Best Undark Podcasts (2026)

1
6. The Unopened Gift (Christmas special) 10:04

Play Pause

10d ago10:04

10:04

A Victorian Christmas. A green dining room. And a poison that never announced itself. In nineteenth-century England, elegance was trusted more than chemistry. During one quiet Christmas week in Devonshire, a family learned how wrong that assumption could be. As vertigo, nausea, and weakness crept through their household, the danger didn’t spread fr…

1
5. Imported Danger 7:35

12d ago7:35

7:35

A quiet Texas home. A sick raccoon. A child slipping into intensive care with a disease that should not exist anywhere near the United States. Within days, three more cases appear across the country — same organism, same clinical chaos, no clear source. CDC steps in. FBI circles the edge. Every possibility is ugly, and none of them feel accidental.…

1
4. Three Minds 15:06

14d ago15:06

15:06

A pool accident. A bar fight. A baseball to the head. Nothing that should’ve rewritten a life. But three people — Derek, Jason, and Orlando — wake up with brains that refuse to play by normal rules. One starts composing music he never learned. One sees every room break into geometry and fractals. One remembers every single day with impossible clari…

1
3. Undark 10:44

22d ago10:44

10:44

In the early 1900s, a strange sickness starts creeping through American factory towns. Young women lose teeth, jaws soften, bones collapse — and every doctor’s excuse dies the moment another girl walks in with the same symptoms. Nothing fits. And nobody wants to say what’s obvious. Grace Fryer takes the job because it looks ordinary. The paint glow…

1
2. Frozen Pulse 7:49

27d ago7:49

7:49

A nineteen-year-old woman vanishes into a sub-zero Minnesota night and is found at dawn lying just four meters from safety — eyes frozen open, skin hard as ice, body cold enough that her pulse barely registers. Everyone assumes she’s gone. But when she’s brought into the small hospital in Fosston, something unexpected happens. Her body doesn’t brea…

1
1. Toxic Lady 16:41

22d ago16:41

16:41

Paramedics bring a critically ill woman into the ER at Riverside General. She’s confused, struggling to breathe, and fading fast — the kind of case every shift expects but hopes to avoid. Then something impossible happens. A sharp chemical smell rises from her body, and within seconds the room shifts. Nurses collapse. Doctors stumble back. A routin…

1
How to Cover Science Under Trump 16:46

3M ago16:46

16:46

In the Season 2 finale, our hosts talk to Tom Zeller Jr., Undark’s editor-in-chief, about covering science under the Trump administration. While the podcast's topics are always politically charged, they have become even more so in the current political climate.By Undark Magazine

1
Do We Know Enough to Use Psychedelics As Medicine? 32:13

3M ago32:13

32:13

This week on Entanglements: Do we have enough scientific evidence to approve psychedelics as medicine? Our hosts unpack the data with Albert Garcia-Romeu, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Bertha Madras, a professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School.…

1
What Should We Risk to Settle Space? 35:59

3M ago35:59

35:59

This week on Entanglements: Should we live on Mars, and beyond? Our hosts talk to Tiffany Vora, a biologist and space advocate who has done three analog Mars simulations, and Kelly Weinersmith, a biologist and the co-author of the book “A City on Mars."By Undark Magazine

1
Should Companies Decide Our Tech Future? 37:38

3M ago37:38

37:38

This week on Entanglements: Should tech companies — and the billionaires that often run them — decide for the rest of us how artificial intelligence is deployed? Our hosts dig into the topic with two book authors who have covered AI from essentially opposing perspectives: Greg Beato and Adam Becker.By Undark Magazine

1
Should We Revamp Our Voting System? 32:25

4M ago32:25

32:25

This week on Entanglements: Should we switch all U.S. elections to ranked choice voting? Our hosts discuss the pros and cons with Deb Otis, director of research and policy for Fair Vote, a non-profit that works on election reform, and David McCune, a professor of mathematics at William Jewell College in Missouri.…

1
Should We Change Our Planet's Climate...On Purpose? 25:25

4M ago25:25

25:25

This week on Entanglements: Should we run outdoor geoengineering experiments? Our hosts dive into this fiercely debated topic with an atmospheric chemist from Harvard University and a planetary physicist from Oxford University.By Undark Magazine

1
Should We Try to Prevent Autism? 36:01

4M ago36:01

36:01

This week on Entanglements: Should we try to prevent autism? Our hosts speak with Jill Escher, a philanthropist, president of the National Council on Severe Autism, and parent of two young adults with severe nonverbal autism, and Eric García, the Washington bureau chief at The Independent, who himself is autistic.…

1
Kicking Off Season 2: Should We Make Viruses More Dangerous – For Science? 35:27

5M ago35:27

35:27

We're back! This week on Entanglements: Should we make viruses more dangerous? Our hosts discuss this question, and its contentious history, with a microbiologist from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and a virologist from the Pasteur Institute in Paris.By Undark Magazine

1
Wrapping Up Season 1 21:20

1y ago21:20

21:20

This week on Entanglements: What did we learn from our first season? What’s on deck for the future? Our hosts explore these questions and more in conversations with a special guest.By Undark Magazine

1
Is Fluoride Toxic at Low Levels? 50:14

1y ago50:14

50:14

This week on Entanglements: Is fluoride toxic at low levels? Our hosts explore this question in conversations with a professor from the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry and a neuropsychologist and professor at York University.By Undark Magazine

1
Should We Unleash GMO Mosquitoes? 31:38

1y ago31:38

31:38

This week on Entanglements: Should we unleash GMO mosquitoes? Our hosts explore this question in conversations with a molecular biologist from the University of California, San Diego, and a social scientist from North Carolina State University.By Undark Magazine

1
Is the Misinformation Crisis Overblown? 31:21

1y ago31:21

31:21

This week on Entanglements: Is the misinformation crisis overblown? Our hosts explore this question in conversations with a social psychologist from the University of Cambridge and a cognitive scientist from the Intstitut Jean Nicod.By Undark Magazine

1
Cannabis and Severe Mental Health Disorders 32:20

1y ago32:20

32:20

This week on Entanglements: Is cannabis safe for people with severe mental health disorders? Our hosts explore this question in conversations with a psychiatrist from Yale School of Medicine and a neuroscientist from the University of Calgary.By Undark Magazine

1
Is It Likely that Covid-19 Came From a Lab? 43:20

1y ago43:20

43:20

This week on Entanglements: Could the Covid-19 pandemic have been sparked by a lab leak? Our hosts explore this hot-button question in conversations with a Weill Cornell microbiologist and a Broad Institute scientist who is an avid lab-leak proponent.By Undark Magazine

1
Risky Science and Public Consent 28:23

1y ago28:23

28:23

This week on Entanglements: Should citizens decide on risky science? Our hosts talk to an Oxford political scientist and a former law and ethics professor about how democracy should play a role in high-stakes decisions.By Undark Magazine

Undark Podcasts

1
Entanglements, by Undark

Undark Magazine

1
The Last Diagnosis

Elias Ward

1
6. The Unopened Gift (Christmas special) 10:04

1
5. Imported Danger 7:35

1
4. Three Minds 15:06

1
3. Undark 10:44

1
2. Frozen Pulse 7:49

1
1. Toxic Lady 16:41

1
How to Cover Science Under Trump 16:46

1
Do We Know Enough to Use Psychedelics As Medicine? 32:13

1
What Should We Risk to Settle Space? 35:59

1
Should Companies Decide Our Tech Future? 37:38

1
Should We Revamp Our Voting System? 32:25

1
Should We Change Our Planet's Climate...On Purpose? 25:25

1
Should We Try to Prevent Autism? 36:01

1
Kicking Off Season 2: Should We Make Viruses More Dangerous – For Science? 35:27

1
Wrapping Up Season 1 21:20

1
Is Fluoride Toxic at Low Levels? 50:14

1
Should We Unleash GMO Mosquitoes? 31:38

1
Is the Misinformation Crisis Overblown? 31:21

1
Cannabis and Severe Mental Health Disorders 32:20

1
Is It Likely that Covid-19 Came From a Lab? 43:20

1
Risky Science and Public Consent 28:23