Back to Show
It's Okay to Be Smart
Will Earth Run Out of Oxygen
Season 13
Episode 4
Plants eat sunlight and air to make life. But the key enzyme behind it all, called RuBisCO, isn’t actually all that great at its job. Let’s talk about how photosynthesis really works, why oxygen isn’t coming from where you think, and whether we can fix the biggest flaw in one of Earth’s most essential processes.
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.

26:19
Dire wolves are back—sort of.

16:40
The oldest rocks on Earth are more than just ancient—they’re time machines!

17:11
This is one of the weirdest mysteries of human evolution: Why do we have grandmas?

12:28
Why do some people taste music or hear colors? Let’s talk about synesthesia.

14:35
How a chemical in lizard spit inspired one of the most important medical advancements.

12:15
These diamond makers create one of the most amazing materials on Earth — from dead people.

11:20
Learn nature’s ultimate game of hide-and-seek, and the way to win this game is all in the brain.

11:17
Nature has had to come up with some crazy ways to survive winter. None are weirder than hibernation.

12:40
Political scientist Don Green joins Joe to figure out the complex psychological and social factors t

16:27
Why do certain sounds make some of us so upset?!

11:43
Despite what you may have heard or learned in school, the sun is NOT the center of the solar system.

10:23
People see faces everywhere thanks to a quirk of the brain called visual pareidolia.