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Unexplainable

Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know … and then keeps on going. Host Noam Hassenfeld and an all-star team of reporters — Byrd Pinkerton, Meradith Hoddinott, and Mandy Nguyen — tackle scientific mysteries, unanswered questions, and everything we learn by diving into the unknown. New episodes drop every Wednesday.

Tell us about a scientific mystery that fascinates you.

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The Unexplainable team includes Noam Hassenfeld, Byrd Pinkerton, Meradith Hoddinott, Mandy Nguyen, Cristian Ayala, and Jorge Just. The show is a production of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Show transcripts.

Songs from the podcast.

Why do we love to scare ourselves?
Audio
Unexplainable

This research group is studying our love for haunted houses ... at a haunted house.

By Byrd Pinkerton
Just how doomed is home insurance?Just how doomed is home insurance?
Audio
Climate

Hurricanes like Milton and Helene are making it harder than ever to insure your home.

By Umair Irfan
Are we underestimating global warming?Are we underestimating global warming?
Audio
Climate

Why climate scientists are so concerned about aerosols, not just greenhouse gasses.

By Umair Irfan
How much can we actually control inflation?How much can we actually control inflation?
Audio
Unexplainable

The mystery of inflation may be rooted in psychology.

By Noam Hassenfeld
What’s a wild bat worth to you? This economist is asking.What’s a wild bat worth to you? This economist is asking.
Audio
Down to Earth

Nature is priceless — but quantifying its value could help save it.

By Benji Jones and Byrd Pinkerton
Who’s the father? For these baby animals, one doesn’t exist.
Audio
Unexplainable

More animals can occasionally reproduce asexually than scientists realized.

By Byrd Pinkerton
Did trees kill the world?Did trees kill the world?
Audio
Unexplainable

An ancient forest once tipped our planet’s climate into chaos.

By Meradith Hoddinott
She’s been chasing solar eclipses for three decades. What’s she after?She’s been chasing solar eclipses for three decades. What’s she after?
Audio
Unexplainable

This scientist has seen nearly 20 solar eclipses. She’s trying to solve a mystery that could help protect Earth.

By Noam Hassenfeld
17 astounding scientific mysteries that researchers can’t yet solve
Audio
Unexplainable

What is the universe made out of? How should we define death? Where did dogs come from? And more!

By Brian Resnick
Menstrual fluid’s underexplored medical treasuresMenstrual fluid’s underexplored medical treasures
Audio
Unexplainable

From wound healing to disease diagnosis, “this stuff is like gold dust.”

By Byrd Pinkerton
10 ocean mysteries scientists haven’t solved yet
Audio
Unexplainable

And the adventures scientists go on to better understand our enigmatic seas.

By Brian Resnick
Astronomers spotted something perplexing near the beginning of time
Audio
Science

Monsters lurk in the background of James Webb Space Telescope images. Scientists are scrambling to make sense of them.

By Brian Resnick
How to catch a scientific fraudHow to catch a scientific fraud
Audio
Unexplainable

Elisabeth Bik has made a career of being a data vigilante. What should mainstream scientific journals learn from her?

By Byrd Pinkerton
10 of the biggest — and smallest — scientific mysteries
Audio
Unexplainable

Some unanswered scientific questions loom out in the universe. Others reside in our homes.

By Brian Resnick
Runners can be disqualified for starting after the gun. What gives?
Audio
Unexplainable

The rules of elite running say no one can start a race faster than 0.1 seconds. Scientists say that’s wrong.

By Brian Resnick and Noam Hassenfeld
11 unexplainable animal mysteries
Audio
Unexplainable

Yes, one of them involves puppies.

By Brian Resnick
Even the scientists who build AI can’t tell you how it worksEven the scientists who build AI can’t tell you how it works
Audio
Unexplainable

“We built it, we trained it, but we don’t know what it’s doing.”

By Noam Hassenfeld
Is weed safe in pregnancy?
Audio
Science

Harsh state policies imply it’s not — but what do the studies say?

By Keren Landman, MD
4 unexplainable mysteries of pregnancy and parenting4 unexplainable mysteries of pregnancy and parenting
Audio
Unexplainable

Why do we know so little about pregnancy — one of the most common experiences on Earth?

By Brian Resnick and Byrd Pinkerton
What is life? Scientists still can’t agree.What is life? Scientists still can’t agree.
Audio
Unexplainable

Science writer Carl Zimmer explains why this question has been so hard to answer.

By Brian Resnick
3 unexplainable mysteries of life on Earth
Audio
Unexplainable

Earth, for all we know, is the only planet with life on it. But how did it start?

By Brian Resnick
How Havana syndrome helps us rethink the brainHow Havana syndrome helps us rethink the brain
Audio
Unexplainable

A neurologist explains how its weird symptoms can manifest via a common but misunderstood class of brain ailments.

By Noam Hassenfeld
How scientists discovered the universe is really freaking huge
Audio
Unexplainable

Edwin Hubble’s name is everywhere in astronomy. Henrietta Leavitt’s should be too.

By Brian Resnick, Amanda Northrop and 1 more
The mystery of the mimic plant
Audio
Down to Earth

There’s drama in the plant world — and a shape-shifting vine is at the center of it.

By Benji Jones
Space is deadly. NASA’s Artemis mission will help us learn how to survive it.Space is deadly. NASA’s Artemis mission will help us learn how to survive it.
Audio
Science

The rocket finally launched, equipped with scientific experiments to test how deep space affects our bodies.

By Neel Dhanesha
A mountain, a tower, a thermos of molten salt. These are the batteries that could power our renewable future.A mountain, a tower, a thermos of molten salt. These are the batteries that could power our renewable future.
Audio
Unexplainable

Climate change is pushing the power grid to the limit. Energy storage could help.

By Neel Dhanesha
The mysterious rise of food allergiesThe mysterious rise of food allergies
Audio
Unexplainable

More kids and adults are finding out that they can’t eat their favorite foods. Why?

By Umair Irfan
The race to find 2,100 missing species before they go extinctThe race to find 2,100 missing species before they go extinct
Audio
Down to Earth

Many animals aren’t endangered or extinct — they’re missing. Species detectives are trying to track them down.

By Benji Jones
What did dinosaurs actually sound like? Take a listen.
Audio
Unexplainable

Two tubas, a chicken, and a low-pitched alligator: The weird ways scientists imagine dinosaur voices.

By Noam Hassenfeld
The ovarian “biological clock” and other reproductive health metaphors that have led science astrayThe ovarian “biological clock” and other reproductive health metaphors that have led science astray
Audio
Podcasts

And why even the phrase “reproductive health” might be kind of misleading.

By Byrd Pinkerton
Why the new James Webb Space Telescope images are such a big deal
Audio
Science

The JWST can simply see more of the universe than the Hubble Space Telescope could.

By Brian Resnick
Why scientists really, really want to know if there was ever life on MarsWhy scientists really, really want to know if there was ever life on Mars
Audio
Science

If there was life on Mars billions of years ago — even just microbial life — it could change our understanding of how life begins.

By Brian Resnick
7 solar system mysteries scientists haven’t solved yet
Audio
Unexplainable

Why is our moon so weird? Was there ever life on Mars? Big cosmic questions lurk in our celestial backyard.

By Brian Resnick
The underwater “eye” that is unlocking ocean secretsThe underwater “eye” that is unlocking ocean secrets
Audio
Science

A marine biologist built a stealth camera that’s collected images of some of the most elusive deep sea animals.

By Byrd Pinkerton
What science still doesn’t know about the five senses
Audio
Science

Our senses create our reality. They can trick us, but also teach us.

By Brian Resnick and Noam Hassenfeld
Cancer has a smell. Someday your phone may detect it.Cancer has a smell. Someday your phone may detect it.
Audio
Unexplainable

Our sense of smell is still a mystery. But that’s not stopping research on robot noses.

By Noam Hassenfeld
Doctors learned how to save premature infants’ lives. They forgot about pain.
Audio
Science

Scientists are investigating how to treat pain in babies who can’t tell you when it hurts.

By Brian Resnick
The loss of insects is an apocalypse worth worrying aboutThe loss of insects is an apocalypse worth worrying about
Audio
Down to Earth

A world without bugs is a world we don’t want to live in.

By Benji Jones
The mystery of methane gone missingThe mystery of methane gone missing
Audio
Climate

Humanity has an “unbalanced checkbook” of methane pollution.

By Rebecca Leber
What science still can’t explain about love
Audio
Science

People say they know what they’re looking for in a partner. Relationship experts say otherwise.

By Brian Resnick