UnDisciplined

Is the greatest existential threat our species has ever faced really something to joke about? Aaron Sachs thinks so. And, in fact, he thinks that, in many cases, we’re not joking about it enough.

We’ve long found different ways to explain that the world is made up of haves and have-nots. We live in the developed world or the developing world. There are those who are advantaged and those who are disadvantaged. And then, of course, there’s the one percent and everyone else. But under global warming, the climate journalist Jeff Goodell thinks, there may be a new way of describing this dichoto...

For a very long time it was thought that some alcohol, in moderation, could be healthy for us. The latest research suggests that’s simply not true. This certainly doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be allowed to drink — but we should at least know why we drink as much as we do. And that’s a question that Dr. Charles Knowles has tried to resolve in his new book.

Ten years after publishing This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, activist and writer Ashton Applewhite reflects on what a decade of living inside her own argument has taught her about aging, identity, and the quiet power of adaptation.

We know that, throughout history, society hasn’t always appreciated revolutionary scientific findings — and sometimes scientists find themselves under attack. But it turns out that, for hundreds of years and still today, some of the biggest attackers are fellow scientists.

Historically, an “everyone is a VIP” philosophy made good business sense for Disney amusement parks. But now Disney is embracing tiered services. Daniel Currell explains why and what’s to come.

Again and again, similar patterns show up in nature in different creatures at different times in their evolutionary histories—even when those life forms have evolved on much different paths for hundreds of millions of years. And when they show up, as it turns out, we often perceive them as beautiful. So, the question is: Why?

Again and again, similar patterns show up in nature in different creatures at different times in their evolutionary histories. And when they show up, we often perceive them as beautiful. Why?

Deep in the ocean, jellyfish, shrimp, fireworms and other creatures use multi–colored lights for defense, luring food, attracting mates, and communication. In their new book, Steven Haddock and Sönke Johnsen explore the nature of underwater light—investigating the varieties of transparency, pigmentation, iridescence, bioluminescence, and fluorescence found in the watery beyond.

The Trump administration is seeking an across-the-board 20% cut to NASA's total funding, and nearly all of that reduction is concentrated in science mission directorate.

Emerging research suggests that human attention spans are getting shorter. That’s a problem for people who want to make change in a world in which the issues we’re facing are growing ever more complicated. So now, perhaps more than ever, it’s important to understand the art and science of giving a good speech — and few people in Canada do that better than David Shepherd. But Shepherd says none of...

Dan McClellan loves the Bible. He doesn’t always love what it says. But he works hard not to try to mold it into something that he wants it to be — to meet it, he says, on its own terms.

Just about 60% of Americans say they identify as Christian. And just about 20% of Americans say they have read the entire Bible.

As diurnal creatures, humans often miss out on the natural world at night. And many of us have a natural urge to see the animals that come out at night as inherently worse, scarier, more disgusting, or more dangerous than their daytime counterparts. But if we set aside our distrust of what comes out at night, we’ll find ourselves stunned by what night time nature has to offer. And in his new book,...

What is life? However you answer that question, there is a good chance that it’s limited in some way by something that recent research has shown is not actually a limit. What living things can breathe, how they derive energy, how long they can live, and even whether they must die are all being challenged by what we’re learning from microorganisms. In her new book, “Intraterrestrials,” Karen Lloyd...

In his new book, climate analyst Mike Berners-Lee says there's one shift that would go far toward solving every climate bind we’re in: holding corporate and political leaders accountable to truth.

For decades, we’ve known that climate cycles like El Niño affect regional crop yields. But even though our food system is increasingly global, we haven’t done a great job of thinking at a planetary scale.

Herbs have a wide range of uses. A new book explores how plants connect us to the earth, to each other, and to ourselves.

Rising global temperatures are already impacting human health. One survey suggests that most Americans haven’t yet felt this connection in their own lives or seen it in their own communities. But that might change — and soon.

On July 6, 2018, listeners who were tuned into UPR heard UnDisciplined for the first time. Now, nearly seven years later, we’ve shared 300 episodes.

Zach Mack’s father was falling into the abyss. That’s what it felt like, at least, as Zach watched his dad become more and more susceptible to conspiracy theories and prophecies from religious zealots. But when his dad bet him $10,000 that ten different predictions would come true by the end of 2024, Zach thought he found a way to bring his dad back.

Drought and water shortages are major concerns for many Arizona cities. And there have been many potential solutions approached to try and handle these concerns. Advanced Water Purification (AWP), also known as water reuse or water recycling, is one of them. But it can be a difficult subject to broach. Christy Spackman is using an interesting medium to open the conversation: AWT-r Popsicles.

The wildfires in Southern California are on track to become the costliest disaster in U.S. history, and a lot of people are already recognizing that this conflagration is going to send a shockwave through the insurance market. But, as it turns out, the economic impact won’t stop there. Wesleyan University economist Gary Yohe says that the fires have the potential to be a contagion that sends a sic...

David Roberts clearly isn’t happy about the political direction of this country especially as it pertains to climate. But if you read his newsletter and listen to his podcast, you’ll realize that there are still a lot of cool people, doing cool stuff, with a chance to cool our world.

Rep. Kera Birkeland spent much of her political career writing and passing legislation aimed at trans Americans — legislation that many people view as cruel. And Birkeland most recent electoral opponent, Kris Campbell, says Birkeland’s actions and words have caused trans people like him to feel fear, anxiety and anger. But while many people have responded to Campbell with contempt, Birkeland has p...