The Curiosity Desk

It’s a Boston Marathon live-coverage, special edition of our show!  We open with GBH’s Jeremy Siegel, describing his coverage of the marathon's opening & the runner who kindly agreed to let Jeremy track him from Hopkinton to Copley.  Then, GBH’s Hannah Reale dives into some of the broader coverage & reporting on the race. Afterwards, Edgar interviews some active marathon runners near Welle...

First up.... The Bad Fibs return! It’s our newsy spin on the classic Mad Libs format, with help from our live studio audience. This week Edgar is joined by our steady hand Patti Daniels, with special guest Renuka Balakrishnan to talk about her reporting on the legacy of William Dawes.  Then, Astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi joins to talk about comets and meteor showers on view later this month.  Las...

First up, we're exploring how trainers & runners optimize a marathon performance, and what happens on a physiological level when our bodies are pushed to their limit. Edgar will talk with Peko Hosoi from the MIT Sports Lab and Loughborough University visiting professor Andy Harland.  Then we're cracking the case! What do the labels on your egg cartons mean? We'll chat with Dan Souza from Ameri...

First up, this Tax Day, we ask: why is it so hard to file my taxes? We’ll talk with Beverly ​Moran, a senior tax fellow at Boston College. Secondly we'll chat about the helium shortage.. What’s going on? How is helium mined, ​ ​how is it used (beyond the birthday balloons) and what happens if we do actually run out? We’ll ask Linda Doerrer, an Assistant Professor in Chemistry at B.U.’s college of...

First up - Edgar decodes our paychecks, asking "what exactly happens with all the money taken out each week?” We’ll have some help from Steven Dean, a professor of law at Boston University.   Then, we'll exploring the world of microplastics research with oceanographic researcher Victoria Fulfer, whose work has brought her as close as New England as far as Antarctica.   Lastly we answer the questio...

First up, Edgar hosts an AI news panel with Reuters tech reporter Deepa Seetharaman and Shaleen Title, former chair Cannabis Control Board commissioner who teaches AI regulation at Roger Williams University School of Law. They’ll talk about last week's attack on Open AI CEO Sam Altman, pushback to the construction of data centers in Everett, and the value of AI in school classrooms.  Then, we’re c...

First up.... With some help from our studio audience, we’re playing a game of “bad fibs” – that's news-inspired mad libs, with nightside anchor Tori Bedford and a special guest appearance from reporter Marilyn Schairer.  Then, All Things Considered host Arun Rath just so happens to be a practicing magician. He’ll join to talk about Boston’s rich history in the world of magic. He’ll also perform th...

First, Edgar speaks with NASA flight director Rick Henfling, who is overseeing the Artemis II crew’s return this weekend. Next, shifting from outer space to the ocean’s depths, Edgar sits down with Boston University microbiologist Jeff Marlow to discuss his new book, The Dark Frontier: Unlocking the Secrets of the Deep Sea.  Finally, Edgar explores the question, “Who’s really naming all these crea...

First up.... Mass. is one week into a new system tracking Alpha-Gal syndrome across the state. The worst concentrations remain on Martha’s Vineyard – but not Nantucket. What’s going on? We'll explore all things Alpha-Gal with biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds and epidemiologist Lea Hamner, both from The Martha’s Vineyard Tick Program.  Then.. We get caught up on Four Things To Know for today, with...

Edgar talks with GBH reporter Trajan Warren about his latest reporting on a lack of major protests over the killing of Stephenson King, and the state of police accountability activism in Boston.  Then... we’re exploring the psychology and economics behind betting sites like Polymarket, with MIT economics chair Jonathan Gruber. Lastly, as the crew on Artemis II rounds the moon & begins their re...

First, we're going behind the scenes on how influencers make a living with Maddie Graves-Witherell, a Boston-based influencer known as Maddie GW, and creator economy expert Lia Haberman, who’s provided social and influencer marketing insight to Google, Robert Half, AT&T and more.  Then, for our America 250 coverage, Edgar interviews Nina Sankovitch, author of “Not Your Founding Father: How a N...

On today’s podcast: Jeremy Siegel guest hosts!  First, we dive into Anime Boston with chair Omega Au and researcher Mel Stanfill, exploring the world of fandoms.  Then we take a look at Boston’s public restrooms and discuss accessibility with Max Grinnell.  We’ll also preview Red Sox opening day with GBH reporter Craig LeMoult.  And finally, astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi joins us to guide us thro...

We’re learning about the wild world of ants, and a new research project documenting the morphology of over 2,000 ant specimens. Helping us along is Evan Economo, a researcher with the University of Maryland.  And more animal news, there's new research into how horses make their “whinny” sound, and it turns out they’re creating two different tones simultaneously. We’ll get insights from Élodie Brie...

First up, we’re learning the latest on the launch of Artemis II with Andrea Leinfelder, a space reporter with the Houston Chronicle – on site in Florida! Then, we'll investigate whether we can turn the ocean into one big CO2-absorbing sponge. Adam Subhas is a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who last year led a major study around ocean geo-engineering. He’ll join alongside K...

We explore the short and long-term economic consequences of going to war – with Iran or otherwise – with MIT Economics Chair Jon Gruber. Plus listeners' linguistic curiosity questions are answered by Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette, hosts of the podcast & radio show “A Way With Words.”  And it's time for "The Secret Ingredient" with James-beard winning chef Irene Li. This week Irene joins us...

We get a crash course into the science around DNA testing – and how data can be misconstrued – from Boston Globe reporter David Scharfenberg.  Edgar meets Sarah Walsh, librarian by day and Abigail Adams impersonator by night, ahead of an America 250 event happening at the Buttonwoods Museum. The event commemorates Adams' “remember the ladies” letter to her husband John.  Tessie Velesig is the 11-y...

We dig into a new book with a provocative title, To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right . Edgar talks with author Christopher Mathias and disinformation expert Joan Donovan, ahead of their panel discussion this weekend at Boston University’s Power of Narrative Conference. And, we learn quantum computing is all about. Wall Street Journal reporter Peter Champelli helps us understa...

Asteroids careening toward Earth – not ideal. MIT Professors Julien de Wit, Richard Binzel , and research scientist Artem Burdanov explain how their work will help prevent it from happening. And, calling balls and strikes with GBH reporter Esteban Bustillos. He explains how baseball’s new ABS system allows certain players to challenge calls they don’t like.  Plus, our the best of a classic genre,...

The GBH podcast Catching the Codfather tells the story of Carlos Raphael, a fishing tycoon whose empire ended with his arrest in an elaborate sting operation. Podcast creator Ian Coss takes us behind the scenes of how the series was reported and produced. And, the science of smell. Neurologists Bob Datta and Mark Albers explore how our sense of smell can be used to detect early signs of Alzheimer’...

Outer space is vast, but it’s not a lawless frontier. Ely Sandler is a Harvard fellow behind a report calling for updates to rules and guidelines around space diplomacy. He explains the changes he thinks are useful for the 1967 space treaty. Gal Tziperman-Lotan returns with four things to know for Tuesday, March 24th.  Plus, a raucous good time with pogo stick legend James Roumeliotis of Tewksbury...

Year after year, Finland gets crowned the “happiest” country on the planet. But if we dig into the methodology of the survey, does the result hold up? We talk about the World Happiness Report with Jon Krosnik, a professor at Stanford and an expert in survey methodology.  And, Bob Crawford plays bass in the Avvett Brothers, but he’s also a historian, podcaster & author of the new book America’s...

On Comm Ave, a public phone is now a hotline to “ Call a Boomer ”, dialing direct to residents at a senior living facility in Reno, Nevada. Calla Kessler is part of the project that gives college students easy access to advice from elders, she explains how it works. And we talk to Matthew Kaplan, who works in Intergenerational Programs and Aging at Penn State, about the power of friendships betwee...

An official Scottish tartan memorializes thousands of women who were executed over accusations of witchcraft. Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi from the Witches of Scotland campaign explain why that history matters now. Visitors to Boston Common point it out time and again: our squirrels are noticeably chunksters. We ask Liza Meyer, president of Friends of the Public Garden, why that's the case....

Chinese political dissidents use memes and creativity to evade censors and communicate about their activism. Disinformation expert Joan Donovan discusses how they pull it off. As we near the end of Ramadan and while Lent is ongoing, we talk to Boston University Muslim chaplain Sister Naureen Mallick and Rev. Jessica Chika, BU's Protestant chaplain, about the reasons many religions have a tradition...

The U.S. health care system relies heavily on immigrants to provide essential patient care. MIT economist Jonathan Gruber dives into what happens to care and costs when we lose their immigrants from the health care workforce.  The GBH Archives is a treasure trove of Boston history. Our colleagues Leah Weiss and Lauren Jefferson share some of the St. Patrick’s day gold from GBH of yesteryear.  And...