Back to Show
It's Okay to Be Smart
Are Some Species More Important Than Others?
We explore the universal rules of life that tie together Earth’s living systems. Traveling from Africa’s Serengeti plains to the nearly extinct prairies of the western U.S. to discover the unexpected species that determine the very existence of these places. Can an ecosystem survive without its keystone species? Can we restore endangered human cultures by bringing back a nearly-extinct ecosystem?
Support Provided By

13:11
Meet your cousin: Homo naledi.

8:51
Why are trees and other plants green? The answer is full of surprises.

8:46
How do we see color in the first place?

11:20
Earth’s climate is changing in a big way.

9:36
Money. We all use it. But is it real?

11:24
I look at a few of the most famous incorrect factoids in science.

7:21
What is ”egg-shaped” even?

16:07
Blind YouTuber Molly Burke shows Joe Hanson a new way to see.

5:27
Walk into any forest, and beneath your feet is what helps make life on Earth possible.

10:26
It never gets dark anymore. Not REALLY dark, anyway.

10:25
Fifty years ago, we sent the first astronauts to walk on the moon’s face.

9:43
Could You Be a Chimera?