Unexplainable
Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles scientific mysteries,...
AI overview.Vox is a well-regarded media company known for its explanatory journalism that breaks down complex topics across various domains, including science, politics, a…
Insights from recent episode analysis
On the show
- Benji Jones3 eps
- Kate Adamala3 eps
- Charlie Harding2 eps
Also: John Glass, Daniel Oblak, Rodolfo Antonio Salido Benítez, Dylan Scott, Noam Hassenfeld, K.T. Ramesh, Lily Zhao, Anne McClain, Scott Kelly, Rebecca Boyle, Jonathan Jiang, Annalisa Merelli, Casey Harrell, Levana Saxon, Rachel Aviv, Jean Carruthers, David Simpson
Audience Interest
- scientific mysteries
- unanswered questions
Podcast Focus
- scientific inquiries
- deep dives into topics
Publishing Consistency
- active for five years
- new episodes on Mondays
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Total monthly reach
Based on 3 signals.
Built from
By chart position
- 🇺🇸United States · Life SciencesHOME#4392K to 2.1M
- 🇩🇪Germany · Life Sciences#157K to 301K
- 🇮🇳India · Life Sciences#157K to 301K
- 🇧🇷Brazil · Life Sciences#244K to 235K
- 🇬🇧United Kingdom · Life Sciences#336K to 190K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
814K to 4.3M🎙 Daily cadence·308 episodes·Last published 3d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
2.7M to 14M🇺🇸48%🇩🇪7%🇮🇳7%+20 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
1.5M to 7.9M9.6K real followers tracked across platforms
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
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Total Plays
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Total Reviews
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/23/26 | Spider Web 2.0 | Spider silk can be stronger than steel by weight and tougher than Kevlar. Can scientists make their own? Guest: Greg Holland, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at San Diego State University For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected]We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 21m 40s | ||||||
| 10/21/26 |  The wild orchid mystery | More than just beautiful flowers, wild orchids have been confounding scientists for years. Our friends at Sidedoor — a podcast from the Smithsonian — set out to find a rare specimen for themselves. Guest: Lizzie Peabody, host of Sidedoor For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! [email protected] We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 25m 55s | ||||||
| 10/19/26 | An Alzheimer's breakthrough? | The past few months have been full of Alzheimer's optimism: new ideas that could prevent the disease from taking hold, medications that seem to slow it down, and an experimental surgery that might even be able to reverse its progression. It's a lot of hype. Should we believe it? Guest: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent at Vox To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix! For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! [email protected]We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 28m 03s | ||||||
| 10/14/26 | Talking with the dead | “If only I could talk with them again.” It’s a common refrain for anyone who is grieving someone they love. Now, we can access technology like deadbots, or AI replicas of a lost loved one, to simulate those conversations, but at what cost? Maybe we’ve always had the capacity — within our own voices — to deepen conversations with the people we’re missing, even after they’re gone. GUESTS: University of Cambridge assistant professors Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska and Tomasz Hollanek, writer and psycholinguist Julie Sedivy. If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, or is anxious, depressed, upset, or needs to talk, there are people who want to help. Text CRISIS to 741741 for free, confidential crisis counseling, or you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling or texting 988. For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! [email protected] We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 36m 29s | ||||||
| 10/12/26 | What’s cooler than being cool? | The future of quantum computing depends on getting way colder than ice cold — down to some of the coldest temperatures in the universe. The quest to build these super refrigerators takes us to nuclear bomb stockpiles, the moon, and … Party City? Guest: Zack Savitsky, science journalist, author of Cold Rush To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix! For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected]We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 28m 34s | ||||||
| 10/7/26 | How does music move us? (feat. Sylvan Esso's Amelia Meath) | Music can give us goosebumps. It can make us cry. It can make us move. How? Guests: Amelia Meath, songwriter and singer in Sylvan Esso; Elizabeth Margulis, director of the Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University and author of On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected]We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 32m 09s | ||||||
| 10/5/26 | What color is a tennis ball? | Is it yellow? Is it green? Or what if, as one scientist argues, “there’s no such thing as a color?” Guest: Bevil Conway, visual artist and neuroscientist at the National Eye Institute To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix! For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected] We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 27m 34s | ||||||
| 9/28/26 | The bodies buried in the bog | When things fall into bogs, they sometimes wind up being beautifully preserved. This includes bodies, sometimes dating back thousands of years. We’re still trying to understand who was buried in the bogs and why. Guest: Anna North, journalist and author of Bog Queen To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix! For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected] We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 26m 18s | ||||||
| 9/23/26 | What happened to the giant bugs? | Once upon a time (around 300 million years ago), Earth was home to massive dragonfly-like insects and two meter long millipede-like creatures. Why did they die off? Guests: Ned Snelling, professor of experimental physiology at the University of Pretoria; Jon Harrison, professor of environmental physiology at Arizona State University For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! [email protected] We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 27m 15s | ||||||
| 9/21/26 | Dark matter and the end of answers | Five-sixths of all the matter in the universe is this invisible stuff called dark matter, and scientists barely understand what it is. So what happens if we can't answer arguably the biggest mystery in the universe? One physicist decided to quit because he started asking questions that went way beyond what he initially thought science was for. Guest: Joseph Howlett, reporter at Scientific American To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix! For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! [email protected] We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 35m 00s | ||||||
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| 9/16/26 | What happened before the big bang? | It's a question that seems impossible to grapple with, but scientists won't take no for an answer. In this collaboration with Scientific American, we take on the big bang and a whole bunch of seemingly impossible questions. Guests: Rachel Feltman, host of the Science Quickly podcast; Sarah Scoles, senior contributor at Scientific American For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected]We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 26m 28s | ||||||
| 9/14/26 | What's the oldest story ever told? | An astrophysicist uses the motion of the stars to argue that a single story has been told for 100,000 years. A cognitive anthropologist has questions. Guests: Ray Norris, astrophysicist; Manvir Singh, cognitive anthropologist at the University of California, Davis To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix! For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected] We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 27m 18s | ||||||
| 9/2/26 | synthetic biologyscientific ethics+3 | Kate AdamalaDavid Relman+1 | University of MinnesotaStanford University+3 | — | synthetic biologyscientific rules+3 | — | 36m 12s | ||
| 8/31/26 | synthetic biologyrenewable future+3 | Kate Adamala | University of MinnesotaVox | — | synthetic lifebiologist+4 | — | 34m 16s | ||
| 8/26/26 | synthetic biologylife origins+3 | Kate AdamalaJohn Glass | University of MinnesotaJCVI Synthetic Biology Group+4 | — | lifegenes+3 | — | 29m 37s | ||
| 8/24/26 | song recognitionmusic intros+3 | Charlie HardingNate Sloan+2 | NetflixSwitched on Pop+2 | — | song introsmusic perception+3 | — | 44m 19s | ||
| 8/19/26 | memorychild development+3 | Kristin OhlsonTristan Yates+1 | VoxColumbia University+2 | — | baby memorycognitive development+3 | — | 26m 36s | ||
| 8/17/26 | coral reefsclimate change+3 | Benji Jones | Vox | Republic of Palau | coral reefswarming waters+3 | — | 30m 57s | ||
| 8/10/26 | pseudosciencescience communication+3 | Hank Green | VoxSciShow+2 | — | pseudosciencescience+5 | — | 27m 05s | ||
| 8/5/26 | twilight reefsmarine ecosystems+3 | Luiz RochaJohanna Loacker+9 | California Academy of Sciences | — | twilight reefsmarine life+5 | — | 39m 40s | ||
| 8/3/26 | magnetoreceptionanimal senses+4 | Ed Yong | VoxAn Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us | — | birdsmagnetoreception+3 | — | 27m 39s | ||
| 7/29/26 | El Niñoclimate change+3 | Sean IllingDavid Wallace-Wells | The Gray AreaNew York Times+2 | — | El Niñoclimate+5 | — | 44m 14s | ||
| 7/27/26 | An argument for the sun | It can be hard to know how to interact with the sun. Some people have swung to opposite ends of the spectrum — either over-tanning or avoiding the sun entirely. But what would a middle ground look like? To watch this episode on video, find us on Netflix! Guest: Rowan Jacobsen, author of In Defense of Sunlight For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected]We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 30m 59s | ||||||
| 7/22/26 | What the Odyssey is hiding | The Late Bronze Age, when the Trojan War supposedly took place, was way more modern than Homer made it seem. But around 1177 BCE, a vast network of interconnected societies suddenly collapsed. What caused arguably the greatest societal collapse in the history of the world? Hint: It's a lot more complicated than the "Sea Peoples." Guest: Eric Cline, professor at George Washington University and author of 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscriptsFor more, go to vox.com/unexplainableAnd please email us! [email protected]We read every email.Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/membersThank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 25m 25s | ||||||
| 7/20/26 | dinosaurspaleontology+3 | Riley Black | VoxJurassic World | Mesozoic Era | dinosaurspaleontology+5 | — | 31m 43s | ||
| 7/15/26 | diagnostic errorshealthcare+3 | Alexandra Sifferlin | New York TimesVox+1 | — | diagnostic errorhealth+3 | — | 32m 21s | ||
| 7/13/26 | musiclyrics+3 | Charlie HardingDominique Vuvan | VoxNetflix+1 | — | music perceptionlyrics+3 | — | 32m 57s | ||
| 7/9/26 | Netflix announcementpodcast updates+3 | — | NetflixVox | — | UnexplainableNetflix+5 | — | 3m 03s | ||
| 7/6/26 | black holesobservable universe+5 | James Beacham | Large Hadron ColliderCERN+1 | — | black holeobservable universe+5 | — | 25m 37s | ||
| 6/29/26 | climate changeinsurance+3 | Umair IrfanKaren Clark+2 | Karen Clark & CompanyThe Gray Insurance Company+2 | — | insurance ratesclimate change+3 | — | 29m 47s | ||
| 6/24/26 | menstrual healthscientific research+3 | Jemma Evans | Vox | — | menstrual fluidresearch+3 | — | 19m 49s | ||
| 6/22/26 | lightningcosmic rays+3 | — | VoxQuanta Podcast+2 | — | lightningcosmic rays+3 | — | 27m 26s | ||
| 6/17/26 | invasive speciesenvironmental impact+3 | Julie UrbanChelsea Batavia | Penn StateVox | — | lanternfliesinvasive bugs+5 | — | 32m 52s | ||
| 6/15/26 | raw milkhealth risks+3 | Sean Rameswaram | Today, ExplainedVox | — | raw milkhealth risks+3 | — | 31m 53s | ||
| 6/10/26 | new speciesbiodiversity+3 | Benji Jones | VoxNYC species project | New York | speciesNew York+3 | — | 26m 06s | ||
| 6/8/26 | climate changedisaster response+5 | Eloise BlondiauMicah Loewinger | On the MediaFEMA+1 | — | climate changedisaster response+5 | — | 1h 00m 04s | ||
| 6/3/26 | Lyme diseasevaccine trials+3 | Vijay Sikand | Lyme vaccineVox | Connecticut | Lyme diseasevaccine+4 | — | 38m 14s | ||
| 6/1/26 | fetal cellsparenting+3 | Amy BoddyLee Nelson | University of California, Santa BarbaraFred Hutch Cancer Center+1 | — | fetal cellstissues+3 | — | 36m 15s | ||
| 5/20/26 | population explosionhuman ingenuity+3 | Bryan Walsh | VoxVox’s Future Perfect team | — | Paul Ehrlichpopulation explosion+3 | — | 16m 54s | ||
| 5/18/26 | nuclear warsurvival+3 | Ben Bradford | Are We Doomed?Vox | — | nuclear warsurvival+3 | — | 41m 43s | ||
| 5/13/26 | Black Deathhistory+4 | Hannah BarkerUlf Büntgen+1 | Arizona State UniversityUniversity of Cambridge+2 | — | Black Deathhistory+5 | — | 32m 05s | ||
| 5/11/26 | biodiversityaquifers+3 | Benji JonesAndy Gluesenkamp | Vox | — | lost speciesbiodiversity+3 | — | 28m 01s | ||
| 4/29/26 | dark matter musicspace+3 | Beatie Wolfe | Vox | — | dark mattermusic+5 | — | 33m 54s | ||
| 4/27/26 | bioluminescencemysteries of life+3 | Daniel OblakRodolfo Antonio Salido Benítez | University of CalgarySPT Labtech+1 | — | glowbioluminescence+3 | — | 27m 30s | ||
| 4/22/26 | inflammationdisease+3 | Dylan Scott | Vox | — | inflammationdisease+3 | — | 32m 03s | ||
| 4/20/26 | silenceaudio storytelling+3 | Noam Hassenfeld | Sound SchoolVox | — | silenceaudio+3 | — | 27m 44s | ||
| 4/15/26 | microbesspace travel+3 | K.T. RameshLily Zhao | Johns Hopkins UniversityVox+1 | — | microbesspace+5 | — | 26m 18s | ||
| 4/13/26 | moon explorationNASA missions+3 | Anne McClainScott Kelly+2 | NASAVox | — | moonNASA+5 | — | 31m 33s | ||
| 4/1/26 | male birth controlreproductive health+3 | Annalisa Merelli | STATVox+1 | — | birth controlmale contraception+3 | — | 27m 59s | ||
| 3/30/26 | familyhealth+3 | — | Vicks VapoRubVox+2 | — | Vicks VapoRubgrandma+3 | — | 19m 05s | ||
| 3/25/26 | ALSlanguage+3 | Casey HarrellLevana Saxon | VoxGoFundMe+2 | — | ALSmicroelectrodes+3 | — | 37m 28s | ||
| 3/23/26 | Oliver Sacksscience writing+4 | Rachel Aviv | New YorkerVox | — | Oliver SacksRachel Aviv+5 | — | 30m 52s | ||
| 3/18/26 | Botoxcosmetic treatments+4 | Jean CarruthersDavid Simpson+1 | VoxAsklepios clinic | Hamburg, GermanyMount Sinai hospital+1 | Botoxwrinkles+6 | — | 29m 02s | ||
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Distribution & Reach
About the show, platforms, and key insights.
Distribution & Reach
About the show, platforms, and key insights.
Vox is a well-regarded media company known for its explanatory journalism that breaks down complex topics across various domains, including science, politics, and culture. As an independent podcast creator, Vox has carved a niche in the podcasting space with its engaging storytelling and thorough research. "Unexplainable" stands out by delving into scientific mysteries and unresolved questions, encouraging listeners to explore the unknown. The podcast features a team of skilled storytellers—Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott—who present their findings in an accessible format, releasing new episodes twice a week. The show attracts a diverse audience drawn to science enthusiasts and curious minds eager for intellectual stimulation. Listeners gain insight into perplexing scientific phenomena, enriching their understanding of the world while enjoying the thrill of exploration beyond known boundaries.
By the numbers
- Total followers: 17K
- Total plays: 1.0M
- Total reviews: 2.2K
Platforms
TuneIn
- Followers: 1.7K
Castbox
- Followers: 1.1K
- Plays: 20K
YouTube
- Subscribers: 7.7K
- Views: 1.0M
- Videos: 661
Podcast App
- Followers: 2.3K
- Reviews: 2.2K
Podcast Republic
- Followers: 4.5K
- Reviews: 16
Audience
professionals
Key insights
What the show covers
- scientific inquiries
- deep dives into topics
- investigation of complex phenomena
- engagement with scientific concepts
Audience interests
- scientific mysteries
- unanswered questions
- exploration of the unknown
- curiosity about science
Platform reach
- available on major podcast platforms
- part of Vox Media Podcast Network
- no specific platforms detected
- unknown total followers
Publishing consistency
- active for five years
- new episodes on Mondays
- new episodes on Wednesdays
- weekly or more often
Chart history for Unexplainable
Peaked at #1 in Germany, top 10 in 50 of 50 tracked markets, currently #1 in Germany.
| Market | Genre | Peak | Current | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| PL | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| GR | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| AE | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| India | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| VN | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| AR | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| South Africa | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Australia | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| Ireland | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| New Zealand | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| Netherlands | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| BE | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| Finland | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| IS | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| RO | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| PH | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| MY | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| Brazil | — | #2 | #2 | — |
| United Kingdom | — | #3 | #3 | — |
Chart Positions
50 placements across 45 markets.
Chart Positions
50 placements across 45 markets.