The Joy of Why
Quanta Magazine / Steven Strogatz
Big questions in physics, biology, and math, tackled by experts in each field.
Why we picked this
We picked The Joy of Why for the caliber of its questions. Host Steven Strogatz, a mathematician himself, treats advanced research not as a spectacle but as a shared puzzle. He presses experts—on cryptography, paleontology, category theory—to expose the mechanics of their fields: why P versus NP underpins your phone's security, how fossilized melanosomes reveal dinosaur color, what abstraction offers art students. The show trades easy wonder for actual structure. If you want to hear how working scientists and mathematicians frame the problems that occupy them, subscribe here.
Recent episodes
How Fast Is the Universe Really Expanding?
Jul 23, 20261h 4m
Will We Ever Find Alien Civilizations?
Jul 9, 202653 min
What Is the Positive Grassmannian and Why Does It Show Up Everywhere?
Jun 25, 202651 min
What’s the Future of Gene Editing?
Jun 11, 202651 min
More Conversations, Complex Questions, and Bold Ideas in Season Five of ‘The Joy of Why’
Jun 4, 20261 min
Do Beautiful Birds Have an Evolutionary Advantage?
Aug 21, 202546 min
How Can Math Protect Our Data?
Aug 7, 202539 min
Why Did The Universe Begin?
Jul 24, 202552 min
How Can Regional Models Advance Climate Science?
Jul 10, 202545 min
How Does Graph Theory Shape Our World?
Jun 26, 202534 min
Does Form Really Shape Function?
Jun 12, 202547 min
Will We Ever Prove String Theory?
May 29, 202548 min
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