Latest Episodes
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How Close Are We to Curing Ovarian Cancer?
Our 'How Close We Are We?' series looks at big-picture problems and the people moving us towards solutions. Today, Sangeeta Bhatia and Angela Belcher -- both researchers at MIT -- explain the advances in treatment for ovarian cancer. And, your DIY questions and conundrums are solved by Mark Philben. Mark writes the “Ask the Remodeler” column for the Boston Globe, and takes your calls on ice dams and other winter home repairs.---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos. -
Why Does Everyone Hate Ticketmaster?
Ticketmaster is the service that music fans love to hate, blaming the industry titan for exorbitant prices and concert tickets that are impossible to get. We get into how things got so lousy for would-be concertgoers with Andy Cush, a music journalist and former contributing editor for Pitchfork. GBH News' Gal Tziperman-Lotan returns with the latest edition of her “Four Things to Know” newsletter. And Jean-Luc Pierite explains the concept of a “sneckdown,” the natural pathways that emerge when people and cars travel through fresh snow. Pierite is Board President of the Native American Indian Center of Boston and a former visiting scholar for MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning.---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos. -
Could You Judge a Figure Skating Competition?
Buy-now-pay-later programs are gaining popularity. Matthew Schulz helps break down who benefits and who takes a risk with BNPL. Matthew is Chief Consumer Finance Analyst at Lending Tree also author of “Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More: How To Take Control Of Your Financial Life.”GBH News' Gal Tziperman-Lotan returns for the Curiosity Desk edition of her Four Things to Know newsletter. And Saturday is Valentine's Day, but also Library Lovers Day. Erin McCarthy, former editor in chief of Mental Floss, has stories to tell about libraries that are dear to us. And, with Winter Olympics in full swing, we head to the ice rink to learn about the judges in figure skating. Our expert has more experience than any judge -- 103-year-old Anne Fauver has opinions, and empathy, for the skaters she judges. ---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos. -
What Happens in the River Under the Ice?
The Patriots lost in the Super Bowl, but there is more to say than just the score. GBH's Esteban Bustillos recaps the odd and interesting moments of his weekend in Santa Clara. Our rivers and ponds are under sheets of ice this winter, and that has us asking what effect does cold and lack of sunlight have on aquatic systems? Edgar talks to Jason Stolarski with MassWildlife's Watershed Project, and Julie Wood, Climate Resilience Director for the Charles River Watershed Association. And on Mondays we present our America 250 series. Today, we're looking at lesser-known battles in the Revolutionary War. Daniel Berger-Jones joins us from the Boston History Company. ---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos. -
Why Is Gillette Stadium in Foxborough?
It's almost Super Bowl Sunday, and the Patriots are in it to win it. We look at why the hometown stadium is actually out of town, in Foxborough, and the economics of that decision. Edgar talks with Christopher Price, Patriots beat reporter for the Boston Globe, and Victor’ Matheson, sports economist at Holy Cross. GBH reporter Craig LeMoult brings us a primer on local athletes to watch at the Winter Games, and gets humbled in his attempt to learn how to speed skate at the Commonwealth Skating Club. And our monthly Stargazer's Guide with astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi. ---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos. -
Why did John Urschel Leave the NFL for MIT?
ChatGPT has some ideas about which cities are smarter than others. Boston University researcher Joan Donovan explains an new AI tool that may be relying too much on cultural assumptions. (Though Boston does look pretty good in the algorithm.)Edgar and senior producer Aidan Connelly have answer to listener-submitted curiosity questions. This week we’re talking about radios in tunnels, noisy MRIs, and how compostable bags work. And John Urschel, the former offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, talks about why it was easy to choose his love of math over his love of football. Urschel retired from the NFL to teach linear algebra at MIT. (Plus, Edgar tests John's ability to explain the Urschel-Zikatanov Theorem.)---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos. -
Can Dogs Talk?
A new NOVA documentary explores the science behind those word-buttons and whether dogs – and other animals – truly have the capacity for language. Cognitive researcher Federico Rossano, speech pathologist Christina Hunger, and "talking" dog-owner Sascha Crasnow join Edgar to discuss. GBH News' Gal Tziperman-Lotan joins for a radio edition of GBH's daily newsletter and “Four Things to Know” in today's news. And, what it takes to run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. Distance runner Kelly Mclay of Beverly is a long-distance runner who’s done it twice (yes, including Antarctica). -
Is Government Waste Really So Bad?
The challenge of effectively targeting and cutting government waste, one year out from DOGE’s initial tear through Washington, with MIT economist Jon Gruber. The "Secret Ingredient" today is celery root. Chefs Irene Li and Chris Anderson will make you fall in love with ugliest of the root vegetables.And in honor of America 250, we learn the story of fugitive slaves Ellen and William Craft. Their extraordinary escape from Georgia in the 1840s is told in Ilyon Woo's Pulitzer Prize-winning book Master Slave Husband Wife. (Interview part 2 of 2.)---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos. -
What Makes Mo Rocca Curious?
You know him from CBS News’ Sunday Morning, NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, and his podcast Mobituaries. But have you caught Mo Rocca as Milton the Accountant on CBS’ “The Young and the Restless”? The humorist and correspondent joins Edgar to talk about which of his jobs was like working for “an English professor on acid” and why older folks tend to be the best storytellers.Next, we have part one of an interview with author Ilyon Woo, telling what might be the most incredible American story I’ve ever heard – the story of Ellen and William Craft. Woo wrote about the 19th century couple’s daring, ingenious escape from enslavement and their remarkable legacy in her 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Master Slave Husband Wife.”And we’re celebrating Groundhog Day the only way we know how: with a conversation about existentialism. Bill Muray’s 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” has been called an “existential masterpiece.” Would Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus agree?---------Have something you’re curious about? Leave us a voicemail anytime at 877-301-8970, or submit questions via the form on our landing page at GBHNews.org.Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content and exclusive videos.
