Claim OwnershipThe Really Big Questions
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The Really Big Questions is where scientists, thinkers and people who are generally curious about the world come together to talk about what it means to be human.
19 Episodes
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What if you had an idea that you believed could change the world? What if that idea was a tornado machine? In this episode we ask, what drives some people to pursue an idea for their entire lives? Download audio Retired engineer Louis Michaud believes he has an idea that could solve the world’s energy…READ MORE
A very brief announcement. Really, really brief. MORE AUDIO from TRBQ: Subscribe the to the TRBQ podcast on iTunes. Listen to the TRBQ podcast on Stitcher. Follow TRBQ on SoundCloud.
You can vote when you’re 18 and drink when you’re 21. But when do you really become an adult? Download audio Psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett says people in their 20s are in a different life-stage than people in their 30s. He coined the term “emerging adulthood” to describe the years between adolescence and full adulthood.…READ MORE
These are the final words of Jennifer Michael Hecht’s most recent book: “Choose to stay.” Hecht argues against suicide as an escape from despair. She offers two reasons. Choosing to stay allows you the chance to be helpful to someone else. And, she says you owe your future self a chance at happiness. AUDIO: Hecht…READ MORE
Maybe it’s a stuffed elephant. Could be a pepper shaker. Or perhaps a very special rock. Many adults have an object that’s particularly dear to them, but it’s not something that most people openly talk about. Unless you ask them. Download audio Share your special thing with us on Facebook Emily Walsh has always collected trinkets,…READ MORE
Mary Roach wants you to give yourself away. Not yet, though. After you’re dead. She wrote a book called “Stiff,” in which she details what has happened over the years to bodies that were donated—willingly or unwillingly—to science. “I think that, for many people, does take the edge off it,” Roach says. “You know there…READ MORE
If you ever doubt that animals have the capacity to share, look no further than chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys. Frans de Waal studies primates, and he teaches psychology at Emory University. He says says looking at the way other primates share sheds light on the way humans act. Download audio “Sometimes in human behavior there’s…READ MORE
On the altar of a former cathedral in Duluth, Minn., an ensemble of musicians begins to play. Their notes are piercing and sometimes dissonant. It’s not your typical cathedral music—but then again, these aren’t your typical musicians. They’re robots. Download audio None of them look like robots, though. They look more like futuristic instruments. Troy…READ MORE
The human instinct to tell stories is strong. So strong, in fact, that sometimes people see stories when they’re not there. Download audio In the 1940s, two researchers set out to demonstrate the proclivity of humans to see stories, even in random events. Fritz Heider and Mary-Ann Simmel created a short animated film in which a small…READ MORE
Storytelling is an integral part of human culture. It teaches, enlightens and connects. But according to author and playwright Anne Bogart, it can also be dangerous. Download audio Bogart just released a book called “What’s the Story: Essays about Art, Theater and Storytelling.” She’s also the artistic director of SITI Company, a New York-based theater…READ MORE
Unraveling the truth behind why human beings tell stories requires a scientist who can explain science to non-scientists. Enter E. O. Wilson. Download audio Wilson is a biologist, but he’s also a storyteller. He’s among the world’s top experts on ants, but he’s also written a raft of best-selling books on popular science, and he’s…READ MORE
Tad Hoskins thinks we should face the facts: We’re all going to die. So we should make the necessary preparations. He’s not a morbid guy — just well prepared. That’s why he has his mom’s casket stored in his workshop. Download audio Spring came late this year to New York Mills, Minnesota. When we visited…READ MORE
TRBQ paid a visit to the United House of Prayer for All People in Harlem to spend some time with a gospel brass band called the McCullough Sons of Thunder. And we talked with some neuroscientists who study our perceptions of music. Download audio When the McCullough Sons of Thunder play at the United House…READ MORE
Pinning down a definition of music is harder than it sounds. A song composed by a human easily fits into the category of music. But what about a song composed by a bird? Or the rumble of a freight train? Download audio Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist at Harvard, and he’s written best-selling books…READ MORE
Americans don’t seem to have much trouble with violent death at the movies. But real death is a different story. Slow, lingering death from old age, funerals, embalming, cremation – these are not really dinner table conversation. A group called The Order of the Good Death is trying to change that. The Order wants to…READ MORE
Why do people share? In this episode we hear from Yochai Benkler about his research into people who write Wikipedia articles, and we meet Sam Harnett who moonlights giving people rides — and recording their stories. Download audio Any given day, in any given place, someone is giving away something of value. Money, time, expertise.…READ MORE
Money can make you happy. Especially if you give it to someone else. A growing body of research shows that giving money to other people is more likely to make you happy than keeping the money. In this episode, Michael Norton from the Harvard Business School tells Dean about his fascinating research into sharing and…READ MORE
TRBQ pays a visit to the marriage market in Shanghai to talk with parents who are looking for mates for their adult children, and host Dean Olsher talks with scientists about brain scans of people who are in love. The question is, does “love” mean the same thing in different cultures? And it appears the…READ MORE
We look at brain scans of people who are madly in love. We talk with the neuroscientists who did the scans. And we talk with writer A.J. Jacobs, who compares his love for his wife to a ride on a Segway. Download audio Researchers discover romantic love Head to your local university library, and you’ll…READ MORE
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