5 Best Science Podcasts You Must Listen To
The free online conversations that can change your life
If you’re reading this story means that you love science. One of the most productive things that you can do, as a learner, is listen to podcasts. I love emerging myself into books and listening to my favorite podcasts whenever I’m free. Not just it provides new insights about different disciplines and concepts of the world but also helps you think from a different point of view. Good podcasts help you gain a good perspective. You get to know people’s opinions. I’ve learned more from podcasts and social media than from my high school and undergraduate classes. The best thing about this is that you are not limited to one single idea or opinion. You get to know the perspective of some of the most incredible minds on the planet. In this article, I shall share about five amazing science podcasts that you must listen to if you are a science enthusiast. Please note that, these are the recommendations based on my personal experience, their richness in content, clarity, wisdom and wit in conversations, and delivery of science and scientific discussions.
Science Vs
It’s been a couple of months since I’ve started listening to Science Vs, a Gimlet media science podcast on Spotify and I’m absolutely loving it. They cover a wide range of topics: from physics to the COVID-19 pandemic, from education to medical sciences. The podcast has some great episodes on The Science of Being a Transgender, Unidentified Flying Objects and extraterrestrial civilizations, Nuclear wars, and many more. They call themselves Fact-checkers. The podcast is hosted by Australian-American science journalist Wendy Zuckerman. The reason why I love this podcast is that I’m personally interested in many things and I can find pretty much any topic or discussion of my interest here. Highly recommend it if you are looking for something to start your online learning journey through podcasts.
StarTalk
I’m a big fan of astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson. The director of the New York’s Hayden Planetarium and your personal astrophysicist is a charismatic human being in himself and knows very well the importance of science and scientific literacy. I’ve grown up watching him talk about space and the universe in the NatGeo science series Cosmos, which in fact was once hosted by his teacher and astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan. Neil Tyson is a prolific science communicator and hosts a science podcast channel StarTalk. The physicist keeps you hooked on listening to him talk about several science topics and occasionally invites fellow scientists and intellectuals on the show. The episodes of the podcast can be found on YouTube for free. Why don’t you start with The Universe and Beyond, with Stephen Hawking?
Lex Fridman
I came to know about Lex Fridman via his Twitter account. His tweets are as interesting as his podcasts. Fridman himself is an MIT researcher and an expert in autonomous vehicles and machine learning. His podcasts are extremely captivating to me and the best part is that he has featured some of my favorite people on this planet. Over half a million listeners from all across the globe listen to his podcasts which can be found on his YouTube channel with the same name. Fridman has podcasted with some of the most brilliant science and tech giants on the Earth including Roger Penrose, Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, and many more. I highly recommend you to listen to all the conversations featured in the Lex Fridman podcast to widen your perspective about science and understand the viewpoints, opinions, and ideas of some of the most incredible people in the field.
Science Friday
If you want to debunk scientific myths, get updated with the ongoing developments of science and technology, and listen to the ideas of some great scientific intellectuals then Science Friday is the place for you. I listened to the Historic Big Bang Debate, Black Hole Sounds, Plant DNA mutations a couple of months ago which featured Prof. Paul Halpern, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Philadelphia and author of some of my favorite books on physics history, and was baffled by it. The episode also featured author and assistant professor at the UC Davies, Grey Monroe who provided great insights into DNA mutations in plants. The podcast is hosted by Ira Flatow, and raises mind-bending scientific topics.
Ologies
I do not have a major in biological sciences, but trust me, this podcast keeps me hooked and more interested in his field and many others. The podcast is hosted by Alie Ward, one of the leading figures in scientific journalism and communication. The podcast brings up wild and bizarre topics ranging from trees, pain, dancing spiders, fire-making, beauty standards, and many more. The comedic nature of the podcast is what makes it so special. It answers the most bizarre questions of life and the world around us in the most thought-provoking manner possible. Ologies is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to and highly recommend it to everyone who wants to understand life humorously.
Some notable mentions
Thank you so much for reading. If you think there are other podcasts that deserve this list, kindly let me know in the responses. If you like my work and want to support me then you can become a medium member by using this link or buy me a coffee ☕️. Keep following for more such stories.
