Best Michael Robinson Historian Of Science Podcasts (2025)

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Artificial General Intelligence, Part II 25:43

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5d ago25:43

25:43

Part two of my interview with Julian Togelius, who talks about the history of machine learning, the quest for Artificial General Intelligence, and the difficulties AI researchers have in defining exactly what intelligence is. Togelius is an associate professor of Computer Science at New York University. He is the author of Artificial General Intell…

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Artificial General Intelligence, Part I 30:54

3M ago30:54

30:54

In the first of two episodes, Julian Togelius talks about the history of machine learning, the quest for Artificial General Intelligence, and the difficulties AI researchers have in defining exactly what intelligence is. Togelius is an associate professor of Computer Science at New York University. He is the author of Artificial General Intelligenc…

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Replay: Inventing the World 28:25

3M ago28:25

28:25

Meredith Small talks about the city of Venice and its importance to the history of travel and exploration. Small is professor emerita at Cornell University. She’s the author of Inventing the World: Venice and the Transformation of Western Civilization

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The Habitable Worlds Observatory 45:35

4M ago45:35

45:35

Dr. Giada Arney talks about the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a space telescope that, when it’s built and launched into space, will be able to image planets in other solar systems directly, focusing on planets that may support life. Arney is a Research Space Scientist in the Planetary Systems Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She’s al…

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Replay: Icebound 32:39

4M ago32:39

32:39

In the late 1500s, Dutch navigator William Barrents sailed north in search of a Northeast Passage to Asia. This expedition and a second one both suffered hardships, but they were mild in comparison with the horrors of the third expedition. Andrea Pitzer talks about the Arctic voyages of William Barents and their impact on Europe for centuries to co…

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The Europa Clipper and the Search for Extraterrestrial LIfe 39:56

5M ago39:56

39:56

Claire Isabel Webb talks about the Europa Clipper mission and NASA’s broader agenda to find life on other worlds. Webb is a historian of science and directs the Future Humans program at the Berggruen Institute. Her opinion piece, “Can We Please Just Find the Aliens Already,” was published by the New York Times in October, 2024…

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Replay: Enemy of All Mankind 30:51

5M ago30:51

30:51

Steven Johnson talks about the British pirate Henry Every and his improbable capture of the Mughal treasure ship, Gunsway. Johnson is the author of twelve books, including Enemy of All Mankind, Farsighted, Where Good Ideas Come From, and The Ghost Map. He’s also the host of the PBS series How We Got To Now and the podcast American Innovations.…

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Mountains, Writers, and Travelers in the 18th Century Alps 36:12

6M ago36:12

36:12

Célia Abele talks about Wolfgang von Goethe, the French writer Chateaubriand, and the German physicist Georg Lichtenberg. These writers became fascinated in the Alps and volcanoes such as Vesuvius. Abele is an assistant professor of French at Boston College. She’s the author of “Mountain Time: Tense Futures and Present Pasts in the Alps and Vesuviu…

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On the Backs of Others: Rethinking the History of British Geographical Exploration 36:47

8M ago36:47

36:47

Ed Armston-Sheret returns to Time to Eat the Dogs to talk about British geographical expeditions and the labor that made them possible, specifically the labor of local peoples that is frequently omitted from explorer accounts. Armston-Sheret is a Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London. He’s the author of On the Backs o…

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Replay: Quantum Legacies 38:54

9M ago38:54

38:54

David Kaiser talks about the history of twentieth-century physics and the forces that have shaped it as a scientific discipline. Kaiser is a Professor of the History of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is also a Professor of Physics. He’s the author of Quantum Legacies: Dispatches from an Uncertain World.…

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Mungo Park's Ghost 32:35

11M ago32:35

32:35

Dane Kennedy talks about Mungo Park’s troubled expeditions in West Africa and the rescue expeditions that set off to find him. Kennedy is an emeritus professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University. He has written eight books including Mungo Park’s Ghost: The Haunted Hubris of British Explorers in Nineteenth-Century A…

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Replay: The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure 29:38

1y ago29:38

29:38

Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees talk about the voyage of the Vrouw Maria and the long quest to find the ship under the waters of the Archipelago Sea off the coast of Finland. Easter is a professor of history at Boston College. Vorhees is a travel writer for Lonely Planet with an expertise in Russia, New England, and Central America. They are the aut…

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The Challenger Disaster 46:24

1y ago46:24

46:24

Adam Higginbotham talks about the history of the Space Shuttle program and the decisions that made the Challenger explosion almost inevitable. Higgenbotham is a journalist and contributing writer for the New Yorker, Wired, and the New York Times. His book Midnight in Chernobyl won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-Fiction and was sele…

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Replay: Portuguese Exploration After the Age of Discovery 37:33

1y ago37:33

37:33

Catarina Madruga talks about Portuguese exploration in the nineteenth century as European powers made plans to conquer Africa and colonize its peoples. Madruga is a post-doctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum of Berlin. She’s the author of “Expert at a Distance: Barbosa du Bocage and the Production of Scientific Knowledge on Africa,” Jou…

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An Empire of Solitude: Isolation and the Cold War Sciences of the Mind 41:18

1+ y ago41:18

41:18

Historian of science Jeffery Mathias talks about scientific experiments in isolation during the Cold War. Mathias is the author of the Ph.D dissertation, "An Empire of Solitude: Isolation and the Cold War Sciences of the Mind.”

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The Making of French Polar Exploration 28:40

2y ago28:40

28:40

Alexandre Simon-Ekeland talks about explorers, the Polar Regions, and the French imagination. Simon-Ekeland recently completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of Oslo. He is the author of Making French Polar Exploration, 1860s-1930s.

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Sovietistan 33:59

5y ago33:59

33:59

Erika Fatland talks about her long journey through the Central Asian republics and the legacy of Soviet influence there. Fatland is the author of many books and essays including Sovietistan: A Journey Through Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.By Michael Robinson

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Replay: American Arctic Exploration 38:34

5y ago38:34

38:34

Al Zambone talks with me about American polar exploration, the origin of Time to Eat the Dogs, and the history of science as an academic discipline. Zambone is the host of the podcast Historically Thinking. He’s the author of Daniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life. You can hear an extended version of this interview on the Historically Thinking podcast…

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How to be an African Travel Writer in Africa 36:16

5y ago36:16

36:16

Emmanuel Iduma talks about his experiences traveling through Africa and his quest to find a new language of travel. Iduma is a writer and lecturer at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His stories and essays have been published in Best American Travel Writing 2020 and the New York Review of Books. He is the author of A Stranger’s Pose, which wa…

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Replay: The Mystery of Altitude Sickness 23:47

5y ago23:47

23:47

Lachlan Fleetwood talks about debates about altitude sickness in the Himalaya and the ways these debates became tied up with ideas about the physiology of Europeans and Himalayans in the 1800s. Fleetwood is the author of “Bodies in High Places: Exploration, Altitude Sickness, and the Problem of Bodily Comparison in the Himalaya, 1800-50,” published…

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Empires of the Sky 39:31

5y ago39:31

39:31

Alexander Rose talks about the history of airplanes and airships at the turn of the century, a time when the direction of aviation remained unclear. Rose is the author of Empires of the Sky: Zeppelins, Airplanes, and Two Men’s Epic Duel to Rule the World.By Michael Robinson

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Replay: Love, Travel, and Separation 30:59

5y ago30:59

30:59

Kate Hollander talks about Bertolt Brecht’s life and work. She also talks about the community of artists who were his friends, lovers, and collaborators. Hollander is a historian of modern Europe. She’s also the author of a book of poems, My German Dictionary, which was awarded the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize by USA Poet Laureate Charles Wright.…

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Why Did Scientists Collect the Blood of Indigenous Peoples? 30:48

5y ago30:48

30:48

Emma Kowal talks about the history of biospecimen collection among the aboriginal peoples of Australia. Kowal is a cultural and medical anthropologist at Deakin University. She’s the co-author, along with Joanna Radin, of "Indigenous Biospecimen Collections and the Cryopolitics of Frozen Life," published in the Journal of Sociology.…

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Replay: Floating Coast 34:35

5y ago34:35

34:35

Bathsheba Demuth talks about the history and exploration of the Bering Strait, from the early 1800s to the present day. Demuth is Assistant Professor of History & Environment and Society at Brown University. She’s the author of Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait.By Michael Robinson

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A History of Modern Tourism 34:39

5y ago34:39

34:39

Eric Zuelow talks about the origins of tourism from the era of the European Grand Tour through the twenty-first century where is has become – until the current pandemic at least – the largest service sector industry in the world. Zuelow is a professor of European History at the University of New England. He’s the author of A History of Modern Touri…

Michael Robinson Historian Of Science Podcasts

1
Time to Eat the Dogs

Michael Robinson: historian of science and exploration

1
Artificial General Intelligence, Part II 25:43

1
Artificial General Intelligence, Part I 30:54

1
Replay: Inventing the World 28:25

1
The Habitable Worlds Observatory 45:35

1
Replay: Icebound 32:39

1
The Europa Clipper and the Search for Extraterrestrial LIfe 39:56

1
Replay: Enemy of All Mankind 30:51

1
Mountains, Writers, and Travelers in the 18th Century Alps 36:12

1
On the Backs of Others: Rethinking the History of British Geographical Exploration 36:47

1
Replay: Quantum Legacies 38:54

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Mungo Park's Ghost 32:35

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Replay: The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure 29:38

1
The Challenger Disaster 46:24

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Replay: Portuguese Exploration After the Age of Discovery 37:33

1
An Empire of Solitude: Isolation and the Cold War Sciences of the Mind 41:18

1
The Making of French Polar Exploration 28:40

1
Sovietistan 33:59

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Replay: American Arctic Exploration 38:34

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How to be an African Travel Writer in Africa 36:16

1
Replay: The Mystery of Altitude Sickness 23:47

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Empires of the Sky 39:31

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Replay: Love, Travel, and Separation 30:59

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Why Did Scientists Collect the Blood of Indigenous Peoples? 30:48

1
Replay: Floating Coast 34:35

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A History of Modern Tourism 34:39