Why? with Emma Kennedy – Details, episodes & analysis

Most of us think we’re too smart, stable and strong-willed to join a religious cult, or to cut ourselves off from our families to join a group devoted to a charismatic leader. But clearly somebody’s joining them. So why do people willingly give up their free will and independence to join cults? Do they realise what they’re getting themselves into? And how do they get out? Emma Kennedy is joined by world-leading cult deprogrammer Rick Alan Ross and NXIVM cult survivor Sarah Edmondson to explore the strange allure of the cult mindset.    Buy Sarah Edmondson’s book Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund WHY? by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.    You can watch Sarah’s fantastic Ted Talk here. WHY? is presented by Emma Kennedy. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production and theme music by Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Artwork by James Parrett. Additional music is from Artlist.io. WHY? is a Podmasters Production.     Instagram | Twitter | Threads | Bluesky Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The podcast for curious minds. Every Thursday, Emma Kennedy delves into the science and psychology of why we are the way we are. Emma is joined by leading experts and some of science's brightest minds to answer the big questions you never knew how to ask. Why do people join cults? Why do we need the moon? Why are we drawn to evil? Why do we have fetishes? Find out all of this and more on Why? from the makers of Oh God, What Now?, The Bunker and Paper Cuts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your dog is really clever, right? You understand one another. Every pet owner thinks this. But can our pets really communicate with us beyond the basic demands for food, walks and play? How is its mind constructed? What’s going on inside that furry head? Dr Juliane Kaminski, Associate Professor in Comparative Psychology and director of the Dog Cognition Centre at the University of Portsmouth, tells Emma Kennedy how we’re only just beginning to understand how dogs see and understand the world they’re living in.  • “Dogs have a huge motivation to look into our eyes, to maintain eye contact, which is not a trivial thing, because in the wild, a wolf would perceive this as a threat.”- Dr Juliane Kaminski • “We’ve created a creature that understands us in ways that no other animal does. Dogs are really good at making sense of our communication.” - Dr Juliane Kaminski WHY? is written and presented by Emma Kennedy. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They shine as brightly as a trillion stars, they’re powered by supermassive black holes… and until 2023 we had no idea how they came into existence. These are quasars, awesomely powerful cosmic objects at the centre of some of the most violent events in the universe. What exactly are quasars, and just how powerful can they be? Dr Vicky Fawcett, Research Associate in Astrophysics at Newcastle University, explains the power of the quasar to amazed space cadet Luke Turner.  •“A Quasar can be about a thousand times more powerful than the Milky Way Galaxy itself.” - Dr Vicky Fawcett  •“Quasar stands for quasi stellar radio source, because back in the 1960s when they were first discovered, they thought they were radio bright stars.” - Dr Vicky Fawcett •"The central point of a quasar is so bright that they outshine all the stars in the galaxy.” - Dr Vicky Fawcett WHY? is written and presented by Luke Turner. Produced by Anne-Marie Luff with Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you could control your dreams, what would you do while you slept? Fly? Get romantic with some unattainable object of desire? Or embark on a fantasy odyssey with no equivalent in reality? Lucid dreams – where we know we’re dreaming and we can control what we do – come to many of us  at some point in our lives. But can we learn how to do it? And does lucid dreaming have real-world benefits beyond just being loads of fun?  Olly Mann talks to Mark Blagrove, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Sleep Lab at Swansea University, all about the science of lucid dreaming.  • “Lucid dreaming gives you something quite extraordinary to think about. It can increase your level of awe at what is possible in the world.” - Mark Blagrove • "People who frequently lucid dream have an ‘internal locus of control’, meaning that they feel in charge of their own life, as opposed to feeling that their life is under the control of chance.” - Mark Blagrove WHY? is written and presented by Olly Mann. Produced by Anne-Marie Luff and Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You’ve probably eaten something so spicy it hurt before. But, across the globe, people still love eating spicy food – despite the discomfort. Why? Bob Holmes, author of FLAVOR: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense, tells Olly Mann what attracts us to this taste sensation.  Every Monday and Thursday WHY? takes you on a wild adventure to the edge of knowledge. Follow on your favourite app so you never miss an episode. WHY? is written and presented by Olly Mann Audio production by Jade Bailey. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. Exec Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Lead Producer: Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison.  WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Without warning a 7.6 magnitude earthquake shook Japan on New Year’s Day, raising the sea floor above the water and causing devastating damage and death. Even with all humanity’s deep scientific knowledge and discoveries, we still cannot predict when an earthquake will strike. Why is that? What mysteries do the earth’s tectonic plates hold, and are we getting closer to solving them? Professor Tim Wright tells Emma Kennedy how scientists are working to relieve the seismic strain on the earth’s mantle – and new discoveries about the shifting world beneath our feet. Every Monday and Thursday WHY? takes you on a wild adventure to the edge of knowledge. Follow on your favourite app so you never miss an episode. WHY? is written and presented by Emma Kennedy. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. Exec Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Lead Producer: Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison.  WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’ve ever watched Jurassic Park, you’ve probably wondered how you’d fare against a dinosaur. If these prehistoric beasts did exist alongside us, would we really stand a chance?  Today on Why? Dr. David Hone separates dinosaur fact from fiction with Emma Kennedy, including the secrets held in dino-dandruff. Every Monday and Thursday WHY? takes you on a wild adventure to the edge of knowledge. Follow us on your favourite app so you never miss an episode. WHY? is written and presented by Emma Kennedy. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. Exec Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Lead Producer: Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison.  WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your eyes are your window to the world – but is what they’re seeing actually happening?  When you’re driving at speed, being alert to the traffic around you will save your life. When a truck in front brakes sharply you have milliseconds to respond, but what if you’re seeing the past? Can your brain process the information it’s receiving quickly enough to avoid catastrophe? Or does it do something completely different and take a leap of faith to predict reality? Professor Hinze Hogendoorn tells Anna Machin how real-time perception is an illusion and how our brains compensate for living in the past. Every Monday and Thursday WHY? takes you on a wild adventure to the edge of knowledge. Follow on your favourite app so you never miss an episode. WHY? is written and presented by Anna Machin. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. Exec Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Lead Producer: Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison.  WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you could take a pill that would make you fall deeply in love with someone, would you do it? And if you could give someone a pill that would make them love you… would that be right? Therapists have been giving couples psychedelic drugs for over 50 years to help build emotional bridges – but can a mere chemical create something as complex as love, from nothing? Dr. Brian D.Earp tells Luke Turner how therapists could use serotonin-inducing drugs to reroute neural pathways, and why a chemically-based relationship would be ethically messy to say the least.  Every Monday and Thursday WHY? takes you on a wild adventure to the edge of knowledge. Follow on your favourite app so you never miss an episode. WHY? is written and presented by Luke Turner. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Artwork by James Parrett. Music by DJ Food. Exec Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Lead Producer: Anne-Marie Luff. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison.  WHY? is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices