The Curiosity Desk

The Patriots lost in the Super Bowl, but there is more to say than just the score. GBH's Esteban Bustillos recaps the odd and interesting moments of his weekend in Santa Clara.  Our rivers and ponds are under sheets of ice this winter, and that has us asking what effect does cold and lack of sunlight have on aquatic systems? Edgar talks to Jason Stolarski with MassWildlife's Watershed Project, and...

It's almost Super Bowl Sunday, and the Patriots are in it to win it. We look at why the hometown stadium is actually out of town, in Foxborough, and the economics of that decision. Edgar talks with Christopher Price, Patriots beat reporter for the Boston Globe, and Victor’ Matheson, sports economist at Holy Cross.  GBH reporter Craig LeMoult brings us a primer on local athletes to watch at the Win...

ChatGPT has some ideas about which cities are smarter than others. Boston University researcher Joan Donovan explains an new AI tool that may be relying too much on cultural assumptions. (Though Boston does look pretty good in the algorithm.) Edgar and senior producer Aidan Connelly have answer to listener-submitted curiosity questions. This week we’re talking about radios in tunnels, noisy MRIs,...

A new NOVA documentary explores the science behind those word-buttons and whether dogs – and other animals – truly have the capacity for language. Cognitive researcher Federico Rossano, speech pathologist Christina Hunger, and "talking" dog-owner Sascha Crasnow join Edgar to discuss.   GBH News' Gal Tziperman-Lotan joins for a radio edition of GBH's daily newsletter and “Four Things to Know” in to...

The challenge of effectively targeting and cutting government waste, one year out from DOGE’s initial tear through Washington, with MIT economist Jon Gruber.  The "Secret Ingredient" today is celery root. Chefs Irene Li and Chris Anderson will make you fall in love with ugliest of the root vegetables. And in honor of America 250, we learn the story of fugitive slaves Ellen and William Craft. Their...

You know him from CBS News’ Sunday Morning , NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me , and his podcast Mobituaries . But have you caught Mo Rocca as Milton the Accountant on CBS’ “ The Young and the Restless ”? The humorist and correspondent joins Edgar to talk about which of his jobs was like working for “an English professor on acid” and why older folks tend to be the best storytellers. Next, we have pa...