There’s almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, soy milk, hazelnut milk, oat milk, and milk made from anything that grows, pretty much. But is any of it actually milk? And is it actually healthier than dairy? Our debunker-in-chief, Maria Konnikova, investigates the lofty claims of nondairy milks. Konnikova is a contributor to the New Yorker, and the author of The Confidence Game. Her new podcast is called the Grift.
In today’s Spiel, the White House’s long con on infrastructure.
Movie Review - Alien: Covenant; News Items: Dinosaur Proteins Questioned, Another Gravitational Wave, Bigelow on Aliens, Don't Put Wasps Nests In Your Vagina; Who's That Noisy, Science or Fiction
Are you just six handshakes away from every other person on Earth? Two mathematicians set out to prove we’re all connected.
You have probably heard the phrase “six degrees of separation,” the idea that you’re connected to everyone else on Earth by a chain of just six people. It has inspired a Broadway play, a film nerd’s game, called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”...and even a No Doubt song! But is it true? In the ‘90s, two mathematicians set out to discover just how connected we really are—and ended up launching a new field of science in the process.
Annie holds one of Milgram’s “Letter Experiment” mailings sent to June Shields in Wichita, Kansas. Accessed at the Yale University archives.
(Credit: Elah Feder)
A version of psychologist Stanley Milgram’s “Letter Experiment” mailings. “Could you, as an active American, contact another American citizen regardless of his walk of life?” Milgram and his team wrote. They asked for recipients' help in finding out. Accessed at the Yale University archives.
(Credit: Elah Feder)
(Original art by Claire Merchlinsky)
GUESTS
Duncan Watts, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, author of Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age
Steven Strogatz, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, author of SyncAndrew Leifer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute at Princeton University
FOOTNOTES
Read Duncan Watts’ and Steven Strogatz’s breakthrough 1998 Nature paper on small-world networks.
Read Stanley Milgram’s 1967 article about his letter experiment in Psychology Today.
Watch Duncan and Steve discuss the past and future of small-world networks at Cornell.
WatchC. elegans' brain glow! And read more about the brain imaging work happening in Andrew Leifer’s lab.
Browse the small-world network of C. elegans’ 302 neurons at wormweb.org.
Read Facebook’s analysis of Facebook users’ “degrees of separation.”
Just for funsies, a network analysis of Game of Thrones.
CREDITS
This episode of Undiscovered was reported and produced by Annie Minoff and Elah Feder. Editing by Christopher Intagliata. Fact-checking help by Michelle Harris. Original music by Daniel Peterschmidt. Additional music by Podington Bear and Lee Rosevere. Our theme music is by I am Robot and Proud. Art for this episode by Claire Merchlinsky. Story consulting by Ari Daniel. Engineering help from Sarah Fishman. Recording help from Alexa Lim. Thanks to Science Friday’s Danielle Dana, Christian Skotte, Brandon Echter, and Rachel Bouton.
In this episode, the Goods from the Woods Boys are talkin' about the Steiner Brothers, raising rabbits, and about our guest, comedian Harry Moroz, trying to get his friends laid like a miniature "Hitch". This episode contains one of the funniest stories we've ever heard. Give us a listen today! Song of the week this week: "Romeo" by Gino Washington. Follow the show @TheGoodsPod Rivers is @RiversLangley Dr. Pat is @PM_Reilly Mr. Goodnight is @SepulvedaCowboy Pick up a Goods from the Woods t-shirt at: http://prowrestlingtees.com/TheGoodsPod
Woohoo, it's the 500th episode of Money Girl! Let's celebrate by going behind the scenes. Laura shares the Money Girl story, how she got started as a personal finance expert and author, how the podcast began, its major influence on her career, and how the show gets created for you each week. Get the Money Girl book at http://www.MoneyGirlBook.com.
In this freewheeling episode, Andrew walks through a recent decision in California regarding a key employee who worked on self-driving cars and was recruited by a competitor. First, however, the guys talk about Episode #73's discussion with Travis Wester and what lessons hopefully we all can take away from it, including answering a listener question from Lyman Smith on how to go about finding primary sources. Next, the guys discuss "Mr. Met" and the doctrines of factual and legal impossibility. Can a four-fingered mascot really give anyone the "middle" finger?? In the main segment, Andrew breaks down the recent federal court opinion in California enjoining a former Waymo employee from working on Uber's self-driving car program, and along the way highlights the differences between non-compete clauses, non-solicitation clauses, and trade secrets. After that, Andrew tells a fun story in answering a listener question from Michael Grace regarding the craziest legal argument Andrew's ever heard. Finally, we end with the answer to Thomas Takes the Bar Exam question #26 about composite sketches inspired by dead witnesses. We'll release a new #TTTBE question this Friday, and, as always, answer that question the following Tuesday. Don't forget to play along by following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and/or our Facebook Page and quoting the Tweet or Facebook Post that announces this episode along with your guess and reason(s), and don't forget that patrons who support us at any level get early access to the answers (and usually a fun post analyzing the question in more detail). Recent Appearances: None! Have us on your show! Show Notes & Links
