Big Brains

University of Chicago Podcast Network
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  • 每月更新兩次

Big Brains explores the groundbreaking research and discoveries that are changing our world. In each episode, we talk to leading experts and unpack their work in straightforward terms. Interesting conversations that cover a gamut of topics from how music affects our brains to what happens after we die.

  1. Can You Improve Your Working Memory and Attention? with Edward Awh

    4日前

    Can You Improve Your Working Memory and Attention? with Edward Awh

    In today’s world, our brains are overloaded with information, making it hard to focus and remember. But what are the true limits of the human mind—and why do they exist? And why are some people seem so much better than remembering things than others? In this episode, we talk with with Edward Awh, a cognitive neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. Whose lab studies how the brain controls focus, memory and attention. His research explores the connection between attention and working memory, why our conscious awareness is far more limited than it feels, and what those limits mean for life in an information-saturated world. He explains what we can actually do to improve our memory—including one easy thing we can all do every day—and how using the “remote control of your mind” could help you focus your attention, given the limited space in our brains. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    36 分鐘
  2. Why Knowing Your True Self Is So Difficult, with Eric Oliver

    1月22日

    Why Knowing Your True Self Is So Difficult, with Eric Oliver

    The process of understanding who we are is a lifelong journey for many of us. For two decades, that question has been one that University of Chicago scholar Eric Oliver has asked his students in class—and inspired him to write a new book called "How to Know Your Self: The Art & Science of Discovering Who You Really Are." A renowned political scientist, Oliver draws upon science, philosophy, psychology and his personal experiences to better examine the mysteries of the human experience—and explore what it truly means to be “you.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    32 分鐘
  3. The Breakthrough Quantum Sensor That Sees Inside Your Cells, with Peter Maurer

    1月8日

    The Breakthrough Quantum Sensor That Sees Inside Your Cells, with Peter Maurer

    What if we could precisely measure a cell at its most fundamental level? In this episode, we talk with the University of Chicago scientist Peter Maurer about how he and his colleagues made the breakthrough discovery of turning a protein found in living cells into the first biological quantum bit, also known as a qubit. Maurer explains how quantum systems—once thought to be too fragile for real-world use—are becoming some of the most powerful sensors ever built, and what they could teach us about the brain, the body and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    36 分鐘

  4. 29/12/2025

    How to Manifest Your Destiny with the Late James Doty

    We've all heard the phrase "Manifest Your Destiny" when it comes to wanting a new promotion, figuring out a new career path or just trying to achieve that long-term goal. It turns out that the act of manifestation is not merely pseudoscience—it actually has a body of research in neuroscience to back it up. James Doty was a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University, and founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. He wrote several books, including Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    32 分鐘
  5. What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift

    11/12/2025

    What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift

    The internet and social media have transformed the way in which we hear and understand music today—and online communities and platforms from YouTube to TikTok have changed how music circulates and ultimately goes viral. Why do some pop stars have more success creating hit songs and building online following than others? In this episode, we speak with Paula Clare Harper, a musicologist and assistant professor at the University of Chicago. Harper co-edited the book Taylor Swift: The Star, The Songs, The Fans, which explores the online musical cultures that produced and propelled the image of megastar Taylor Swift. Harper unpacks how gendered narratives around "the fangirl" continue to influence which musical practices we take seriously—and how studying music on the internet helps us understand contemporary cultural power. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    36 分鐘
  6. How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes

    24/11/2025

    How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes

    Can you imagine a world in which a wearable device, like a smartwatch, could move your fingers to strum the guitar or play the drums? That kind of technology is part of the innovative research coming out of the Human-Computer Integration Lab at the University of Chicago, led by renowned computer scientist Pedro Lopes. His lab is developing a new generation of gadgets that use haptics (or tactile sensations like the buzz of your smartphone) to move your body, replicate your sense of smell and even make you feel things. In this episode, Lopes explores the potential of wearable devices to transform our future as well as brain-computer interfaces that are being developed by companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink that directly into the body. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    38 分鐘

  7. 13/11/2025

    Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

    More and more women in the United States are saying no to motherhood. In 2023, the U.S. fertility rate reached the lowest number on record. But the idea of non-motherhood is actually not a new phenomenon, nor did it come out of the modern feminist movement. For centuries, women have made choices about limiting births and whether or not to become mothers at all. This history is documented in a new book, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother," by University of Chicago Assistant Instructional Professor Peggy O'Donnell Heffington. Heffington writes about the historic trends of non-motherhood as well as the modern factors that are playing a role in women's choices to not have children today — from lack of structural support in the workplace, to a national law for paid maternity leave, and the sheer lack of affordability. She writes that if these trends continue, American millennials could become the largest childless cohort in history. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    32 分鐘
  8. How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson

    30/10/2025

    How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson

    What does it mean to see beneath the surface — of the human body, the brain, or even the universe itself? In his new book, The Future of Seeing: How Imaging Is Changing Our World, Prof. Daniel Sodickson of NYU explores the future of imaging: How technology is transforming not just medicine, but our very ways of perceiving the world. With the rise of AI-driven “digital vision,” Sodickson, a pioneer of MRI innovation, argues that imaging is no longer just a diagnostic tool — it’s becoming a new language of discovery. In this conversation, Sodickson explores the promises and pitfalls of this promising new technology. Reflecting on the history of scientific discovery, we examine what the next generation of imaging might reveal about life itself. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    35 分鐘
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關於

Big Brains explores the groundbreaking research and discoveries that are changing our world. In each episode, we talk to leading experts and unpack their work in straightforward terms. Interesting conversations that cover a gamut of topics from how music affects our brains to what happens after we die.

資料

  • 創作者
    University of Chicago Podcast Network
  • 活躍年份
    2018年 - 2026年
  • 單集
    212
  • 分級
    兒童適宜
  • 節目網站
    Big Brains

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