Inquiring Minds

This week we talk to Randy Schekman, the University of California-Berkeley cell biologist who was just awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on how cells regulate the protein “traffic” that is at the core of their communication with other cells. In the interview with co-host Indre Viskontas, Schekman not only explains his scientific breakthroughs—he also tells us why he wants to take a stand about the steeply rising cost of public higher education, which is driving huge student debt loads and rendering college simply too expensive for some. Affordable higher education, says Schekman, is “really in peril all over the country." In addition to being a Nobel laureate, Schekman is also a winner of the coveted Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the former editor-in-chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This episode also features a (spoiler free) discussion of the science behind the hit sci-fi movie Gravity, and the controversy this year over the Nobel Prize in physics. Subscribe: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943 feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-minds

This week we talk to scientist and explorer Sylvia Earle, a woman who has spent almost a year of her life under water. She explains why the oceans are "not too big to fail." But she also says that just maybe, we're growing wise enough to save them. Earle is the National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence, and former chief scientist at NOAA—plus she's a TED Prize winner who used that award to form Mission Blue, an ocean conservation initiative. Her unofficial titles go further: Time called her "Hero of the Planet," and many others call her "Her Deepness." She has set several underwater depth records, including diving to 1,250 feet, without a tether, in 1979. Back in 1970, when some institutions of higher education were still refusing to admit women, Earle was leading female aquanauts on expeditions to the sea floor. The Tektite Program featured a team of women who lived in an undersea laboratory off the Virgin Islands for two weeks, conducting research. This episode also features a discussion of the the latest research on how conspiracy theories fuel the denial of science on issues ranging from climate change to vaccinations, and on how scientists are reconsidering the origins of life and, yes, bringing Mars into the picture. Subscribe: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943 feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-minds

This week, Chris Mooney talks to environmental journalist Alan Weisman, who explains why, following on his 2007 New York Times bestseller The World Without Us, he decided to centrally take on the issue of human population. For his just-published book Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?, Weisman traveled to 21 countries—from Israel to Mexico, and from Pakistan to Niger—to report on how different cultures are responding to booming populations and the strain this is putting on their governments and resources. Importantly, Weisman is no supporter of coercive population control measures such as China's infamous one-child policy. Rather, he makes a powerful case that the best way to manage the global population is by empowering women, through both education and access to contraception. This episode of Inquiring Minds also features a discussion of the latest myths circulating on global warming, and the brave new world of gene therapy that we're entering—where being rich might be your key ticket to the finest health care. Subscribe: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943 feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-minds

There aren't many people on Earth who have spent more of their life in space than Marsha Ivins. A veteran of five space shuttle missions, Ivins has spent a total of 55 days in orbit, on missions devoted to such diverse tasks as deploying satellites, conducting scientific research, and docking with Mir and the International Space Station. This episode features an interview with Ivins, where she relates some of her in-orbit experiences—such as how your body and brain slowly adapt to the fact that no single direction is up or down. Plus, for the benefit of geeks across the universe, she also explains why the Borg cube from Star Trek can maneuver just as well in space as any starfighter that Hollywood has dreamed up. She discusses why publicly supported space missions are still vital, what it will take to get us to Mars and beyond, and why solving advanced space travel problems (energy, propulsion) might simultaneously help us solve many of our problems on Earth—perhaps including global warming. This episode also features a discussion about new developments in science, including research suggesting that political biases are so pervasive that they can interfere with your ability to do math, and mounting evidence of the dangers of head injuries received from playing football. Subscribe: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inquiring-minds/id711675943 feeds.feedburner.com/inquiring-minds