September 1, 2026

This primary election day, Edgar talks with Stanford social psychologist Jon Krosnick about the state of political polling in the U.S., how the industry has changed in recent years & how the average person ought to consider polls.

We’re welcoming back Gal Tziperman Lotan for her weekly Four Things to Know segment.

We’re ending the show opening phone & text lines for “Ask the Remodeler,” with Mark Philben from Charlie Allen Renovations. This month, Mark joins with realtor Lauren Holleran to take listener questions about home buying & selling, and which renovations are worth the investment.

August 31st, 2026

We open with GBH’s Esteban Bustillos & reporter Cliff Corcoran from The IX Sports for a check-in on this inaugural season of the Women’s Professional Baseball League.

Afterwards, Edgar meets Boston Hunters Captain Alli Schroder, whose background as a firefighter with the BC Wildfire Service was the focus of recent reporting from Esteban.

Then, Edgar talks with Curiosity Desk Producer Hannah Loss and researcher David Kimbro on the fate of the soft-shell Ipswich clam – and researchers racing to protect them, in part, so we can continue eating them.

And to close, Edgar welcomes back Sean Cash from Tufts Friedman and Northeastern food security expert Gabriela Garcia for a conversation about coffee bean sourcing and how climate change puts the industry at risk.

August 28, 2026

First up, it's our misfit news panel In Case You Missed It. Guests are Rooted EP Tyree Rush and standup comic Jason Cordova. They’ll talk about the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, a Maine meteorologist’s on-air laughing fit, and a world record attempt in Chicago this weekend around the bask liqueur Malört.

Then, the ICYMI panel meets Southern Illinois University researcher Lahiru Jayakody over Zoom to talk briefly about developing an edible plastic cookie.

Also, On Sunday, NASA plans to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope a million miles into space. Joining live from the launch site in Florida, Edgar talks with NASA astrophysicist and exoplanet ambassador Anjali Tripathi.

We round out by discussing the event few weeks from now the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race. Contestants build & race wacky machines throughout the city on streets, massive mud puddles & across the Merrimack River. Edgar is a judge at the competition. Ahead of the madness, he talks with co-founder Michael Roundy and competitor Tom Calorie.

August 27, 2026

First, it's another round of the Glitch Report, with misinformation researcher Joan Donovan. Today she’s joined by tech reporter and CNN contributor Jacob Ward for ​analysis of the $17.1 billion dollar Meta settlement over social media addiction.

Then, MIT economist Jon Gruber joins with Nathaniel Hendren, founder and co-director of the group Policy Impacts. They’ll talk about what makes effective government policy, and why policy makers are so quick to get in their own way.

Lastly, it's National Peach Day today. We’re celebrating with Dan Souza from America’s Test Kitchen, who'll teach Edgar his not-yet-patented "Rubik’s Technique" for perfect slicing.

August 26, 2026

First up, we open with a conversation about – what else? – data centers, and the question of how much strain they put on energy grids. We’ll also look at lessons in large-scale data center growth from Virginia & Texas, with Rachel Mural from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

We're moving from data centers to general electricity usage, and how things like vehicle charging and heating & cooling put a more urgent strain on infrastructure. Edgar talks with MIT’s Christopher Knittel & Barbara Kates-Garnick from The Fletcher School in front of Tufts University about how we can address the issue.

We’ll air a field interview about nuclear fission, taped on-site at MIT’s Nuclear Reactor Lab, with managing co-director Gordon Kohse and Sukesh Aghara.

NOVA senior producer Caitlin Saks explains how close we are to a future powered by clean, safe nuclear fusion. And how a local fusion expert came to lead the U.K.’s Atomic Energy Authority earlier this month.

August 25, 2026

We're hosting a panel conversation around the use of AI in K-12 curriculums. Edgar talks with MTA President and longtime Andover history teacher Matt Bach, edX’s Nina Huntemann, and emerging industries lawyer-slash-activist Shaleen Title.

It’s another round of Four Things to Know with Gal Tziperman Lotan from GBH Daily.

B.U. researcher Kathryn Coduto reflects on the psychological impact of our cultural obsession with true-crime, in the case of Lindsay Clancy and others.

August 26, 2026

While everyone hums and haws about AI consciousness, Colombia College Chicago Philosophy professor Stephen Asma has been reflecting on the seemingly-conscious & potentially horrifying implications of “wetware biocomputers,” small collections of human stem cells that can be taught to, among other things, play pong. He’ll join to discuss.

Tufts nutritionist Lynne Asuman helps decode the dense, confusing, multi-syllabic world of nutrition labels.

There’s a feature on the Merriam-Webster website called “Time Traveler,” that lets you search word origins by year. Edgar talks with editor at large Peter Sokolowski about how our words are born and evolve with time, and how understanding their origin expands our understanding of the language we use.

August 21, 2026

First up, it's the latest edition of ICYMI, our menagerie of misfit news. Joining today are GBH’s Paris Alston & Jeremy Siegel. They’ll talk about Duxbury beachgoers frustrated by bird protections, a massive squid spillage in Rhode Island, and a Guinea Pig sanctuary up in Salisbury that’s housing 350 - 400 guinea pigs at any given time.

Then, we chat briefly with Kimie Smothermon and Jacquline Ranger from that Salisbury Guinea Pig Sanctuary.

Afterwards, we celebrate of Trans History Month, Edgar talks with Joan Ilacqua from Queer History Boston about the life and legacy of explorer and Harvard lichenologist Dr. Elke Mackenzie.

We round out the show talking about the thousands of monarch butterflies in New England that are gearing up for their great migration to Mexico. Edgar talks about what makes them remarkable with lepidopterist Abby Robinson and GBH Reporter Craig LeMoult, who’s been rearing monarchs at his home for years.