The Joy of Why

Apr 25 2024 2.6k
The Joy of Why Podcast artwork

"The Joy of Why" is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the astrophysicist and author Janna Levin take turns interviewing leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time. New episodes are released every other Thursday.

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What Does Milk Do for Babies?

Apr 25 2024 34 mins  
Human nutrition begins with milk, but the wondrous biofluid does much more than feed babies. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with molecular nutritionist Elizabeth Johnson about her research into the impact of human milk on a healthy microbiome.

Can Information Escape a Black Hole?

Apr 11 2024 29 mins  
Black holes are inescapable traps for most of what falls into them - but there can be exceptions. The theoretical physicist Leonard Susskind speaks with co-host Janna Levin about the black hole information paradox and how it has propelled modern physics.

How Is Flocking Like Computing?

Mar 28 2024 39 mins  
Birds flock. Locusts swarm. Fish school. From chaotic assemblies of life, order somehow emerges. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz interviews the evolutionary ecologist Iain Couzin about how and why animals exhibit collective behaviors, and the secret advantages that arise from them.

What Is Quantum Teleportation?

Mar 14 2024 29 mins  
Teleporting people through space is still science fiction. But quantum teleportation is dramatically different and entirely real. In this episode, Janna Levin interviews the theoretical physicist John Preskill about teleporting bits and the promise of quantum technology.

What Is the Nature of Time?

Feb 29 2024 30 mins  
Time is all around us: in the language we use, in the memories we revisit and in our predictions of the future. But what exactly is it? The physicist and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek joins Steve Strogatz to discuss the fundamental hallmarks of time.

How Did Altruism Evolve?

Feb 15 2024 34 mins  
If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from? Host Janna Levin speaks with Stephanie Preston, a neuropsychologist who studies the biology of altruism.

What Makes for 'Good' Math?

Feb 01 2024 35 mins  
Terence Tao, who has been called the "Mozart of Mathematics," wrote an essay in 2007 about the common ingredients in "good" mathematical research. In this episode, the Fields Medalist joins Steven Strogatz to revisit the topic.

Why Locusts Swarm, Humans Do Good and Time Marches On

Jan 25 2024 2 mins  
The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the astrophysicist and author Janna Levin interview leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time.

Does Nothingness Exist?

Jul 26 2023 44 mins  
Even empty space is bubbling with a form of energy, according to quantum mechanics - and that fact affects almost every facet of physical reality. The theoretical physicist Isabel Garcia Garcia explains to Steven Strogatz why it's so important in modern physics to understand what a true vacuum is.

Can Math and Physics Save an Arrhythmic Heart?

Jul 11 2023 46 mins  
Abnormal waves of electrical activity can cause a heart's muscle cells to beat out of sync. In this episode, Flavio Fenton, an expert in cardiac dynamics, talks with Steve Strogatz about ways to treat heart arrhythmias without resorting to painful defibrillators.