Unexplainable

LaVonna Saxon, Casey Harrell’s wife and caregiver, reflects on their life, parenting, and caring through illness. Casey Harrell, an environmental advocate with ALS, regained speech using an implanted brain–computer interface. They discuss implant surgery, training AI to decode intended speech, emotional family moments, and the everyday changes when voice returns.

Rachel Aviv, New Yorker staff writer known for investigative, literary reporting on psychology and medicine, digs into Oliver Sacks's archives. She recounts finding private journals and letters, the overlaps between his life and patient stories. Conversations cover textual echoes, admitted fabrications in case studies, and the ethical tension between bearing witness and crafting narrative.

David Simpson, a neurologist who treats movement disorders with botulinum toxin, and Jean Carruthers, an ophthalmologist who pioneered cosmetic Botox, trace the toxin’s journey from deadly poison to medical tool. They discuss early discoveries, accidental cosmetic benefits, clinical uses from spasticity to migraines, safety and manufacturing, and surprising research into mood and other novel indications.

Lawrence Principe, a Johns Hopkins historian and chemist who recreates alchemical recipes, discusses alchemy beyond gold, from medicines to pigments. He explains why alchemical texts use metaphor and secrecy. He recounts laboratory reconstructions like antimony glass and 'vegetative' mercury and explores how hands-on experiments help interpret strange alchemical language.

Jessica Lundquist, a University of Washington civil and environmental engineering professor who studies snow and water, explains how tiny crystals form and change. She talks about why snowflakes grow different shapes, why fresh snow muffles sound and crunches, what makes snow sticky or fluffy, how snow accumulates on surfaces, and how scientists measure and predict water from snowpacks.

Josh May, a philosophy professor specializing in neuroethics and legal responsibility, joins to examine the landmark case that brought brain scans into court. He explores the ethics of using neuroimaging in legal settings. Conversations cover frontal lobe effects on behavior, how courts decide to admit scientific evidence, and the promises and limits of fMRI and AI for assessing responsibility.

Ian Koss, reporter and producer who created Catching the Codfather, tells the story of Carlos Rafael and New Bedford’s fishing controversies. The conversation covers undercover stings, cash ledgers listing fish, how NOAA trawl surveys count fish, the Trawlgate scandal, choke species and quota incentives, and local mistrust that let fraud persist.

Diana Kwon, a science journalist covering biological research and aging, explores links between psychological stress and molecular signs of aging. She discusses studies on shorter telomeres in chronically stressed caregivers. She explains senescent "zombie" cells, their high energy use, a brain-body signaling molecule GDF15, and how stress exposure may affect anti-aging treatments.

Elizabeth Hénaff, computational biologist and artist studying microbial communities, and Brad Vogel, lawyer and local canoe club volunteer with deep Gowanus knowledge. They explore toxic canal history, how sludge harbors hundreds of microbes, extremophiles that break down pollutants, microbial metal interactions, antibiotic resistance worries, and ideas for using microbes in cleanup.

Dr. Robert Bastian, a laryngologist who discovered and treats a sphincter disorder that stops burping. Noel King, radio and podcast host who reacts and asks sharp questions. They dig into the anatomy behind the no-burp problem. They discuss Botox as a surprising treatment, how it can act like training wheels, and the puzzling long-term recoveries reported by many patients.