Best Matt Berman Podcasts (2026)

1
Matt Berman & Aliya Khan 1:22:47

Play Pause

30d ago1:22:47

1:22:47

This week on the Brick & Wonder podcast, our hosts sit down with two design leaders in the hospitality world: Aliya Khan, Vice President of Global Design Strategy & Product Development at Marriott International, and Matt Berman, Founding Principal at Workshop/APD. Together, they explore their collaboration on the Moxy hotel in Banff, Alberta; the j…

1
The Breakthrough Quantum Sensor That Sees Inside Your Cells, with Peter Maurer 35:41

10h ago35:41

35:41

What if we could precisely measure a cell at its most fundamental level? In this episode, we talk with the University of Chicago scientist Peter Maurer about how he and his colleagues made the breakthrough discovery of turning a protein found in living cells into the first biological quantum bit, also known as a qubit. Maurer explains how quantum s…

1
How to Manifest Your Destiny with the Late James Doty 31:47

10d ago31:47

31:47

We've all heard the phrase "Manifest Your Destiny" when it comes to wanting a new promotion, figuring out a new career path or just trying to achieve that long-term goal. It turns out that the act of manifestation is not merely pseudoscience—it actually has a body of research in neuroscience to back it up. James Doty was a clinical professor of neu…

1
What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift 35:41

28d ago35:41

35:41

The internet and social media have transformed the way in which we hear and understand music today—and online communities and platforms from YouTube to TikTok have changed how music circulates and ultimately goes viral. Why do some pop stars have more success creating hit songs and building online following than others? In this episode, we speak wi…

1
How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes 38:17

2M ago38:17

38:17

Can you imagine a world in which a wearable device, like a smartwatch, could move your fingers to strum the guitar or play the drums? That kind of technology is part of the innovative research coming out of the Human-Computer Integration Lab at the University of Chicago, led by renowned computer scientist Pedro Lopes. His lab is developing a new ge…

1
Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington 32:04

2M ago32:04

32:04

More and more women in the United States are saying no to motherhood. 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 mo…

1
How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson 34:43

2M ago34:43

34:43

What does it mean to see beneath the surface — of the human body, the brain, or even the universe itself? In his new book, The Future of Seeing: How Imaging Is Changing Our World, Prof. Daniel Sodickson of NYU explores the future of imaging: How technology is transforming not just medicine, but our very ways of perceiving the world. With the rise o…

1
Nick Schiffer & James Robb 53:51

2M ago53:51

53:51

Today on the Brick & Wonder podcast we sat down with custom home builder and industry thought leader Nick Schiffer and James Robb, co-founder of Madera, specialists in hardwood finishes. Recorded at 45 White Oak, an ambitious home Nick has developed and built in Wellesley, Massachusetts, this candid conversation explores how to have challenging con…

1
Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath? 35:55

3M ago35:55

35:55

Few ideas have gripped the public imagination quite like the idea of the “psychopath.” From Hollywood thrillers to true-crime podcasts, popular culture has led us to believe that psychopaths are dangerous and biologically distinct from the rest of us. But what if almost everything we think we know about them is wrong? In this episode, we talk with …

1
Why We Haven’t Solved Brain Disorders—And How To Fix It, with Nicole Rust 36:18

3M ago36:18

36:18

For decades, neuroscience has promised breakthroughs in treating conditions like depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s. Yet despite powerful technologies and billions invested, progress has been frustratingly slow. Why? On this episode of Big Brains, we talk with Nicole Rust, neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Elusi…

1
Sam Alison-Mayne & Jing Liu 49:42

4M ago49:42

49:42

This week on the Brick & Wonder podcast, we sat down with developer Sam Alison-Mayne of Tankhouse and architect Jing Liu of SO-IL, whose long-running collaboration is reshaping multifamily housing in Brooklyn. Beginning with this episode, Ravi Arps joins as co-host of the podcast. Ravi is the founder and principal of Plane, a construction company b…

1
Life On Mars: Is It Possible For Humans? with Edwin Kite 30:31

4M ago30:31

30:31

Billions of years ago, Mars may have looked less like the barren red desert we know today and more like Earth—with a blue sky, flowing rivers, and even seas. What happened to turn a once-habitable world into the frozen, lifeless planet we see now? On this episode of Big Brains, University of Chicago geophysical scientist Edwin Kite takes us on a jo…

1
How To Use Nature To Restore Your Focus, with Marc Berman 32:13

4M ago32:13

32:13

We’re living in an attention economy—and most of us are broke. But what if the secret to restoring your focus, improving your mental health, and even reducing crime rates wasn’t found in an app or a pill, but in a tree? In this episode, we speak with University of Chicago psychologist Marc Berman, whose research on “soft fascination” and nature’s c…

1
Ravi Arps & Max Michel 49:22

4M ago49:22

49:22

This week we were joined by Ravi Arps, the founder and principal of Plane, a general contracting company, and Max Michel, the owner of M2 Finish Works, a cabinetry and finished carpentry contractor. They explore the shifting definition of perfection in handmade construction, building trust with clients and collaborators, and how an obsession with s…

1
Could Plants Unlock Quantum Medicine’s Potential? with Greg Engel 25:26

5M ago25:26

25:26

We’ve long marveled at how efficiently plants convert sunlight into energy—but no one guessed they were using quantum mechanics to do it. In this episode, we speak with Greg Engel, a pioneering biophysicist at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry who helped launch the field of quantum biology. Engel …

1
How Microplastics Are Invading Our Bodies, with Matthew Campen 28:18

5M ago28:18

28:18

You’ve heard of plastic polluting oceans. But what if it’s polluting you—your brain, your reproductive system, even your unborn children? In this eye-opening episode, we speak with Prof. Matthew Campen, a scientist at the University of New Mexico, whose latest studies have uncovered evidence of microplastics in placentas, reproductive organs and br…

1
Why We Get Stuck—And How to Finally Move Forward 34:17

6M ago34:17

34:17

Hello listeners…we're re-releasing one of our favorite Big Brains episodes—an incredibly insightful conversation with psychologist Adam Alter. If you've ever felt stuck in your life or career, this episode offers practical strategies and surprising science to help you move forward. From why your best ideas might come after you feel like giving up, …

1
Seth Weissman & Josef Goodman 47:55

6M ago47:55

47:55

This week, we were joined by Seth Weissman, founder and president of Urban Standard Capital, a real estate private equity firm focused on debt and equity investments, and Josef Goodman, founder and principal of Haussmann Development, a New York City–based residential real estate developer. Seth shared that he aims to go on rewarding, challenging, a…

1
Inside the AI Debate: Hope, Hype, Or Harm? A Big Brains Panel Weighs In 47:57

6M ago47:57

47:57

One of the benefits of producing this podcast at the University of Chicago is that there are often events on campus that bring in not just one Big Brain, but many in order to find answers to the some of the most complex problems of our time. I recently had the pleasure of hosting one such event on artificial intelligence that we want to share with …

1
Are Your Medications Safe And Effective?, with Jerry Avorn 36:39

7M ago36:39

36:39

For a more than a century, the Food and Drug Administration has worked to protect public health. In his research, Harvard University physician-researcher Jerry Avorn has examined how the FDA’s once-rigorous gold standard approval process has been affected by a powerful shortcut known as the Accelerated Approval Program—originally designed for despe…

1
Brad Hargreaves & Paul Stanton 48:55

7M ago48:55

48:55

This week on the Working Together podcast we were joined by Brad Hargreaves, a serial entrepreneur whose latest company, Thesis Driven, publishes content and offers courses for people in or aspiring to be in real estate. And Paul Stanton, a real estate professional who came together with Brad in the Thesis Driven journey. Brad and Paul say the worl…

1
Are We Making AI Too Human?, with James Evans 31:18

7M ago31:18

31:18

Prof. James Evans, a University of Chicago sociologist and data scientist, believes we’re training AI to think too much like humans—and it’s holding science back. In this episode, Evans shares how our current models risk narrowing scientific exploration rather than expanding it, and explains why he’s pushing for AIs that think differently from us—w…

1
Inside The Disease That Changes Your Personality, with Bruce Miller 26:26

7M ago26:26

26:26

When someone we know or love starts to develop psychological issues, we don't often associate it with a form of dementia. However, this trait is one of the most common signs of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) — the most common neurodegenerative disease in people under the age of 65. In his new book, Mysteries of the Social Brain: Understanding Human …

1
Best of Working Together 19:42

8M ago19:42

19:42

This week on the Working Together podcast, we've pulled together standout moments from five of our favorite conversations, each one offering a unique perspective on the art, business, and human side of design and collaboration. Whether you're new to our show or a longtime listener, this episode is a chance to revisit big ideas and small moments tha…

1
Meet The ‘Planet Hunter’ Searching For Alien Life, with Jacob Bean 34:33

8M ago34:33

34:33

The search for life beyond Earth is no longer science fiction—it takes a lot of data, powerful telescopes and a bit of cosmic detective work. And at the center of this search is University of Chicago astrophysicist Jacob Bean. Bean was part of the team that made history by detecting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a distant planet using the Jam…

1
How To Stop Gun Violence Before It Starts, with Jens Ludwig 30:26

8M ago30:26

30:26

Despite decades of policy ideas, pouring millions of dollars into the problem, and a slow pace of gun control measures, the United States hasn’t made much progress on curbing the epidemic of gun violence in our country. For the past 25 years, Prof. Jens Ludwig of the University of Chicago has examined the questions of: Why does gun violence happen,…

1
Can Your DNA Predict Your Future?, with Dalton Conley 34:26

9M ago34:26

34:26

What if a single number, derived from your DNA, could predict your income, education level or even who you're likely to marry? In his new book “The Social Genome,” Princeton University sociologist Dalton Conley explores the science behind how our genes are shaping our society in ways that are both profound and unsettling. Conley explains how our ge…

1
Walter Hood & Mark Robbins 48:54

9M ago48:54

48:54

Designing and constructing buildings takes place over many years, with many people collaborating together. In the Brick and Wonder podcast, we have conversations with people who work together to realize a collective vision. In this episode our host, Drew Lang, spoke to two people who first met at the American Academy in Rome and whose lifetime of w…

1
Can You Really Die of a Broken Heart? The Hidden Dangers of Grief, with Mary Frances O'Connor 31:40

9M ago31:40

31:40

When we lose someone, we love, we often say we have a broken heart—but what if that’s not just a metaphor? In her new book “The Grieving Body: How The Stress of Loss Can Be An Opportunity For Healing” University of Arizona Professor of Psychology Mary Frances O’Connor shares groundbreaking insights into the biological and physiological impacts grie…

Matt Berman Podcasts

1
Friends from Craigslist

Matt Berman

1
Big Brains

University of Chicago Podcast Network

1
Working Together

Brick & Wonder

1
Matt Berman & Aliya Khan 1:22:47

1
The Breakthrough Quantum Sensor That Sees Inside Your Cells, with Peter Maurer 35:41

1
How to Manifest Your Destiny with the Late James Doty 31:47

1
What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift 35:41

1
How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes 38:17

1
Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington 32:04

1
How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson 34:43

1
Nick Schiffer & James Robb 53:51

1
Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath? 35:55

1
Why We Haven’t Solved Brain Disorders—And How To Fix It, with Nicole Rust 36:18

1
Sam Alison-Mayne & Jing Liu 49:42

1
Life On Mars: Is It Possible For Humans? with Edwin Kite 30:31

1
How To Use Nature To Restore Your Focus, with Marc Berman 32:13

1
Ravi Arps & Max Michel 49:22

1
Could Plants Unlock Quantum Medicine’s Potential? with Greg Engel 25:26

1
How Microplastics Are Invading Our Bodies, with Matthew Campen 28:18

1
Why We Get Stuck—And How to Finally Move Forward 34:17

1
Seth Weissman & Josef Goodman 47:55

1
Inside the AI Debate: Hope, Hype, Or Harm? A Big Brains Panel Weighs In 47:57

1
Are Your Medications Safe And Effective?, with Jerry Avorn 36:39

1
Brad Hargreaves & Paul Stanton 48:55

1
Are We Making AI Too Human?, with James Evans 31:18

1
Inside The Disease That Changes Your Personality, with Bruce Miller 26:26

1
Best of Working Together 19:42

1
Meet The ‘Planet Hunter’ Searching For Alien Life, with Jacob Bean 34:33

1
How To Stop Gun Violence Before It Starts, with Jens Ludwig 30:26

1
Can Your DNA Predict Your Future?, with Dalton Conley 34:26

1
Walter Hood & Mark Robbins 48:54

1
Can You Really Die of a Broken Heart? The Hidden Dangers of Grief, with Mary Frances O'Connor 31:40