The Quanta Podcast
Quanta Magazine
Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. In each episode, Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by curiosity, discovery and the overwhelming desire to know why and how. Join us every Tuesday for a stimulating conversation about the biggest ideas and the tiniest details.(If you've been a fan of the Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue here. You'll see those episodes marked as audio edition episodes every two weeks.)
Episodes
Mentioned books
9 snips
Mar 31, 2026 • 31min
Why Do Humanoid Robots Still Struggle With the Small Stuff?
John Pavlus, a science writer who covers robotics and tech, explores why humanoid robots still stumble on everyday tasks. He discusses the importance of human-like form, contrasts practical designs with flashy demos, and highlights gaps in force sensing, physical intelligence, and training data. The conversation examines breakthroughs, realistic timelines, and where true dexterity might come from.
9 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 25min
Uniting a Century of Digital and Analog Astronomy
Liz Kruesi, science writer who links historical astronomy with modern surveys, explores how century-old glass plate photos are being reunited with Rubin Observatory data. She discusses connecting vintage and digital records to extend time baselines. Conversations cover changing celestial objects, plate-making and archives, and the hands-on work of digitizing and mining these photographic collections.
16 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 12min
Audio Edition: Researchers Uncover Hidden Ingredients Behind AI Creativity
They unpack why image generators seem creative even when trained to mimic data. Listeners hear how diffusion models denoise images and why locality and translational equivariance matter. An experiment called the ELS machine reproduces many outputs, linking algorithmic glitches to pattern-forming biology. The discussion notes limits and contrasts these findings with other AI systems.
27 snips
Mar 17, 2026 • 26min
Astrocytes Might Be in Charge of the Brain
Ingrid Wickelgren, science journalist who covered astrocytes’ surprising roles. She explores how astrocytes envelop synapses, show calcium waves, respond to norepinephrine, and can influence behaviors from sleepiness to ‘giving up.’ The conversation highlights imaging breakthroughs, causal experiments in animals, and implications for mood and brain-state control.
12 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 25min
The Infinite Heist - Part 2
Jordana Cepelewicz, math editor and science journalist who traces the history of mathematical ideas, guides a deep dive into the Cantor–Dedekind story. Short scenes cover Cantor’s 1874 paper and controversies, Kronecker’s campaign, a researcher’s hunt for missing letters, the 1873 Dedekind proof discovery, and how myths about lone genius and credit shape math history.
13 snips
Mar 5, 2026 • 16min
Audio Edition: The Ecosystem Dynamics That Can Make or Break an Invasion
Researchers use microbes as fast, controllable ecosystems to test what makes communities vulnerable to invasions. They explore diversity, interaction strength, and surprising phase shifts that change stability. Experiments show fluctuating, species-rich microcosms can be far more invadable. Models recreate these patterns and raise questions about dynamics in longer-lived systems.
52 snips
Mar 3, 2026 • 32min
The Infinite Heist - Part 1
Jordana Cepelewicz, math editor at Quanta Magazine who unpacks math history, tells the tangled origin story of Georg Cantor and infinity. She traces Cantor’s proofs of different infinities, the rise of set theory as math’s common language, and the publication intrigues and tensions with contemporaries that reshaped foundations. Short, dramatic, and full of historical twists.
19 snips
Feb 24, 2026 • 30min
Decoding the Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics
Philip Ball, science writer and author of Beyond Weird, brings crisp reporting on the foundations of quantum theory. He dives into wave-particle puzzles, the measurement problem, competing interpretations like collapse and many-worlds. He also explores decoherence, Quantum Darwinism, and why a single classical reality emerges from quantum possibilities.
25 snips
Feb 19, 2026 • 17min
Audio Edition: Epic Effort to Ground Physics in Math Opens Up the Secrets of Time
Mathematicians prove how individual particle collisions build up fluid behavior and why time seems to flow one way. The work completes a long-sought link from Newtonian particles to Boltzmann and then to Navier-Stokes. Innovative counting of collision patterns and wave-inspired decompositions make rare recollisions negligible. The result illuminates the mathematical roots of irreversibility and points toward broader extensions.
20 snips
Feb 17, 2026 • 24min
How Animals Build a Sense of Direction
Yasemin Saplakoglu, a science journalist covering neuroscience and animal navigation, explores how animals find their way. She explains place, grid and head-direction cells. She describes field studies tracking bats on an island and debates whether animals use a global compass or local landmarks. The conversation ends with questions about human navigation and why people vary in directional ability.
