Thought Portal

UK podcast star Helen Zaltzman of The Allusionist helps me figure out why one set of poorly understood pseudo-scientific terms can sink a scene, while another set can make a sci-fi concept feel believable. We'll hear from physicist Katie Mack, who hates technobabble, and Jennifer Ouellette who plays matchmaker between scientists and Hollywood directors that want to sell their mumbo jumbo with real science. And "Timescape" author Gregory Benford tells the story of how an obscure theoretical particle became a technobabble meme.