Big Brains – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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Big Brains

University of Chicago Podcast Network

Science

Education

Society & Culture

Frequency: 1 episode/14d. Total Eps: 226

Big Brains explores the groundbreaking research and discoveries that are changing our world. In each episode, we talk to leading experts and unpack their work in straightforward terms. Interesting conversations that cover a gamut of topics from how music affects our brains to what happens after we die.

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Apple

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇺🇸 USA - science
22/08/2026
#98
🇺🇸 USA - science
28/06/2026
#82
🇺🇸 USA - science
27/06/2026
#98
🇺🇸 USA - science
13/06/2026
#98
🇺🇸 USA - science
31/05/2026
#98
🇺🇸 USA - science
30/05/2026
#72
🇨🇦 Canada - science
18/05/2026
#97
🇺🇸 USA - science
09/02/2026
#95
🇺🇸 USA - science
08/02/2026
#85
🇺🇸 USA - science
07/02/2026
#95

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://pcm.adswizz.com
222 shares
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/uchicago-podcast-network/big-brains
22 shares
https://graham.uchicago.edu
19 shares

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/big-brains-podcast/&nbsp

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

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Score global : 63%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

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Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

Episode 149

Thursday, September 5, 2024 • Duration 32:04

More and more women in the United States are saying no to motherhood. Alarmingly, in 2023, the U.S. fertility rate reached the lowest number on record. But the idea of non-motherhood is actually not a new phenomenon, nor did it come out of the modern feminist movement. For centuries, women have made choices about limiting births and whether or not to become mothers at all. This history is documented in a new book, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother," by University of Chicago Assistant Instructional Professor Peggy O'Donnell Heffington.

Heffington writes about the historic trends of non-motherhood as well as the modern factors that are playing a role in women's choices to not have children today — from lack of structural support in the workplace, to a national law for paid maternity leave, and the sheer lack of affordability. She writes that if these trends continue, American millennials could become the largest childless cohort in history.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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How Homeownership Shaped Race In America, with Adrienne Brown

Episode 148

Thursday, August 22, 2024 • Duration 27:23

Race has played a huge role in the creation of mass homeownership in the United States. Discriminatory housing practices including redlining, exclusionary zoning and whitewashing led to great disparities in home ownership among White and Black homeowners. Despite the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, the damage had been done to communities of color and the rates of Black homeownership.

Mass homeownership actually changed the definition, perception and value of race, according to a new book called The Residential is Racial: A Perceptual History of Mass Homeownership. In it, University of Chicago scholar Adrienne Brown documents the unexplored history of mass homeownership and how it still plays out today. An associate professor in the Department of English and the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity, Brown is also the author of The Black Skyscraper: Architecture and the Perception of Race.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Why We Die—And How We Can Live Longer, with Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan

Episode 139

Thursday, April 18, 2024 • Duration 32:31

They’re perhaps the oldest questions in the science: Why do we die? And could we find a way to live forever? But for decades, anti-aging research was a “backwater” of the scientific community, consider too fanciful and unrealistic. That is until the last few years. Modern advances in biology have taught us a lot about how we age and why we die—could that knowledge help us turn back the clock?

In his new book, “Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality”, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Venki Ramakrishnan delves into the latest science of aging and investigates the nearly $30 billion dollar longevity industry to separate fact from fiction in our modern quest for immortality.

Big Brains is sponsored by the Graham School for Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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The Urgent Need to Reinvest in American Research, with Barbara Snyder

Episode 49

Thursday, January 14, 2021 • Duration 26:03

Our podcast is all about research. Every episode we investigate what scholars have discovered and why it matters. But we’re going to get meta on this episode and look at what makes this research possible—and the dangers of taking it for granted, especially during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barbara Snyder, JD’80, is president of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization composed of America’s leading research universities. On this episode, she lays out the case for investing more in academic research, and what we may lose if we don’t.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Getting Out Of The Lab With John List

Episode 48

Tuesday, December 22, 2020 • Duration 27:34

Our team is taking some time off to be with their families for the holidays. But, just in case you have a long flight, car ride, or maybe need something to do in-between Zoom calls, we’re re-sharing one of the most enlightening and engaging conversations we've ever had on this show to get you through it. Please enjoy, and we’ll see you with all-new episodes after the holidays.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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How Alternate Reality Games Are Changing The Real World with Patrick Jagoda and Kristen Schilt

Episode 47

Thursday, December 10, 2020 • Duration 32:15

What is the most popular form of media today: Movies? Music? Books? Nope, it’s video games. With 2.5 billion gamers today, games are set to be the type of media that most defines our world. And two scholars at the University of Chicago are re-thinking how to leverage them in a way to address some of the world’s biggest issues.

Prof. Patrick Jagoda and Assoc. Prof. Kristen Schilt are designing alternate reality games that allow players to become active participants not just as players, but as designers. By using these games to educate users about climate change, marginalization and public health, these scholars and players are investigating how the process of crafting alternate realities can help reshape the real world in which we live.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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The Science of Empathy, with Peggy Mason

Episode 46

Wednesday, November 25, 2020 • Duration 20:34

With so many contentious issues in our deeply polarized world, the real or virtual Thanksgiving dinner table may be a hard place to find a lot of empathy this year.

As we take a week off to reconnect with our families, we wanted to re-share this enlightening episode with Professor of Neurobiology, Peggy Mason, all about how empathy works and how we can make our empathy stronger.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Big Brains Presents: The "Capitalisn't" Podcast

Episode 45

Friday, November 20, 2020 • Duration 47:20

This week, we’re featuring another University of Chicago Podcast Network show. It’s called Capitalisn’t.

Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court has many focusing on question about how the new court will judge cases on social issues like abortion, but we rarely hear enough about the economic cases the court deals with. It turns out, the Supreme Court actually has a huge influence on our economy, not just social issues.

On this episode of Capitalisn't, their team interrogates the relationship between the Supreme Court and the economy, and how the new court may rule on business issues.

We hope you enjoy and we’ll see you next week for a new episode of Capitalisn’t!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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What Remains Unanswered After The 2020 Election, with William Howell and Luigi Zingales

Episode 44

Wednesday, November 11, 2020 • Duration 34:20

It’s hard to think of a presidential election that has raised as many questions as 2020. What do these results tell us about the views and desires of the American public, what the polls got right and wrong, and how all of this will affect our economy? To find some answers, we turned to two leading UChicago scholars—and fellow University of Chicago Podcast Network hosts to discuss what comes next, following the historic election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Big Brains host Paul M. Rand welcomes Luigi Zingales, professor of economics and host of the Capitalisn’t podcast; and William Howell, chair of the Department of Political Science and host of the Not Another Politics Podcast, to untangle the record-setting 2020 campaign and debate the future of the country, post-President Trump.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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When Governments Share Their Secrets—And When They Don't, with Austin Carson

Episode 43

Thursday, October 29, 2020 • Duration 28:33

When should a government choose to reveal a secret—or conceal it? Your knee-jerk reaction may be to say they should never hide anything from the public. But political scientist Austin Carson of the University of Chicago says his research complicates that answer.

Carson has spent his career reading massive amounts of declassified material. What he’s found shows how governments can use secrecy to deescalate conflicts and maintain peace. But he says balancing this utility of secrecy with democracy is incredibly important.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Big Brains – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Big Brains – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other74

LinkedIn2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other74

LinkedIn2

Apple Podcast1

Apple Podcasts

Spotify