The Edge
A podcast for surviving our modern world. With help from UC Berkeley experts, California magazine editors Laura Smith and Leah Worthington explore cutting-edge, often controversial ideas in science, technology, and society. Should you be able to choose your baby’s IQ? Are algorithms really smarter than people? As we face a planet devastated by climate change, what is the future of food? All that and more. A production of California magazine and the Cal Alumni Association. // Reported and hosted by Laura Smith and Leah Worthington; produced by Coby McDonald; artwork by Michiko Toki; original music by Mogli Maureal
Episodes
28 episodes
#27 Life, the Universe, and Everything with Alex Filippenko
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 chasi...
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56:58
#26 Psychedelics with Gül Dölen
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 surp...
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42:28
#25 The Heat with Jeff Goodell
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 biblica...
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38:29
#24 Long COVID with Dr. Kim Rhoads
Nearly four years have passed since COVID swept the globe, infecting millions and bringing society to a grinding halt. The ensuing months saw strict mask mandates, revolutionary vaccines, new viral strains, and—finally—a return to some s...
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33:10
#23 Exploding Stars and Other Cosmic Mysteries with Sarafina Nance
Roughly every second, a star explodes. Beyond treating astronomers to a radiant light display, these dramatic supernova events contain vast amounts of information about the origin, behavior, and ultimate demise of our universe. UC Berkel...
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37:04
#22 The Edge Presents 'Climate, Hope and Science' from The Science of Happiness
We’re back with something a little different this month. In the wake of this year’s historic floods, wildfires, and hurricanes, we asked ourselves: What would it look like to take a more optimistic attitude towards slowing climate change...
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26:16
#21 Abolish Race (in Medicine)!
For centuries, doctors have medically treated people differently according to their race because they believed that race was biological. But in recent years, medical professionals and activists have argued that this is both wrongheaded a...
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31:19
#20 Abolish Cars!
Car-free streets are no longer just an urban fantasy. In cities across the nation, a movement is growing to return the streets to the people. In this episode, we talk to two advocates from UC Berkeley about their quest to ‘pedestrianize’...
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18:33
#19 You Snooze, You... Win?
The teens are not alright! In fact, they’re experiencing a sleep crisis. In this episode, we talk to journalist and UC Berkeley grad Lisa Lewis about why teens have different sleep needs than the rest of us and how she worked to get more...
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21:09
BONUS: #18 Into the Ishi Wilderness
Today, we’re featuring the audio version of California magazine’s recent cover story, “Into the Ishi Wilderness.” In 1911, a Yahi Native American man walked out of the wilderness near Oroville, California. The famed an...
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27:31
#17 Hey Mom, I’m an Influencer!
These days, kids want to be social media influencers when they grow up. But is it a viable career? And what does our ever-growing social media obsession mean for society? In this episode, we talk to TikTok star and UC Berkeley grad Talia...
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28:44
#16 I Once Was Blind, But Now?
How is it possible to be blind and able to see at the same time? In this episode, we explore a bizarre, paradoxical neurological condition called blindsight, which challenges everything we think we know about vision—and offers insight in...
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34:14
#15 I’m in Love with a Robot
It’s not easy coming up with the perfect opening line on Tinder. Should you play it cute? Ask a thought-provoking question? Woo them with a witty remark? One entrepreneur thinks he has the answer: robot-generated text. Artificial intelligence i...
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36:59
#14 Blockchain for the People
You hear about blockchain everywhere: social media, the news, the guy next door. Some say that in a few years, everyone will use it for everything, much like the internet. But right now we’re in the early days, and it’s pretty Wild West. (T...
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22:48
#13 Should We Bring Back Woolly Mammoths?
Passenger pigeons. Woolly mammoths. Neanderthals. They’re all extinct. But what if we could bring them back? And if we could, should we? Geneticists are exploring de-extincting extinct and near-extinct species, but ethical and logistical pr...
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43:40
#12 2021: A Space Hotel Odyssey
Since the first human left Earth’s atmosphere in 1961, few earthlings—and even fewer private citizens—have had the opportunity to “boldly go” there. But, with new advancements from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other spaceflight companies, wealt...
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33:29
#11 A Completed Life
Five years after 29-year-old, terminally ill Brittany Maynard makes national news by choosing to end her life early, medically assisted death continues to face enormous legal and social barriers. And yet public support of the practice is high. ...
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46:11
#10 A Shroom of One's Own
Half a century after the counterculture movement swept through the Bay Area and “mind altering substances” were banished from the laboratory, researchers at the new UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics are reviving a long-buri...
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32:43
#9 You Say Couch Potato, I Say Athlete
How did video gaming, or esports, make it from your parents’ basement to the big leagues? Laura and Leah discuss with student esport “athletes,” an administrator, and a team owner. Also discussed: why UC Berkeley is investing in gaming as a car...
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26:51
#8 Control-Alt-Meat
After an unsettling encounter with a turkey, Laura resolves to eat less meat and takes Leah on a journey through the alternative meat industry. Will real, flesh and blood meat be obsolete in 15 years, as one industry leader suggests? Laura and ...
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28:12
#7 Hey Siri, Write Me a Poem
When a Berkeley student launches an AI-generated blog that goes viral, Leah and Laura wonder if robots will soon replace us all. Will the journalists, novelists, and poets of the future be robots? What does this mean for art? Programmer/poet...
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46:56
#6 Are Cities Over?
As reopenings stall and some companies extend work-from-home indefinitely, Leah and Laura wonder what the future of cities looks like. Will all the yuppies flee to the countryside? Will mom-and-pop retail survive? Architect and UC Berkeley p...
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29:01
#5 Can You Make Your Baby Glow?
Can you pick your baby’s gender? What about their IQ? And what’s to stop people from editing their babies genes to make them glow? Laura and Leah talk to a UC Berkeley researcher, an entrepreneur, and an ethicist about some exciting, and con...
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44:13