Sing for Science

Join Simpsons favorite, Moe The Bartender and his human counterpart Hank Azaria for a lively conversation with Social Neuroscientist, Dr. Kevin Ochsner. We talk about the legendary “Flaming Moe’s” Simpsons episode from both Moe’s and Hank’s perspectives, how and why our brains are wired to thrive in social contexts like Moe’s Tavern, Hank’s experience recovering from alcoholism, the neural underpinnings of practicing acceptance and more! Recorded live at the Forum Theater/Columbia University on October 8, 2024.

Recorded Live at the Museum of Science in Boston on October 8, 2024 as part of the Reno Family Foundation Symposium Series. #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Patricia Cornwell and Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Avi Loeb discuss the uncanny resemblance between Dr. Loeb and the primary murder victim in Patricia’s latest book “Identity Unknown”, the likelihood of alien life beyond our solar system, the connections between science research and detective work, playing nice with AI and more.

Recorded Live at the Emory Ideas Fest at Emory University’s Oxford Campus on September 22, 2024. Global dance music stars SOFI TUKKER celebrate the release of their bread themed album Bread with a conversation about the science that makes bread so delicious and universal. Joining us is food scientist Dr. Maria Ortiz who runs the popular Instagram page “All You Knead Is Bread”. We talk bread chemistry, bread culture, pandemic sourdough, carb free bread, the redeeming qualities of white flour and then some! Dr. Maria Ortiz is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Functional Food Lab of North Carolina A&T State University, specializing in the development of healthy, high-fiber bakery products.

Live at WSA in New York City on September 24, 2024. Academy Award‒winning filmmaker, drummer, DJ, producer, director, culinary entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson talks with Williams College pioneering developmental psychologist, Dr. Susan Engel about his debut children’s picture book The Idea in You. The book was written to inspire kids to find and follow their own creative voice. We talk about Questlove’s childhood, his creative roadblocks, his current relationship to supporting his inner child, Susan’s pioneering work researching curiosity in children and what we know about how children come up with ideas. This podcast was produced in collaboration with Water Street Projects, NEW INC and the New Museum.

Recorded Live at the Emory Ideas Fest at Emory University’s Oxford Campus on September 20, 2024. Join Atlanta Music Icon Jermaine Dupri and Georgia Tech ethnographer Dr. Joycelyn Wilson for a conversation about how Atlanta grew to become a cultural phenomenon. We go into detail about Jermaine’s start in the music business through school talent shows, Joycelyn’s theory about how one superintendent during the 1970s-80s helped elevate Atlanta’s post-civil rights creative class, cultural appropriation, Drake and more.

Recorded Live at the Museum of Natural History in Oxford, England on August 8th, 2024. Folk icon Peggy Seeger talks with Oxford University Biology Professor Tim Coulson about her experience as feminist, ecologist, activist, mother, musician, Seeger and more. Eco Feminism can be defined as a branch of feminism and political ecology that explores the connections between women and nature. The theory argues that the oppression of women and the degradation of our natural environment are linked and caused by patriarchal, capitalist systems. Further, ecofeminist theory calls for an egalitarian, collaborative society in which there is no one dominant group. Professor Coulson provides compelling context from scholarship to further amplify these ideas including description of pre-patriarchal societies, the importance of educating women in developing countries and more.

This episode originally aired on 11/18/2020. In this encore episode, Vernon Reid and Corey Glover from the band Living Colour join us for a discussion with NYU fascism and propaganda professor, Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, about the fascism playbook, how authoritarian regimes end, fascism and the illusion of authenticity, modern examples like Trump, and Billy Joel’s smashed piano.

Recorded Live at the Anime Station store in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles on July 13, 2024, rapper Denzel Curry talks with UC Irvine cultural anthropologist Dr. Mimi Ito about his relationship to anime and anime culture in Japan and abroad. We discuss Mimi’s research that tracked how manga and anime grew from just a Japanese export to a global phenomenon. Fascinatingly, anime spread through the promotion of fan groups of American ex-pats that would trade anime and create subtitles for the American audience. After decades of promo provided by this “fan subbing” and AMV (anime music video) conventions, the media industry caught on and now distributes anime across multiple platforms. Denzel does a deep dive into his favorite anime programs and traces how he was first introduced as a child in Florida and was later inspired to incorporate it into his music and fashion. Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel!

Recorded Live inside the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science in Boston on June 10, 2024. Join Bleachers frontman and 11-time Grammy Winning super-producer Jack Antonoff for a discussion about his track “The Waiter” on which he muses about the notion that time could stop hinting at the subjectivity of time perception. On hand to talk about the implications of time from a theoretical physicist’s perspective is MIT professor Dr. David Kaiser. We talk relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, mortality, Donald Rumsfeld and more!

Pop icon SIA and psychotherapist, Dr. Alexandra Katehakis discuss attachment theory, infant brain development and sex addiction.

Recorded Live at the Museum of Science in Boston on May 8, 2024, musician polymath and Talking Heads co-founder David Byrne talks with The Book of Eels author, Patrik Svensson. Even in today’s age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them — after living for decades in freshwater — to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. Join us for an incredibly fascinating talk on biology, philosophy and more!

Recorded Live at the Totality 2024 Festival in Hannibal, NY following the Total Solar Eclipse and Laraaji’s performance of his Sun Piano/Moon Piano albums. Ambient/New Age music legend Laraaji talks about how he represents the moon’s energy in 12 musical notes, his time at Howard University in the 1960s, his experience observing the Total Solar Eclipse. Cornell University Astronomer Dr. Nikole Lewis talks about the necessary conditions to allow for a Total Solar Eclipse, extraterrestrial life, Carl Sagan and more. This event was supported by the Simons Foundation and was part of its In The Path of Totality Initiative.

Swedish Argentine folk singer José Gonzalez returns to the show along with our only other repeat guest, physicist Dr. Brian Cox of BBC and CERN fame. The two talk about secular humanism, atheism, finding meaning, black holes, Carl Sagan and more!

Recorded live at 2024 On Air Fest in Brooklyn, NY: Indian Carnatic superstar Sid Sriram talks about his song “Blue Spaces” with visual neuroscientist/color expert, Dr. Bevil Conway. We talk about Sid’s personal and cultural associations with color, cultural appropriation, the brain’s visual system, “the dress” from 2015 which some saw as blue and black and others as white and gold, the subjectivity and illusory nature of color perception and more!

Best Coast lead singer and Jungian analysand, Bethany Cosentino and “This Jungian Life Podcast" host Lisa Marchiano do a deep dive on you guessed it…Jungian Analysis! We cover dream analysis, the unconscious, creativity, archetypes, personae and then some!

Spyro Gyra co-founder Jeremy Wall talks about the height of the jazz fusion era, composing and about about the ins and outs of lake formation, spirogyra algae, harmful algal blooms or HABS and more with lake ecologist, Holly Waterfield. This episode was co-produced with the AJ Reid Science Discovery Center at SUNY Oneonta where it was taped in front of a live audience on December 6, 2023.

Queen of Percussion and Prince collaborator Sheila E talks about her 1984 hit, working with Prince, salsa music and learning from her legendary father with University of Mexico Neuroscientist, Dr. Hugo Merchant. Hugo shares fascinating findings about how the mechanisms in the brain process rhythm and help us keep a beat.

A FAMILY OF TREES: UNCOVERING NETWORKS IN OUR FORESTS' UNDERSTORY with Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser of MGMT and Dr. Suzanne Simard, forest ecology professor. In this episode we discuss: - how trees communicate with one another - the folly of industrialized logging - how trees help other trees - Native American ancestral DNA in cedar - where to buy mushrooms in Connecticut

Chanteuse Chan Marshall, best known as the artist Cat Power talks about her recreation of the historic 1966 Bob Dylan concert album at the Royal Albert Hall with Cornell University neuroscientist and nostalgia expert, Hetvi Doshi. We cover the origins of nostalgia study, the growing body of scientific evidence that suggests nostalgia has health benefits and improves social cohesion with one another. We also talk about the dynamics of food nostalgia and Hetvi’s community nostalgia initiative. For more information on Cat Power’s tour and Hetvi’s work please visit catpowermusic.com, hetvidoshi.com,  aclab.human.cornell.edu, and thecommunitynostalgiaproject.com.

Special BONUS episode featuring the Science Friday/Universe of Art Podcast! Sing For Science host Matt Whyte welcomes Universe of Art host, D. Peterschmidt to talk about their show, Universe of Art. Like Sing For Science, Universe of Art is a science and art podcast that showcases “artists who use science to bring their creations to the next level.” Following our brief chat D shares with us a very special Universe of Art episode entitled “How Star Trek Incorporates Real-Life Science”. For more information about the show please visit https://singforscience.org/episodes/universeofart.

MAC DEMARCO: CHAMBER OF REFLECTION: UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE OF SOUND with Mac DeMarco and Russ Berger, acoustician. In this episode we discuss: - what sound is - how speakers work - how sound affects the human body - how the brain interprets sound in a space - Astronautical elimination

Recorded live at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, MA on 9/18/23: Heavy Metal frontman and horror movie expert Spencer Charnas chats with psychologist Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh about his favorite horror movies, why we like to be scared, the difference between fictional and real violence, monster theory, recreational fear lab research and more.

Spencer and Sarah field questions aplenty from the sold out crowd at the MIT Museum on 9/18/23. Lots of territory covered including favorite on-screen monsters, what we fear most, scary music, and how to take a class with Sarah in Boston.

Multidisciplinary artist Eartheater talks with NYU computational biologist and artist, Dr. Elizabeth Hénaff about cell division, snails, horseshit, gut biome health, artist residencies and more at this very special live event! This episode was recorded at DEMO2023, presented by NEW INC and the New Museum, June 2023

311 lead singer and eternal optimist Nick Hexum talks about their breakout hit “All Mixed Up” with best-selling author and Dutch Historian, Rutger Bregman. Rutger’s books “Utopia For Realists” and Humankind” draw on scientific evidence that demonstrate our inherent capacity for good and the viability of ideas like Universal Basic Income, a 15 Hour Work Week, Open Borders and more.

Pulitzer Nominated composer, Ted Hearne talks about his epic work “Farming”, a hybridized piece written for a 24 piece choir with text taken from William Penn correspondence, a Jeff Bezos speech, the Uber Eats Twitter feed and more. Dr. Sarah Taber joins us for a conversation about the impacts of settler colonialism on modern day agriculture, the romantic myth of the American family farm and more!

Fab Four drummer and peace activist, Ringo Starr talks about going to see the Maharishi with John and George, his upbringing in violent Liverpool of the 1950s and being saved by music and then the gift of meditation. Bob Roth, renowned meditation teacher of 60 years and CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, talks to Matt and Ringo about the scientifically documented capacity of meditation to cultivate peace for the individual and the collective. This episode is being released on July 7th in celebration of Ringo’s 83rd birthday on which he invites anyone to say or think peace and love at noon, their local time.

NYC Legend Joan As Police Woman (Joan Wasser) talks about her 2011 song “The Magic” with influential writer and science historian, Maria Popova (The Marginalian / Brain Pickings). We talk about measuring how music can transport us, the “magic” of making connections, pattern recognition, wonderment as a discipline, double dutch and so much more in this incredibly awe inspiring episode.

Irish balladeer and arena headliner, Dermot Kennedy talks about his experience coming up as a busker in Dublin with Hong Kong psychologist, Dr. Robbie Ho whose research seeks to quantify the effect “busking” has on the audience’s perception of a public space.

Special Chernobyl anniversary episode with Nata Zhyzhchenko of the Ukrainian band, Onuka and Chernobyl radiobiologist, Olena Pareniuk. Both of today's guests joined us from Kyiv and have been in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. We talk about what life is like during wartime for a professional musician and a scientist, the horsehair construction of a Ukrainian folk instrument that stinks of beer and cheese, studying radioactivity in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukrainian resilience and so much more! This episode was co-produced by Inscience, a nonprofit organization that promotes science and evidence-based medicine in Ukraine.

Join SFS host, Matt Whyte and SFS social media manager, Bailey Constas for a curated peak at some of Season Two's Best Moments! Featuring SIA with psychotherapist, Dr. Alexandra Katehakis, Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe with social psychologist, Dr. Tony Lemieux, Jose González with epidemiologist, Dr. Mike Osterholm, Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein with climatologist, Dr. Michael Mann, and Majid Jordan with aquanaut, Fabien Cousteau.

Join SFS host, Matt Whyte and SFS social media manager, Bailey Constas for another trip down memory lane with some of Season One’s Best Moments! Featuring Living Colour and fascism expert, Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Aly & AJ and neuroscientist, Dr. Joseph LeDoux, Aluna and conflict resolution expert, Priya Parker and DMC with folklore expert, Dr. Jennifer Schacker.

Join SFS host, Matt Whyte and SFS social media manager, Bailey Constas for a trip down memory lane with some of Season One’s Best Moments! Featuring MGMT & forest ecologist, Dr Suzanne Simard, Norah Jones and science journalist, Shawn Otto, Connie Britton and rivers expert, Paul Gallay, Renée Fleming and Parkinson’s expert Dr. Bin Hu, Mac Demarco and acoustician Russ Berger.

Today’s episode was hosted by the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts and recorded in front of a live audience as part of an ongoing collaboration with Sing For Science. We discuss the Manhattan Project, the ethical implications of nuclear energy, climate change, quantum entanglement, quantum computing and more!

This episode was recorded live at Public Records in Brooklyn, NY as part of the Offair event series. Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Richard Reed Parry and percussionist/composer Susie Ibarra talk about their album “Heart and Breath” with cardiologist and bestselling author, Dr. Sandeep Jauhar. Their album is set entirely to the rhythm of their own heartbeats and breath cycles so we dive deep on what’s at work with Dr. Jauhar. We cover the relationship between heart and lungs, the development of open heart surgery and more!

Grammy Award and Macarthur Fellowship winning artist Rhiannon Giddens talks about her collection of slave narratives, “Freedom Highways,” the origins of the banjo in Africa and the connection between African and African American music with trailblazing ethnomusicologist, Dr. Portia Maultsby.

WARNING: This episode contains content related to mortuary science that some listeners may find disturbing. Korn frontman Jonathan Davis delves into his past as a mortician with popular science bestselling author, Mary Roach. Mary wrote the hit book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and the two have no shortage of gory details to discuss. We talk about the biology of human corpse decomposition and preservation, embalming techniques (including but not limited to anal suturing), Elvis’s autopsy, and more!

Rock icon Rivers Cuomo goes deep on coding talk with Python computer language creator and programming icon, Guido Van Rossum. We talk about the history of The Sweater Song, coding vs songwriting, the history of Python and much, much more!

Singer/Songwriter Alec Benjamin talks about his song about social media addiction with Stanford Professor and MD, Dr. Anna Lembke, author of The NY Times bestseller, Dopamine Nation. Tune in to hear about the surprising and fascinating research about the relationship between pain and pleasure in our brains, the prescription to combat addiction and more!

Join host Sing For Science host Matt Whyte in this fungi fantastic episode about psilocybin research! We learn about mushroom properties that can stave off dementia, decrease social ills and hear about Isaac’s experience with UFOs.

Country singer Margo Price talks about "Fight To Make It" a song on which she teamed up with Mavis Staples and Noise For Now to raise awareness and support for reproductive justice. We talk about Margo's correspondence with Ronnie Spector, her experience advocating for reproductive healthcare in Tennessee and the tragic loss of one of her children in infancy. Dr. Monica Mclemore, nurse-scientist and reproductive healthcare advocate joins us to tell us about the often surprising statistics uncovered by reproductive healthcare research. She was an expert witness in the Supreme Courts Dobbs case and brings an unparalleled level of expertise to the conversation on abortion. This episode was co-produced by Noise For Now.

Actor/Comedian Nick Kroll talks about his hit show on Netflix Big Mouth and about his personal experience with delayed puberty with NYU Langone Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Emily Breidbart. We talk about puberty disorders, how to treat them, transgender medicine, endocrinology, comedy, and more!

Singer/songwriter and apartment plant enthusiast mxmtoon talks about the loss and sense of place that inspired her song "Florida" with ethnobotanist, Dr Cassandra Quave. Dr. Quave is the author of "The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest For Nature's Next Best Medicines". We cover plant identification, traditional medicine and how to talk to your plants.

Arlo Guthrie talks about the lyrics to the 1967 anti-war masterpiece, “Alice’s Restaurant” - we talk at length about the 1960s and being Woody Guthrie’s son. Tufts University Nutritional Anthropologist Dr. Ellen Messer talks about her awakening as a scholar-activist in the 1960s and the foundations of her term “food wars” which describes the relationship between food scarcity and armed conflict.

Less Than You Think: Demystifying the Hard Problem of Consciousness with Computational Psychology. Jeff Tweedy talks about the lyrics to "Less Than You Think" from Wilco's 2004 Grammy Winning Album, A Ghost is Born. We discuss creativity vis a vis his book "How To Write One Song", spirituality with a capital S, atheism, 9/11 and everything in between. Cornell University computational psychologist, Dr. Shimon Edelman weighs in on the lyrics with his theory of consciousness: that human consciousness is entirely the product of a virtual reality simulation created by our brains.

Recorded Live in Brooklyn, NY at the 2022 On Air Fest. Kish and NYU neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki discuss brain plasticity, memory formation and more!

What Neuroimaging Can Tell us About Improvisation in Music. Jazz Guitar Legend Pat Metheny and neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Limb talk language and music connection, freestyle rap brain scans and more!

Join Opera phenom Davóne Tines and data scientist and civil rights activist Todd Hendricks for a discussion about fighting gerrymandering in the courts with math and data science.

Canadian pop star Ruth B and NASA engineer Christina Hernandez talk rocket science, space travel and life on Mars.

PTM’s John Gourley and Zach Carothers and data scientist, Dr. Desi Small-Rodriguez discuss indigenous data sovereignty, the missing and murdered indigenous women project and our collective path forward.

Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes and Particle Physicist Brian Cox discuss time travel, the intersection of politics and science and more!

Canadian R&B duo Majid Jordan speak with aquanaut Fabien Cousteau (grandson of Jacques Cousteau) about the construction of his monolithic underwater space station, Proteus and marine conservation.

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, co-founders of Blondie speak with climatologist Dr. Michael Mann about ancient climate history, the relationship between agriculture and climate, preventing climate catastrophe and much more.

Acclaimed Swedish Argentine singer-songwriter, José González speaks with leading US epidemiologist, Dr. Mike Osterholm about future pandemics, virus mutations and more! Fun fact: Jose has a background in biochemistry and was pursuing a PhD in the study of viruses before he began making records.

Lead singer of the multi-platinum selling heavy metal band, Lamb of God, Randy Blythe joins Georgia State Social Psychologist, Dr. Tony Lemieux for a conversation about identity politics, intergroup conflict in America, pathways to radicalization, mob psychology and more!

Pop icon SIA and psychotherapist, Dr. Alexandra Katehakis discuss attachment theory, infant brain development and sex addiction.

PETER PIPER: THE FOLKLORE OF NURSERY RHYMES with Hip hop legend Darryl McDaniels and University of Guelph English professor Dr. Jennifer Schacker discuss the folklore of nursery rhymes. In this episode we discuss: the element of play using language backstories to some of our most famous nursery rhymes how DMC used Peter Piper to explain what Jam Master Jay did as the group’s DJ

ALY AND AJ: ATTACK OF PANIC: THE NEUROSCIENCE OF ANXIETY DISORDERS with Pop duo and former Disney stars Aly and Aj and NYU neuroscientist, Dr. Joseph LeDoux. In this episode we talk about: - William James’ theory of anxiety’s origins - Medicating panic disorders - Meditation - Brain anatomy - Micro dosing AIRS 12/02/20

Aluna Francis of AlunaGeorge and trained facilitator, Priya Parker. In this episode we discuss: - the science of how we gather - “healthy heat” in conflicts - the importance of having a disputable purpose when we gather - the pitfalls of vulnerability focused culture - how to sell tickets AIRS 11/25/20

LIVING COLOUR: CULT OF PERSONALITY: THE PSYCHOLOGY AND DYNAMICS OF TYRANNY with Vernon Reid and Corey Glover from the band Living Colour and Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Fascism and propaganda professor at NYU In this episode we discuss: - The fascism playbook - How authoritarian regimes end - Fascism and the illusion of authenticity - Cause for hope - Billy Joel's smashed piano AIRS 11/18/20

MAC DEMARCO: CHAMBER OF REFLECTION: UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE OF SOUND with Mac DeMarco and Russ Berger, acoustician. In this episode we discuss: - what sound is - how speakers work - how sound affects the human body - how the brain interprets sound in a space - Astronautical elimination

Renée Fleming: AVE MARIA: HEALING THE BRAIN THROUGH THE POWER OF MUSIC with Renée Fleming and Dr. Bin Hu, neuroscientist and Parkinson's expert at the University of Calgary In this episode we talk about: - How neuroscientists measure brain activity - Oliver Sachs and Dr. Hu's research - Bypassing Parkinson's with music therapy - Dr. Hu's iphone app that helps Parkinson's patients - Supreme Court sing along

CONNIE BRITTON: THE RIVERS BETWEEN US: HOW WE PROTECT AMERICA'S WATERWAYS with Actress Connie Britton and Paul Gallay, rivers expert and president of Riverkeeper. In this episode we talk about: - Where drinking water comes from - How toxic spills in rivers are cleaned up - How to protect your local waterway - Covid and rivers - A romantic way to spend valentine's day in NYC **"Restore Mother Nature Bond Act" referred to at the very end was pulled from the ballot

NORAH JONES: DON’T KNOW WHY: EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY IN ART AND SCIENCE with Norah Jones and "War On Science" author Shawn Otto In this episode we discuss: - how the war on science began - the story of how Exxon PR created climate change denial - the scientific method - how to talk to people with whom you disagree - Keith Richards' giant tape recorder

A FAMILY OF TREES: UNCOVERING NETWORKS IN OUR FORESTS' UNDERSTORY with Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser of MGMT and Dr. Suzanne Simard, forest ecology professor. In this episode we discuss: - how trees communicate with one another - the folly of industrialized logging - how trees help other trees - Native American ancestral DNA in cedar - where to buy mushrooms in Connecticut

"Sing for Science" trailer. Episodes released weekly starting October 14th.