These Science Podcasts Will Keep You Informed & Entertained

If this past weekend's March for Science is any indication, the United States (and, honestly, the world) is brimming with curious, adventurous, knowledge-loving people. Hungry for more facts (and also really good narrative long-form journalism)? Here are nine science podcasts to keep you informed — even when our government maybe, uh, isn't.

From its early beginnings as an online movement, the March for Science became a wonderfully inclusive event. While its goals were numerous — adequate federal funding, transparency in policy, and dissemination of accurate information — what I found most inspiring was its call to scientists to engage with communities. Access to knowledge shouldn't be a privilege, the founders argued; those with information to share should share it. There's something incredibly hopeful and pure about this democratization of facts, and I like to imagine a Neil DeGrasse Tyson-type holding free after-school classes for the neighborhood.

Technology clearly has downsides — we had hoped social media platforms would would foster an increasingly diverse, global conversation on topics, for example, and instead they often just helped all the racists find each other — but podcasts, as both a mode of artistic expression and storytelling, as well as a news outlet, are kind of incredible. You can listen to them while you work, while you drive, while you take a walk through the woods, while you cook dinner, and the whole time, you can be learning. And then sharing. Because that's what we're meant to be doing.

Check out these nine podcasts. They're by no means the only scientific listening options out there, but they're a place to start. Because science makes America great, am I right?