Best Spinneys Podcasts (2025)

1
Laura Spinney, "Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global" (Bloomsbury, 2025) 48:30

5d ago48:30

48:30

English. French. Italian. Hindi. Greek. Russian. All these different languages can trace their roots to the same origin: Proto-Indo-European, spoken in 4000 BC in the steppe that crosses from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. Whether by migration, diffusion or conquest, the Indo-European languages spread west across Europe, east across Central Asia, …

1
The importance of strength training, with Roar Fitness’ Sarah Lindsay and Jordan Bunting 32:12

6d ago32:12

32:12

Co-host Tiffany Eslick sits down with Roar Fitness’ Sarah Lindsay and Jordan Bunting to understand the importance of strength training and how it helps build confidence and resilience. They share why it’s so important to integrate training, nutrition and recovery, and share some tips of beginners. Roar Fitness was founded in London by Sarah Lindsay…

1
Laura Spinney: rise of the proto-Indo-Europeans 1:01:18

19d ago1:01:18

1:01:18

Today Razib talks to Laura Spinney, Paris-based British author of the forthcoming Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global. A science journalist, translator and author of both fiction and non-fiction, she has written for Nature, National Geographic, The Economist, New Scientist, and The Guardian. Spinney is the author of two novels, Doctor and T…

1
Is Beach Safety Signage Fit For Purpose? 31:08

40m ago31:08

31:08

We often take the meaning of signs for granted but that's far from the case in a linguistically and culturally diverse society. The instruction to "Swim between the flags!" can be interpreted in multiple ways - some of which may actually heighten rather than reduce risk. In this episode of Language on the Move Podcast, Dr Agnes Bodis talks to Dr Ma…

1
How has resistance shaped Britain? With Steve McQueen (Part One) 39:30

8m ago39:30

39:30

Steve McQueen is one of Britain’s most acclaimed filmmakers and artists. He is the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Picture, two BAFTA Awards, the Caméra d’Or, a Golden Globe, and the Turner Prize. McQueen’s work includes his first feature-length film Hunger about Bobby Sands and the 1981 Irish hunger strike, the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Sla…

1
Robert Garland, "What to Expect When You're Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife" (Princeton UP, 2025) 53:49

1d ago53:49

53:49

A lively story of death, What to Expect When You're Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife (Princeton University Press, 2025) by Dr. Robert Garland explores the fascinating death-related beliefs and practices of a wide range of ancient cultures and traditions—Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hindu, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Earl…

1
Robert Garland, "What to Expect When You're Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife" (Princeton UP, 2025) 53:49

1d ago53:49

53:49

A lively story of death, What to Expect When You're Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife (Princeton University Press, 2025) by Dr. Robert Garland explores the fascinating death-related beliefs and practices of a wide range of ancient cultures and traditions—Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hindu, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Earl…

1
Understanding Xi: Is China’s President a Threat to the World? (Part Two) 38:14

1d ago38:14

38:14

This event is part of our ⁠Age of the Strongman⁠ series. ⁠Click here⁠ to see the other events in the series. President Xi Jinping has ruled China for more than a decade. He has overseen an era of unprecedented economic prosperity, cracked down on dissidents, reinvented national identity in his own image and adopted a confrontational ‘wolf warrior’ …

1
The Red Room by H G Wells 1:07:20

2d ago1:07:20

1:07:20

In H.G. Wells's "The Red Room," a young man, confident in his rationality, seeks to debunk the supernatural in a reputedly haunted chamber. He is certain that his experience will be defined by logic and reason. But the air within the castle walls is heavy with unspoken dread, and as the candles dwindle, something shifts. Is it the room itself, or s…

1
Understanding Xi: Is China’s President a Threat to the World? (Part One) 40:20

3d ago40:20

40:20

This event is part of our Age of the Strongman series. Click here to see the other events in the series. President Xi Jinping has ruled China for more than a decade. He has overseen an era of unprecedented economic prosperity, cracked down on dissidents, reinvented national identity in his own image and adopted a confrontational ‘wolf warrior’ styl…

1
Ethan Strauss: sports and the end of the culture wars

4d ago

—

On this episode of the Unsupervised Learning podcast, Razib welcomes back Ethan Strauss, a writer who has covered sports and culture for the past decade, including in the book The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty. More recently his writing is to be found at his Substack, House of Strauss, which is notable for offerin…

1
Ethan Strauss: sports and the end of the culture wars

4d ago

—

On this episode of the Unsupervised Learning podcast, Razib welcomes back Ethan Strauss, a writer who has covered sports and culture for the past decade, including in the book The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty. More recently his writing is to be found at his Substack, House of Strauss, which is notable for offerin…

1
Noah Carl and Bo Winegard: probing the intellectual darker web

4d ago

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On this episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib talks to Bo Winegard and Noah Carl, the editors behind the online publication Aporia Magazine, founded in 2022. Winegard and Carl are both former academics. Winegard has a social psychology Ph.D. from Florida State University, and was an assistant professor at Marietta College. He was an editor at Qui…

1
Noah Carl and Bo Winegard: probing the intellectual darker web 1:54:24

5d ago1:54:24

1:54:24

On this episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib talks to Bo Winegard and Noah Carl, the editors behind the online publication Aporia Magazine, founded in 2022. Winegard and Carl are both former academics. Winegard has a social psychology Ph.D. from Florida State University, and was an assistant professor at Marietta College. He was an editor at Qui…

1
How To Cure Your Algorithm, with Jamie Bartlett 51:14

5d ago51:14

51:14

This event is part of Critical Conversations, a new series on the age of misinformation by Intelligence Squared and Sage & Jester, hosted by Sophia Smith Galer. To see other events in this series, click here. Where do we draw the line between free speech and dangerous misinformation? Algorithms not only dictate our data feeds but also reinforce our…

1
The Book by Margaret Irwin 1:19:38

5d ago1:19:38

1:19:38

Late one fog-bound night, a man goes in search of a book to help him sleep. He finds a book he doesn’t remember. Did he inherit it? It has no title. No author. It’s written in Latin, in an unknown but legible hand. And once he begins to read it, he can’t stop returning to it each night. He was a happy family man. A little bored, but happy. But what…

1
Chris Aslan, "Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia" (Icon Books, 2024) 47:07

6d ago47:07

47:07

The Silk Road may be the most famous trade network in history. But the flow of silk from China to the Middle East and Europe isn’t the only textile trade that’s made its mark on Central Asia, the subject of Chris Aslan’s latest book Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia (Icon Books, 2024), recently published in paperback. …

1
Jana Dambrogio and Daniel Starza Smith, "Letterlocking: The Hidden History of the Letter" (MIT Press, 2025) 45:48

6d ago45:48

45:48

Before the invention of the gummed envelope in the 1830s, how did people secure their private letters? The answer is letterlocking—the ingenious process of securing a letter using a combination of folds, tucks, slits, or adhesives such as sealing wax, so that it becomes its own envelope. This almost entirely forgotten practice, used by historical f…

1
Krista N. Dalton, "How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity" (Princeton UP, 2025) 55:14

6d ago55:14

55:14

At the turn of the common era, the Jewish communities of Roman Palestine saw the organization of a small group of literate Jewish men who devoted their lives to the interpretation and teaching of their sacred ancestral texts. In How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2025),…

1
Peter Allen, "How to Think about Politics: A Guide in Five Parts" (Oxford UP, 2025) 38:53

7d ago38:53

38:53

What part should politics play in our everyday lives? In How to Think About Politics: A Guide in Five Parts (Oxford University Press, 2025) Peter Allen, a professor of Politics and Co-Director of the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath, explores this question across a range of practical and philosophical examples. The book direc…

1
Truth Hurts: From Conflict to Connection, with Dr Julia Ebner 50:17

7d ago50:17

50:17

This event is part of Critical Conversations, a new series on the age of misinformation by Intelligence Squared and Sage & Jester, hosted by Sophia Smith Galer. Have you ever clashed with someone on social media or even a loved one? Conversations can easily escalate in a time where everyone is consuming different media with wildly different messagi…

1
Khanversation #42: Memorial Day, the end of reading and Glenn Loury’s Israel about-face

8d ago

—

Memorial Day The end of reading Glenn Loury's Israel about-face Read moreBy Razib Khan

1
Laura Otis, "Banned Emotions: How Metaphors Can Shape What People Feel" (Oxford UP, 2019) 35:21

7d ago35:21

35:21

Who benefits and who loses when emotions are described in particular ways? How do metaphors such as "hold on" and "let go" affect people's emotional experiences? Banned Emotions: How Metaphors Can Shape What People Feel (Oxford UP, 2019), written by neuroscientist-turned-literary scholar Laura Otis, draws on the latest research in neuroscience and …

1
Tricks, Trolls, and LOLs: Comedy’s Crash Course in Spotting Lies, with Rachel Parris 57:28

9d ago57:28

57:28

This event was part of Critical Conversations, a new series on the age of misinformation by Intelligence Squared and Sage & Jester, hosted by Sophia Smith Galer. Sometimes the best way to expose a lie is to laugh at it. Satire is a force to be reckoned with in any democracy and artists are essential in shedding light on the truth. Comedy has long b…

1
Simon Tolkien 29:53

9d ago29:53

29:53

Simon Tolkien discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Simon Tolkien is the grandson of JRR Tolkien and a director of the Tolkien Estate. He is also series consultant for the Amazon series, The Rings of Power. Simon studied Modern History at Trinity College, Oxford and went on to become a barrister specializing in criminal defen…

1
Can we have prosperity without growth? With Tim Jackson 56:02

10d ago56:02

56:02

Is prosperity possible without growth? And in an age of environmental crisis and rising inequality, is our obsession with economic expansion doing more harm than good? On the podcast today, renowned economist Professor Tim Jackson challenges the very foundations of our economic thinking. In his groundbreaking book 'Prosperity Without Growth', Jacks…

1
Richard D. Oram, "A Land Won from Waste: Scotland AD 400-1400" (Birlinn, 2025) 1:01:12

10d ago1:01:12

1:01:12

Drawing together the evidence of archaeology, palaeoecology, climate history and the historical record, this first environmental history of Scotland explores the interaction of human populations with land, waters, forests and wildlife. A Land Won From Waste: Scotland AD 400–1400 (John Donald/Birlinn, 2025) by Professor Richard Oram takes the reader…

1
Jennifer T. Roberts, "Out of One, Many: Ancient Greek Ways of Thought and Culture" (Princeton UP, 2024) 1:38:33

10d ago1:38:33

1:38:33

Covering the whole of the ancient Greek experience from its beginnings late in the third millennium BCE to the Roman conquest in 30 BCE, Out of One, Many: Ancient Greek Ways of Thought and Culture (Princeton UP, 2024) is an accessible and lively introduction to the Greeks and their ways of living and thinking. In this fresh and witty exploration of…

1
Tim Lee: 2025 and the driverless car revolution 55:46

11d ago55:46

55:46

Today Razib talks to Tim Lee, a previous guest on Unsupervised Learning. Lee hosts Understanding AI. Lee covered tech more generally for a decade for Washington Post, Ars Technica, and Vox.com. He has a master's degree in computer science from Princeton. Lee writes extensively about general AI issues, from Deep Research’s capabilities to the state …

1
Tim Lee: 2025 and the driverless car revolution

11d ago

—

Today Razib talks to Tim Lee, a previous guest on Unsupervised Learning. Lee hosts Understanding AI. Lee covered tech more generally for a decade for Washington Post, Ars Technica, and Vox.com. He has a master's degree in computer science from Princeton. Lee writes extensively about general AI issues, from Deep Research’s capabilities to the state …

1
Korshi Dosoo and Markéta Preininger, "Papyri Copticae Magicae: Coptic Magical Texts, Volume 1: Formularies" (de Gruyter, 2023) 1:28:50

11d ago1:28:50

1:28:50

Papyri Copticae Magicae: Coptic Magical Texts, Volume 1: Formularies (de Gruyter, 2023) offers an accessible repository of edited Coptic magical texts. The book is a careful and thorough edition and philological study of thirty-seven distinct Coptic manuscripts, covering a wide range of magical applications—from love spells, to curses, to exorcisms…

1
Manvir Singh: the shamanic roots of all religion

12d ago

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Today Razib talks to Manvir Singh about shamanism, religion and anthropology. Singh is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis. An artist and essayist, he is also now a regular contributor to The New Yorker. His academic interests lie in explaining why most human societies, from preliterate foragers to urbanite…

1
Manvir Singh: the shamanic roots of all religion

12d ago

—

Today Razib talks to Manvir Singh about shamanism, religion and anthropology. Singh is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis. An artist and essayist, he is also now a regular contributor to The New Yorker. His academic interests lie in explaining why most human societies, from preliterate foragers to urbanite…

1
Is Your Phone Controlling Your Life? With Kaitlyn Regehr (Part Two) 40:19

12d ago40:19

40:19

The ‘Smartphone-free Childhood’ movement has alerted many of us to the dangers inherent in our – and our kids’ – use of devices. But while we can shield children from technology in their early years, withdrawing from the online world is not an option for most of us in adult life. So how do we ensure that we – and our children when they grow up – de…

1
Lizhi Liu, "From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China" (Princeton UP, 2024) 59:37

13d ago59:37

59:37

Alibaba. Tencent. JD. Pinduoduo. Run down the list of China’s most valuable companies and you’ll find, for the most part, that they’re all e-commerce companies—or at least facilitate e-commerce. The sector created giants: Alibaba grew from just 5.5 billion renminbi of revenue in 2010 to 280 billion last year. But how did Chinese e-commerce firms sh…

1
The Withered Heart by G G Pendarves 1:35:09

13d ago1:35:09

1:35:09

Beneath the brooding skies of Braun Fell, the Dewle family grapples with a dark inheritance, and John, a boyhood friend, is urgently summoned to help them navigate their dilemma. A lust for wealth consumes beautiful Jonquil, driving her to urge the use of questionable methods, while her husband, who would do anything to please her, is wary about su…

1
Introducing: L.A. Crimes 10:42

14d ago10:42

10:42

Please enjoy a featured clip of L.A. Times Studio's latest production, L.A. Crimes. On this episode, Madison McGhee is joined by legendary Dateline host Josh Mankiewicz and esteemed L.A. Times Reporter Richard Winton as the three of them dive into all-things Menendez Brothers, the good, the bad, and the still unknown. New episodes drop every Wednes…

1
Bonus monologue: Finland as Germania

13d ago

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This podcast accompanies my post Germans are from Finland, Finns are from Yakutia. The two preprints at the heart of this post are, Postglacial genomes from foragers across Northern Eurasia reveal prehistoric mobility associated with the spread of the Uralic and Yeniseian languages and Steppe Ancestry in Western Eurasia and the Spread of the German…

1
Bonus monologue: Finland as Germania 23:58

14d ago23:58

23:58

This podcast accompanies my post Germans are from Finland, Finns are from Yakutia. The two preprints at the heart of this post are, Postglacial genomes from foragers across Northern Eurasia reveal prehistoric mobility associated with the spread of the Uralic and Yeniseian languages and Steppe Ancestry in Western Eurasia and the Spread of the German…

1
Is Your Phone Controlling Your Life? With Kaitlyn Regehr (Part One) 38:03

14d ago38:03

38:03

The ‘Smartphone-free Childhood’ movement has alerted many of us to the dangers inherent in our – and our kids’ – use of devices. But while we can shield children from technology in their early years, withdrawing from the online world is not an option for most of us in adult life. So how do we ensure that we – and our children when they grow up – de…

1
Khanversation #41: Biden has cancer, 23andMe and Trump’s bounce-back

15d ago

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Biden has cancer 23andMe Trump's bounce-back Subscribe now Give a gift subscription Share Read moreBy Razib Khan

1
Tariff Special: The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Helen Thompson (Part Two) 40:59

17d ago40:59

40:59

‘The world as we knew it is gone’ – UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s response to Trump’s tariffs President Donald Trump recently announced a 90-day pause for his monumental ‘liberation day’ tariffs while at the same time escalating a dangerous trade war with China. Trump’s announcement came just weeks after import taxes on all goods entering th…

1
Daria Lavelle 29:56

16d ago29:56

29:56

Daria Lavelle discusses with Ivan six things which should be better known. Daria Lavelle was born in Kyiv, immigrated to the US with her family as a child and now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children. She holds a BA from Princeton University and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She writes fiction, with short stories publ…

1
Dennis Ross, "Statecraft 2.0: What America Needs to Survive in a Multipolar World" (Oxford UP, 2025) 54:54

17d ago54:54

54:54

In a multipolar world where America wields less relative power, the United States can no longer get away with poor statecraft. To understand how the US can approach future national security challenges, I spoke with Dennis Ross, a senior US diplomat and the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Spinneys Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen