Big Brains

For a more than a century, the Food and Drug Administration has worked to protect public health. In his research, Harvard University physician-researcher Jerry Avorn has examined how the FDA’s once-ri...

Prof. James Evans, a University of Chicago sociologist and data scientist, believes we’re training AI to think too much like humans—and it’s holding science back. In this episode, Evans shares how our...

When someone we know or love starts to develop psychological issues, we don't often associate it with a form of dementia. However, this trait is one of the most common signs of frontotemporal dementia...

The search for life beyond Earth is no longer science fiction—it takes a lot of data, powerful telescopes and a bit of cosmic detective work. And at the center of this search is University of Chicago ...

Despite decades of policy ideas, pouring millions of dollars into the problem, and a slow pace of gun control measures, the United States hasn’t made much progress on curbing the epidemic of gun viole...

What if a single number, derived from your DNA, could predict your income, education level or even who you're likely to marry? In his new book “The Social Genome,” Princeton University sociologist Dal...

When we lose someone, we love, we often say we have a broken heart—but what if that’s not just a metaphor? In her new book “The Grieving Body: How The Stress of Loss Can Be An Opportunity For Healing”...

New federal data paints a stark picture: American children are falling behind in reading and test scores, with the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged kids growing wider. But is this really just ...

What does it mean to understand death? For centuries, philosophers have argued that only humans can truly comprehend mortality. But what if they’re wrong? In this episode, we speak with philosopher Su...

In 2000, the United States declared that measles had been eliminated. But just 15 years later, the disease made a comeback—and it hasn’t gone away since. In this episode, Dr. Adam Ratner, director of ...