Is our response to music hard-wired or culturally determined? Is the reaction to rhythm and melody universal or influenced by environment? John Schaefer, scientist Daniel Levitin, and musical artist Bobby McFerrin engage in live performances and cross-cultural demonstrations to illustrate music’s noteworthy interaction with the brain and our emotions.

By 2050, one of every four people on Earth will go hungry unless food production more than doubles. Science-based agriculture has proposed unconventional new tools—earthworms, bacteria, and even genes from sunny daffodils—to meet this towering challenge. But will such innovative ideas be enough?

Renowned cosmologist David Spergel joins Brian Greene to discuss the triumphs and tensions of precision cosmology, exploring remarkable successes as well as persistent discrepancies bedeviling current understanding. This program is …

You exist. You shouldn’t. Stars and galaxies and planets exist. They shouldn’t. The nascent universe contained equal parts matter and antimatter that should have instantly obliterated each other, turning the …

Will Kinney joins Brian Greene to explore whether leading-edge cosmological theories can avoid a beginning to time. This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John …

How do we develop a sense of who we truly are? Do we perceive ourselves as science defines us? While some scientists think our identities are a product of our …