BookLab

21/12/2025

Episode 40 is now up! It's a roundup of Dan and Amanda's picks for the top science books of 2025, featuring new books by Sam Kean, Dagomar Degroot, Lynn Gamwell, Pria Anand, David Baron, and many more!
https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-040-the-best-science-books-of-2025

06/07/2025

Episode 39 is up!
Tech billionaires talk about colonizing Mars, building grand space stations far from Earth, lengthening life spans, and maybe even eradicating aging and death, or uploading our minds into computers. Well, not so fast, says author Adam Becker. In Ep 39 Dan Falk and Amanda Gefter dive into Adam's provocative new book. (Sorry about the glitchy earlier version; we believe we've fixed it!)
https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-039-more-everything-forever-by-adam-becker

25/03/2025

Episode 38 is now out! There’s no question that animals communicate -- but only humans have full-blown symbolic language. So, how did we get here? In The Language Puzzle, archeologist Steven Mithen tries to figure out how we became such a talkative species.
And on the nightstand: Ways of Being, by James Bridle; and Playing Possum by Susana Monsó. Enjoy!
https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-038-the-language-puzzle-ways-of-being-playing-possum

13/12/2024

Episode 36 is now up!
You know about Galileo, Newton, and Einstein -- but what about the many women scientists who helped shape our understanding of the cosmos? In this episode, we look at two books give those overlooked women the recognition they deserve.
https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-036-her-time-her-space-and-the-enlightenments-most-dangerous-woman

27/08/2024

Just a reminder that every episode of BookLab is available on SoundCloud -- including our latest, Episode 35. Cheers!
https://soundcloud.com/booklab

22/08/2024

Episode 35 of BookLab is now up!
Some researchers believe that the traditional approach to science, in spite of its impressive 400-year track record, has left out something important. Adam Frank, Marcelo Gleiser, and Evan Thompson lay out the argument in our featured book, The Blind Spot.

And on the nightstand: Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation, by George Musser; and The Rigor of Angels, by William Egginton.

Enjoy!

https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-035-the-blind-spot-putting-ourselves-back-in-the-equation-the-rigor-of-angels

22/12/2023

Just a reminder that every episode of BookLab is also on
SoundCloud, listenable (for free) anytime anywhere -- including our latest, #34, where we take a deep dive into the puzzle of free will...

Listen to BookLab | SoundCloud is an audio platform that lets you listen to what you love and share the sounds you create.

21/12/2023

It’s one of the oldest and most vexing questions in science and philosophy: Do we have free will? In Episode 34, we take a close look at two books by two scientists who have considered the question at length -- and have reached two very different conclusions.
https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-034-determined-by-robert-sapolsky-and-free-agents-by-kevin-mitchell

04/08/2023

Just a reminder that every episode of BookLab is one click away on SoundCloud, including our latest (Episode 33). Enjoy!

Listen to BookLab | SoundCloud is an audio platform that lets you listen to what you love and share the sounds you create.

03/08/2023

Episode 33 is now up! The human mind is amazing: We can use it to reason; to envision past and future events; to ponder abstractions. But what other minds are out there? In Philip Ball’s The Book of Minds, we’re invited to explore the space of possible minds. And on the nightstand: The Darkness Manifesto, by Johan Eklöf; and Existential Physics by Sabine Hossenfelder.
https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-033-the-book-of-minds-the-darkness-manifesto-existential-physics

27/02/2023

Episode 32 is now up! We look at physicist Heinrich Pas' provocative new book "The One," in which he argues that an ancient idea known as monism may be due for a comeback. And on the nightstand: "Sounds Wild and Broken," by David George Haskell; and "What We Owe the Future," by William MacAskill. https://booklabpodcast.com/booklab-032-the-one-sounds-wild-and-broken-what-we-owe-the-future