BROADCASTS.com

b'

How many soulmates do you think people have? What if you tried to funnel all the water from Niagara falls through a straw? Do you think it\\u2019s possible? if you sold the whole planet for scrap\\u2013what parts would be most valuable? You might think these absurd questions are unanswerable, or even pointless, but these are the kind of questions Randall Munroe can\\u2019t stop thinking about. Randall is the bestselling author of the books \\u201cWhat If\\u201d and \\u201cWhat If 2\\u201d which provide serious, scientific answers to absurd questions. He\\u2019s also the Hugo-award winning cartoonist behind the popular xkcd webcomics. In this episode, Randall talks through the most intriguing scenarios from his new volume, and shares why absurdist thought experiments actually help us understand the world\\u2013and each other\\u2013a bit better.