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A podcast about sharpening your curiosity through science, stories, and bold questions. With Astrophysicist Dr. Dakotah Tyler & STEM Educator Justin Shaifer.
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44 Episodes
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On this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer explore a wide range of scientific questions shaping our future. They discuss new research on the inverse relationship between cancer and Alzheimer’s, how aging introduces diseases evolution never prepared us for, and what might happen if humans dramatically extend lifespan. The conversation then turns to artificial intelligence, emotion, decision-making, and the growing power of algorithms to shape society. The episode...
On this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer explore CTE, ADHD, and how society explains behavior in athletes and high-performance environments. Dakotah shares his personal experience with concussions, being evaluated for CTE, and later being diagnosed with severe ADHD as an adult. Together, they discuss why CTE is often used as a catch-all explanation for extreme behavior, and why that framing can ignore deeper factors like identity loss, emotional development, a...
This week on Questionable Content, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer explore why so many people feel like life was better in the past and whether nostalgia is telling us the truth. They discuss the psychology of memory, why certain years like 2016 get mythologized, and how our brains prioritize emotional comfort over accuracy. The conversation also looks at long-term human progress, wealth, systems, and whether society is actually improving even when it feels unstable. Throughout the episo...
In this special collaboration episode, Curiosity Theory joins From First Principles for a deep conversation about science, intelligence, and the future of technology. Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer are joined by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhury to discuss academic paths, physics beyond academia, thermodynamics and life, and what neuroscience reveals about memory, learning, and spatial awareness. The episode also explores artificial intelligence, world models, robotics, one-shot learnin...
This week on Questionable Content, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer explore new findings from NASA clean rooms that reveal microbes capable of surviving extreme sterilization, raising important questions about planetary protection and the resilience of life. The conversation expands into food preservation, gut health, and why people often report feeling healthier in Europe compared to the U.S. They examine how capitalism and regulation shape food systems, health outcomes, and everyday cho...
In this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer build a science fiction universe in real time. Justin shares a developing sci-fi concept called The Universe Game, where advanced beings simulate entire universes in search of an intelligent civilization worthy of becoming a peer. The conversation explores simulation theory, loneliness at cosmic scales, free will versus intervention, and how small decisions can ripple across billions of years. The episode also dives int...
This week on Questionable Content, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer explore recent astronomy discoveries, rogue planets, and what strange cosmic objects can teach us about the universe. They break down gravitational microlensing, how free-floating planets are detected, and the physics of planet formation. The conversation then expands into dark matter, failed galaxies, and why scientific breakthroughs often come from anomalies rather than confirmations. In the second half, the discussion ...
On this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer sit down with Michael Berhane, CEO and Founder of POC in Tech, to talk about AI, automation, education, and the future of work. They explore why entry-level tech roles are disappearing, how AI and economics are reshaping hiring, and why venture capital funding for Black founders remains so low. The conversation also dives into education, debating whether essays still make sense in an AI world, the return of oral exams, ...
This week on Questionable Content, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer talk through some of the most interesting astronomy discoveries and open questions shaping space science today. They explore asteroid collisions, planet formation inside protoplanetary disks, lava worlds, water worlds, exoplanet atmospheres, and why many once-promising planets are turning out to be less habitable than expected. The conversation also covers moons, tides, stellar evolution, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and ...
In this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer unpack what it really means to start something before you feel ready. From building a podcast studio from scratch to sharing stories of first videos, rejection, and creative fear, this conversation explores why curiosity, boredom, and discomfort are essential to growth. We talk about identity collapse, reinvention, science as a curiosity engine, and how sitting with uncertainty can open entirely new paths forward. This ...
This week on Questionable Content, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer unpack the AI hype cycle, speculative bubbles, and why humans keep falling for the same narratives every generation. They talk through Project Genesis, Big Tech and government partnerships, Isaac Newton’s financial mistakes, crypto and AI comparisons, and whether the current moment feels more like progress or another bubble waiting to burst. The conversation also explores AI fear narratives, environmental concerns, dopami...
On this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer sit down with Hank Green for a wide-ranging, honest conversation about curiosity, consciousness, credibility, and what it means to be human. We talk about why humans are wired to be curious, how confidence and visibility often replace expertise online, how our brains guide decisions without our awareness, and why losing curiosity can fuel anxiety and dissatisfaction. The conversation weaves through evolution, animal beh...
On this episode of Questionable Content, Dr. Dakotah Tyler (@dr.starkid) and Justin Shaifer (@mr.fascinate) explore how science, violence, evolution, and culture intersect. The conversation begins with the killing of an MIT fusion scientist and why scientific tragedies so often spark conspiracy theories. They discuss nuclear fusion, corporate incentives, and rational explanations before widening the lens to gun violence, school shootings, media incentives, and personal perspectives on self-de...
This week on Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler and Justin Shaifer teamed up with Science in the City hosts Ashley Christine and Kalpana Pot for a wild conversation that jumps from sci fi to short form science, flat earthers, and the internet brain rot we are all swimming in. It is messy, funny, and unexpectedly thoughtful. Equal parts science, culture, and unfiltered curiosity. Visit our Merch Store: https://www.curiositytheorypod.com/merch Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/...
This week on Questionable Content, Dr. Dakotah Tyler (@dr.starkid) and Justin Shaifer (@mr.fascinate) break down Disney’s massive new partnership with OpenAI’s Sora and what it means for creators, the WGA, IP ownership, and the new wave of AI-driven media. They discuss celebrity likeness exploitation, the decreasing leverage of creators in an AI-dominated landscape, and how authenticity might become the new currency of art. Dakotah then explains the newest James Webb breakthrough: the first s...
On this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler (@dr.starkid) and Justin Shaifer (@mr.fascinate) sit down with neuroscientist Lindsay Ejoh (@neuromelody) for a deep exploration into pain, gene editing, viral vectors, and the brain’s decision making machinery. They break down how pain neurons work, how viruses modify DNA, what CRISPR allows us to change inside living tissue, and how empathy and fear circuits guide human behavior. They also tackle chronic pain, probabilistic reasoning, r...
Are we the problematic generation? In this episode of Curiosity Theory, astrophysicist Dr. Dakotah Tyler (@dr.starkid) and STEM educator and media producer Justin Shaifer (@mr.fascinate) unpack how fast culture is shifting, why kids see Justin as “unk,” how generational labels get created, and whether Justin’s TEDx talk helped cement the term “Gen Z.” Topics include: • How social media has created five-year “micro generations” • Young people using AI as an operating system • W...
This week on Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler (@dr.starkid) and Justin Shaifer (@mr.fascinate) break down a new research study showing that taking a break from social media does not reliably improve or worsen mental health. They dig into why detox narratives are so popular, the placebo and expectation effects behind “feeling better,” and the actual psychological mechanisms affecting mood, anxiety, and attention online. They also unpack dopamine myths, algorithm design, comparison culture, ...
On this episode of Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler (@dr.starkid) and Justin Shaifer (@mr.fascinate) take you on a tour from ancient Mars to spiral galaxies to the trends moving through your social feeds. We start with new NASA results and the possibility of life on Mars, unpack what counts as a real biosignature, and dig into ideas like panspermia and endosymbiosis to explain how life might start and how complex cells evolved. Then we zoom out and connect the dots: Why most life in the un...
This week on Curiosity Theory, Dr. Dakotah Tyler (@dr.starkid) and Justin Shaifer (@mr.fascinate) sit down with Suh the Scholar (@suhthescholar) — a PhD stem-cell scientist — for a deep, funny, and inspiring conversation about the future of human biology. They explore stem-cell breakthroughs, the ethics of replacing body parts, and whether open-sourcing scientific knowledge could accelerate discovery for everyone. They also dig into creativity in STEM, identity, and how curiosity connects sci...
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