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Biology and Evolution
Ministry of Ideas January 28, 2023

Dissecting Morality

What do Scientists Have To Say About Ethics? (Part 2)

Diane Paul, Ben Allen, and Steven Pinker

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to …

Biology and Evolution

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Interviews with biologists and evolutionary scientists about their new books.

Ministry of Ideas January 27, 2023

Dissecting Morality

What do Scientists Have To Say About Ethics? (Part 1)

Diane Paul, Ben Allen, and Steven Pinker

Hosted by Zachary Davis
Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to …
Animal Studies January 26, 2023

If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity

Justin Gregg

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
What if human intelligence is actually more of a liability than a gift? After all, the animal kingdom, in all its diversity, gets by just fine without it. At first …
Environmental Studies January 21, 2023

Endangered Maize

Industrial Agriculture and the Crisis of Extinction

Helen Anne Curry

Hosted by Isobel Akerman
In Endangered Maize: Industrial Agriculture and the Crisis of Extinction (U California Press, 2022), historian Helen Anne Curry investigates more than a hundred years of agriculture and conservation practices to …
Economics January 14, 2023

Game Theory and Behavior

Jeffrey Carpenter and Andrea Robbett

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen
Jeffrey Carpenter and Andrea Robbett's book Game Theory and Behavior (MIT Press, 2022) is an introduction to game theory that offers not only theoretical tools but also the intuition and behavioral …
History of Science January 4, 2023

Oceans Under Glass

Tank Craft and the Sciences of the Sea

Samantha Muka

Hosted by Victor Monnin
In Oceans Under Glass: Tank Craft and the Sciences of the Sea (University of Chicago Press, 2022), Samantha Muka, Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Stevens Institute of …
Animal Studies January 3, 2023

Voracious Science and Vulnerable Animals

A Primate Scientist's Ethical Journey

John P. Gluck

Hosted by Callie Smith
The National Institute of Health recently announced its plan to retire the fifty remaining chimpanzees held in national research facilities and place them in sanctuaries. This significant decision comes after …
The Vault January 3, 2023

Why are Insects so Scary? On Insects in Films.

A Lecture by May Berenbaum

May Berenbaum

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
This episode from the Vault is a lecture by May Berenbaum about why insects are so scary. Professor Berenbaum is an American entomologist whose research focuses on the chemical interactions …
Animal Studies December 31, 2022

Justice for Animals

Our Collective Responsibility

Martha C. Nussbaum

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
A revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum.  Animals are in trouble all over the world. Whether …
Neuroscience December 23, 2022

Brain Energy

A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health--and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More

Christopher M. Palmer

Hosted by Sine Yaganoglu
Christopher M. Palmer's book Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health (Benbella Books, 2022) will forever change the way we understand and treat mental health. If you or someone …
Science December 20, 2022

The Poetry and Music of Science

Comparing Creativity in Science and Art

Tom McLeish

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh
What human qualities are needed to make scientific discoveries, and which to make great art? Many would point to 'imagination' and 'creativity' in the second case but not the first …
Why We Argue December 15, 2022

Seeing Truth in Variability, Creativity, and Building Biological Collections

A Conversation with Bernard Goffinet and Eric Schultz

Bernard Goffinet and Eric Schultz

Hosted by Alexis Boylan
In this episode, scientists speak back to ideas about collection building, knowledge making, and the role of art and creativity in research. Bernard Goffinet and Eric Schultz, professors in the …
History of Science December 12, 2022

Covid-19

A History

Jacalyn Duffin

Hosted by Corinne Doria
For two years the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the world. The physician and medical historian Jacalyn Duffin presents a global history of the virus, with a focus on Canada. In Covid-19 …
Philosophy December 10, 2022

Interdisciplinarity in the Making

Models and Methods in Frontier Science

Nancy J. Nersessian

Hosted by Carrie Figdor
Based on examining physics and the practices of physicists, philosophers of science often see models in science as representational intermediaries between scientific theories and the world. But what do scientists …
Japanese Studies December 9, 2022

Japan's Empire of Birds

Aristocrats, Anglo-Americans, and Transwar Ornithology

Annika A. Culver

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Annika Culver’s Japan's Empire of Birds: Aristocrats, Anglo-Americans, and Transwar Ornithology (Bloomsbury Academic 2022) uses a previously unavailable archive of photographs as the jumping off point to follow the careers …
Scholarly Communication December 7, 2022

Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words

David Lindsay

Hosted by Daniel Shea
Listen to this interview of David Lindsay, emeritus professor of the University of Western Australia. We talk about his book Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words (CSIRO Publishing, 2020) and how your …
Medicine December 6, 2022

Inside the Orphan Drug Revolution

The Promise of Patient-Centered Biotechnology

James A. Geraghty

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Advances in medicine have made possible better treatments for widespread, familiar human illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet there are thousands of much less common diseases, most of …
Recall This Book December 1, 2022

The Nature of the Future

A Discussion with Elizabeth Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz
How should humans respond to our ongoing human-made climate catastrophe? To answer that question, Recall this Book turned to prize-winning climate reporter Elizabeth Kolbert, who visited Brandeis this Fall. The …
Neuroscience November 22, 2022

Minding the Climate

How Neuroscience Can Help Solve Our Environmental Crisis

Ann-Christine Duhaime

Hosted by Victor Monnin
Why is it so difficult to adopt a more sustainable way of life, even when convinced of the urgency of the environmental crisis? If adopting new behaviors beneficial for the …
Christian Studies November 16, 2022

Creationism USA

Bridging the Impasse on Teaching Evolution

Adam Laats

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
Who are America's creationists? What do they want? Why do they think Jesus rode around on a dinosaur? In Creationism USA: Bridging the Impasse on Teaching Evolution (Oxford UP, 2021), Adam …