Can we look into the past? Does the universe have an edge? What’s so great about a total solar eclipse? Have we been visited by aliens? Astrophysicist Alex Filippenko joins Editor-in-Chief Pat Joseph live onstage to discuss eclipse chasing, dark energy, and the abiding mysteries of the universe.

Further reading:

• Watch the full live conversation with Alex Filppenko on YouTube
• Buy your tickets for “Enthralled: What Explains Our Unshakeable Fascination with Cults?” with Poulomi Saha on March 27

This episode was produced by Coby McDonald.

Special thanks to Alex Filippenko, Pat Joseph, and Nat Alcantara. Art by Michiko Toki and original music by Mogli Maureal. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions.

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Octopuses and humans have very little in common. It’s not just a matter of their eight limbs and cool camouflage—we haven’t had a shared ancestor for more than half a billion years, before dinosaurs walked the earth. But there’s one surprising thing we do seem to share: MDMA makes us both a lot cuddlier. For neuroscientist Gül Dölen, this was a huge insight into the powerful role psychoactive drugs can play in animal social behavior. Now a pioneer in the burgeoning field of psychedelic research at UC Berkeley, Dölen discusses her quest to understand how these drugs could be harnessed as tools in learning and therapeutics.

Further reading:

• Gül Dölen’s 2019 Nature paper “Oxytocin-dependent reopening of a social reward learning critical period with MDMA”
• Gül Dölen’s 2018 Current Biology paper “A Conserved Role for Serotonergic Neurotransmission in Mediating Social Behavior in Octopus”
• UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics launches new online course on “Psychedelics and the Mind”
• Altered States, a new podcast from from PRX and the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics about “what science can tell us about psychedelics and what psychedelics can tell us about ourselves”

This episode was written and hosted by Leah Worthington and produced by Coby McDonald.

Special thanks to Pat Joseph, Nathalia Alcantara, and Gül Dölen. Art by Michiko Toki and original music by Mogli Maureal. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions.

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Don’t let the term “climate change” mislead you. It’s true that our environment is changing in all sorts of ways as we continue to pollute and exploit and manipulate our planet. But even as we brace for more historic typhoons and biblical floods, there's an invisible and pervasive force that is wreaking havoc on us all: heat. In this episode, we speak with environmental journalist and Berkeley alumnus Jeff Goodell about his latest book, The Heat Will Kill You First, the potentially lethal effects that rising temperatures will have on our lives and on our planet, and what we can do to prepare for it.

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