Fresh Air: Wide World of Science

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Get to know the world around you, and yourself, a little better with these interviews exploring scientific questions and discoveries. We discuss how the brain fuctions, the nature of the cosmos, the nature of nature, and what lies on the horizon.

10/29/2025

Fresh Air: Wide World of Science Trailer

Understanding ourselves and the world around us are some of the most profound questions everyone wrestles with. This collection of interviews was compiled with exactly that goal in mind. These interviews explore scientific questions and discoveries and discuss how the brain fuctions, the nature of the cosmos, the nature of nature, and what lies on the horizon. Subscribe to Fresh Air+ to get exclusive access to this and other collections. Plus, you'll get exclusive Fresh Air+ archive episodes every Sunday, and sponsor-free listening for all available episodes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

1 min
08/25/2021 • FRESH AIR+ ONLY

How Dopamine Drives Addictions: Anna Lembke

Psychiatrist Anna Lemke’s book “Dopamine Nation” is about the neurotransmitter, the chemical messenger released in the brain most involved in processing rewards and which plays a big part in addictions.

37 min
03/16/2021 • FRESH AIR+ ONLY

Automation, A.I., and You: Kevin Roose

Are robots coming for your job? New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose says companies and governments are increasingly using automation and artificial intelligence to cut costs, transform workplaces and eliminate jobs — and more changes are coming.

35 min
01/21/2021 • FRESH AIR+ ONLY

Debunking Myths about Exercise and Sleep: Daniel Lieberman

Getting exercise — movement just for movement's sake — is a relatively new phenomenon in human history, according to Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman. His book is “Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding.”

38 min
06/12/2019 • FRESH AIR+ ONLY

Beind the Moon Landing: Charles Fishman

When President John F. Kennedy announced a goal of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth" before the end of the decade, the mission seemed all but impossible. We hear from Charles Fishman, author of “One Giant Leap: the Impossible Mission that Sent Us to the Moon.”

36 min
02/22/2016 • FRESH AIR+ ONLY

On Pandemics: Sonia Shah

In her book, Pandemic: Tracking Contagions from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond, Shah discusses the history and science of contagious diseases. She notes that humans put themselves at risk by encroaching on wildlife habitats. "About 60 percent of our new pathogens come from the bodies of animals," she says.

38 min
01/28/2015 • FRESH AIR+ ONLY

Teenage Brains: Frances Jensen

Research shows that teenagers' brains aren't fully insulated, so the signals travel slowly when they need to make decisions, according to Neuroscientist Frances Jensen, who wrote “The Teenage Brain.”

38 min
02/27/2014 • FRESH AIR+ ONLY

Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson

The astrophysicist says that participating in a "great unfolding of a cosmic story" should make us feel large, not small. Tyson hosted a TV series called Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey.

39 min

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Fresh Air: Wide World of Science Trailer

Understanding ourselves and the world around us are some of the most profound questions everyone wrestles with. This collection of interviews was compiled with exactly that goal in mind. These interviews explore scientific questions and discoveries and discuss how the brain fuctions, the nature of the cosmos, the nature of nature, and what lies on the horizon. Subscribe to Fresh Air+ to get exclusive access to this and other collections. Plus, you'll get exclusive Fresh Air+ archive episodes every Sunday, and sponsor-free listening for all available episodes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

10/29/2025

•

1 min

Fresh Air from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries. Subscribe to Fresh Air Plus! You'll enjoy bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening - all while you support NPR's mission. Learn more at plus.npr.org/freshair And subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Fresh Air Weekly, to get interview highlights, staff recommendations, gems from the archive, and the week's interviews and reviews all in one place. Sign up at www.whyy.org/freshair

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Get to know the world around you, and yourself, a little better with these interviews exploring scientific questions and discoveries. We discuss how the brain fuctions, the nature of the cosmos, the nature of nature, and what lies on the horizon.