
New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — in just under 15 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including sponsor-free listening for Short Wave.... more
| Publishes | Daily | Episodes | 1930 | Founded | 7 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | Life SciencesAstronomyScience | |||

WBUR’s The Midnight Rebellion is a one-of-a-kind podcast: a “choose your own”-style show set 100 years in the future when the climate has gone haywire, and it’s up to you to save the planet. Rooted in science, this fictional adventure was created for... more
When’s the last time you looked at your poop? Dr. Trisha Pasricha says you should look every time because it could save your life. A change in bowel habits is the number one indicator someone might have colon cancer, a disease on the rise in people u... more
Ahead of the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, we're re-airing our first episode with host Regina G. Barber. In it, Regina and planetary scientist Melissa Rice explore all things shooting stars. They talk about the different types, where they come f... more
In Senegal, rice farmers are trying to kill three birds with one stone – er, fish. Rice and fish are already a natural combination; they’re even the main ingredients of thieboudienne, the delicious national dish. But could that combination also reduc... more
People also subscribe to these shows.
I normally love this show. But this felt like PR for the water incineration industry. Why were the industry representatives referred to as “experts” over and over, and the science-based non-profit representative not? And it didn’t even explain that the industry reps were from the waste incineration industry. And how can you even do a longish piece like this without mentioning the chemicals created by burning plastics like dioxins and furans that are so toxic and long lasting? This felt like PR,... more
I enjoy the science tidbits that I would otherwise never know about like the LA micro forest. Thank you Emily and team for reminding us of the importance and miracles of science and nature!
Their politics I can do without but the science is what keeps me coming back!
There are a few little bits I would tweak, but overall I really appreciate this podcast getting some important (& fun) info. to the public. Thank you!
•EPISODE 1235 “The Great Antarctic Food Web Puzzle”. Unlistenable. Why do Americans refuse to pronounce “Antarctica” correctly?
~
•EPISODE 1297 “When Eavesdropping Pays Off” in which a guest uses the non-word “nother” (twice in one sentence).
~
•EPISODE: “Why is NASA going to the moon again?” In which the host confuses “disinterest” (impartiality) with “uninterest” (Meh).
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Spotify | #12 | |
Apple Podcasts | #4 | |
Apple Podcasts | #14 | |
Apple Podcasts | #3 | |
Apple Podcasts | #13 | |
Apple Podcasts | #18 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
Short form science show delivering bite-sized explorations of new discoveries, puzzling questions, and the science behind headlines in under 15 minutes. Episodes mix interviews with researchers and journalists, accessible explanations, and a light, humorous tone to make complex topics approachable for a broad audience. Notable strengths include a diverse set of guest experts, clear takeaways, and a knack for connecting lab findings to everyday life and current events. The format tends to spotlight timely topics—from health and environment to space and technology—while maintaining a consistent, human-centered storytelling style that appeals to curious listeners who want credible context without heavy jargon.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Short Wave. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Short Wave and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Short Wave, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Short Wave, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers Short Wave has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with Short Wave:
1. The Indicator from Planet Money
2. Consider This from NPR
3. Throughline
4. Planet Money
5. Science Friday
Short Wave launched 7 years ago and published 1930 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Short Wave from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Short Wave. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on Short Wave include:
1. Melissa Rice
2. Jonathan Lambert
3. Ryan Calumber
4. Ashley Podorodsky
5. Charlene Cooper
6. Jenna McLaughlin
7. Zeke Housefather
8. Lisa Patel
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.