Reason with Science

About Reason with Science

Welcome to "Reason with Science", the podcast that explores the intersection of reason and science in our everyday lives. Billions of years of evolution led to a species which is asking questions about its own existence. This quest of humans is not possible without science. As we navigate an increasingly complex world, it's more important than ever to approach issues with a clear and evidence-based understanding. In this podcast, we'll dive into the latest research, explore fascinating topics, and interview experts in their respective fields to help us make sense of the world around us.

Publisher

Jitender Kumar

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Sept 2021

Latest episode

12 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

13 of 58 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   12 Dec 2025

   Why evolution explains more than we think

   Evolution is often misunderstood as a process limited to biology and genes. In this in-depth conversation, evolutionary ecologist Mark Vellend challenges that narrow view and presents a powerful idea: evolution is a universal principle that governs all complex systems. In this episode of Reason with Science, we explore how evolution applies not only to living organisms, but also to languages, technologies, cultures, institutions, scientific theories, economics, and artificial intelligence. Drawing on his book Everything Evolves: Why Evolution Explains More Than We Think (From Proteins to Politics), Mark Vellend explains why evolutionary theory deserves recognition as a general science of change, alongside physics. We discuss:- •What makes a system evolutionary in the most fundamental sense • Why Darwinism shaped — and narrowed — our understanding of evolution • How languages evolve through everyday use and variation • Why technologies advance through trial, error, and selection • How cultural norms, ideas, and institutions evolve over time • The role of randomness, contingency, and selection beyond biology • Evolutionary thinking in AI, economics, and complex systems • Tipping points, feedback loops, and irreversible change in ecosystems and societies This episode is essential viewing for scientists, students, educators, philosophers, and anyone curious about how the world changes — from cells to civilizations. 📘 Book discussed: Everything Evolves by Mark Vellend 🎙️ Podcast: Reason with Science Guests info Website : https://mvellend.weebly.com/ Linked in : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mark-vellend-everything-evolves-princeton-university-press-is5xc Episode links: Website: https://reasonwithscience.com/why-evolution-explains-more-than-we-think Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqQOPph6Qo Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6CQdIDnDABUPMCkgoy4gCL?si=U6zufCa_RMqckOQijL4n1A Apple podcast: YouTube music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqQOPph6Qo&si=gGOJsq0EzY7rldSH Follow Reason with Science: Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.reasonwithscience.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.reasonwithscience.com/ ) Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ReasonwithScience⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.youtube.com/@ReasonwithScience) Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qFLGsPWjL4GAGidmF2nKh Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reason-with-science/id1641776894 YouTube music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLila1Jm-QEwKu4xXtNpYFAsSDmPR9mlZB&si=5ehXeZhZ-z181G5b Timestamps: 00:00:00 Evolution Is Everywhere: From Nature to Ideas, Technology & Culture 00:01:05 What Makes Something an Evolving System? 00:02:05 Introducing Mark Bellant and His Research 00:03:17 Evolution as a Universal Process 00:05:13 Why Evolution Goes Beyond DNA and Genes 00:06:45 Language and Culture as Evolving Systems 00:07:45 Technology, Trial-and-Error, and Innovation 00:09:01 Darwinism, Neo-Darwinism, and the Modern Synthesis 00:11:01 How Biology Narrowed Our View of Evolution 00:13:01 The “Second Science”: Generalized Evolutionary Theory 00:20:49 Selection Beyond Biology: Culture, Tech, and Society 00:30:30 Randomness, Contingency, and Predictability 00:56:31 Tipping Points and Irreversible Change 01:04:39 Evolution in Ecology, Economics, and Society 01:07:55 Why Understanding Evolution Changes How We See the World #evolution #evolutionexplained #trendingvideo #podcast #biology #culturalevolution #languageevolution #sciencepodcasts #reasonwithscience #philosophyofscience #science #evolutiontheory #sciencetalks #youtubevideo #viralvideo

2. 

   29 Nov 2025TRANSCRIPT

   How sleep shapes the developing Brain with Mark Blumberg I Infant sleep neuroscience I Podcast

   How sleep shapes the developing Brain with Mark Blumberg This conversation is with Mark Blumberg, a neuroscientist at the University of Iowa whose work has fundamentally reshaped how we understand infant sleep, movement, and early brain development. Mark’s research reveals that sleep is not a passive state, but an active, self-organizing process essential for building the brain’s earliest sensory and motor circuits.We begin by asking a basic yet surprisingly difficult question: What is sleep, really? Mark explains why defining sleep across development and across species is far more complex than it seems, and why the brain during sleep—especially during REM sleep—is often more active than during wakefulness.Together, we explore why infants spend so much of their early life in REM sleep, how sleep unfolds in distinct stages, and why the tiny, jerky movements known as sleep twitches are not meaningless byproducts of dreams, but powerful developmental signals that help wire the brain and body. We discuss how these movements contribute to building internal models of the body, how sleep supports plasticity and learning, and what happens when these processes are disrupted early in life.Finally, we turn to broader questions about development, neurodiversity, and the limits of genetic explanations. Mark argues for the importance of studying typical development in order to understand developmental disorders, and reflects on what infant sleep can teach us about plasticity, embodiment, and the foundations of human cognition.Guests infoWebsite: https://blumberg.lab.uiowa.edu/X: https://x.com/canadiancharityEpisode links: Website: Youtube: https://youtu.be/dAouM1odrUISpotify: Apple podcast: YouTube music: Follow Reason with Science: Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.reasonwithscience.com/ ⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.reasonwithscience.com/ ) Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ReasonwithScience⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.youtube.com/@ReasonwithScience) Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qFLGsPWjL4GAGidmF2nKh Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reason-with-science/id1641776894 YouTube music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLila1Jm-QEwKu4xXtNpYFAsSDmPR9mlZB&si=5ehXeZhZ-z181G5b Timestamps:00:00:00 – Why sleep is one of the greatest unsolved problems in neuroscience 00:01:22 – What is sleep? Scientific challenges in defining sleep 00:04:05 – Is sleep a single state or a collection of components? 00:06:40 – Why sleep is not a passive state: brain activity during REM 00:08:37 – The major stages of sleep: REM vs non-REM 00:11:10 – Why dreaming is not the core function of REM sleep 00:12:22 – How scientists study sleep in humans and animals 00:15:10 – Sleep deprivation, stress, and experimental limits 00:19:48 – Why babies sleep so much more than adults 00:24:10 – The science of twitching during infant sleep 00:30:05 – How twitches help build the brain’s internal body maps 00:36:01 – Does twitching continue into adulthood? 00:43:28 – Learning during sleep vs learning during wake 00:50:04 – Sleep, memory, and real-world policy implications 01:21:47 – What infant sleep reveals about development and the future of research#reasonwithscience#science #health #lifescience #podcast #sciencepodcasts #trending #trendingvideo #viralvideo

3. 

   18 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT

   The Metabolic Truth: Rethinking Calories and Energy with Herman Pontzer | Lifestyle | Health | Food

   This conversation is with Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary anthropologist and professor at Duke University. Herman is best known for his groundbreaking work on human metabolism and energetics, which challenges long-held assumptions about how our bodies burn and manage energy. His field research with hunter-gatherer and subsistence-farming populations—including the Hadza of Tanzania, the Daasanach of Kenya, and the Tsimane’ of Bolivia—has redefined what we know about the relationship between activity, diet, and health.We begin by exploring the deceptively simple question: Why do some people burn more calories than others? Herman explains how the body’s total energy expenditure is remarkably constrained, meaning that even when we exercise more, our bodies often compensate by reducing energy spent elsewhere. This insight challenges the familiar “calories in, calories out” model and reframes how we understand diet, obesity, and modern sedentary lifestyles.Together, we discuss how evolution has shaped the human metabolic system—from the daily life of foragers walking 19,000 steps a day to the physiology of those in industrialized societies. We examine how metabolism interacts with the immune system, reproduction, and brain function, and why understanding these trade-offs is key to improving public health.Herman also shares insights from his books Burn and Adaptable, connecting metabolic research to broader questions about longevity, diet quality, and the future of medicine. Finally, we consider how modern tools—from doubly labeled water to GLP-1 drugs—fit into the long story of how humans manage energy in a changing world. Guests info: Website: https://sites.duke.edu/pontzerlab/ X: https://x.com/HermanPontzer Episode links: Website: https://reasonwithscience.com/the-metabolic-truth-rethinking-calories-and-energy-with-herman-pontzer Youtube: https://youtu.be/07qrQN91Iow Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uN2PJNfEmHckUcdvpg9BJ?si=wZQ4g-ckRnCDNgT71ZwXMg Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-metabolic-truth-rethinking-calories-and-energy/id1641776894?i=1000732444106 YouTube music: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=07qrQN91Iow&si=Ho8HOtfA5f-Hzzxf Follow Reason with Science: Website: ⁠⁠https://www.reasonwithscience.com/ ⁠⁠ (https://www.reasonwithscience.com/ ) Youtube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ReasonwithScience⁠⁠ (https://www.youtube.com/@ReasonwithScience) Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5qFLGsPWjL4GAGidmF2nKh Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reason-with-science/id1641776894 YouTube music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLila1Jm-QEwKu4xXtNpYFAsSDmPR9mlZB&si=5ehXeZhZ-z181G5b Timestamps: 00:00:00 — What is metabolism, really?00:01:20 — Who is Herman Pontzer?00:03:10 — Measuring energy in real life00:06:45 — Lessons from the Hadza and Daasanach00:09:30 — The Constrained Energy Expenditure model00:12:15 — Why exercise alone rarely changes body weight00:15:50 — Diet versus activity: the hierarchy of control00:19:10 — Internal trade-offs: the body’s energy budget00:22:35 — Metabolism in global context00:26:20 — Metabolism across the human lifespan00:29:55 — Overtraining, stress, and energy limits00:33:40 — Modern lifestyles and metabolic mismatch00:37:25 — GLP-1 drugs and the new metabolic frontier00:41:10 — Energy, health, and longevity00:45:00 — Evolution’s signature in our metabolism00:48:15 — How culture shapes our energy habits00:52:00 — Metabolism and reproductive health00:56:30 — The science of appetite and satiety01:00:45 — Metabolic research and public health policy01:05:10 — Final reflections on what it means to live energetically#reasonwithscience #science #health

Inside a recent episode

How sleep shapes the developing Brain with Mark Blumberg I Infant sleep neuroscience I Podcast

Published 29 Nov 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] I'm sorry, during sleep than they are to happen during wake. And some of those processes have been demonstrated to varying levels of convincingness to people in the field. But still, the consensus view seems to be that sleep is important for various aspects of memory consolidation. So we don't want to think about sleep and wake as sort of two antagonistic things. They are complementary. So what you learn during the day, you learn so much stuff, and you're going to remember a certain proportion of it, and you're going to forget the rest. There are people who don't forget. There are famous people in the literature who have... who could not forget. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

996,637

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 66 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

82

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

32

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Guest appearances

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.