Transistor

Series produced by PRX

Series image

A science series from PRX.

Transistor is a transformative STEM podcast from PRX. Three scientist hosts — a biologist, an astrophysicist, and a neuroscientist — report on conundrums, curiosities, and current events in and beyond their fields. Sprinkled among their episodes are the winners of the STEM Story Project, a competition we held for unique science radio.

Much as the transistor radio was a new technical leap, this Transistor features new women voices and sounds from new science producers.

PRX presents Transistor, applying our storytelling and podcast experience to science. The Sloan Foundation powers Transistor with funding and support.


Transistor is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan foundation, enhancing public understanding of science, technology, and economic performance. Learn more at sloan.org.


45 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Bluegrass... for Wolves?
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Piece image
Do animals like music? A woman who studies how non-human creatures go mad throws concerts for captive animals to try and enrich their lives, and re...

Bought by KRZA


  • Added: Dec 06, 2015
  • Length: 09:47
  • Purchases: 1
All By Myself... Maybe.
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Not 52 Hz, Credit: <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-237180595/stock-vector-cute-whale-spouts-water.html">Shutterstock</a>
52 Hz is the name given to a mysterious whale that vocalizes at a different frequency than other whales. Some refer to him as “The World’s Lonelies...

  • Added: Nov 24, 2015
  • Length: 08:23
The Indiana Jones of Math
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Piece image
Join us for a math adventure. Just bring your thickest jacket.

Bought by KALW and WTJU


  • Added: Oct 05, 2015
  • Length: 08:45
  • Purchases: 2
Forensics in Flames
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
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Over the past 20 years, there’s been a revolution in the science of arson investigations. Many of the clues that had been used for decades to deter...

Bought by KRZA and KWMR


  • Added: Aug 18, 2015
  • Length: 12:19
  • Purchases: 2
Episode 21: That Crime of the Month
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
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What does it mean when a woman commits a crime and attributes her actions to PMS? We revisit the court case and the science behind the first use of...

Bought by KWMR and KSFR


  • Added: Jul 16, 2015
  • Length: 11:45
  • Purchases: 2
Episode 20: Last of the Iron Lungs
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Martha Lillard, Credit: Julia Scott
As storms raged through Oklahoma in 2013, Martha Lillard waited them out from inside her iron lung. She is one of just dozens of polio survivors wh...

Bought by KPIP-LP


  • Added: Jul 06, 2015
  • Length: 08:31
  • Purchases: 1
Episode 19: Where Math and Mime Meet
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Tim and Tanya Chartier present a classic mime stance
Some things can be better left unsaid. Who would have thought that math could be one of them?

Bought by WOUB, WTJU, and KPIP-LP


  • Added: Jun 29, 2015
  • Length: 12:28
  • Purchases: 3
Episode 18: This is Crohn's Disease
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Piece image
Told by the couple who lived it, this is a story of how Crohn's disease can change lives when you least expect it. And it's a story of how science ...

Bought by KWMR


  • Added: Jun 11, 2015
  • Length: 20:15
  • Purchases: 1
Episode 17: Finding the Elusive Digital Stradivarius
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Piece image
In music, everything seems to have another digital life. Pianists can play with different voicings on an electric keyboard. Guitarists can filter t...

Bought by KZMU Moab Community Radio, KPIP-LP, and WTJU


  • Added: May 30, 2015
  • Length: 09:09
  • Purchases: 3
Episode 16: Totally Cerebral: Exercise and Your Brain
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Dr. Marian Diamond and Wendy Suzuki on Wendy's undergrad graduation day
A story of movement, memory, and mentors. Dr. Wendy Suzuki introduces us to Dr. Marian Diamond, whose lively classes ushered Wendy into a career in...

Bought by WTJU, KALW, KPIP-LP, KWMR, KMUD and more


  • Added: May 22, 2015
  • Length: 17:57
  • Purchases: 6
Episode 15: Science's Blind Spots
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Piece image
One of the things we assign to science is that there are true, absolute facts. But scientists are human and, it turns out, as prone to blind spots ...

Bought by KSFR, KPIP-LP, WTJU, and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 14, 2015
  • Length: 16:02
  • Purchases: 4
Episode 14: Early Bloom
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
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When University of Washington researcher David Rhoades discovered that plants could communicate with each other, he was laughed out of science. But...

Bought by KUOW, KPIP-LP, KWMR, and WTJU


  • Added: May 07, 2015
  • Length: 09:21
  • Purchases: 4
Episode 13: The Next Generation of Galapagos Scientists
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Maricruz Jaramillo (standing) and Samoa Asigau wait for their ride back to the Charles Darwin Research Station after an early morning of catching birds., Credit: Veronique LaCapra
What motivates young people to become scientists? Meet Maricruz Jaramillo and Samoa Asigau, two young women scientists from opposite sides of the P...

Bought by KPIP-LP and KWMR


  • Added: Apr 23, 2015
  • Length: 08:15
  • Purchases: 2
Episode 12: Totally Cerebral: What's That Smell?
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
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Scents and tastes are powerfully evocative -- one whiff of perfume or cooking aromas can transport you back to a particular moment, a particular pl...

Bought by KWMR, KPIP-LP, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 16, 2015
  • Length: 32:25
  • Purchases: 3
Episode 11: The Skinny on Your Skin
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Art by <a href="http://www.noapkaplan.com/atopic">Noa Kaplan</a>, Credit: Jed Kim
Your skin is your largest organ and is also is a thriving ecosystem, covered in bacteria. While many of us consider regular showers key to keeping ...

Bought by KPIP-LP, KWMR, XRAY.fm, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 09, 2015
  • Length: 17:29
  • Purchases: 4
Episode 10: The Ultimate Wayback Machine
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
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Looking through a telescope is like being inside a time machine -- you are seeing light from the past. And some space telescopes allow astronomers ...

Bought by Marfa Public Radio, KRZA, KWMR, XRAY.fm, KPIK-LP and more


  • Added: Apr 02, 2015
  • Length: 20:31
  • Purchases: 8
Episode 9: The Poison Squad: A Chemist’s Quest for Pure Food
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Harvey Washington Wiley in his lab, Credit: FDA
In the fall of 1902, twelve young men in suits regularly gathered for dinners in the basement of a government building in Washington, D.C. The men ...

Bought by KWMR, KUOW, XRAY.fm, and KPIP-LP


  • Added: Mar 26, 2015
  • Length: 09:59
  • Purchases: 4
Episode 8: Totally Cerebral: Think Pop Culture Gets Amnesia Right? Forgetaboutit!
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
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Many depictions of amnesia in TV, movies, and cartoons are just plain wrong -- some laughably so. Host Dr. Wendy Suzuki talks with Prof. Neal Cohen...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 19, 2015
  • Length: 36:43
  • Purchases: 1
Episode 7: A Rainbow of Noise
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Play with this rainbow of noise at <a href="http://noise.marniechesterton.com/">this site</a>!
Everybody knows about white noise — that sound that comes out of your TV when it’s not working quite right. But there are many other colors of nois...

Bought by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, KWMR, KUOW, KVSC, and KPIP-LP


  • Added: Mar 13, 2015
  • Length: 10:36
  • Purchases: 5
Episode 6: The Straight Poop
From: PRX
Series: Transistor
Caption: Sign on the door at OpenBiome
It still seems hard to believe, but for one disease, poop -- yes, human poop -- is nothing short a miracle cure. Microbiologist Christina Agapakis ...

Bought by WGBH Radio Boston, HowSound, KWMR, KPIP-LP, and WYAP


  • Added: Mar 05, 2015
  • Length: 19:22
  • Purchases: 5

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