrances and class. Stink and stigmas. We cover it all. Scholar, author, and Literary Olfactologist Dr. Ally Louks burst into the zeitgeist in 2024 with her PhD thesis “Olfactory Ethics: The Politics Of Smell In Modern And Contemporary Prose” and we finally got to sit down and talk about the intersection of art and smell and culture. Breathe in the foul, the fragrant, the peppermint, the tobacco, why motel rooms smell the way they do, the forgotten organ that could control your love life, spices at the root of xenophobia, perfume ads that cruised a movement, obscenity trials, explosions, following your first love and getting the last laugh.

Literary Olfactology (THE POLITICS OF SMELL) with Ally Louks

Last year, we reported how extreme weather events may be dwindling the future of chocolate. Just last week, we saw an inkling of that: The Hershey Company announced it would significantly raise the cost of its candy in the face of historically high cocoa prices. So, we're revisiting host Emily Kwong's conversation with Yasmin Tayag, a food, health and science writer at The Atlantic. They get into the cocoa shortage: What's causing it, how it's linked to weather and poor farming conditions and what potential solutions exist. Plus, they enjoy a chocolate alternative taste test.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Climate Change Is Here For Your Chocolate

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

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12 tiny worlds

Despite the fierce efforts of skeptics to dismiss the supernatural, a persistent truth emerges: countless ordinary people continue to report chilling encounters with the unknown. In this episode, we explore unsettling tales of crisis apparitions, haunted landscapes, and bizarre energies that seem to seep through the fabric of our everyday world. From phantom hands that grope in the darkness to strange portals opening in suburban homes, the phenomena refuse to be ignored. We also delve into the enduring work of psychical researchers and examine the patterns behind these mysterious intrusions into normal life.

Then, for our Plus+ Members, we uncover the strange histories of lightning strike survivors, individuals who not only lived through multiple bolts from the blue but were forever changed. Some report heightened sensitivities and psychic perceptions, while others bear physical anomalies, including one man who developed an inexplicable religious image etched into his back, a mark science has yet to explain.


  Strange: Paranormal Realities in the Everyday World

  Strange Portals Spontaneously Appearing in the Home

  Personal Experiences of Apparitions and Related Phenomena

  Crisis Apparitions, What Are They?

  About the Society for Psychical Research

  The Hairy Hands – Haunted Devon

  Ghosts: Haunted houses, caveman ghosts and confusing rules

  Ghostly Travel: New Walls And Otherworldly Passages

  Mysterious Disappearing Phantom Houses



  Strange Electromagnetic Dimensions: Science, Paranormal, and the Unexplainable

  Transformed by Lightning: Real‑Life Stories

  Isle of Weired

  The Shocking Tale of Abbott Parker

  Hubert’s Last Dime Museum in the Old Times Square

  Zapped by the Spirit – Betty Biggers & Galvano

  Commitment, Jail & ChatGPT Psychosis


LinksPlus+ ExtensionThe extension of the show is EXCLUSIVE to Plus+ Members. To join, click HERE.



00:00 - Intro to Mysterious Universe Season 34, Episode 5

00:13 - Episode Preview and Hosts Introduction

00:24 - The Lightning Rod: Cleveland Sullivan's Seven Strikes

01:10 - Lightning's Lasting Impact: Life-Destroying Effects

02:42 - Debunking Myths: Lightning Survivors' Struggles

04:08 - Supernormal Abilities: Rare Lightning Miracles

05:25 - Predatory Phenomena: Clouds and Intelligent Orbs

07:28 - Strange Paranormal Realities: Book Overview

09:09 - Cynicism vs. Paranormal: The Skeptic's Dilemma

11:22 - Personal Stories: Everyday Paranormal Encounters

13:15 - Skeptics at Lectures: Confronting Paranormal Evidence

15:30 - X-Files Reboot Discussion

16:29 - Crop Circles: Transformative Paranormal Experiences

18:42 - Paranormal Top 10: Ghosts, UFOs, and Creatures

20:23 - Ghostly Children in Trailer Parks

23:12 - Sentient Ghosts: The Queen Mary Encounter

25:00 - Poltergeist Activity at Arthur Conan Doyle Centre

26:59 - Crisis Apparitions: Visits at the Moment of Death

28:31 - Awkward Relatives: Ghosts of Ex-Husbands

30:01 - Spectral Faces and Hands: Recurring Phenomena

46:24 - Haunted Beams: Victorian Ghosts in Modern Homes

47:36 - Ghostly Smoke: Addicted Spirits Lingering

48:40 - Astral Travel Dangers: Dark Souls and Attachments

49:10 - Haunted Chimneys: Ghostly Smoke Manifestations

51:37 - Sentient Wall Walkers: Ghosts Acknowledging Witnesses

55:50 - Roman Soldiers and Time Slips: Historical Hauntings

57:13 - Interactive Ghosts: Library Spirits Helping Patrons

01:02:11 - Hospital Hauntings: Ghostly Figures Comforting Patients

01:03:29 - Book Review: Five Smoking Chimneys for Strange Realities

01:04:15 - Malevolent Hands: Terrifying Hotel Encounters

01:10:02 - Portals in Homes: Hands from Other Dimensions

01:11:49 - UFO Obsession: Alien Arms Through Rifts

01:13:22 - Outro and Plus Extension Preview
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Mysterious Universe

34.05 - MU Podcast - Truth Lurks in Shadows

It might seem odd, but a lot of dogs get stolen in the United States. Like most other things, it’s all about money. This episode begins with an explanation and a warning about your pet. https://petkeen.com/dognapping-dog-theft-statistics/

Being sensitive is a good thing. Being told you are TOO sensitive is more of an insult. It is perceived as a weakness, as if there is something wrong and the way to fix it is to toughen up. That isn’t going to work according to Jenn Granneman. Yes, being sensitive can be difficult at times but it is also a superpower. Listen as Jenn champions those who are labeled “too sensitive” with research to support her beliefs. She also has some insight for those people who are not highly sensitive but have sensitive people in their lives. Jenn is author of the book Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World (https://amzn.to/456D3Qu).

You probably don’t think about it but recorded sound plays a major role in your life. Music, podcasts, radio, movie and TV sound –it is all very important to us. From Thomas Edison’s first cylindrical recordings to today’s digital downloads and streaming, the history of recorded sound is a story worth hearing. And here to tell it is Jonathan Scott author of the book Into the Groove :The Story of Sound From Tin Foil to Vinyl (https://amzn.to/3Kh1d2Q).

Even if it is only occasionally, there are still plenty of people who use paper checks to pay for things. If you are one of those people there is something you need to consider the next time you order new checks. https://www.idtheftcenter.org/

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The Hidden Power of Sensitive People & The Intriguing Story of Recorded Sound - SYSK Choice

Today we discuss “gender affirming surgeries”, AI and the future of cognition, and wild foxes. Kaiser Permanente is pausing surgery on trans-presenting children—we discuss sex and gender, meaning and identity, delusion and madness. Then: unlike the physical multiverse, mental multiverses are common, and becoming more so, as AI makes it ever more difficult to know what is true. We discuss grief, and how our worlds must fork when we think, but do not know, that someone has died. Similarly, when...

DarkHorse Podcast

Dangers of the mental multiverse: The 287th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying

Will the Rubin Observatory prove Einstein wrong? Neil deGrasse Tyson & Chuck Nice answer queries about the new observatory, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), and our next big tool to uncover the universe with Zeljko Ivezic, Director of Rubin Observatory Construction.

Vera Rubin Observatory with Zeljko Ivezic

Ruminations and reassurances. Checking and counting. Suffering and stigmas. It’s OCD, babes! OCD is now considered one of the most common psychiatric conditions, afflicting 2% to 3% of the general population, and this episode is among our top-requested topics. So we snagged a top-shelf ologist: psychiatrist, researcher, advocate and OCD Neurobiologist, *the* Dr. Wayne Goodman. We cover myths, misconceptions, diagnosis and treatment options for OCD, as well as advice for loved ones. Also: PANDAS, famous folks who are helping break the silence on it, intrusive thoughts, deep brain stimulation, genetic components, links to Tourette’s Syndrome, finding the right doctor, and the behavioral therapy that is the gold standard for OCD. 

And surprise! Later this week we’ll have a bonus episode on OCD lived experience with neuroscientist, mental health advocate and OCD-haver, Uma Chatterjee.

Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD) with Wayne Goodman

This hour of Radiolab, former co-hosts Jad and Robert set out in search of order and balance in the world around us, and ask how symmetry shapes our very existence -- from the origins of the universe, to what we see when we look in the mirror.

Along the way, we look for love in ancient Greece, head to modern-day Princeton to peer inside our brains, and turn up an unlikely headline from the Oval Office circa 1979.

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Videos - 

Back in the day, when we first aired this episode, the film collective Everynone, filmmakers Will Hoffman, Daniel Mercadante and Julius Metoyer III were inspired with our yearning for balance, and aimed to visually reveal how beautiful imperfect matches can be.Radiolab Presents: Symmetry (https://youtu.be/zEQskIsHKT8)

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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.

Desperately Seeking Symmetry

Many of us believe that hard work and persistence are the key to achieving our goals. But is that true when it comes to the pursuit of happiness? This week, we revisit a conversation with psychologist Iris Mauss, who explains why happiness can seem more elusive the harder we chase it, and what we can do instead to build a lasting sense of contentment. Then, we bring you the latest edition of our segment "Your Questions Answered." Behavioral scientist Alison Wood Brooks answers listener questions on how to be a better conversationalist — from what to do when the other person isn't contributing, to how to stop others from interrupting.

You 2.0: The Path to Contentment + Your Questions Answered on Conversations

In this deeply moving Blurry Creatures episode, we sit down with Angela Scafidi, a former astrologer, tarot reader, Reiki practitioner, yoga teacher, and New Age influencer who now shares her story through a Biblical lens. Angela takes us on her journey—from dabbling in occult practices and spiritualism in hopes of comfort and identity, to a moment of raw surrender on her kitchen floor when she cried out, “Jesus, save me,” and experienced a supernatural breakthrough that changed everything  She recounts how what felt like spiritual growth—astrology, crystals, spirit guides, tarot, and meditation—was deception, pointing to what she now understands as counterfeit spirituality tethered to familiar and demonic spirits.

In candid, thought‑provoking conversation, Angela dives into the “spirit of religion”—the spirit of legalism and dogma that can grip churches and undermine genuine intimacy with God—and contrasts it with the true freedom found in Jesus Christ. She explains how different spiritual entities are portrayed in Scripture, from the Holy Spirit to religious spirits, familiar spirits, and demonic deceptions that masquerade as divine guidance. Through her testimony, Angela offers compassion and clarity for anyone wrestling with New Age beliefs or lingering spiritual confusion. She calls listeners into a life grounded not in shifting beliefs or subjective truths, but in the objective, liberating truth of Christ.
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