Serious Inquiries Only

May 27 2024 11.9k

Serious Inquiries Only Podcast artwork

Join Thomas for some critical thinking on questions of science, philosophy, skepticism and politics. These serious topics are discussed with some serious guests, but in an entertaining and engaging way! This is not your typical interview podcast; it’s a friendly dialogue, conducted thoughtfully and with plenty of humor. It's Serious Inquiries Only; but like, not boring or anything.

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SIO449: The Northern Lights Went South for the Summer

May 27 2024 50 mins

And also... maybe the Southern Lights went North? Earlier this month, an incredible thing happened. The Aurora Borealis was visible to folks much further south than usual. Dr. Bryan Gillis is with us to talk about what exactly the Aurora is, what makes it happen, and how in the world it was recently seen down in my neck of the woods. Are you an expert in something and want to be o

SIO448: How To Build A Dinosaur

May 21 2024 58 mins

Dr. Eric Jaffe joins the show and walks us through the dream so many of us have had - building a dinosaur! With his expertise in molecular biology, we learn if this is even possible, and how exactly it would work. Would we use mosquitoes for this project like Jurassic Park tells us is totally possible and sound? Actually, what even is a dinosaur anyway? Lots of fascinating dino-tal

SIO447: Steve Vladeck on the Shadow Docket

May 01 2024 57 mins

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SIO446: Believe It Or Not, The Right Has An Effective Youth Movement

Apr 29 2024 38 mins

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SIO445: The Science of 3 Body Problem with Paul Sutter

Apr 28 2024 53 mins

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Apr 27 2024 37 mins

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SIO443: Dr. Jo Boaler Tried To Improve Math Education. Then An Anti-woke Mob Came For Her

Apr 25 2024 45 mins

Dr. Jo Boaler is a leading math education expert and one of the writers of the California Mathematics Framework, a set of guidelines focused on improving equity in California's math classrooms. We first talk about her upcoming book, Math-ish, and the beauty of pursuing more "ish" in our lives. Then, we discuss a recent anonymous complaint that was filed with Stanford University, ac

SIO442: Is Quantum Technology Actually Better?

Apr 23 2024 45 mins

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SIO441: Elon Musk's Neuralink - Real Or Just Hype? Part 2

Apr 18 2024 39 mins

Here's Part 2 of our deep dive into neural implants with Dr. Jenessa Seymour! The brain is still completely amazing, and so are the folks who are creating innovative technology to help people do things that have been otherwise out of reach. And then there's Elon. Are you an expert in something and want to be on the show? Apply here! Please please pretty please support the show on p

SIO440: Elon Musk's Neuralink - Real or Just Hype?

Apr 17 2024 52 mins

We've got an expert to take us through it! Dr. Jenessa Seymour is a former neuroscientist currently working in disability rights and she has looked through the history of neural implant efforts to investigate Elon's Neuralink claims. Just how full of it is he? And how in the world does any of this even work? What is clear is that the brain is insanely amazing. There's so much to ta