Black Box | Radiolab Podcast

From the Radiolab podcast: A series of stories that celebrate the mystery and the magic of… the Black Box

In this episode, first aired in 2014, we examine three very different kinds of black boxes — spaces where we know what’s going in, we know what’s coming out, but can’t see what happens in that in-between space.

From the darkest parts of metamorphosis to a sixty-year-old secret among magicians and the nature of consciousness itself, we shine some light on three questions. But for each, we contend with an answerless space, leaving just enough room for mystery and magic… always wondering what’s inside the Black Box.

Reported and produced by Tim Howard and Molly Webster

Episode Segments:
00:00 Intro
00:50 The mystery of anesthesia
22:05 Psychics on the BBC
42:10 How did they do it? with Penn Jillette
49:15 Chrysalis

🎧 Subscribe to Radiolab wherever you listen to podcasts: https://bit.ly/3trXDLe
🔎 Subscribe to Radiolab on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3I9KI53
🖋 Subscribe to Radiolab’s Newsletter: https://radiolab.org/newsletter
🌱 Check out Radiolab's Starter Kit Playlist: https://bit.ly/3sX8f4P
👍 Like this video ✏️ and leave us a comment!

Follow Radiolab:
Instagram —   / radiolab  
Twitter —   / radiolab  
Facebook —   / radiolab  

Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab today: https://radiolab.org/the-lab

Guests in this episode include: Patrick Purdon, Julie Fenster, Carl Zimmer, Emery Brown, Jesse Cox, with clips of Sydney Piddington and Lesley Piddington on the BBC, Jim Steinmeyer, Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, Andrei Sourakov, Matthew Cobb, Philip Clayton and Martha Weiss.