BookLab

Aug 21 2024 35 ep. 55 mins 758
BookLab Podcast artwork

From neurons to nanotech and from quarks to the cosmos, BookLab is the podcast that puts science books under the microscope! Join hosts Dan Falk and Amanda Gefter for a look at the latest in popular science writing: what’s new, what’s hot, and what you ought to be reading right now.

  Science  Society & Culture
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BookLab 035: The Blind Spot; Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation; The Rigor of Angels

Aug 21 2024 82 mins  
Some researchers believe that the traditional scientific approach, in spite of its impressive 400-year track record, has left something out. Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser, and Evan Thompson lay out the argument in The Blind Spot. And on the nightstand: Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation, by George Musser; and The Rigor of Angels, by William Egginton.

BookLab 034: Determined by Robert Sapolsky and Free Agents by Kevin Mitchell

Dec 20 2023 75 mins  
It’s one of the oldest and most vexing questions in science and philosophy: Do we have free will? In this episode of BookLab, we take a close look at two books by two scientists who have considered the question at length -- and have been led to two very different conclusions.

BookLab 033: The Book of Minds; The Darkness Manifesto; Existential Physics

Aug 02 2023 76 mins  
The human mind is quite something. We can use it to reason; to envision past and future events; to ponder abstractions. But what other minds are out there? In Philip Ball’s The Book of Minds, we’re invited to explore the space of possible minds. And on the nightstand: The Darkness Manifesto, by Johan Eklöf; and Existential Physics by Sabine Hossenfelder.

BookLab 032: The One; Sounds Wild and Broken; What We Owe the Future

Feb 26 2023 75 mins  
The world around us seems incredibly diverse -- but what if beneath that diversity there was a unifying sameness? That’s the idea behind “monism” -- an ancient idea that physicist Heinrich Pas believes is due for a comeback. He explores the idea in his new book, The One. And on the nightstand: Sounds Wild and Broken, by David George Haskell; and What We Owe the Future, by Wil

BookLab 031: Reality+; Well, Doc, You’re In; and As Gods

Dec 16 2022 69 mins  
Virtual reality has taken off in recent years. But what if the virtual worlds of VR are real -- just as real, perhaps, as the physical world we see around us? And... is it possible we’re living in a simulation right now? Philosopher David Chalmers probes these questions in his provocative new book, Reality+. And on the nightstand: A new biography of physicist Freeman Dyson, calle

BookLab 030: Being You, The Monster’s Bones, and Quantum Legacies

Sep 14 2022 58 mins  
Featured book: Being You, by Anil Seth. A lot has been written on the subject of consciousness, but few are positioned to tackle the problem better than neuroscientist Anil Seth, whose new book examines how we experience “life in the first person.” And on the nightstand: The Monster’s Bones, by David K. Randall; and Quantum Legacies, by David Kaiser.

BookLab 029: Hawking Hawking, The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy, and When We Cease to Understand the World

Dec 25 2021 57 mins  
Featured book: Hawking Hawking, by Charles Seife. Charles Seife’s new biography of Stephen Hawking takes an unflinching look at the good and bad sides of the famous physicist. And on the nightstand: The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Arik Kershenbaum; and When We Cease to Understand the World, by Benjamin Labatut.

BookLab 028: Life’s Edge, by Carl Zimmer; and The Genesis Quest, by Michael Marshall

Oct 15 2021 49 mins  
What is life? As Carl Zimmer shows in Life’s Edge, the more we try to pin it down, the more elusive an answer becomes. And in The Genesis Quest, Michael Marshall examines the age-old puzzle of how life began on our planet.

BookLab 027: Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain, Why Fish Don’t Exist, and The Precipice

Mar 29 2021 62 mins  
Featured Book: Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain, by Lisa Feldman Barrett. Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett take a deep dive into our most remarkable organ – and explains why the brain is for much more than just thinking. And on the nightstand: Why Fish Don’t Exist, by Lulu Miller; and The Precipice, by Toby Ord.

BookLab 026: The End of Everything, and Black Hole Survival Guide

Dec 30 2020 51 mins  
We double up on the physics in this episode: First, Katie Mack looks at the universe’s end-game in The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking). Then we explore the universe’s most exotic objects in Janna Levin’s new book, Black Hole Survival Guide.