The Quanta Podcast

Exploring the distant universe, the insides of cells, the abstractions of math, the complexity of information itself, and much more, The Quanta Podcast is a tour of the frontier between the known and the unknown. In each episode, Quanta Magazine Editor-in-Chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Quanta specifically covers fundamental research — driven by curiosity, discovery and the overwhelming desire to know why and how. Join us every Tuesday for a stimulating conversation about the biggest ideas and the tiniest details.

(If you've been a fan of the Quanta Science Podcast, it will continue here. You'll see those episodes marked as audio edition episodes every two weeks.)

Last refreshed: June 30th, 2026 at 10:29 AM

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Episodes

Are Memories Transferable — or Edible?

In the 60s, an eccentric behavioral psychologist pureed a bunch of planarian worms and fed them to other ones. For years after, he claimed that the cannibal worms learned the ground-up worms’ memories. Could he have been… right? On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel and columnist Claire L. Evans discuss the weird history of memory transfer experiments, and their recent resurgence — and some them appear to be working. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine....

Jun 30, 2026•32 min

How Many Elementary Particles Are There, Really?

How many pieces are there in the Standard Model of particle physics? 17, 30, 37, 61, 118? Or is the true answer much larger — and not even an integer? It depends on your taste for complexity — and mystery. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel and columnist Natalie Wolchover plummet down another rabbit hole, and this one goes down to the very building blocks of our reality. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Mag...

Jun 23, 2026•36 min

Audio Edition: What Is the Fourier Transform?

Amid the chaos of revolutionary France, one man’s mathematical obsession gave way to a calculation that now underpins much of mathematics and physics. The calculation, called the Fourier transform, decomposes any function into its parts. The story What Is the Fourier Transform? first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

Jun 18, 2026•13 min

The 'Truth Machine' That Is Changing Math

The groundbreaking proof assistant Lean acts as a sort of automatic quality control. It’s gaining ground in the math world — in part because it can interact with AI to open new avenues of inquiry. But there are concerns, too. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with author Kevin Harnett about his new book, the first release from Quanta Books, “The Proof in the Code.” It was featured in a recent excerpt for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazi...

Jun 16, 2026•34 min

Ecotypes Make the Idea of a Species Even Fuzzier

How do you define a species? The question has been controversial since the days of Darwin. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with writer Marlowe Starling about how recent advances in genomics have both clarified and complicated the picture. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel speaks with the people behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the...

Jun 09, 2026•27 min

What Actually Causes Lightning?

Thunderstorms have captivated humanity for millennia, and yet their inner workings remain deeply mysterious. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, guest host and Quanta senior editor Hannah Waters speaks with staff writer Charlie Wood about the new technologies that are helping physicists better understand the phenomena. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, hear the people behind the award-winning publication navigate through some of the...

Jun 02, 2026•22 min

Audio Edition: Astrophysicists Find No ‘Hair’ on Black Holes

According to Einstein’s theory of gravity, black holes have only a small handful of distinguishing characteristics. Quantum theory implies they may have more. Now an experimental search finds that any of this extra ‘hair’ has to be pretty short. The story Astrophysicists Find No ‘Hair’ on Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

May 28, 2026•13 min

The AI Revolution in Math Has Arrived

In 2026, shock at AI’s growing mathematical abilities turned into something more like wonder — and concern. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with writer Konstantin Kakaes about how AI is changing not only how mathematicians do math, but also why they do it. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel speaks with the people behind the award-winning publication to navigate t...

May 26, 2026•30 min

Ice Is Way More Complex Than It Seems

Over the past decade, computer simulations have predicted tens of thousands of possible forms of ice. Though uncommon on our planet, exotic ice may exist in off-Earth environments, from cold and amorphous comet tails to the hot and crushing cores of icy planets. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with math writer Shalma Wegsman about why water is exceptionally versatile under pressure. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quan...

May 19, 2026•25 min

Audio Edition: How Distillation Makes AI Models Smaller and Cheaper

Fundamental technique lets researchers use a big, expensive “teacher” model to train a “student” model for less. The story How Distillation Makes AI Models Smaller and Cheaper first appeared on Quanta Magazine.

May 14, 2026•8 min

Our Immune Systems Are Full of Ancient Weapons

Billions of years ago, battles between bacteria and viruses wrote the rulebook for how hosts and pathogens behave. Today, our immune system follows suit. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with writer Viviane Callier about how recent discoveries could shape how we think about the evolution of immunity. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel speaks with the people behind...

May 12, 2026•30 min

What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity?

Most mathematicians take the notion of infinity for granted — it’s deeply rooted in math’s most fundamental assumptions. But a small group of researchers hopes to banish infinity completely. On this episode of The Quanta Podcast, host Samir Patel speaks with math editor Jordana Cepelewicz about the philosophy of ultrafinitism. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel speaks with the people behind th...

May 05, 2026•30 min

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