Sing for Science
Talkhouse
Sing For Science is a science-and-music podcast where musicians sit down with scientists to explore the scientific ideas hidden in their most iconic songs. Listen to JD from Korn talk about “Dead Bodies Everywhere” with a mortuary-science expert, Sia explore one of her breakup ballads with an attachment-theory psychologist, and many, many more. Created and hosted by New York musician Matt Whyte, the show seeks to uncover connections wherever they may exist and build bridges between seemingly disparate voices, styles, and walks of life. Sing For Science is made possible in part by a grant from the Simons Foundation.
New episodes release every two weeks—subscribe now. Want to catch a live Sing For Science taping in your city? Sign up for our newsletter at SingForScience.org to be the first to know.
New episodes release every two weeks—subscribe now. Want to catch a live Sing For Science taping in your city? Sign up for our newsletter at SingForScience.org to be the first to know.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 26, 2024 • 1h 3min
Jack Antonoff: The Waiter (Theoretical Physics and Time Perception with David Kaiser)
Recorded Live inside the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science in Boston on June 10, 2024. Join Bleachers frontman and 11-time Grammy Winning super-producer Jack Antonoff for a discussion about his track “The Waiter” on which he muses about the notion that time could stop hinting at the subjectivity of time perception. On hand to talk about the implications of time from a theoretical physicist’s perspective is MIT professor Dr. David Kaiser. We talk relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, mortality, Donald Rumsfeld and more!
Jun 5, 2024 • 51min
Encore: Sia: Elastic Heart (Psychology/Attachment Theory with Alexandra Katehakis)
Pop icon SIA and psychotherapist, Dr. Alexandra Katehakis discuss attachment theory, infant brain development and sex addiction.
May 15, 2024 • 52min
LABS: David Byrne and Patrik Svensson on the Eel Question
Recorded Live at the Museum of Science in Boston on May 8, 2024, musician polymath and Talking Heads co-founder David Byrne talks with The Book of Eels author, Patrik Svensson. Even in today’s age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them — after living for decades in freshwater — to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. Join us for an incredibly fascinating talk on biology, philosophy and more!
Apr 24, 2024 • 35min
Laraaji: Sun Piano/Moon Piano (Eclipse Science with Nikole Lewis)
Recorded Live at the Totality 2024 Festival in Hannibal, NY following the Total Solar Eclipse and Laraaji’s performance of his Sun Piano/Moon Piano albums. Ambient/New Age music legend Laraaji talks about how he represents the moon’s energy in 12 musical notes, his time at Howard University in the 1960s, his experience observing the Total Solar Eclipse. Cornell University Astronomer Dr. Nikole Lewis talks about the necessary conditions to allow for a Total Solar Eclipse, extraterrestrial life, Carl Sagan and more. This event was supported by the Simons Foundation and was part of its In The Path of Totality Initiative.
Apr 3, 2024 • 42min
LABS: José González and Dr. Brian Cox on Secular Humanism
Swedish Argentine folk singer José Gonzalez returns to the show along with our only other repeat guest, physicist Dr. Brian Cox of BBC and CERN fame. The two talk about secular humanism, atheism, finding meaning, black holes, Carl Sagan and more!
Mar 13, 2024 • 38min
Sid Sriram: Blue Spaces (Color Neuroscience with Bevil Conway)
Recorded live at 2024 On Air Fest in Brooklyn, NY: Indian Carnatic superstar Sid Sriram talks about his song “Blue Spaces” with visual neuroscientist/color expert, Dr. Bevil Conway. We talk about Sid’s personal and cultural associations with color, cultural appropriation, the brain’s visual system, “the dress” from 2015 which some saw as blue and black and others as white and gold, the subjectivity and illusory nature of color perception and more!
Feb 21, 2024 • 1h 11min
LABS: Bethany Cosentino and Lisa Marchiano on Jungian Analysis
Best Coast lead singer and Jungian analysand, Bethany Cosentino and “This Jungian Life Podcast" host Lisa Marchiano do a deep dive on you guessed it…Jungian Analysis! We cover dream analysis, the unconscious, creativity, archetypes, personae and then some!
Jan 31, 2024 • 42min
Spyro Gyra: Catching The Sun (Harmful Algal Blooms with Holly Waterfield)
Spyro Gyra co-founder Jeremy Wall talks about the height of the jazz fusion era, composing and about about the ins and outs of lake formation, spirogyra algae, harmful algal blooms or HABS and more with lake ecologist, Holly Waterfield. This episode was co-produced with the AJ Reid Science Discovery Center at SUNY Oneonta where it was taped in front of a live audience on December 6, 2023.
Jan 10, 2024 • 43min
Sheila E: The Glamorous Life (Rhythm Neuroscience with Hugo Merchant)
Queen of Percussion and Prince collaborator Sheila E talks about her 1984 hit, working with Prince, salsa music and learning from her legendary father with University of Mexico Neuroscientist, Dr. Hugo Merchant. Hugo shares fascinating findings about how the mechanisms in the brain process rhythm and help us keep a beat.
Dec 20, 2023 • 57min
Encore: MGMT: A Family of Trees (Forest Ecology with Suzanne Simard)
A FAMILY OF TREES: UNCOVERING NETWORKS IN OUR FORESTS' UNDERSTORY with Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser of MGMT and Dr. Suzanne Simard, forest ecology professor.In this episode we discuss:- how trees communicate with one another- the folly of industrialized logging- how trees help other trees- Native American ancestral DNA in cedar- where to buy mushrooms in Connecticut
