More Conversations, Complex Questions, and Bold Ideas in Season Five of ‘The Joy of Why’

Home More Conversations, Complex Questions, and Bold Ideas in Season Five of ‘The Joy of Why’ SHARE (opens a new tab) THE JOY OF WHY More Conversations, Complex Questions, and Bold Ideas in Season Five of ‘The Joy of Why’ The podcast returns with 12 all-new episodes that explore the biggest questions in basic science and mathematics. Chanelle Nibbelink for Quanta Magazine Introduction What is the future of gene editing with CRISPR? Has AI changed mathematics forever? Will we find other civilizations in the universe? What if we’ve been wrong about dark energy all along? These are just a few of the big, bold questions we’ll be exploring in the new season of The Joy of Why. Mathematician Steven Strogatz (opens a new tab) and physicist Janna Levin (opens a new tab) are back as your hosts for these and other conversations that explore the frontiers of basic science and mathematics. Each episode features an in-depth conversation in which Steven or Janna sits down with a leading scientist or mathematician to unpack one big idea or area of research. The two hosts also chat together throughout each episode, sharing their own thoughts, reactions, and questions. New episodes drop every other Thursday, kicking off on June 11 with biochemist and Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna (opens a new tab) , who helped revolutionize gene editing and biology as co-discoverer of the CRISPR-Cas9 system. The wide-ranging conversation explores the discovery and sudden rise of CRISPR as a tool that can modify genes in a highly precise manner, the successes and issues the work raised, and what comes next. Check out the lineup of this season’s guests below — and stay tuned for a surprise or two. All 12 episodes of Season 5 will be available to stream or read here, and on Apple Podcasts (opens a new tab) , Spotify (opens a new tab) , TuneIn (opens a new tab) , or wherever you listen to podcasts. Scientists and mathematicians appearing in the latest season of The Joy of Why include (left to right, top to bottom) biochemist Jennifer Doudna, astrophysicist Adam Reiss, mathematician Lauren Williams, neuroscientist Ishmail Abdus-Saboor, computer scientist Melanie Mitchell, astronomer David Kipping, evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers, physicist Albert-László Barabási, and mathematician Maggie Miller. Credits (left to right, top to bottom): Christopher Michel; Courtesy of Adam Reiss; Lucy Lu; Courtesy of the Columbia Zuckerman Institute; Kate Joyce/Sante Fe Institute; Courtesy of David Kipping; Courtesy of Toby Kiers; Istvan Labady; Stanford University Also in Multimedia How We See the Beautiful, Violent Sun IMAGE GALLERY How We See the Beautiful, Violent Sun By SIMON FRANTZ MAY 28, 2026 5 A Treasure Trove of Cambrian Fossils Rewrites the Story of Early Life IMAGE GALLERY A Treasure Trove of Cambrian Fossils Rewrites the Story of Early Life By MARLOWE STARLING MAY 1, 2026 3 A Through-The-Lens Look at the World’s Particle Physics Labs IMAGE GALLERY A Through-The-Lens Look at the World’s Particle Physics Labs By ZACK SAVITSKY APRIL 1, 2026 1 Comment on this article Quanta Magazine moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (New York time) and can only accept comments written in English.  Show comments NEXT ARTICLE Entanglement Builds Space-Time. Now “Magic” Gives It Gravity.