Podcast
Particles of Thought
Episodes — page 4
How Fame Affects the Brain | Heather BerlinBonusFame can hijack the brain like a drug—activating the same reward circuits that fuel a relentless chase for dopamine highs. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin reveals the antidote—and wh…
How Fossils Form and How to Find Them | Kirk JohnsonBonusFossilization isn’t luck - it’s geology. Paleobotanist Kirk Johnson explains how fossils only form in certain conditions, the tricks to finding them, and why one fossil leaf can le…
Why Only Some Species Can Talk—and Dance | Erich JarvisBonusSpeech is rare in the animal kingdom because it requires a very specific brain architecture. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis explains how duplicating neural pathways for movement unloc…
Evolution of New Species, Venom, Wings, and More with Sean B. CarrollHow does evolution invent entirely new things, like limbs, wings, and venom? Evolutionary biologist Sean B. Carroll joins us to reveal the hidden rules behind nature’s creativity a…
How the Fruit Fly Revolutionized Biology | Sean B. CarrollBonusFrom legs on heads to missing eyes, fruit fly mutations exposed the genetic toolkit that builds all animals. Evolutionary Biologist Sean B. Carroll shows how these discoveries rewr…
The Evolution of Venom & Antivenom | Sean B. CarrollBonusFrom snakes to jellyfish, venom is one of evolution’s most lethal inventions. Evolutionary Biologist Sean B. Carroll reveals how this deadly innovation emerged—and the new science…
A Black Hole Is a Place, Not a Thing | Janna LevinBonusThe edge of a black hole isn’t what you think. Astrophysicist Janna Levin dives into the event horizon, the one-way transition where space and time warp so much that escape becomes…
How To Recognize Alien Life | Peter GirguisBonusThere’s no single ‘smoking gun’ for life beyond Earth. Microbiologist Peter Girguis explains the subtle fingerprints scientists hunt for—and why finding them on Mars could change e…
Can We Make Animals Talk? | Erich JarvisBonusScientists are editing genes for human speech into mice to see if they can learn vocal patterns. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis explains how this could unlock not just speech—but enti…
De-Extinction, Dire Wolves, and Jurassic Park with Beth ShapiroCan we bring extinct species back to life? Evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro claims we just did. As Chief Science Officer at Colossal, her team made headlines in spring 2025 with…
De-Extinction: A How-To Guide | Beth ShapiroBonusJurassic Park got it all wrong. Beth Shapiro would know… she’s Chief Science Officer at Colossal, the genetic engineering company that recently made headlines for bringing back the…
How AI Deepfakes Are Really Made | Hany FaridBonusThe deepfake game is getting real. Deepfake detective Hany Farid gets under the hood of AI and explains exactly how it can now make such convincing fake content – so convincing tha…
What's My Brain Doing? Goosebumps & Other Strange Phenomena | Heather BerlinBonusEver wonder why you get déjà vu? Or why you keep losing your keys? Your brain does some weird stuff. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin explains the surprising science behind these ever…
When Black Holes Collide | Janna LevinBonusSpace itself rings with gravitational waves when black holes collide—the most powerful events detected since the Big Bang. Astrophysicist Janna Levin reveals why, when the cosmic s…
Leopard Spots on Mars? NASA’s Big Discovery, Explained | Peter GirguisBonusCould a Martian rock hold the most promising sign of life beyond Earth? Microbiologist Peter Girguis unpacks NASA’s stunning discovery of ‘leopard spots’ on a rock from Mars’s Jeze…
Sinkholes in Florida Reveal Amazing Fossils | Kirk JohnsonBonusA sinkhole can become a time capsule full of skeletons - layers upon layers of beasts that once walked the Earth - and Florida’s landscape is full of them. Discover the surprising…
How to Detect Deepfakes: Recognizing AI-Generated Content | Hany FaridBonusIn a world flooded with fake videos and voice recordings that seem real, how can you detect deepfakes? Turns out, there are some aspects of the physical world that are not yet know…
Extremophiles, the Deep Sea, and Alien Life with Peter GirguisWhat do deep-sea microbes and Martian “leopard spots” have in common? Marine biologist Peter Girguis thinks they might both hold clues to finding life beyond Earth. In this episode…
Bird Song and the Evolution of Language with Erich JarvisTalking, singing, even dancing — they all trace back to a rare superpower: vocal learning. But humans aren’t the only animals that have it. Neuroscientist Erich Jarvis has spent hi…
Neuroscience of Consciousness, Personality, and Creativity with Heather BerlinYour brain does all kinds of strange things — and neuroscientist Heather Berlin wants to explain how it works. In this episode, she joins Hakeem to explore the mysteries of the min…
