Big Brains

Deep beneath the ice of Antarctica and high above its frozen expanse, University of Chicago astrophysicist Abby Vieregg is hunting for neutrinos—some of the most elusive particles in the universe. Often called "ghost particles," these tiny messengers travel across billions of light-years, passing right through ordinary matter unnoticed. She is among the many scientists hunting for high-energy neutrinos—an area of research that was awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics. In this episode, Vieregg discusses how her team designs and launches cutting-edge radio detectors—from high-altitude NASA balloons over the South Pole to massive ice-drilling arrays in Greenland. She explains what these mysterious cosmic signals can teach us about black holes, exploding stars, and the fundamental laws of physics governing our universe.

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 mothers at all. This history is documented in a new book, "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother," by University of Chicago Assistant Instructional Professor Peggy O'Donnell Heffington. Heffington writes about the historic trends of non-motherhood as well as the modern factors that are playing a role in women's choices to not have children today — from lack of structural support in the workplace, to a national law for paid maternity leave, and the sheer lack of affordability. She writes that if these trends continue, American millennials could become the largest childless cohort in history.

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 Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen, an Assistant Professor of Forensic Epistemology at the University of Toronto and author of "Psychopathy Unmasked," whose research is challenging the very foundation of psychopathy as a diagnosis. Larsen explains how the term “psychopath” is relatively new, dating to the Ted Bundy trial in the 1970s, and how TVs and movies have skewed our understanding of the “psychopath.” He discusses psychopathy tests, their impact on the criminal justice system—and what the latest science reveals about the minds we’ve long misunderstood.