Podcasts by What The If?

What The If?

Make Science Fiction. Learn Real Science!

Welcome to our weekly Science and Science Fiction podcast where we learn amazing things by playing a fantastic game: We make a change to the Universe and then, using only real science, we follow the mind bending ramifications as they ripple outward — wherever they lead!

Our brilliant guests are some of the world’s greatest science fiction writers, scientists & science communicators. Strap on your seat belt and let’s leap into a journey to answer the most fascinating question in the Universe… What The IF?

Further podcasts by Philip Shane & Matt Stanley

Podcast on the topic Wissenschaft

All episodes

What The If?
Atoms The Size of LEGOS! from 2022-02-20T01:18:08

Check out our membership rewards at Patreon.com/Whattheif

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com

Enjoy the show and keep on IFFin'!

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What The If?
Eat ANYTHING! from 2022-02-11T22:53:32

Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, ...

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What The If?
No FOSSIL FUEL For You! from 2022-01-30T04:20:44

Patreon Update: We have another Patreon member, Don from Pennsylvania who has joined at the $10/month “Clockwork Universe” Tier where he receives the monthly newsletter and a logo sticker. Welcome,...

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What The If?
Berenstain Bears & The MESHUGGENA EFFECT from 2022-01-22T04:43:53

Welcome to our newest Patreon member, KEN! You, too, can support the show and get awesome rewards by joining us at Patreon.com/WhatTheIf -- see you there!

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Join Matt for a virt...

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What The If?
No Opposable Thumbs? from 2022-01-14T04:02:38

Join The Non-Opposition Party! Our long time listener Nigel of Portsmouth, UK ascends to Super IFFer status by having his question chosen as the topic of this week’s show:

What the IF… Ou...

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What The If?
"Gift-wrappus" PARK? Dinosaur PETS For Everyone! from 2022-01-07T19:37:49

Happy New Year, fellow IF-ers!!! We taped a bunch of shows at the end of the year, so we're starting out 2022 with a bang: we're posting a brand new WTIF episode every day this week!

Got ...

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What The If?
Riding GRAVITY FORCE ONE with KIRBY RUNYON from 2022-01-06T11:05:37

Happy New Year, fellow IF-ers!!! We taped a bunch of shows at the end of the year, so we're starting out 2022 with a bang: we're posting a brand new WTIF episode every day this week!

---<...

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What The If?
OhMyCron! Covid News Update (Dec 9, 2021) from 2022-01-04T05:01:02

Happy New Year, fellow IF-ers!!! We taped a bunch of shows at the end of the year, so we're starting out 2022 with a bang: we're posting a brand new WTIF episode every day this week!

Got ...

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What The If?
DUNE - Holy Spit! from 2022-01-04T05:01:02

Happy New Year, fellow IF-ers!!! We taped a bunch of shows at the end of the year, so we're starting out 2022 with a bang: we're posting a brand new WTIF episode every day this week!

Got ...

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What The If?
World War TROLLS? Social Media During WW2! from 2022-01-03T18:57:43

Happy New Year, fellow IF-ers! We taped a bunch of shows at the end of the year, so we're starting out 2022 with a bang: a brand new WTIF episode every day this week!

Got an IF of your ow...

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What The If?
Crabs! from 2021-12-06T05:55:17

Got an IF of your own?

- Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big!

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Want to support the sho...

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What The If?
Stop! In The Name of LAVA from 2021-11-06T20:56:32

The fearless and fabulous DR. ROBIN GEORGE ANDREWS joins us for an explosive IF!

Robin George Andrews is a science journalist with a PhD in volcanology. His writing has appeared in the New...

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What The If?
The SUPERSTITION Industrial Complex: Factories of LUCK! from 2021-10-29T09:00:24

Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, ...

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What The If?
Theory of Everything: CANCELED? Brian Keating Imagines the Impossible! from 2021-10-22T09:00:32

In one corner, the welter weight challenger, Quantum Mechanics! In the other corner, the veteran, the heavyweight, the titan, destroyer of apples: GRAVITY! These guys just CAN'T GET ALONG.
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What The If?
Waiter, There's a Fly In My PRIMORDIAL SOUP! from 2021-10-15T11:17:39

What The IF... the ORIGIN of LIFE was on your desktop? What if it WAS your desktop? How does non-life become LIFE?

Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show to...

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What The If?
Superman Virus! from 2021-10-10T03:02:38

Our listener, Super IFFer CHRIS in Vancouver asks: "Is it conceivably possible that a virus could have POSITIVE symptoms? Say by commandeering olfactory cells and cranking the smell knobs to 11? W...

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What The If?
The Industrial BICYCLE Revolution! from 2021-10-01T09:00:32

Put Your Mettle To Your Pedal

Listener ED from Brooklyn writes in and asks, “What the IF there were no cars, only bicycles?” And we take up the challenge, thus granting Ed a battlefield pr...

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What The If?
AVI LOEB Is Hunting For E.T. With MEGAPIXELS, Millions, And MOXY from 2021-09-24T15:06:02

The Serious Search For Extraterrestrial Life

We are thrilled and honored to have the esteemed Astronomer AVI LOEB join us for this week’s very special thought experiment. Avi says, “Asking...

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What The If?
UFO's: A Powerful Teachable Moment? A Flying Roundtable Talk With The UCR Podcast! from 2021-08-31T06:04:20

Luis, Mike and Rather specialize in discussing UFO's with skeptics and believers, and through laughter, love and logic, bringing people together to find common ground in our shared fascination and ...

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What The If?
Can You BREATHE Like A WHALE? With Vanessa Pirotta! from 2021-08-15T23:36:42

WHALES spend their entire lives inside a medium, water, in which they can’t actually breathe. So throughout the day, and the night, they have to swim to the surface to take a breath of that sweet, ...

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What The If?
The Dark Art of SUNSHINE from 2021-08-06T11:57:32

Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, ...

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What The If?
NO ALIENS Anywhere??? Zilch. Nada. BUPKIS! from 2021-07-30T15:44:30

NO HOME TO PHONE!

What The IF... there were NO ALIENS in the universe? No life anywhere except Earth. You want a planet with life? You’re standing on it, and THAT’S ALL ya get!

CH...

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What The If?
TOTAL PERSPECTIVE VORTEX from 2021-07-23T09:00:21

What The IF... you could see the TRUE SCALE of the Universe? We imagine entering the notorious torture device from he dastardly mind of the great Douglas Adams. Tune in to find out how it feels, an...

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What The If?
Multiverse Cocktail Hour from 2021-07-16T09:00:20

Matt's away and the team trashes the studio with a teetotaling, time traveling, mixer of the mind! We're joined by our Senior Research intern, Gabi Vardanega who has brought along her friend, the b...

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What The If?
Hot Rod Rocket Cars, Burnin' Mars Gas! from 2021-07-09T17:49:24

In honor of Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos putting their butts on the launch pad, we salute the spirit of hot rods in space with this encore presentation of one our most popular episodes. Fasten yo...

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What The If?
No OCEANS? Oh, shiiiiii---!!! from 2021-07-02T09:00:20

Water, water... nowhere!

An IF from YOU, our audience! Super Uber Duper IFFer Kyle CRICHTON writes in and asks, What The IF... there were NO OCEANS?

Perhaps Kyle wrote this while ...

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What The If?
Reimagining COSMOLOGY From Inside YOU - With Hakeem OLUSEYI from 2021-06-25T09:00:39

The brilliant astrophysicist and master teacher HAKEEM OLUSEYI takes us into one of the most astounding IF's we have ever experienced. In a tour de force of imagination, Dr. Oluseyi helps us apprec...

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What The If?
YOUR Personal Role In Space Exploration — w/The PLANETARY SOCIETY’s Casey Dreier from 2021-06-18T09:00:49

NASA just announced a new mission to VENUS... how'd that happen? Did you know that you can play a role in exploring space? Yep. With a simple phone call you can keep space missions alive, and growi...

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What The If?
VIRGIN BIRTH Run Amok! Unstoppable Parthenogenic Organisms from 2021-06-11T09:00:23

No muss, no sex, no fuss!

Today's show is ripped from the headlines. Science Magazine reports: "An aquarium accident may have given this crayfish the DNA to take over the world" By Elizabe...

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What The If?
Multi-dimensional MAILBAG Explosion! from 2021-06-04T09:05:01

An exhilarating, encore bonus show: Our listeners, the IFFers of the world, share their questions, comments, reactions and rants.

The fantastic whirlwind of listener mail that Philip joust...

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What The If?
Secrets Of Making A UFO DOCUMENTARY from 2021-06-04T09:00:21

Hi, Philip here, your humble narrator. In the wake (ahem) of the US Navy Tic Tac UFO's being in the news again, and following up on our awesome show last week with Mick West, I wanted to repost thi...

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What The If?
TIC TAC UFO'S Bringing FRESH Science? With MICK WEST! from 2021-05-28T12:00:12

WE ARE NOT ALONE in having bad breath! Tic Tacs are here to freshen our planet with a delightful minty taste. But seriously folks, WTF is going on with the startling images of mysterious tic tac sh...

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What The If?
Microbreweries on MARS! - With CHRIS CARBERRY of the SPACE DRINKS Association! from 2021-05-21T09:00:20

Chris Carberry is back with more tales from the research labs where spirits are being crafted for... SPACE!

And we're not just limited to one industry on this show, Chris introduces us to...

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What The If?
Solar WIND Makes For A Very BAD HAIR DAY from 2021-05-14T09:00:26

Ahoy! Our listener, Super IFFer Miguel submitted a delightful sea shanty about the physics of the SUN, created by the awesome sci-pirates at the NASA Goddard Space Center. And so we drank ourselves...

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What The If?
When NEIGHBORS Get Into An ARMS Race! from 2021-05-07T09:00:20

Our listener, and Super Duper IFFer, Daniel asks What The IF neighbors had tanks? Imagine the block parties? No, imagine the block battles! What happens in an ecosystem when evolution spirals out o...

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What The If?
Put A Man On The EARTH! - with Nancy Atkinson from 2021-04-30T21:36:16

In honor of the announcement that NASA has chosen SPACE-X to build the Artemis lunar lander... and also in honor of Philip’s receiving his second shot of the Pfizer vaccine, we present this encore ...

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What The If?
GODZILLA vs KONG vs SCIENCE! from 2021-04-23T16:07:46

Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, ...

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What The If?
PLANET of the MARTIAL ARTS Masters: Capoeira, Karate, Kung Fu and YOU! from 2021-04-16T09:00:36

Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, ...

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What The If?
WTiF Humans Spoke Like Animals? from 2021-04-13T00:15:30

(Producer's note: What the if... you uploaded the wrong episode? Haha well today I found out. Nonetheless that previous episode was a great one, but here's the new one. Enjoy, and keep on Iffin'! -...

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What The If?
That FIRST DAY Riding The VIRUS — One Year Ago from 2021-04-02T09:00:20

A NOTE ABOUT THIS SPECIAL REBROADCAST:

In commemoration of the one year anniversary of the start of the pandemic, and in honor of our amazing new Co-IFFer, super host Gaby Paniccia, we pr...

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What The If?
When COVID Was Young And Restless - 1 YEAR AGO from 2021-03-26T09:00:20

A note about this special rebroadcast:

Philip & Matt, always known for their keen eye for FASHION (just go with me on this…) found themselves fifty-three weeks ago observing that the newl...

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What The If?
SLEEPY Sickness Returns! from 2021-03-18T21:28:16

Our listener, and Super IFFer Supreme, Bill from Virginia asks:

“WTIF we saw the return of the mysterious "Sleeping Sickness" that followed the 1918 pandemic?”

Wake the IF! Join ...

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What The If?
Eyes MILES Wide! Creatures With NEUTRINO VISON? from 2021-03-12T15:50:06

Today's IF was sent to us by our awesome listener and Super IFFer Ruud Smit!

Ruud asks us: "What the if our eyes could only see neutrinos?"

Join Philip, Matt and Gaby on this in...

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What The If?
NAKED Mars Rats! from 2021-03-01T20:00:42

Terraforming via MOLE?

Join documentary filmmaker Philip Shane, NYU Historian of Science Matthew Stanley, and Rockefeller University virologist Gaby Paniccia as we take a fantastic journey...

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What The If?
The NOISIEST Place In The GALAXY!!!!!! from 2021-02-22T17:53:28

Welcome to our new WTIF show, where we use SCIENCE to build up -- and break down -- fabulous SCI-FI and FANTASY worlds!

This week, we struggle to hear each other when we visit the giganti...

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What The If?
No COSMOS For You with Jo Marchant! from 2021-02-19T13:33:17

This week on What The If? We have a very special guest, Jo Marchant. Jo has written multiple books like Decoding the Heavens and the Shadow King. She has a new book out called "The Human Cosmos: A ...

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What The If?
Junkyard GALAXY! from 2021-02-05T10:00:48

Space JUNK!

Space is just a JUNKYARD for ancient remnants of alien civilizations!

Need a spare part for your FTL drive? Head on out into space, and get yourself to the scrap yard ...

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What The If?
MIND MELD with a VIRUS! from 2021-02-01T17:00:55

Every week, we DIVE into the human body, navigating our submersible, the good ship IF! Join documentary filmmaker Philip Shane, NYU Historian of Science Matthew Stanley, and Rockefeller University ...

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What The If?
Ancient Babylonian INTERNET! from 2021-01-30T05:44:37

The network of the ancients!

Take a ride through history, to the days of the inventors of astrology, and get CONNECTED to the ancient Babylonian World Wide Web! Before the dot com bubble w...

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What The If?
Life Aboard ACHILLES SHIELD from 2021-01-22T10:00:39

Prepare for battle, Trojans! It's time to gather your weapons and your SHIELD!

Get ready as we head into Ancient Greece, to learn about the OTHER flat earth theory, the Earth is shaped...l...

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What The If?
VAX Voyage DEBRIEF! from 2021-01-19T16:48:42

Every week, we DIVE into the human body, navigating our submersible, the good ship IF! Join documentary filmmaker Philip Shane, NYU Historian of Science Matthew Stanley, and Rockefeller University ...

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What The If?
Edison VS Tesla - REMATCH from 2021-01-15T14:16:16

The FIGHT of the century, AGAIN?!

This is the REMATCH of two of the most famous and ELECTRIC inventors.

Hang on to your phone chargers, we're looking at your wireless charger fol...

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What The If?
Duck! WHITE BLOOD Cells Coming! from 2021-01-12T22:38:55

Ride In The Covid Vaccine -- part deus!

Every week, we DIVE into the human body, navigating our submersible, the good ship IF! Join documentary filmmaker Philip Shane, NYU Historian of Sci...

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What The If?
YouTube For Your BRAIN! from 2021-01-08T10:00:30

Long time listener and Super IFFer Tom from Virginia asks: WTiF everyone's MEMORIES were recorded and available to all? Could you log in MEMORY SURF... in virtual reality? What would it be like? Wh...

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What The If?
Ride The VACCINE! from 2021-01-05T01:23:43

Happy New Year! For 2021, the WTIF Audiovision Network has created an amazing, all new show... FANTASTIC VOYAGE!

Every week, we DIVE into the human body, navigating our submersible, the ...

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What The If?
SOLSTICE Special: Paul McAULEY Shrinks The SUN! from 2020-12-25T21:26:50

Happy Holidays from WTiF! In honor of the SOLSTICE this week, we present an encore of one of our most popular episodes. Enjoy!

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The incredible Science Fiction author PAUL McAUL...

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What The If?
MUTANTS vs. MASKS! from 2020-12-21T19:54:37

Covid MUTANTS Cause London Lockdown: PANIC or Prudent?

Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines.

More info at RockEDU...

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What The If?
Holiday Mailbag BONANZA! from 2020-12-18T13:14:14

This week, we dive deep into the mailbag to give you multiple If!

Alternate What the Ifs from other dimensions, its a Mailbag BONANZA!

Sit back and enjoy this special holiday epis...

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What The If?
The VACCINE At The End Of The TUNNEL! from 2020-12-14T19:14:41

The New York Times has an online test you can take to "Find Your Place in the Vaccine Line": https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/03/opinion/covid-19-vaccine-timeline.html

Gaby, Mat...

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What The If?
BLOCK (Party!) UNIVERSE from 2020-12-13T12:08:31

Super IFFer Bill asked, WTiF we lived in a Block Universe? So we're having a Block Universe party! And we're learning what the heck a block universe is, and why TIME is many splendored thing.
<...

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What The If?
ABUNDANCE Run Amok! A Star Trek IF! from 2020-12-04T10:00:45

Prepare to boldly go where no IFer has gone before!

To the future of society, where we eliminated the need for money, and hunger is a thing of the past thanks to REPLICATORS!

Insp...

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What The If?
WTIF News - Covid Wears A MINK Coat! from 2020-11-30T16:07:28

The CNN headline reads “An Oregon mink farm has reported a Covid-19 outbreak”. Does Covid suddenly have a lust for high fashion outerwear? How’d the mink get infected? Can they return the favor and...

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What The If?
Time Travel TRAFFIC JAM! With TOM MERRITT! from 2020-11-26T10:00:32

POP into a parking spot at any point in time?!

What The If there were a time travel TRAFFIC Jam?!

Prep your flux capacitors, set your clocks to 1985, and get ready for a time BACK...

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What The If?
Report from CHINA! from 2020-11-23T21:36:14

Special guest Howard Zheng has just returned from China and reports on the state of the pandemic there. Gaby and the team compare China's methods with those we experience ourselves in the USA.
...

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What The If?
93 - EINSTEIN'S WAR - Part Two from 2020-11-20T10:02:01

For Thanksgiving, a special encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes!

Matt has a new amazing book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living ...

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What The If?
92 - Einstein's War - Part One from 2020-11-20T10:00:31

For Thanksgiving, a special encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes!

Matt has a new amazing book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living ...

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What The If?
REINCARNATION, Let's Do This! from 2020-11-13T10:00:37

Spooky children?! Past lives?! Astrology?! What could we possibly be talking about?


What The If past lives, and reincarnation were real?

On this episode, we talk about an ar...

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What The If?
WTIF News - GOOD News? YEAH!!! from 2020-11-09T15:44:04

Science wins in the USA! Vaccine research looking good so far!

As she does every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the COVID-19 Pandemic’s h...

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What The If?
WTif Humans Had TAILS?! from 2020-11-06T14:55:05

We are joined by Historian of Medicine, Professor of History at Clarkson University, Stephen Casper!

You've got a tailbone, but WTiF Humans actually had TAILS?!

Hang off those tre...

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What The If?
WTIF News - It Came Outta NOWHERE! from 2020-11-03T20:23:40

The New York Times headline is ominous: "How Are Americans Catching the Virus? Increasingly, ‘They Have No Idea’"

As she does every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA ex...

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What The If?
SMILE, Aliens Are WATCHING! from 2020-10-30T13:15:09

Reality TV in SPACE!

What The If Aliens are WATCHING us!?

Tune your televisions to the intergalactic channel, or open up your streaming app on your smart TV and watch the show cal...

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What The If?
WTIF News - When DATA Gets AGGRAVATED! from 2020-10-26T15:20:04

NBC News reports, "A rare Covid-19 complication was reported in children. Now, it's showing up in adults." Gaby helps us understand what scientists do when alarming data appears. How do scientists ...

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What The If?
ZOMBIES! from 2020-10-23T09:00:26

What The If Zombies were real!?

Start armoring your vehicles, boarding up your windows, and stocking up on toilet paper! We've got a spooky episode for you, just in time for Halloween!
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What The If?
WTIF News - Decisions, DECISIONS! from 2020-10-19T14:23:34

It's Fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and Thanksgiving and other holidays are coming up, so we look to SCIENCE for answers on how to arrange our family gatherings during the PANDEMIC. But sometimes...

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What The If?
ROOMBAS With The Power Of BLACK HOLES! from 2020-10-16T15:30:58

Vacuums in space!

Space is a vacuum!

This week on WHAT THE IF? We talk about Vacuums with the power of a black hole! How much MASS will they have?!

Strap in, and get read...

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What The If?
The PERFECT Planet! from 2020-10-09T15:30:57

Looking for the most ideal planet to inhabit, ya know in case ours goes belly up?

Look no FURTHER! This week's WHAT THE IF? Will tell us where we can find the PERFECT Planet!

The ...

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What The If?
Breaking NOBEL News! from 2020-10-05T17:24:56

The leader of Gaby's lab, Dr. Charles Rice, just won the NOBEL PRIZE! Exciting news for her and all her colleagues at Rockefeller University. What did Dr. Rice win, and why? Gaby shares the story!<...

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What The If?
GENIUS Run Amok! from 2020-10-02T12:32:15

What the IF great achievers, such as Einstein, were offered to live FOREVER.

GENIUS run amok! As time goes on there'd end up being a WORLD of geniuses!

Would the standard of "ge...

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What The If?
5,000 MUTANTS - Don't Panic from 2020-09-28T18:08:12

Mutants!? Mutations! Viruses! Don't Panic!

These aren't your favorite superheroes, these mutants are the changes in the Coronavirus!

Scientists in Houston have released a study of...

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What The If?
RADIOACTIVITY Shutdown! from 2020-09-25T16:58:09

What The IF there were NO RADIATION?!

Grab your luminous yellow uranium glassware and fill it up with whatever you love to drink, because we're going to take you on a journey worthy of th...

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What The If?
Breathe At Your Own RISK? from 2020-09-21T18:38:22

The CDC now reports that Covid-19 is transmitted not just by coughing, sneezing and wheezing... but also by breezing! By which we mean BREATHING. Aerosol sized droplets of your breath, floating in ...

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What The If?
A Video GAME That Steals Your BRAIN? With Dr. KIKI! from 2020-09-18T16:03:01

YOUR BRAIN ON GAME

What The If there were a VIDEO GAME that could take over your BRAIN? We're going into the arcade, so get your quarters or tokens ready. It's time to play POLYBIUS. So du...

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What The If?
VAX Update - Safety FIRST! from 2020-09-14T16:59:10

Good news! AstraZeneca just resumed their coronavirus vaccine clinical trials after stopping them abruptly last week. What happened? How does the safety system work?

And how can YOU sign u...

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What The If?
The BERSERKER Hypothesis from 2020-09-11T12:30:03

What The If the galaxy were full of... BERSERKERS?! And yet, we don't see ANYONE in the galaxy. Have they all gone BERSERK? This week we dive into the Berserker HYPOTHESIS. Survival of the fittest,...

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What The If?
Stop The UNIVERSE, I Want To Get Off! from 2020-09-04T12:00:50

What The If the UNIVERSE stopped spinning! The universal check engine light is on and we have stopped moving! Time to bring this bad boy into the shop!



Got an IF of your own? Wa...

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What The If?
WTIF News - Quarantine Your POOP? from 2020-08-31T14:30:06

University of Arizona located two students with Covid, by testing the poop of their entire dorm, reports Jaclyn Peiser in The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/0...

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What The If?
ROCKETS Without Rocket Science? from 2020-08-28T09:00:37

How easy would rockets be if there were no ROCKET SCIENCE?
Would everyone have their own SOAP BOX rocketship?
Make sure those cardboard ships are sturdy, strap in and hold tight. We're goin...

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What The If?
WTIF News: Masks vs. Lasers! from 2020-08-24T14:52:04

A test using lasers to examine the efficacy of face masks gets misinterpreted by the press. Joggers and bikers get yelled at by passers by! Gaby says, chill out and... save the gaiters!

Ev...

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What The If?
WARP Speed ASTRONOMY? from 2020-08-21T09:00:35

What The IF you could travel faster than the SPEED OF LIGHT to observe a dying star up close! Grab your popcorn, and get ready for a wild ride courtesy of the warp course on the ENTERPRISE! Would w...

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What The If?
WTIF News: VANISHING Antibodies? from 2020-08-20T15:59:55

You RECOVERED from Covid-19, but where are your ANITBODIES?

Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines.

More info at Roc...

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What The If?
The ARTISTS Behind NASA's Artist Depictions! from 2020-07-23T23:59:59

Incredible guests this week! World famous space science artists DON DAVIS and PAMELA LEE join us to imagine getting to do their masterful artistry while on location at… THE CENTER OF THE GALAXY. Co...

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What The If?
WTIF News: POOL Testing? from 2020-07-22T15:18:41

POOL Testing is here! So... WTF is Pool Testing? Gaby explains!

Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines.

More info at...

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What The If?
Teeny TINY Earth! from 2020-07-17T09:00:46

NOTE: This episode was recorded on March 6, 2020

What the If Earth was Teeny TINY?

Would gravity crush us?
---

Special thanks to Kyle Crichton, Howard Zheng and Illi...

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What The If?
COVID Glowing in the Dark? from 2020-07-15T22:17:58

Glow in the dark CORONAVIRUS?

Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines!

More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19...

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What The If?
WTIF News: Herd Immunity! from 2020-07-13T00:00:14

What the IF is HERD IMMUNITY? It’s coming! Gaby tells us what to do to make it so.

Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines. Listen

What The If?
Ooda Loop from 2020-07-08T12:21:06

What The If our brains were SLOWER?

Can you upgrade the CPU or perhaps install more RAM to avoid the spinning beach ball of death?!

What the if you were practicing karate with Mat...

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What The If?
How Does IMAGINATION Work? from 2020-06-19T00:00:12

How does IMAGINATION work? What The IF… you had NO imagination!

Our guest TRACY GLEASON is a Developmental Psychologist studying relationships, real and imagined, with a focus on young chi...

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What The If?
WTIF News: COVID-19 Has A Very Busy PASSPORT from 2020-06-17T01:41:44

Did Covid-19 come to your shores from one person, or many?

Every week, Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines.

More info at Rock...

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What The If?
ONE Language For ALL? from 2020-06-11T23:00:20

ONE Language For ALL? by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
WTIF News: Are We Doomed To REPEAT The 1918 PANDEMIC? from 2020-06-08T17:03:18

SMITHSONIAN Magazine published a very thought provoking article this week, urging caution against thinking we are on the same path as the 1918 PANDEMIC.

Every week, Rockefeller University...

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What The If?
Earth In A BOTTLE! from 2020-06-05T00:10:26

What The IF you were about to have a meeting with Aliens and you wanted to made a good FIRST IMPRESSION? Carl Sagan and his colleagues took up this very challenge when crafting the “messages in a b...

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What The If?
WTIF News: SCIENCE-ing While Distancing! from 2020-06-02T21:59:12

New York reopens and the scientists are eager to get back to the lab! Gaby tells us how it feels for the city's scientists as they are getting ready to don higher grade protective gear and jump in ...

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What The If?
BIRTHPLACE Of The Virus? from 2020-06-01T22:03:50

WHERE was the virus born?

Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA explores the science behind the headlines!

More info at RockEDU: rockedu.rockefeller.edu and covid-19-re...

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What The If?
Ultra Fast EVOLUTION? from 2020-05-29T00:42:30

Our long time listener JOE ascends to SUPER IFFER status by submitting this week's fabulous IF!

Joe asks, "What The If... EVOLUTION were speeded up?" What if you could see it happening in...

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What The If?
WTIF News: HAIRCUT To The Danger Zone! from 2020-05-25T19:10:44

Hair salons and swimming pools are the front lines of our duel with the Coronavirus. Find out how to survive with expert advice from Rockefeller University Virologist GABY PANICCIA.

More i...

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What The If?
Entangled BRAINS? from 2020-05-24T22:36:37

A QUANTUM MIND MELD?

The renowned historian of science DAVID KAISER joins us from MIT! A prolific science communicator and hilariously witty raconteur, his latest book is QUANTUM LEGACIES:...

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What The If?
Welcome Back, ANIMALS! With Biologist Vanessa Pirotta from 2020-05-14T22:01:41

The animals of the world, especially the urban world, seem quite happy that all the humans are suddenly staying inside! Outside, it's a party and they're livin' it up... all the way down the food c...

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What The If?
WTIF News - MASKS: Pro Tips! from 2020-05-12T22:04

MASKS are everywhere in the NEWS this week, but NOT on everyone's faces! What The IF, people? What happens if you don't wear a mask? And what about your neighbor? And their neighbor, and...?
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What The If?
WTIF News - COVID In The Air? from 2020-05-04T17:47:10

Is the virus floating IN THE AIR we breathe, riding particles of pollution like evil cowboys?

Our expert Virologist from Rockefeller University, GABY PENICCIA helps us understand the scar...

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What The If?
Quarantine Without INTERNET? Andy IHNATKO's Alternate History! from 2020-05-03T18:34:57

As difficult as the global LOCKDOWN has been, we're fortunate to have a lot of modern technology making it somewhat easier to adapt to a world of massive ISOLATION.

But What The IF... We h...

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What The If?
Crank Calling COVID! from 2020-04-24T22:57:03

ATTACK OF THE KILLER 5G! How’s it going IFFers? We hope you’re keeping yourselves sane and busy in these crazy times. What with all the 5G antennas sending out COVID signals?! 

Rockefeller...

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What The If?
Can a VIRUS Wear a WHITE HAT? from 2020-04-17T00:00:13

Hey IFers! We know it’s been hard these last few weeks, what with quarantine and all. That’s why we’ve been bringing you these SPECIAL virus related episodes, for a much needed source of EDUTAINMEN...

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What The If?
SPECIAL EPISODE: What the PANDEMIC? with Virologist Gaby Paniccia from 2020-04-06T12:26:39

Hey IF'ers! How has quarantine been treating you? Feeling the itch to get out?

Don’t go anywhere yet, not just because it’s not safe but we’ve got another Coronavirus-related WHAT THE IF ...

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What The If?
The EYE Of AMAZ-AURON with Tom Merritt from 2020-04-01T00:00

They’re tracking what you’re buying, in the GROCERY STORE! We’re back to our regular scheduled programming this week with fellow podcaster and Science Fiction author, Tom Merritt as our guest!
...

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What The If?
RIDE Inside a VIRUS! With Molecular Virologist Gaby Paniccia from 2020-03-26T17:18:53

We hope you're saying safe, practicing good social distancing and hopefully not hoarding all the toilet paper!

This week, we've got another Coronavirus-related WHAT THE IF for some self ...

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What The If?
Hazmat FASHION! Life Under QUARANTINE from 2020-03-17T14:20:12

We hope this episode finds you and your loved ones well, no matter where in the world you are. Here in New York, we recorded this new episode just as they shut down our city. First they came for th...

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What The If?
Backwards TIME! - !EMIT sdrawkcaB from 2020-03-10T01:37:26

Our awesome audience member, and newest SUPER IFFER, Micah Frier of New York City asks:

What The IF… TIME ran backwards?

Well it turns out that YOU and me, and Matt and Micah... ...

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What The If?
Can ROBOTS Host A PODCAST? from 2020-03-01T15:44:01

What the if ROBOTS were hosting their very own PODCAST? They are replacing our jobs! WE WELCOME OUR ROBOT OVERLORDS!

Our listener Rod in Edinburg, Scotland wrote in and asked: “Could AI's ...

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What The If?
CATS and EARTHQUAKES! With Geophysicist Celeste Labedz from 2020-02-21T00:45:49

CalTech Seismologist Celeste Labedz asks: WTiF we could get our pet CATS to create a global EARLY EARTHQUAKE WARNING system? We have lots of fun... for science!

CELESTE LABEDZ is a grad s...

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Scientist VS Artist CAGE MATCH! - With JANCY McPHEE of the SciArt Exchange from 2020-02-02T19:49:35

A scientist and an artist are trapped in an elevator. Can they learn to understand each other?

JANCY McPHEE, Founder and Exec. Director of the SciArt Exchange joins us to explore the vastl...

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What The If?
POWER From PEOPLE??? Bow To Our MATRIX Overlords! from 2020-01-26T13:48:41

We answered the ringing telephone in The Matrix and on the line was the great filmmaker, game designer, and composer Robyn Miller with a sizzling good IF! Robyn asks "If you were an evil robot over...

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What The If?
MEGASTRUCTURES! With Journalist & Science Fiction Author MATT WILLIAMS from 2020-01-15T01:00:02

SCIENCE JOURNALIST and SCIENCE FICTION AUTHOR Matt Williams joins us and asks: What’s the absolute biggest thing you could build… in the entire Universe! Have Aliens beaten us to it? How big does o...

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What The If?
Can We Open A PUB On MARS? w/the Author of ALCOHOL IN SPACE, Chris Carberry! from 2020-01-09T00:36:50

We're joined by Chris Carberry, the distinguished CEO of EXPLORE MARS and author of the awesome new book, ALCOHOL IN SPACE... Join us for a fun and fabulous Happy Hour on What The IF!

* * ...

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What The If?
ALASTAIR REYNOLDS: Come Fly With Me... To MARS! from 2020-01-01T19:35:03

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our listeners around the WORLD! We’re celebrating with an encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes ever, with one of the greatest Science Fiction authors of all...

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What The If?
LIGHTSABERS For Hands! It’s a STAR WARS If! from 2019-12-24T20:18:52

Our listener MIGUEL from South Africa wrote in and asked us, “What The IF… we replaced our HANDS with LIGHTSABERS?”

This idea was so insane it sat on our list for a year and a half… as we ...

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What The If?
Welcome to LAMARCK-issic Park! No Darwins Allowed! from 2019-12-18T06:23:26

What the if EVOLUTION were very DIFFERENT? Strap on your pith helmet, and lock the doors! OUR LISTENER Jon from Sweden wrote us and asked: What if Charlie “Eye of the Tiger” DARWIN was wrong and “H...

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What The If?
Planet NIBURU Crashes Into EARTH! With Astronomer BOB KING from 2019-12-12T00:56:41

Is there a DOOMSDAY PLANET named Nibiru heading our way? Nope!

But what the IF there was? We challenge astronomer & astrophotographer Bob King to play out the RAM-ifications of this Earth...

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What The If?
LEAP Into a QUANTUM COMPUTER! from 2019-12-04T05:46:54

Do Electrons dream of having feet? WTIF you were an ELECTRON jogging through the hot circuits of a CLASSICAL COMPUTER and all of a sudden you lept into a QUANTUM COMPUTER? What does it look like in...

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What The If?
I Married A NEANDERTHAL - A SciFi Love Story from 2019-11-26T18:31:38

Science Fiction FILMMAKERS Carylanna Taylor & Jacob Okada bring us the IF of their new film, ANYA, a contemporary sci-fi love story about a couple whose determination to have a child leads them to ...

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What The If?
Spelunking Deep Inside A SOLID STATE Brain! from 2019-11-19T01:00:03

GOOGLE just announced that its' researchers have built a QUANTUM COMPUTER that has achieved... Quantum Supremacy. ACK!!! Do you feel like standing and cheering, or fleeing for your life? It's essen...

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What The If?
Waltz INSIDE A Classical COMPUTER! from 2019-11-12T01:00:03

GOOGLE just announced that its' researchers have built a QUANTUM COMPUTER that has achieved... Quantum Supremacy. ACK!!! Do you feel like standing and cheering, or fleeing for your life? It's essen...

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What The If?
The AZTECS Were Awesome SEISMOLOGISTS - with Robin George Andrews! from 2019-11-05T03:24:59

Ancient Science Secrets! DR. ROBIN GEORGE ANDREWS returns with an incredible story of how modern day SEISMOLOGISTS are hunting through ancient AZTEC inscriptions, and the records of indigenous peop...

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What The If?
Did VENUS Have VENUSIANS? w/Planetary Geologist KIRBY RUNYON! from 2019-10-29T15:38:03

This week's show is ripped from the headlines! A study by Michael Way and Anthony Del Genio of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies reveals that VENUS may have been habitable for it's first T...

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What The If?
If NASA Won MEGAMILLION$$$ - with CASEY DREIER from The PLANETARY SOCIETY! from 2019-10-22T18:13:16

"No BUCKS, no Buck Rogers," says astronaut Gus Grissom in "The Right Stuff." So we ask, what the if... NASA got hundreds of billions more, or even TRILLIONS of dollars more in funding? Imagine it h...

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What The If?
The COMET from Beyond! from 2019-10-15T13:04:13

COMET BORISOV just showed up in our solar system, only the second INTERSTELLAR OBJECT known to visit us! What is it, where does it come from, where's it going and will Earthlings be able to study i...

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What The If?
All the TREES are GONE? With Kyle Crichton! from 2019-10-08T00:00:14

What The IF... All the TREES were GONE? Would we still have air to breathe? Water to drink? Well don't ponder those questions too long because there's an AVALANCHE coming your way! Our guest Kyle C...

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What The If?
Let's CRISPR with Carl ZIMMER! from 2019-10-01T00:00:14

Would you CRISPR your baby? The great science journalist Carl Zimmer, award winning columnist for the New York Times and author of thirteen (!) books joins us to imagine the steep up sides and the ...

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What The If?
SEAN CARROLL: Phone Calls from MANY WORLDS! from 2019-09-24T03:22:22

As you read these words, copies of you are being created. 

Theoretical physicist SEAN CARROLL says the astonishing MANY WORLDS theory might be correct, and if it is… 5,000 times per second...

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What The If?
111 - Is There GOLD In Them ASTEROIDS! from 2019-09-17T00:00:06

Listener Daniel asks: WTiF we could get rich from drilling for gold… in space?

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What The If?
110 - Inter-Galactic MAILBAG! from 2019-09-10T23:00:13

Once again, our listener mail bag is exploding! Our fans, aka our #SuperIFFers discuss our most mind-blowing shows and share their own mind-bending IF's! What the IF... you could hang out with the ...

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What The If?
109 - CONQUER the SOLAR SYSTEM with Matt Williams! from 2019-09-03T01:48:14

Science journalist and Science Fiction author Matt Williams joins us and asks: What the IF humanity conquered the entire solar system, inhabiting every planet, moon, asteroid, nook, cranny and what...

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What The If?
108 - The HELIOPAUSE That Refreshes - with Kirby "NASA Man" Runyon! from 2019-08-27T00:00:16

What the IF you could travel to the very EDGE of the SOLAR SYSTEM... and beyond? What would you see when you looked BACKWARDS? What would happen when you encountered the river of energized particle...

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What The If?
107 - Land A Man On The EARTH! - with Nancy Atkinson from 2019-08-20T00:00:06

It's Opposite Apollo Day! In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first landing on the Moon, our special guest today is Nancy Atkinson from Universe Today! Her amazing new book is "Eight Years to t...

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What The If?
106 - What The MONKEY? Part 2 of Our TWIS Special! from 2019-08-13T04:07:25

Our TWIS Special, Part TWO!

TWIS the IF? What The TWIS? You put your science in my what! It's a special, double stuffed, super combo show. Dr. Kiki invited us to bring the IF to her long-r...

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What The If?
105 - What The KIKI? Part 1 of Our TWIS Special! from 2019-08-13T03:42:18

Our TWIS Special, Part ONE!

TWIS the IF? What The TWIS? You put your science in my what! It's a special, double stuffed, super combo show. Dr. Kiki invited us to bring the IF to her long-r...

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What The If?
104 - Walking on IO with Robin Andrews! from 2019-07-30T06:34:57

DR. ROBIN GEORGE ANDREWS, science writer for The NY Times, National Geographic, Scientific American, and many more, joins us with an IF that'll keep you on your feet: What The IF we could walk on J...

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What The If?
103 - Alastair Reynolds! from 2019-07-23T00:00:04

Best selling author ALASTAIR REYNOLDS is our guest! He's Philip's favorite author on the planet and one of the world's most popular Science Fiction writers.

Al brings a whopper of an IF, ...

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What The If?
102 - WTiF Apollo Never Stopped? Encore Presenation With FRASER CAIN! from 2019-07-16T00:00:04

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of APOLLO 11, we're featuring an encore of our episode with FRASER CAIN -- veteran space journalist and publisher of UNIVERSE TODAY!

Fraser asks: WTiF we N...

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What The If?
101 - Planet of POISON! from 2019-07-09T23:23:37

Pollution run AMOK! Imagine if no one -- no one at all -- tried to stop the poisoning of our land, water and air?

Our listener Daniel asks: What The IF the Environmental Protection Agency...

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What The If?
100 - Paul McAULEY Shrinks The SUN! from 2019-07-01T23:59:59

The incredible Science Fiction author PAUL McAULEY joins us to celebrate episode 100!

With a preview of the science behind his upcoming novel, WAR OF THE MAPS, Paul asks: What The IF we c...

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What The If?
99 - Living INSIDE The Big BANG from 2019-06-24T23:59:59

Listener Bob from Virginia asks what it would be like if you found yourself INSIDE the BIG BANG?

Does time flow differently? Can you Netflix and BANG? Why is your best friend who's right n...

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What The If?
98 - OWN Your Own BRAIN from 2019-06-17T23:59:59

Listener Jon from Sweden ascends to the rank of Super IFFer by submitting a winning IF! Jon asks, "What The IF... we knew EXACTLY how the BRAIN worked?"

Would we be stuck as mere observer...

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What The If?
97 - Spacetime GOGGLES from 2019-06-10T23:00:05

100 years ago, the British Astronomer Arthur Eddington confirmed that, as Albert Einstein had said, Spacetime exists, and YOU FEEL Gravity because it's CURVED all around your body... in the 4TH DIM...

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What The If?
96 - How To Cook With A Star Trek REPLICATOR from 2019-06-07T01:09:24

A brand new, super fun and mostly delicious episode, based on a fabulous question from listener and Super IFFer, Guy Rader! Beam up with us and let's get cookin'!

REVIEW the show: itunes.a...

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What The If?
95 - ASTROLOGY??? Heaven Help Us! from 2019-05-29T17:15:21

Astrology is super complicated and totally crazy. But! What The IF... Astrology were REAL? Would there be "personality rays" shooting out of the planets? So many, many questions.

Our crack...

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What The If?
94 - MEAT Vs. The WORLD from 2019-05-20T18:37:58

What the IF everyone in the world STOPPED eating MEAT? Delicious, delicious meat... be gone!

REVIEW the show: itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1

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93 - EINSTEIN'S WAR - Part Two - With Author MATT STANLEY from 2019-05-14T14:41:09

Matt has an amazing new book! Here in part two of our journey with Einstein, we dive even deeper (!) into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and f...

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What The If?
92 - EINSTEIN'S WAR - Part One - With Author MATT STANLEY from 2019-05-07T04:58:56

Matt has an amazing new book! We dive into Professor Stanley's incredible story about how, while living through hunger, freezing and fear, the unknown and unheard of Professor Albert Einstein becam...

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What The If?
91 - Standing TALL On A Dwarf PLANET - Visit PLUTO With Kirby Runyon! from 2019-04-30T17:44:58

KIRBY RUNYON, science team affiliate on the NEW HORIZONS mission to Pluto, Charon, and the Kuiper Belt and a science team collaborator on the HiRISE camera currently in orbit around Mars, takes us ...

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What The If?
90 - VOLCANOES Like To Party - With Volcanologist Karen Holmberg! from 2019-04-23T00:00:04

Archaeologist and self-described Volcano Fetishist Dr. Karen Holmberg LOVES Volcanos… so we make her dream come true: What The IF you could invite ALL THE VOLCANOES in the world to a COCKTAIL PARTY...

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What The If?
89 - Fraser Cain - WTiF Apollo Never Stopped! from 2019-04-16T19:47:04

We're super honored to be joined this week by an incredible special guest: FRASER CAIN, veteran space journalist and publisher of UNIVERSE TODAY!

In celebration of the upcoming 50th Annive...

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What The If?
88 - Sci - Fi Author, DAN MOREN - "What The IF ENCRYPTION Runs Amok?" from 2019-04-09T00:00:02

We're honored to be joined this week by the awesome Science Fiction writer, and esteemed technology journalist, DAN MOREN, who brings us an important, enigmatic, spooooooky IF...

You are b...

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What The If?
87 - Galactic MAILBAG! from 2019-04-03T02:17:18

Our cup of listener mail overfloweth! This week: our fans, aka our #SuperIFFers discuss our most mind-blowing shows and the latest science news stories. What the IF... you could hang out with the s...

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What The If?
86 - The Science Of NOTHING - Ness! from 2019-03-26T03:25:22

Our listener, the awesome Super IFFer Bill Prokopchak wrote in and asked “What the IF there was a place in the Universe where there was absolutely NOTHING?”

It turns out there’s a mysterio...

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What The If?
85 - WTiF NASA Asked YOU For Help? - #NASAsocial At KSC & The Planetary Society's DAY OF ACTION from 2019-03-19T19:17:01

What the IF... Big ol' NASA asked little ol' YOU for HELP? Could you do it? What would you do?

This week: a special report from Philip after his two adventures volunteering on behalf of th...

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What The If?
84 - Planet Of The Identical TWINS! from 2019-03-11T20:32:59

Maya and Zoe are TWINS, and that's only the beginning of what makes them exceptionally qualified to take us to a planet where EVERYONE shares the same... FACE.

Would this world be your pe...

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What The If?
83 - COLD Blooded People from 2019-02-26T00:00:06

LIZARDS are cold blooded creatures. What the IF... YOU were too?

Don't miss An IF
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82 - CETACEAN INVASION! WTiF Whales Take Back The Land? from 2019-02-19T00:00:05

The amazing science educator and cetacean researcher, DR. VANESSA PIROTTA joins us again from Sydney, Australia and takes on the BIGGEST IF yet: What if WHALES decided to RETURN TO LAND? How would ...

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What The If?
81 - Love Thy MOON from 2019-02-12T04:13:57

We celebrate the LUNAR NEW YEAR and VALENTINE'S DAY by learning all the ways Earth would be a real loser without it's heavenly partner... the MOON!

Don't miss an IF! Subscribe: linktr.ee/w...

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80 - HAGFISH - Champion Of The SLIMER BOWL! from 2019-02-02T20:01:11

The HAGFISH, little known, little respected... greatly feared... by sharks! Is the hagfish the Spiderman of the Sea? This little slimy fish can spit out a slimy blob that BLOWS UP REAL BIG. What th...

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What The If?
79 - The Notorious BIG... BANG! from 2019-01-28T20:49:08

Special Guest ASTRONOMER Brian Keating returns, with an astounding IF! What The IF, Brian asks, there was MORE than one BIG BANG? WTiF another one is FLYING toward us NOW? OMG, bang bang bang, let'...

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What The If?
78 - PIGEON VISION from 2019-01-22T04:30:31

The MYSTERY behind the EYES that watch over our cities. WATCH OUT, this IF will change the way you see pigeons, and yourself, trespassing human!

Don't miss an IF! Subscribe: https://linktr...

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What The If?
77 - Let's Pretend We're WHALES! Dr. Vanessa Pirotta Turns Us Into Super Smart Cetaceans from 2019-01-15T23:47:30

The amazing science educator and cetacean researcher, DR. VANESSA PIROTTA joins us from down under, in Sydney, Australia... But she guides us on a journey to the REAL down under... UNDER THE SEA! <...

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What The If?
76 - Now We Know How Many BRAINS It Takes To Fill The Albert Hall from 2019-01-07T05:11:33

A couple of weeks ago we explored PARALLEL UNIVERSES... and in *this* parallel universe we take up a similarly BRAIN BENDING a concept: the INFINITE probabilities that surround us in our INFINITE u...

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What The If?
75 - WTiF You Could See EARTH RISE... With Your Own Eyes? from 2019-01-01T05:00:45

Happy New Year, dear IFFers!!! A joyous episode greets you. Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Astronaut William Anders' society transforming photograph, "Earthrise," and basking in the glow of Ri...

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What The If?
74 - Bubbling Brew Of PARALLEL UNIVERSE Stew from 2018-12-25T10:00:05

Our listener & Super IFFer Jeff from Nashville asks What The IF there are parallel universes? Turns out... they might be exploding all around you! Should we fear the ones where we are wearing a bea...

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What The If?
73 - It's An ARTHUR C. CLARKE Christmas! from 2018-12-18T10:00:06

For our Christmas Special, our devoted listener Mitchell Scherr was inspired by the ARTHUR C. CLARKE short story "The Star," in which an ASTRONOMER ponders the source of the STAR OF BETHLEHEM.
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What The If?
72 - How To Tell People EARTH IS MELTING Without Killing The Party from 2018-12-11T10:00:50

Listener, and Super IFFer, Amira Youseff wrote in to the feedback@WhatTheIF.com hotline and asked: "How can I get MY FRIENDS to be interested in GLOBAL WARMING?" We discuss how IN THE WORLD you can...

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What The If?
71 - Does A Watched PLANET Ever BOIL? from 2018-12-04T10:00:14

Today we take up another fabulous -- and dastardly -- suggestion from our audience!

Super IFFER Mike Holland sent an email to our hungry feedback@whattheif.com mailbox and asked.... How d...

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What The If?
70 - Victory Over GRAVITY! from 2018-11-27T10:00:04

70 - Victory Over GRAVITY! by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
69 - Dummies VS Gravity! from 2018-11-20T17:03:23

69 - Dummies VS Gravity! by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
68 - Are We Entertaining The MARTIANS? from 2018-11-14T00:00:08

IF we were Martians, looking at the Earth with our telescopes… would we know there’s LIFE there? If so, how would we know? Could we have watched humanity evolve? Would we see the humans coming to U...

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What The If?
67 - KEPLER'S Planets & EGOMANIACAL Mathematicians! from 2018-11-07T00:00:08

This week, the ground-breaking, sky-breaking, star-breaking, NASA telescope, Kepler, got arthritis and, creeeeaaaaaakkkk.... slipped into a well earned and well deserved retirement, now free to lo...

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What The If?
66 - Danger, SLOW BRAIN Ahead! TIME DILATION From Head To Toe from 2018-10-31T03:57:53

When scientists discovered that our brain communicates with our body through electrical signals, they had a scientific and philosophical freak-out: if it took a not insignificant amount of TIME for...

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What The If?
65 - Can You Trust Your Family ROBOT? from 2018-10-26T02:46:32

Attack of the FRIENDLY Robots! Will Robots really CARE for us? Or will they be faking it? Do all our screens WANT to be TOUCHED? This wildly imaginative episode, one of our original fan favorites, ...

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What The If?
64 - Physicist CLIFFORD JOHNSON Peers Deep Into A BLACK HOLE And Finds...? from 2018-10-18T18:07:43

Superstar Theoretical Physicist CLIFFORD JOHNSON, author of the incredible graphic novel, “THE DIALOGUES: Conversations About The Nature Of The Universe” joins us for a very special show. He asks u...

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What The If?
63 - Astronomy SMELLS - The Art & Science Of Data Visualization from 2018-10-08T16:57:11

On Feb 22, 2017, astronomers announced four additional exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1, bringing it's total number of EXOPLANETS to seven. SIX of those (!) could possibly reside in the HABITABLE ZONE ...

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What The If?
62 - GHOSTS! from 2018-10-03T22:33:34

What the IF... We could get scientific evidence of GHOSTS? Trick or Treat, once again we dive into the crazy realm of the PARANORMAL... as we learn REAL science!

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What The If?
61 - FLAT EARTH YouTube LIVE Special! - Joining Forces With The NonSequitur Show from 2018-09-23T21:43:09

Philip & Matt were honored to be invited onto the hilarious and super smart NonSequitur Show. The hosts of this popular YouTube channel invited us to play What This IF with one of their favorite to...

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What The If?
60 - See The RADIO WAVES All Around YOU! The Science & Wonder Of Electromagnetic Fields from 2018-09-17T04:02:14

60 - See The RADIO WAVES All Around YOU! The Science & Wonder Of Electromagnetic Fields by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
59 - DEEPER Into THE SUN We Go - Flying And Frying... For Science! from 2018-09-09T20:10:37

Our journey continues... to the CENTER of the SUN!

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What The If?
58 - How To THINK Like A BIRD! The Science of Animal Consciousness With DR. KIKI from 2018-09-05T21:20:50

DR. KIKI SANFORD, host of the incredible, long-running science podcast, THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE (TWiS.org), joins us for our most amazing, astounding, iff-iest episode yet! What The IF... WE WERE BIRD...

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What The If?
57 - Our SUBMARINE Dives... Into The SUN! from 2018-08-28T10:00:06

NASA just launched the Parker Solar Probe, flying toward the Sun to get closer than anything we've EVER sent before. WTiF we could have James Cameron build us our very own super duper solar submari...

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What The If?
56 - CRUSHED Or BROILED - Choose Your Fate At The Global Warming BBQ! from 2018-08-20T20:04:23

WTiF we survive EXTREME GLOBAL WARMING by living inside nice, chilly AIR CONDITIONED DOMES? But the heating up of our planet won't stop! The BBQ is just getting started, join us!

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What The If?
55 - Standing On A SIZZLING Earth - Ultra Fast Greenhouse Effect! from 2018-08-13T19:13:24

WHY WAIT decades and decades for us to get HOT? What The IF we sped up CLIMATE CHANGE so we could see it happening before our eyes, and under our feet? This week, we put more EFFECT into the GREENH...

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What The If?
54 - BACTERIA Have Sent You A FRIEND REQUEST! from 2018-08-06T09:00:05

Scientists have discovered a snail that NEVER NEEDS TO EAT because it grows a humongous, self sustaining BACTERIAL FOOD FACTORY in it's gut. What the IF you could do that, too? The MANY FACES and U...

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What The If?
53 - Honey, I Shrunk The UNIVERSE! from 2018-07-31T12:26:01

We shrunk the universe down to the size of a football field. We also shrunk your dorm room. And it's Friday night. Things are about to get downright WTiF! Put on your lampshade and let's party!

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What The If?
52 - Is Earth A BOSS LEVEL, Or Just A LOOT BOX? from 2018-07-24T01:15:15

Are you enjoying your life in this SIMULATION we call... Earth? Is it a simulation? How would we know? Last week we began to ponder the mystery... and this week we set out... using REAL SCIENCE... ...

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What The If?
51 - Do We LIVE In A VIDEO GAME? from 2018-07-17T19:07:36

Elon Musk asked something many of us have wondered (while in various states of sobriety)... "Do we live in a SIMULATION?" Well, we figured if we dooooooo live in a simulation, maybe it's a REALITY ...

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What The If?
50 - DARK SIDE Of The EARTH from 2018-07-14T12:23:55

WTiF the Earth was STUCK with ONE side always facing the Sun? Is there a battle between the DARK SIDE and the LIGHT? Are you a NIGHT person or a MORNING person? Join us and find just the right spot...

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What The If?
49 - OUMUAMAUA Has It's Eyes On YOU from 2018-07-03T00:00:04

49 - OUMUAMAUA Has It's Eyes On YOU by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
48 - The Girl Scouts Make A STARGATE from 2018-06-27T00:00:04

48 - The Girl Scouts Make A STARGATE by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
47 - The Early Bird Gets The WORMHOLE from 2018-06-20T04:00:04

47 - The Early Bird Gets The WORMHOLE by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
46 - WTiF There's ANIMALS On MARS? Cute Ones! from 2018-06-11T23:00:04

46 - WTiF There's ANIMALS On MARS? Cute Ones! by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
45 - The Plato Has Landed from 2018-06-07T18:42:25

(Apologies if you heard this episode earlier, it was accidentally uploaded last week for a brief time. Still... it's a fun one! Enjoy.)

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What The If?
44b - Bonus! - LOSING THE NOBEL PRIZE - Astronomer Brian KEATING On His Bestselling Book from 2018-05-29T23:05:02

Professor Brian Keating is an astrophysicist with UC San Diego’s Department of Physics. He and his team develop telescopes to study the Big Bang. He is the author of over 100 scientific publication...

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What The If?
44a - Journey To The CENTER OF THE GALAXY - With Astronomer Brian KEATING from 2018-05-29T23:00:02

Professor Brian Keating is an astrophysicist with UC San Diego’s Department of Physics. He and his team develop telescopes to study the Big Bang. He is the author of over 100 scientific publication...

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What The If?
43 - The World According To Greek Weirdos from 2018-05-23T00:00:02

43 - The World According To Greek Weirdos by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
42 - SuperMegaUltraHyperConnectedWORLD! from 2018-05-16T00:00:02

42 - SuperMegaUltraHyperConnectedWORLD! by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
41 - M.I.T., The Mysterious Inter-Terrestrial from 2018-05-08T23:00:06

41 - M.I.T., The Mysterious Inter-Terrestrial by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

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What The If?
40 - DON'T FLIP OFF THE FRICTION from 2018-05-02T15:42:55

Professor Matt returns to the WTIF Studios to drop some knowledge on all the questions and imaginary scenarios we generated in our last episode when we... whoops!... turned off all the FRICTION in ...

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What The If?
39 - Slip Slidin' Away! from 2018-04-20T10:26:44

Did you ever try ice skating? Did you fall, or did you fly??? This week, Philip flips the friction switch! What if we could TURN OFF FRICTION all across the universe? A slip sliding world like we'v...

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What The If?
38 - KILLER CLUTTER OF QUANTA! from 2018-04-14T17:35:59

Super fan and fellow IFFER Eric is desperate to de-clutter his apartment and, gosh darnit, no matter how much he piles things together, the dagnabbit things don't get smaller... THE UNIVERSE REFUSE...

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What The If?
37 - ASTROLOGY??? Heaven Help Us! from 2018-03-29T20:04

Astrology is super complicated and totally crazy. But! What The IF... Astrology were REAL? Would there be "personality rays" shooting out of the planets? So many, many questions.

Our crack...

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What The If?
36 - BIG BANGS Are The Best Toys! from 2018-03-24T23:43:41

Edward Teller, creator of the Hydrogen Bomb wondered one day (smoke drifting from his pipe) could NUCLEAR BOMBS be used for (puff puff) PEACEFUL purposes? Could you build a harbor with the flick of...

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What The If?
35 - Stephen Hawking Says, "FEAR NOT The Black Hole!" from 2018-03-14T23:20:57

In memoriam, we remember and celebrate Stephen Hawking by turning up his HAWKING RADIATION to eleven!!! What the IF would happen if, as Black Holes not only evaporate, as Hawking discovered, but th...

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What The If?
34 - Struttin' Down QUANTUM Street from 2018-03-08T05:55:07

What The IF we experienced our world operating by the BIZARRO rules of QUANTUM MECHANICS? Matt is holding up an umbrella and urging us to join him on the street corner, where we'll team up by the b...

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What The If?
33 - How SLOW Can You GLOW? from 2018-03-01T00:06:50

What The IF the SPEED OF LIGHT were much much much much much s... l... o... w... e... rrrrrrrrrrrr? Like WTiF it were only 4 MPH, so that when you went walking, you were already rocketing along, st...

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What The If?
32 - Black Hole BONGO! from 2018-02-23T05:38:06

From the pre-Harry Potter Scottish Enlightenment to public relations wizardry of Galileo to the classic anchor pairings of Fox News to genius of SETI and.... badda-BING we find ourselves asking Wha...

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What The If?
31 - OOPS, Earth Did It Again from 2018-02-15T20:58:39

It's an epic WTiF DOUBLE FEATURE! The apocalyptic scenario served up to us by our imaginative listener Kyle, in which the Earth's core dances like a chicken at a chicken wedding... continues! In ou...

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What The If?
30 - Magnetic Poles Gonna ROLL from 2018-02-15T19:44:41

Another awesome IF inspired by a listener! This week, listener Kyle asks, WHAT THE IF would happen if the Earth's magnetic pole FLIPPED? Birds depend on it, fish depend on it, and by golly WE depen...

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What The If?
29 - ELON and the Incredible, Wonderful, Not Bad, Very GOOD Day from 2018-02-08T20:32:55

ELON MUSK launched his own car into space, on a flight to Mars and beyond. What The IF we could ALL do that? And ride in our space cars wherever we wanted to go?

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What The If?
28 - Global Munchies Attack! But There's No More SALT! from 2018-01-22T00:00

SALT is life. Potato chips are even better life! No salt, NO LIFE.

What The IF all the salt in the world ran out???

A very special, very imaginative, spectacular episode, pulle...

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What The If?
27 - Earth Will ROCK YOUR WORLD from 2018-01-19T06:07:08

TODAY WAS CRAZY because GEOLOGY suddenly sped up like craaaaaazzzzy. No more waiting eons for mountains to rise, watch 'em before your very eyes. Heck, ride that mountain as it grows, grows, grows!...

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What The If?
26 - Dance For Us, Human! DANCE! from 2018-01-11T06:44:16

Today we solve, once and for all, one of humanity's greatest mysteries: WHY are the Aliens TEASING US??? Plan for the best, prepare for the worst, people of Earth! Professor Matt is back from ICELA...

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What The If?
25 - The "T" in "E.T." stands for TEASE. Arghhhh! from 2018-01-04T06:10:17

PART THREE OF THE WTiF UFO CHRONICLES. Philip rubs his hands together and plots how to score an interview with one of the aliens who've abducted him. We urge ALL CITIZENS to take one for the team (...

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What The If?
24 - Alien Abduction: PRO TIPS! from 2017-12-28T23:18:24

DEAR ALIEN ABDUCTEES: Please help us out, take pictures! Also, can we get AIRLINES to pick us up at home, while we're sleeping, too??? It'd be so much more CONVENIENT. And we also have some REQUEST...

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What The If?
23 - Say Hello To A UFO from 2017-12-21T19:04:19

We watch the skies, and read the New York Times and we shout OMG! A very special What The IF?

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What The If?
22 - Dinosaurs With Big Brains And Bad Ideas from 2017-12-14T03:24:14

WE DELAY THE ASTEROID that killed the dinosaurs by five minutes, and thus... the giant lizard dudes and dudettes continued to breed, and evolve. And then they got big ideas in their head. Well, the...

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What The If?
21 - Welcome to FLAT EARTH, Safety Not Guaranteed from 2017-12-07T00:36:45

• Email us feedback@whattheif.com, let us know you're listening & share your thoughts!

FLAT EARTH: words the strike fear into the heart of every fact loving, rational thinking human. To im...

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What The If?
20 - When An IF! Runs AMOK from 2017-11-30T15:28:54

How FAR can you stretch a thought experiment? How much can you bend your mind? How far off the cliff can we run without looking down? Today we push the concept of learning from an IF into new dimen...

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What The If?
19 - The HAIKU At The Center Of The Universe from 2017-11-23T20:23:04

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What will happen after our c...

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What The If?
18 - MATH -- The Elephant In All The Rooms from 2017-11-22T13:32:48

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MATH! It strikes fear into t...

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What The If?
17 - NASA Stolen By Philosophers Hopped Up On Pipe Smoke from 2017-11-17T01:13:14

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ARE YOU a thinker or a do-er? Or perha...

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What The If?
16 - DO NOT TOUCH THE GRAVITY DIAL from 2017-11-09T20:29:48

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THERE'S A RECIPE for ...

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What The If?
15 - Dark Matter: You're Soaking In It! from 2017-11-02T01:57:07

Love the show? Click here to give a 1-click iTunes rating: http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1250517051 Thanks!

Listen for End-Of-The-Episode Shoutouts! We salute our most dedicated Twitter fo...

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What The If?
14 - Who Shall Inherit The Earth, And How Furry Will They Be? from 2017-10-25T17:02:35

Enjoy the show? Leave an iTunes review! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1250517051

We humans share the Earth with many species, and some people see us Homo Sapiens as the masters of the plane...

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What The If?
13 - Hot Rod Rocket Cars, Burnin' Mars Gas! from 2017-10-18T15:11:06

Using gravity waves, Astronomers announced they discovered two neutron stars colliding in an epic explosion! Forbes Magazine's favorite fact about this natural wonder is that the event created 28 O...

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What The If?
12 - Alien Big Mac Wrapper Found On The Moon from 2017-10-11T16:07:32

NASA has emergency plans for what to do if they find an alien artifact on the Moon or anywhere in space (for real!). Elon Musk probably does, too. What The IF would happen if we found something lef...

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What The If?
11 - Can God Be Hacked??? from 2017-10-07T12:48:59

If miracles could be proven by science, oh man, wouldn't things would be better for everyone? Wouldn't it be awesome? And fun? And super helpful? We imagine the wild & wacky day that science discov...

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What The If?
10 - Gee, Your Universe Smells Terrific from 2017-09-30T21:51:53

Imagine if space was breathable... If you could swim in it, fly in it, go anywhere you want wearing only your bathing suit, or your birthday suit! Would you swim to Jupiter? Paddle to Alpha Centaur...

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