Big Picture Science

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Big Picture Science is a one-hour radio show and podcast that connects ideas in surprising and humorous ways to illuminate the origins, the behavior, and the future of life—and  technology—on Earth.

What came before the Big Bang?  How does the brain work? Will our descendents be human or machine?  What’s the origin of humor?  We ponder these questions daily... and expound on them weekly.

But, wait!  There’s more!

Are you a doubting Thomas?  Good.  Join us as we separate science from pseudoscience—and facts from the phony—in Skeptic Check, our monthly episode devoted to critical thinking.

Whether it’s astrology, Bigfoot, or just the incessant onslaught of UFOs, we take it all on, wielding the skeptical scalpel of solid science.

It’s Skeptic Check... but don’t take our word for it!

 

 

 

Series

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330 Pieces

Big Picture Science is a weekly one-hour science magazine that connects ideas in surprising and humorous ways to illuminate the origins and evolution of life and technology on this planet… and beyond.


Pieces

Caption: Is Life Inevitable?, Credit: Seth Shostak
A new theory about life’s origins updates Darwin’s warm little pond. Scientists say they’ve created the building blocks of biology in steaming hot...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, KTXK, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, WHCP-LP Cambridge and more


  • Added: Nov 28, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Vaccine Inequity, Credit: Seth Shostak
A radical plan could solve a historic global health inequity. Countries in the global south who waited for more than a year for ample supplies of C...

Bought by KZYX, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], KMUN, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Nov 21, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 17
Caption: Your Inner Tree, Credit: Seth Shostak
Declining biodiversity is a problem as fraught as climate change. Loss of habitat, monoculture crops, and the damming of waterways all lead to mass...

Bought by WMUU-LP, KTAL-LP [Las Cruces Community Radio], Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KMUN and more


  • Added: Nov 14, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Caption: Fuhgeddaboudit, Credit: Seth Shostak
A thousand years ago, most people didn’t own a single book. The only way to access knowledge was to consult their memory. But technology – from pap...

Bought by CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KMUN, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Nov 08, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 14
Caption: AI Comes Alive, Credit: Seth Shostak
When a Google software engineer claimed that a piece of chatbot software was sentient, it was a major story. Just like your dog is sentient, could ...

Bought by WVTF, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KZUM, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Oct 24, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Caption: Animals Being Jerks, Credit: Seth Shostak
They’re cute and cuddly. But they can also be obnoxious. Science writer Mary Roach has numerous tales about how our animal friends don’t always bow...

Bought by WRGY, WMUU-LP, KZUM, KTXK, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting and more


  • Added: Oct 10, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Caption: Phreaky Physics, Credit: Seth Shostak
It was a radical idea a century ago, when Einstein said space and time can be bent, and gravity was really geometry. We hear how his theories inspi...

Bought by Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KZUM, KTXK, KCNP and more


  • Added: Oct 03, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Caption: Data Bias, Credit: Seth Shostak
Sexist snow plowing? Data that guide everything from snow removal schedules to heart research often fail to consider gender. In these cases, “refe...

Bought by KZYX, WVTF, CHSR-FM 97.9, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY and more


  • Added: Sep 26, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 16
Caption: Heal Thyself, Credit: Seth Shostak
Do we need doctors? There are umpteen alternative sources of medical advice, including endless health tips from people without medical degrees. Wh...

Bought by WVTF, CHSR-FM 97.9, KZUM, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY and more


  • Added: Aug 29, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15
Caption: Platypus Crazy, Credit: Seth Shostak
They look like a cross between a beaver and a duck, and they all live Down Under. The platypus may lay eggs, but is actually a distant mammalian co...

Bought by WMUU-LP, WUFT, Cove Mountain Educational Broadcasting, WRGY, KZUM and more


  • Added: Aug 22, 2022
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 15