366 episodes
Inquiring Minds Indre Viskontas
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- Social Sciences
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4.4 • 798 Ratings
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Each week we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science and society collide. We’re committed to the idea that making an effort to understand the world around you though science and critical thinking can benefit everyone—and lead to better decisions. We want to find out what’s true, what’s left to discover, and why it all matters.
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The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton
We talk to journalist Kermit Pattison about his new book Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
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You’re full of bones. How do they work?
We talk to orthopedic surgeon Roy A. Meals about his new book Bones: Inside and Out.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
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Thinking isn’t your brain’s most important job
We talk to neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett about why the idea that you have a lizard brain and a rational brain is completely wrong, how you can fight against implicit biases by swamping your brain with new data, why your brain’s most important job isn’t actually to think or be rational, and about one time Carl Sagan was very wrong about how brains work. Her most recent books are How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain and Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
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Up To Date | Moon water implications and new research on why you understand words
This week we explore the implications of there being much more water on the moon than we previously thought; a new study that looked at the possibility that our brains have an underlying propensity to understand words; and a quick look at a paper about Tennessee bicycle crashes.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
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Feed Drop: Cadence S3E1: The Music of Politics
A special drop of the first episode of the new season of Indre’s other podcast, Cadence—which is about what music can tell us about our minds. This new season explores how music influences us, and the first episode is all about politics. Indre talks to musicians, academics, and politicians to find out what role music plays in the political machine—how it’s used to sway minds and gather votes. If you’re interested in hearing more, check out the earlier seasons of Cadence wherever you get your podcasts.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
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Tesla, the man
We talk to Columbia professor of mechanical engineering P. James Schuck about the released film Tesla, starring Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla, for which he was the science advisor.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/inquiringminds
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Customer Reviews
Offspring of Elevatorgate
“Inquiring Minds” began in 2013 when Chris Mooney and Indre Viscontas quit their jobs as hosts of the Center for Inquiry podcast “Point of Inquiry” in protest over remarks by CFI chief Ron Lindsey that were critical of skeptic personality Rebecca Watson, the central figure of the “Elevatorgate” brouhaha that marked the beginning of the end of the New Atheist movement of the aughts. After leaving PoI at the behest of the show’s producer—who was Watson’s boyfriend—Mooney and Viscontas started this podcast. Mooney didn’t stick around for long, but Viscontas has kept the show going for eight years. The show currently consists primarily of interviews with the authors of popular science books. Viscontas is a decent interviewer. I sort of wish that she and Mooney hadn’t dropped the religious skepticism aspect of the “Point of Inquiry” show when they started this show, but that decision probably helped the show last this long.
Reminders
The show is great but it gets old when IV reminds everyone about her neuroscience background 17 times per episode.
Good-ish
I love this podcast, but it feels a bit scattershot. For example, an excellent episode on racism in medicine was followed up by an episode about failures of the modern education- with ZERO mention of racism or funding disparities. Bizarre and disappointing. Overall, though I very much enjoy the show.
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