Probably Science

Theoretical physicist, futurist and author Michio Kaku ( @michiokaku ) joins Andy and Matt to talk about his new book The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything and its look at the fascinating history of humanity's attempts to merge the realms of the very big and the very small into one theory explaining all of existence. This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , offe...

Jess Phoenix ( @jessphoenix2018 ), author of the new book Ms. Adventure: My Wild Explorations in Science, Lava, and Life joins Matt and Andy to talk about all things volcano-related, her education and outreach organization Blueprint Earth , lava tubes, her upcoming show about Atlantis... and whether Dante's Peak is better than Volcano . This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , o...

Comedian Dana Eagle ( @DanaEagleTweets ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss the latest on Desert Tony's health, the world's oldest computer , mechanical gears found in nature , sea slugs that survive self-decapitation , a change of heart from a former head/body transplant candidate  and Dana's book How To Be Depressed . This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Scie...

Comedian, author and now cryptic crossword setter Dave Gorman ( @DaveGorman ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss the world of cryptic crosswords , standup about math(s) , cuttlefish that pass the marshmallow test , words that are their own antonyms , testing the efficacy of psychedelic microdosing , creativity testing , Andy's favorite Tracey Ullman sketch , glow-in-the-dark sharks , the New Zealand t...

Comedian and analytics consultant Sarah Dorfman ( @SarahPDorfman ) joins Andy and Matt to discuss asking a ton of whys , magnetic pole flips and killing neanderthals , trees showing pole flips , India's lake of skeletons , the first photograph ever , the hidden message in Perseverance's parachute , AI conquering '80s video games , and little Jack Black in an ad for Pitfall .

Comedian, podcaster and author of the upcoming book The History of Standup Wayne Federman ( @Federman ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss the original location of Stonehenge , why its construction might not have been that hard , transparent wood that's stronger than glass , whether glass is a liquid or not , training pigs to use joystick s and what the future holds for standup comedy. This episode is...

Comedian and podcaster Brandie Posey ( @Brandazzle ) returns to the show to talk about hosting celebrity karaoke and ending up on TMZ , more details on how wombat poop ends up cubed , a quick refresher on platonic solids , Brexit and bees , Wandavision, the insane amount of power consumed by Bitcoin  and quantum encryption in space .

Comedian April Richardson ( @apey ) of the podcast Why Do I Like This? returns to the show to chat about moving to England, the smallest reptile on Earth , hibernation in early humans , teaching spinach to send emails , Tiny Elvis and the Wilhelm Scream . This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day trial with unlimited access by vis...

Comedian/musician Eli Braden ( @EliBraden ) returns to the show to discuss stonks, the Robinhood fiasco, PredictIt.org , The Hustler , Psycho Goreman , more dinosaur butthole developments , Colgate University , Perseverance's upcoming Mars landing  and evidence of multiple Mars ice ages .

Comedian and actor Marcus Brigstocke ( @marcusbrig ) joins Andy and Matt to discuss blowing things up in school, puckle guns, coordinated electric eel attacks , solving the mystery of butterfly flight , separating dire wolf fact from fiction and giving shrooms to pigs .

Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek ( @FrankWilczek ), author of the new book Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality , joins Matt and Andy to talk about the work that earned him a Nobel Prize, as well as his book, which delves into the essential concepts that form our understanding of how the universe works, digging into fundamental ideas like time, space, matter, energy, complexity and complementarity. This...

Comedian Ed Byrne ( @MrEdByrne ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss spiteful octopuses punching fish , using AI to solve protein structures , why recycling doesn't happen as much anymore (and Taiwan's amazing waste turnaround ), and Europe's plan for a space claw to capture orbiting junk . This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free 14-day tri...

Author, podcaster and behavioral economist Dr. Peter McGraw ( @PeterMcGraw ) returns to the show to talk with Matt and Andy about behavioral economics, cognitive biases, hellish comedy gigs, the science of humor, The Philadelphia Incident , Peter's new book Schtick to Business , stigmas surrounding unmarried life, flaws in happiness studies, how to support an aging populace that isn't being replac...

Returning guest Alex Schmidt ( @AlexSchmidty ) of the podcast Secretly Incredibly Fascinating joins Andy and Matt to swap Jeopardy stories and discuss Doug the cat ruining equipment, grapefruit facts, The Ray Cat Solution to use glowing cats to warn future humans about radioactive waste , the monolith in Utah , Europa's mysterious glow  and a beetle you can run over with a car . This episode is br...

Comedian Megan Gailey ( @megangailey ) joins Matt and Andy to talk about honeybees flying sideways , acoustic camouflage on earless moths , new moon rocks , meatless diets and brittle bones , the coolest dinosaur skeletons ever , fossil-hunting laws and Megan's podcast The Greatest .

Producer and current Jeopardy champion Charlie Fonville ( @charliefonville ) joins Matt and Andy , whose four-day Jeopardy streak Charlie put an end to just yesterday, to talk about sharing the stage with the legendary Alex Trebek, the game theory of Jeopardy, including Daily Double and Final Jeopardy betting strategies , the Two-Thirds Rule , and Andy's odd-seeming bet when facing Stratton's Dile...

Comedian Alex Falcone ( @alex_falcone ) of the podcast Read It and Weep ( and a great NASA rejection letter ) joins Andy and Matt to talk about why Benford's Law doesn't apply to election data , Hamburglar voting irregularities , Andy's upcoming Jeopardy appearance (this Monday, November 16th), whether or not Alex Falcone was named after Alex Trebek, some good news on using psilocybin to treat dep...

Comedian James Austin Johnson ( @shrimpJAJ ) returns to the podcast after a seven-year hiatus to talk about dinosaur butts ,  water on the moon , cell phone networks on the moon , shocking your tongue to cure tinnitus ... and for some reason President Donald J. Trump happens to call in to give his take on Sega Genesis reboots and lame duck hunts.

Author Michael Marshall ( @m_c_marshall ) joins Matt and Andy to talk about his new book The Genesis Quest , which explores the century-long effort to understand how life began on Earth and the many interesting characters who dedicated themselves to solving this massive scientific puzzle. This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial w...

Comedian John Hastings ( @thejohnhastings ) joins Andy and Matt to talk about the questionable comedy of Roy Chubby Brown , neanderthal genes and covid-19 , water bodies under the surface of Mars , and using balanced rocks to increase nuclear safety . This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting  TheG...

Comedian Gene Pompa ( @genepompa ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss methanol-fueled robot beetles , super long words , methylated alcohol , why the moon is rusting , smartphones knowing when you're drunk-walking and corn that makes its own mucus .

The gang's back together to celebrate 400 episodes of Probably Science! Erstwhile hosts Jesse Case ( @jessecase ) and Brooks Wheelan ( @brookswheelan ) join Matt and Andy to discuss counting magicians, Jesse's proximity to train tracks, Ig Nobel prizes for alligators on helium and narcissist eyebrows , detecting phosphine in the clouds of Venus , finding super old sperm in amber , an earthquake ha...

Jesse Case rejoins the show for a cancer special with science writer Dr. Kat Arney ( @Kat_Arney ), author of Rebel Cell: Cancer, Evolution, and the New Science of Life's Oldest Betrayal . This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus , offering Probably Science listeners a free trial with unlimited access by visiting  TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/probably

Comedian Jen Burton ( @jensburpin ) joins Matt and Andy to discuss Africa getting rid of wild polio , painting turbine blades to save birds , a Jeopardy furry champ, an uncuttable material and Idyllwild's very good boy Mayor Max .

Mia Jackson ( @miacomedy ) join Matt and Andy to talk about old-time casino heists, asteroids that are the greatest basketball player of all time , ancient Americans , songbirds warming up and 100-million-year-old microbes that are still alive . Check out Mia's performances on Unprotected Sets  on Epix, and her Comedy Central half hour . This episode is brought to you by  The Great Courses Plus ,...