Climate scientist Bronwen Konecky travels to tropical regions around the world gathering evidence of the geologic past. Using data from rain samples and sediments deep at the bottom of lakes, she is piecing together a story about Earth's climatic history – and what it can tell us about our planet's future.

Mud cores, rain gauges, and the hunt for climate data

Religious studies scholars Elaine Pagels and Laurie Maffly-Kipp discuss the Book of Revelation and how it has been interpreted across time, as well as the personal side of their writing and research.

Reading revelation

Rebecca Copeland and Laura Miller, coeditors of "Diva Nation: Female Icons from Japanese Cultural History," discuss queens, goddesses, and the nature of “diva-hood.”

Diva Nation

Ahead of the midterm elections, Steve Fazzari explores the current state of the economy and explains why widely cited unemployment and growth numbers don't give a full picture.

How good is the US economy, really?

Over thousands of years, by trial and error, humankind has learned how to produce superior materials for different types of processing. Physicist Ken Kelton talks about materials through the ages.

Materials through the ages

This Fourth of July, visitors to Washington University's Olin Library will have the chance to see a rare piece of history - an early copy of the Declaration of Independence known as the Southwick Broadside. Historian David Konig and curator Cassie Brand discuss the historical significance of the broadside, the process of conserving and displaying the document, and their hopes for the exhibition.

The Southwick Broadside

The apostle Peter was a leader and role model in early Christianity - or was he? According to Lance Jenott, a lecturer of classics and religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis, how we understand Peter depends on who is telling the story.

Saint Peter, According to Mark

Biologist Elizabeth Haswell wants to change the way that people think about plants. What do we know about how plants sense their environment, and what remains a mystery? The answers may surprise you. Haswell teaches biology at Washington University in St. Louis and is host of The Taproot podcast.

The Secret Lives of Plants

This Valentine's Day, we bring you a story of frog romance and economics - with a side of math and 1960s game shows. Which mate will the frog bachelorette choose, and how does her choice relate to human decision-making? Economist Paulo Natenzon connects the dots.

Frog love and the decoy effect

A competition for a million-dollar grant leads biologist Joe Jez to creative an innovative program for first-year and sophomore students.

Becoming a Biotech Explorer

Hold That Thought brings you research and ideas from Arts &amp; Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Throughout the year we select a few topics to explore and then bring together thoughtful commentary on those topics from a variety of experts and sources. Be sure to subscribe!

Well designed podcast with subjects presented in attention-holding ways.

Very interesting and well put-together podcast.

Sexiest voice on the radio, brings you a great podcast.

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Hold That Thought

Whether or not you can play the drums or keep your body in rhythm out on the dance floor, if you're reading this sentence, you're participating in the unheard music of language. In his research at Washington University in St. Louis, linguist Brett Hyde, assistant professor of philosophy, delves into the rhythms behind every conversation. By studying the accent patterns of languages around the world, Hyde's goal is to discover the underlying principles that organize these patterns. Feel free to clap along as you hear about the connections between music, poetry, and the distinct beats of every sentence ever spoken.

The Music Of Conversation

In her forthcoming book, Routes of Terror: Gender, Health and Power in the Eighteenth Century Middle Passage, assistant professor Sowande' Mustakeem reveals the forgotten world of 18th century slave ships. In today's podcast, she shares the story of one enslaved woman and discusses why it's so important for Americans to confront this foundational, brutal chapter of history. Mustakeem's research focuses on the experiences of those most frequently left out of the history of the Middle Passage - women, children, the elderly, and the diseased.

Confronting the Middle Passage

During the late 1800s, industrialization transformed cities across the United States. Things most of us take for granted, like sanitation, skyscrapers, and window shopping, were just starting to enter urban life. What did cities look like during this time of rapid growth and change? What was it like to walk down those streets? In the first of two podcasts devoted to turn of the century Chicago, Margaret Garb, associate professor of history at Washington University in St. Louis, brings the "city of the big shoulders" to life.

City of the Big Shoulders

The Winter Solstice is on December 21 and marks the shortest day of the year, which was once a very important day to many cultures. In fact, there are thousands of structures across the globe, including the impressive Stonehenge, built by our early ancestors to predict the equinoxes and solstices. So why did they make all this effort? Michael Friedlander, a professor emeritus of physics, and John Kelly, a senior lecturer in archaeology, both at Washington University in St. Louis, introduce us to the field of archaeoastronomy, which they use to examine one of the greatest pre-Columbian civilizations in the United States: Cahokia.

Digging into Archaeoastronomy

For people who have grown up being able to hear, it's easy to equate language with speech - the audible conversations that make up so much of human day-to-day communication. However, for some 70 million people around the world, these types of conversations happen in silence. Stephanie Berk, a postdoctoral research associate in linguistics and neurology, studies the linguistics of sign language and has worked with children who - because parents were at first unaware of their child's deafness - began learning their first language later in life. In collaboration with the Washington University School of Medicine, she is now beginning to look into the human brain to see what American Sign Language (ASL) can reveal about how humans learn and process any language, whether spoken or seen.

Language Seen, Not Heard

In a recent article in the Guardian, postdoctoral fellow Tim Shenk argues that Donald Trump's rise within the Republican Party has historical - and often overlooked - roots. From an obscure online journal to a best-selling book from 1941 and beyond, Shenk traces the hidden and surprising intellectual path of what we now call Trumpism. Understanding this history, Shenk believes, helps illuminate Trump's popularity, his reliance on Twitter, his clashes with fellow Republicans, and more.

The Hidden History of Trumpism

Scientists agree that breast milk is good for babies, but E.A. Quinn believes there's a lot more to learn. Join Quinn on a recent research trip to a remote valley in Nepal, where she works with community partners to understand the health of mothers and infants under extreme conditions. How is human milk different in the Himalayan highlands than in the United States? What can these differences reveal about what moms and babies everywhere need to be healthy? Hear Quinn describe her fieldwork, what she's found out so far, and why she's so fascinated by this "incredible fluid."

Milk at Altitude: Exploring Health in the Himalayas

In the Victorian era, just after the birth of the electric lightbulb, a novel remedy was developed for women diagnosed with a mysterious ailment called "hysteria." In 2010, Sarah Ruhl wrote In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) about a doctor who specialized in these treatments. Director Henry Schvey, professor of drama and comparative literature, talks about the power of attraction and the lure of technology within this comic play, which opens April 19 at Washington University's Edison Theatre.

In the Next Room

Today, we're going back to 18th century Florence, Italy to tell the story of one museum, La Specola, and its infamous exhibit of gruesome wax anatomical models. At the time of its founding in 1771, the new Archduke Peter Leopold found himself confronting the deep-rooted legacy of his famous predecessors--the Medici. La Specola quickly became the crux of a larger movement within Tuscany, and the museum and its wax inhabitants helped set the course for a new Enlightenment era. Rebecca Messbarger, a professor of Italian and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, is our guide, and she explains how one figure, the Venus, became the central to this new regime of the human body.

Venus, Deconstructed

In 1487, when the witch trials were just starting to take root in Europe, a Dominican priest published the Malleus Maleficarum, or The Witches' Hammer, a treatise on the prosecution of witches in a court of law. This text would be used over the next three centuries as the authority on prosecuting witches, laying out the rules for the trial, torture, and why women in particular were so susceptible to witchcraft. By the end of the witch craze in the 1720s, an estimated 80,000 had been tried and executed. In this extended episode, Gerhild Williams, a professor of comparative literature at Washington University in St. Louis, breaks down the witch trial phenomenon into three parts: (1) defining the witch and the roots of these beliefs, (2) how the political landscape evolved and the contents of The Witches Hammer, and (3) how and why the witch craze took hold and what we can learn from it today.

The Witches' Hammer: Magic and Law in early modern Europe

Here in St. Louis and across the country, it has been difficult over the last two weeks to pay attention to anything other than the ongoing events in Ferguson, Missouri. The death of teenager Michael Brown and subsequent turmoil in Ferguson have sparked a nationwide conversation on race relations and inequality - a topic that Hold That Thought confronted throughout our series American Identities last fall. Over the next few weeks, we will be re-posting some of these episodes, as well as talking to faculty experts about their reactions to Ferguson.In her collection Notes from No Man's Land: American Essays, author Eula Biss asserts that "nothing is innocent." Even telephone poles are marked by the country's history of slavery and colonization. Biss pairs the personal and the political in her writing, and in Notes from No Man's Land, she offers candid reflections on the role of race in her own life and in American history. Biss teaches writing at Northwestern University.Photo: David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP Photo

Here in St. Louis and across the country, it has been difficult over the last two weeks to pay attention to anything other than the ongoing events in Ferguson, Missouri. The death of teenager Michael Brown and subsequent turmoil in Ferguson have sparked a nationwide conversation on race relations and inequality - a topic that Hold That Thought confronted throughout our series American Identities last fall. Over the next few weeks, we will be re-posting some of these episodes, as well as talking to faculty experts about their reactions to Ferguson.<br><br>In her collection Notes from No Man's Land: American Essays, author Eula Biss asserts that "nothing is innocent." Even telephone poles are marked by the country's history of slavery and colonization. Biss pairs the personal and the political in her writing, and in Notes from No Man's Land, she offers candid reflections on the role of race in her own life and in American history. Biss teaches writing at Northwestern University.<br><br>Photo: David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP Photo

Notes From No Man's Land

In theaters and classrooms around the world, audiences and students experience the stories and emotions behind plays penned thousands of years ago by writers like Euripidies, Plautus, and Terence. But how do these modern encounters compare with original performances, and how are scholars even able to determine what it might have been like to view one of these plays in its original setting? Timothy Moore, professor and chair of classics at Washington University in St. Louis, describes the historical context of Greek tragedies and shares his own research into the music of ancient Roman comedies.

Classical Theater

According to some estimates, just 6 percent of mothers in Peru wash their hands before preparing food. Is it possible that theater could help change this statistic? Art can surely offer personal comfort and emotional healing, but can it influence public health? By helping to develop the Arts for Behavior Change (ABC) program in Lima, Peru, Boston University music professor André de Quadros sought to answer these questions. In his research, teaching, and performances around the world, de Quadros emphasizes using the arts for social change. He spent time with the music department at Washington University in St. Louis this past fall as part of the Distinguished Visiting Scholars Program.

Theater for Health

Oskar Kokoschka, an Austrian expressionist painter and playwright in early 20th century Vienna, had a torrid affair with a woman--his muse--named Alma Mahler. When it ended, Oskar was devastated, feeling that he couldn't live or work without her. So, he did what any man would do: he had a life-size doll likeness of Alma made, which he continued to live with to inspire his work. Henry Schvey, a director, playwright, and professor of drama and comparative literature at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote a play based on this period of Kokoschka's life. He tells the story of how he first met the artist and explains how he turned the historical facts into a play.

Courting the Muse

Ever wonder why some subjects are taught in high school while others are not, or why students spend so much time memorizing facts? According to geophysicist Michael Wysession, science curricula in the US are based on standards that are more than 120 years old, and being stuck in the past has had serious consequences. This Earth Day, learn why Wysession believes in a new approach to science education.

High-School Students Should Study Earth Science. Here's Why.

Nearly 500 years ago, the Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was first published. Readers across the country and continent began experiencing this epic, historic tale, which is still one of the most popular novels in China today. But in many cases, these readers would not have been able to have a conversation. They could read the same book, but they could not speak the same language. Robert Hegel, professor of East Asian language and cultures, describes how the existence of a common written language in China has affected Chinese literature across time.

Chinese Writing and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms

When you hear the word "metabolism," what do you think about? Thanks to the groundbreaking work of chemist Gary Patti here at Washington University in St. Louis, instead of diet or weight loss, we think: "possible cure for cancer." Patti explains how metabolism is like Google Maps, helps us understand the emerging field of metabolomics, and shares the challenges and promise of metabolism research.

Metabolism: The Google Maps of Cancer Research

Before becoming the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson was a successful lawyer in Virginia. His legal training influenced the way he thought about government and politics, yet this earlier part of his career has largely been ignored by historians. David Konig, professor of history and law at Washington University in St. Louis, has spent years analyzing the complex legal notes and papers that tell the story of Jefferson's time as an attorney. This Presidents' Day, Konig sheds light on this fascinating and neglected aspect of Jefferson's life and mind.

The Legal Mind of Thomas Jefferson

Throughout much of the 19th century, Mormons were in direct conflict with the US government. Less than a century later, Mormons were often viewed as ideal citizens. Laurie Maffly-Kipp, who is currently writing a book about the history and current status of Mormonism, gives us a glimpse into this unique example of the how religion and politics have intertwined throughout American history.

The Mormon Citizen

The best podcast episodes on Startups. For anyone working in a startup, or anyone interested in the incredible stories behind how people built companies like Instagram, and Facebook. Offering both practical advice and insights, as well as the stories for how many of the biggest startups got to where they are today. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

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Best Startups Podcasts

The best podcast episodes on romantic relationships. Episodes talk about the 5 love languages, intimacy, and the taboo topics of sexual desires and infidelity. This topic is a deep dive into the science and complexities that face us in our relationships with others. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!