It pains me to say it but RadioLab is not what it used to be. I loved this program for years, every scientifically researched minute of it. The hosts knew what they were talking about, having done the research or immersed themselves into the depth of the information provided to them. The current variety of hosts and contributors are phoning it it, with seemingly fake enthusiasm forwards a topic the know the slightest about, topped off with giggles and up-speak. Hopefully RadioLab will go back to its well researched scientific based programming rather than its present day fad chats.

Words aren’t enough. Just listen.

Ever since Jad & Robert left, this podcast has gone way downhill. 4 out of 5 episodes is a rerun, and the new episodes are dull or over the top artsy pieces whereas they used to tackle interesting science stories, etc. The old banter between Jad & Robert has been replaced by hosts who lack the chemistry & speaking voices to grab an audience. I still listen, but often find myself not really paying attention.

Producers and reporters are carrying this diminished podcast. Hosts add nothing Unless you like being spoken to like a six year old (Lulu) or listening to a guy who sounds like he desperately needs to go to the bathroom only can’t stop speaking long enough to relieve himself (Latif). Seriously the show would be easier on the ears with no hosts.

This podcast is utterly unlistenable. Either the host is repeating a guest or finishing their sentence unnecessarily (the episode on Stockholm Syndrome was a physically miserable experience because of this) or the editing chops things up and makes it hard to even follow if there’s a conversation or just jumping from clip to clip. They don’t need to! And honestly? They add nothing insightful, in depth, new or interesting to the subjects of their episodes. At least not enough to put myself through it.

This program stands out as one of the few pieces of (I hesitate to call it entertainment) that is consistently innovative, invigorating, and just amazing. Over the years I have worked a warehouse job off/on to pay for college that allows me to listen to music or podcasts as I work. Radiolab has made me excited for the stints where I return to this job so I can just pour hours of time into this fantastic program. The team expertly blends informational science, storytelling, journalism, human emotion, sound design, music, and just pure fun into a consistently awe-inspiring phenomenon. The sheer volume of radiolab’s work is simply breathtaking—how do they not run out of amazing oddities to report on?! The show’s breadth and quality are unmatched and have become a necessary reminder to me in these seemingly endless end times of the beauty of the world—natural and human. I cannot count the number of times that I have used an episode of Radiolab to create titillating (not in a weird way! Lol!) conversation with scores of friends and strangers alike. As a budding scientist and avid lover of all things … life … Radiolab captures the earnestness that has defined and propelled humanity since our beginnings. Thank you to the team at Radiolab for bringing so much light to the world. I look forward to the day I can comfortably afford to join The Lab and donate as much as I can. The work you do has changed my life.

Loveeee

Love the content, the editing drives me nuts.

I love love love radio lab - I grew up on it. However, I’m finding it’s harder to listen to with how often the hosts speak over the guests. I grew up loving the almost 3D auditory experience with sound effects used to emphasize the cool stuff. The recent Malthusian Swerve was a lot of talking and chiming in - I lost the plot. I hope to see more emphasis on story telling moving forward!

I really was hoping the show would get back to its old ways, but clearly it won’t. Before I enjoyed hearing a new story with insight every week and listening to jad and Robert giving round table points and counterpoints on what it could mean to the world as a whole. But now the show is filled with reruns and showcases to other podcasts. And when there is a new story, the content feels kind of plain, like it’s knowledge that’s pieced together logically and doesn’t have that unique teaching anymore. Even the discussion after feels very surface level and the new hosts consistently feel like they’re phoning it in with “oh wow” type statements. There’s minuscule debate. The show has gone from “let’s tell you how the blood of horseshoe crabs are harvested for crucial medicines and the moral implications behind it” to “let’s just read you a poem of early life on earth and call it an episode”. There’s no more journalism. The content has been dumbed down considerably and the hosts clearly want to showcase their own projects, which feels more targeted towards younger audiences

Why is this a podcast for children now. Seems they’re targeting 2nd graders with all the obnoxious cheerbabble and goofy sound effects. This show was once a master class in confidently informative storytelling, often punctuated with perfect moments of silence to allow space for wonder. Now it’s saccharine pulp for kiddos. A masterclass in trying too hard. Less scientific wonder and more goony gabbing. Let the information stand for itself and stop with all the inflective gibbering.

Sad it took me so long to find this podcast, but so happy I did. brings me so much awe and joy.

For the love of everything holy, STOP playing episodes of Terrestrials. Also, who decided a 10+ minute long poem about an obsession with a cringeworthy early 00s “rock” song belonged in this podcast. It’s not remotely relevant to science or technology, let alone interesting. Please stick to your usual beat which I love!

Can’t replicate the magic

Good show but you left out the fact that the US government is running a deficit of 1.8 trillion per year. That not sustainable with current interest on our current 38 trillion debt now over 800 billion per year. If cuts are not made the economy will crumble and there will be no funding for research. One more point you fail to mention is that there are companies started on government funded research with pennies paid back to the government. That never happens in the private sector.

I think that radio lab is excellent— I really enjoyed the episode on the cassette tape. Thank you for the work you’re doing!

I don’t mind the opinions, but the cadence is off. Too fast-hitting. Makes me uneasy.

Radiolab is consistently great but Camel in the Snow was a riot! Loved the playful way it was presented. And Latif’s enthusiasm and sense of discovery is always a joy

The topics are interesting but the hosts are annoying and the singing, goofing off and comedic efforts trivialize the subject matter and it is so distracting. I've tried to listen several times and I can't even make it through an episode.

You are going to use pregnant person and parent instead of the word mother because not everyone who has had a baby identifies as a mother. Give me a break.

Why does Lulu sound like she’s speaking to kindergartners? Was she formally a teacher in grade school?

This is still an seriously interesting, well researched, and intricately produced podcast. Thank you Radiolab! But I feel it’s lost a step since Jad and Robert left. The Flight Before Christmas is a prime example. By something over the nine minute mark, I understood that I had not learned a thing. And at that point, the hosts and the guest were in a deep discussion about the ethics of reclining one’s airline seat or not. I had to stop. The listeners time is valuable, and these two hosts need to remember that. Please consider editing your future episodes more tightly to create greater value. And I feel bad about saying this, but I’m just not a fan of Latif’s voice. He sounds like he has a stuffy nose all the time. I still think he’s an utterly amazing and innovative journalist, and I remain grateful for the hard, creative work he does to educate us all.

It’s become WAY too political. This last episode on PCR was the last straw for me. I have a doctorate in pharmacotherapy and I work for the VA. Not everyone out there that listens drinks the leftist cool aid guys, come on. You have very educated people listening from all walks of life. Please stop. All I want to do is learn interesting new things. I don’t need my Podcasts pushing a political agenda. Good luck though and I hope you take heed.

Is this just a re-run show now? Come on y’all! 🙄

RadioLab has fallen off the train in terms of quality. Most of the best episodes are reruns. The newest content has just been mush for a year or so. Sad to see an old friend dying chasing dollars.

I gave the new hosts more than a fair chance. Sadly, they are not up to the task. It's no surprise that they are always begging people to subscribe.

Ot was bad enough when Robert left the show and Jad obviously did not have his all into it anymore. Robert was the realistic anchor to Jad's naïve curiosity. Together, in combination with perfect editing, they let the story become itself. Now you have "producers" acting as hosts, even those of us who are Radiolab plus members are still hammered with requests for more money every single episode. Join the lab, donate 60 extra dollars just to get a poster, hear about the planet that the absolutely annoying voiced Latif can't shut up about. I remain a Radiolab plus member because it's the easiest way to go find old episodes with real hosts. A place where silence was one of the sounds found useful. A place where intelligent conversation happened and I didn't feel like, as other people have stated in their reviews, like I'm being talked to as a grade schooler even though I'm being marketed to constantly. Lulu was a good reporter and had some good articles that she contributed to the original show but is certainly not a host. And Latif has the worst possible voice for radio ever. And he seems to really like himself a lot. Really they're both super into how awesome they think they are and how awesome they think Radiolab is even though they did not make it or make it what it is by any means whatsoever and in fact they ruining it. Please stop begging for money and talking to us we're children. Please get new hosts!!!!!

Love love love the quality of the reporting and the topics! Despite the crew change, the quality is still top notch and I always look forward to seeing what the new episode will be about!

From the placenta episode where there’s this belabored disclaimer about motherhood. I understand the acknowledgement for agendered people comes from a place of compassion. NYC is a great place with great people, it’s not a stretch to imagine friends and colleagues that don’t adhere to genders who also plan families. But also know, to the rest of us in other parts of the country, that acknowledgment sounds flatly ridiculous, if only because it makes people seem very fragile and offended by default. It destroys the pacing of the already struggling story. It strains credulity a reasonable person who has borne children would be offended by being called a “mother”, this is a sentence I never imagined I could write. This whole audio clip is like a sound bite that’s going to be played at every MAGA rally and no I’m not happy about it.

Tried listening to a podcast on a roadtrip and the constant interjections from the podcasters over those talking had me considering driving off the road. I think in total I lasted 13 minutes in before I chose silence the rest of the way.

I used to adore this podcast. I am very disappointed with how capitalist the most recent episode was. It’s really unclear to me how you could feel okay acting like capitalism does all good things. For example, the example about China is obviously so much more complicated than this episode made it sound.

I rarely if ever write podcast reviews but Radiolab was one of my favorites. Latif is just way too enthusiastic and excited . He makes everything sounds like a revelation. Other reviewers have also mentioned that Lulu sounds like she’s addressing children and that’s the vibe I keep getting from them both. If the story is interesting and the production is good you don’t need to sell it so hard. It gets annoying. It isn’t PBS Saturday morning. Calm down.

I’ve listened to this podcast for years and years, but this particular episode was so off-putting that I couldn’t finish it. Latif, your exaggerated reactions were over the top. Ease up please.

Especially helpful in today’s world, Radiolab brings joy, knowledge, and laughter. I start conversations with things I’ve learned. I share it widely to bring a bit of happiness to friends and family!

Best science podcast

The show is great but Lulu’s fake overreaction and goo goo ga ga talk is so annoying. Please stop.

A shell of its former self. Sad to see the decline.

This show has become so tedious to listen to that I can’t even make it through an entire episode lately. Why is every idea posed as some naively-inquisitive thought? Who is the targeted audience for this type of format, K-5? I thought this show had a spin-off for kids—are they getting their shows mixed up? The new hosts—though lovely people, I’m sure—just don’t have the chops to carry this once-great show. Truly a shame…

Longtime obsessed listener with radiolab and LOVE the new radiolab for kids - incredible. Learn, grow, laugh, be in awe, connect— superb. Problem— since the original hosts left, every other week is a re-run and it’s so annoying. It just too much. Your new content is good and it’s slow to come out or is drowned by y’all essentially being an archive show now. Cut back frequency in general? maybe every 4th or 3rd is a re-run? You’re losing us. We love you Love you, much respect

When I was in the 7th grade, I had a science teacher who would make us listen to Radio Lab while working on labs in class. The first podcast I ever listen to was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Listening to this story sent me on a whirlwind. Wanting to learn everything about Lack’s and peaking my interest in other podcast. Since that moment in 2013, I have listened to every radiolab podcast since. Listening to it doing chorus around the farm and now today. Thank you for helping this little boy grow and dream past the tiny town in Oklahoma I called home💛💛💛

This show never recovered from losing Rob. You could tell Jad's heart wasn't in it afterwards, and the current hosts just read old essays they wrote as undergrads and say 'quantum' a lot. It's a shame.

The last few shows have been great. I admit I was getting a little frustrated with all the reruns. I imagine it’s hard to come up with new material all the time. Big shoes to fill with Jad and Robert. But the Quantum Birds episode knocked it out of the park! Mind blown! Hopefully more like that to come. Jonathan

Listen to the old episodes. New ones lack in storytelling, which is what made Radiolab distinct.

Love the show. They LOVE to replay things. Some shows are 18 minutes of content that they did 10 years ago. Awesome.

I became a member because Radiolab was absolutely the best podcast. I listened every Saturday without fail. But...now I've stopped. Latif and Lulu are fine. Only okay. The only episodes I enjoyed listening were reruns so now I just go back into the archives to listen to Jad and Robert.

The Jad and Robert days were the best; wish they were still on and so does Radiolab as evidenced by the fact that they constantly re-air old episodes with them. Jad and Robert were such great hosts that I used to gladly donate to Radiolab every month. Now I cannot even stand more than five minutes of an episode. Also, pro-tip to any podcast: do not hire speakers with lisps. I know this is ableist or whatever but if your role requires you to speak as your primary function, your elocution should be pristine. I would not hire someone without arms as a boxer and would not hire someone with a lisp as a speaker.

This podcast is great to break up my more news-focused ones. The stories are always interesting and the production is awesome.

This was my favorite podcast of all time back in the day with Jad and Robert. The storytelling, the production, the reporting, the science… it was perfect. But since Robert and Jad left, it just hasn’t been the same. The topics are less interesting and the storytelling leaves me underwhelmed and unsatisfied. I still listen but not as religiously

But it just isn’t what it used to be.

The old RadioLab ways the BEST of media. Truly remarkable content. The new hosts only pitch memberships and beg for month, but for what? All the new RadioLab hosts do is replay old episodes and add non value voice over. The chemistry / freshness is lacking, and it seems unethical to ask for funding for playing previously publicly funded radio content