
The Biggest Breakthroughs in Science Happening Right Now
12/27/23 • 63 min
3 Listeners
If you're looking for a hopeful and mind-expanding conversation to round out the year, this one is for you.
It's our breakthroughs of the year episode, covering 2023's biggest achievements in science and tech, including space technology, life extension, fusion, gene editing, vaccines, and, of course, GLP-1s.
It has become a 'Plain English' tradition—after weeks of stories that often take us into sad areas, like anxiety, depression, and war—to close the year with a nerdy conversation about the most important developments at the frontier of science and technology. Today's frontier guide is Dr. Eric Topol. He is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a bestselling author on the future of medicine.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Eric Topol
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you're looking for a hopeful and mind-expanding conversation to round out the year, this one is for you.
It's our breakthroughs of the year episode, covering 2023's biggest achievements in science and tech, including space technology, life extension, fusion, gene editing, vaccines, and, of course, GLP-1s.
It has become a 'Plain English' tradition—after weeks of stories that often take us into sad areas, like anxiety, depression, and war—to close the year with a nerdy conversation about the most important developments at the frontier of science and technology. Today's frontier guide is Dr. Eric Topol. He is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a bestselling author on the future of medicine.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Eric Topol
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Previous Episode

The Truth About Ketamine: Depression Cure, Health Fad, or Placebo?
One week ago, Matthew Perry’s autopsy report came back, finding that the ‘Friends’ actor died from the acute effects of ketamine overdose. His death has sharpened focus on the popular and controversial drug. Ketamine has been hailed as a miracle cure for depression and anxiety, criticized as a VC-fueled fad, and investigated as a placebo. But what is ketamine, what is its history, what do we know about how and why it works, and how could it help hundreds of millions of people with depression and anxiety? Today’s guest is Boris Heifets. He is an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Stanford University and the author of a much talked about and utterly fascinating study on ketamine that came up with a brilliant way to test the effects of ketamine. The study's surprising results raise big questions about not only ketamine, but the curative power of belief.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Boris Heifets
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Next Episode

Four Megatrends for 2024 in Tech, Economics, Media, and Weird Science
Derek shares what he considers the most important narratives of the moment, including the return of normalcy in economics, a big shift in sports media, Big Tech's 1890 moment, and ... aliens.
Host: Derek Thompson
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Featured in these lists
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/plain-english-with-derek-thompson-202813/the-biggest-breakthroughs-in-science-happening-right-now-40539776"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to the biggest breakthroughs in science happening right now on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy