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The Joy of Why

Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin and Quanta Magazine

EN-US66 episodes
sciencelife

“The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the cosmologist and author Janna Levin take turns interviewing leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time. New episodes are released every other Wednesday.Quanta Magazine is a Pulitzer Prize–winning, editorially independent online publication launched and supported by the Simons Foundation to illuminate big ideas i...

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Episodes (66)

Do Beautiful Birds Have an Evolutionary Advantage?

The Joy of Why

Aug 21, 202546:06pending

How Can Math Protect Our Data?

The Joy of Why

Aug 7, 202539:39pending

Why Did The Universe Begin?

The Joy of Why

Jul 24, 202552:08pending

How Can Regional Models Advance Climate Science?

The Joy of Why

Jul 10, 202545:04pending

How Does Graph Theory Shape Our World?

The Joy of Why

Jun 26, 202534:13pending

Does Form Really Shape Function?

The Joy of Why

Jun 12, 202547:24pending

Will We Ever Prove String Theory?

The Joy of Why

May 29, 202548:39pending

How Did Geometry Create Modern Physics?

The Joy of Why

May 15, 202546:07pending

Will AI Ever Understand Language Like Humans?

The Joy of Why

May 1, 202541:47pending

Can Quantum Gravity Be Created in the Lab?

The Joy of Why

Apr 17, 202542:33pending

What Is the True Promise of Quantum Computing?

The Joy of Why

Apr 3, 202538:47pending

How Did Multicellular Life Evolve?

The Joy of Why

Mar 20, 202546:06pending

S4 Preview: More Big Questions and No Sasquatches

The Joy of Why

Mar 13, 202517:55pending

How Will We Know We’re Not Alone?

The Joy of Why

Dec 19, 202437:55pending

How Is Cell Death Essential to Life?

The Joy of Why

Dec 5, 202438:57pending

What Can Birdsong Teach Us About Human Language?

The Joy of Why

Nov 21, 202442:15pending

How Is AI Changing the Science of Prediction?

The Joy of Why

Nov 7, 202437:01pending

Why Is It So Hard to Define a Species?

The Joy of Why

Oct 24, 202430:19pending

How Can Math Help Beat Cancer?

The Joy of Why

Oct 10, 202442:58pending

What Can Cave Life Tell Us About Alien Ecosystems?

The Joy of Why

Sep 26, 202444:42pending

From Sidedoor — Cosmic Journey I: "Stellar Buffoonery"

The Joy of Why

Sep 19, 202434:37pending

Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum?

The Joy of Why

Sep 12, 202443:00pending

Do We Need a New Theory of Gravity?

The Joy of Why

Aug 29, 202442:25pending

Are Robots About to Level Up?

The Joy of Why

Aug 15, 202438:29pending

How Does Math Keep Our Secrets?

The Joy of Why

Aug 1, 202423:59pending

Will AI Ever Have Common Sense?

The Joy of Why

Jul 18, 202444:16pending

What Can Tiling Patterns Teach Us?

The Joy of Why

Jul 3, 202439:26pending

How Is Science Even Possible?

The Joy of Why

Jun 20, 202435:57pending

Can Psychedelics Improve Mental Health?

The Joy of Why

Jun 6, 202439:52pending

What Happens in the Brain to Cause Depression?

The Joy of Why

May 23, 202433:23pending

Will Better Superconductors Transform the World?

The Joy of Why

May 9, 202428:58pending

What Does Milk Do for Babies?

The Joy of Why

Apr 25, 202434:42pending

Can Information Escape a Black Hole?

The Joy of Why

Apr 11, 202429:20pending

How Is Flocking Like Computing?

The Joy of Why

Mar 28, 202439:45pending

What Is Quantum Teleportation?

The Joy of Why

Mar 14, 202430:05pending

What Is the Nature of Time?

The Joy of Why

Feb 29, 202430:46pending

How Did Altruism Evolve?

The Joy of Why

Feb 15, 202434:22pending

What Makes for ‘Good’ Math?

The Joy of Why

Feb 1, 202435:41pending

S4 Preview: More Big Questions and No Sasquatches

The Joy of Why

Jan 25, 202417:55pending

Trailer: The Joy of Why Season 3

The Joy of Why

Jan 25, 20242:10pending

Does Nothingness Exist?

The Joy of Why

Jul 26, 202344:59pending

Can Math and Physics Save an Arrhythmic Heart?

The Joy of Why

Jul 12, 202346:11pending

What Can Jellyfish Teach Us About Fluid Dynamics?

The Joy of Why

Jun 28, 202343:42pending

What Causes Giant Rogue Waves?

The Joy of Why

Jun 14, 202340:14pending

What Is the Nature of Consciousness?

The Joy of Why

May 31, 202352:14pending

Are There Reasons to Believe in a Multiverse?

The Joy of Why

May 17, 202348:48pending

Is Perpetual Motion Possible at the Quantum Level?

The Joy of Why

May 4, 202336:39pending

How Can Some Infinities Be Bigger Than Others?

The Joy of Why

Apr 19, 202346:11pending

What Has the Pandemic Taught Us About Vaccines?

The Joy of Why

Apr 5, 202342:53pending

Is There Math Beyond the Equal Sign?

The Joy of Why

Mar 22, 202349:39pending