50 episodes listed below
The hidden structure behind useful things.
Materialism is a conversational materials science show anchored by academic curiosity and practical examples. It moves from ski layers and ironing to synchrotron XRD, metal organic frameworks, spark ablation, and AI-assisted materials discovery.
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Materialism frames materials science as a field of hidden causes. The show cares about what things are made of, how they were processed, and why tiny structural choices can change large-scale behavior. It can start with clothing. From there, it explains polymer crystallinity, amorphous regions, Kevlar-like strength, spandex-like elasticity, and the heat-driven reason ironing smooths cotton. The register is academic but not sterile. The hosts and guests use real terminology, then often pause to build a working mental picture. Phase field modeling becomes easier to grasp when finite elements are compared to neighboring ping pong balls passing influence through a chain. Synchrotron XRD becomes more than a characterization acronym when the conversation turns to reading process fingerprints from crystal or microstructure. The show also has a strong processing spine. Episodes discuss metal organic frameworks, their huge design space, unusual porosity, flexibility, thermal expansion, compressibility, and solvent-driven changes. Other conversations look at merging 3D printing with SPS, including binder removal, densification, support materials, co-sintering challenges, and bonding different material systems. Commercialization is treated as part of the science rather than a side note. VS Particle appears through a discussion of spark ablation, nanoparticle work, and the path from graduate research to a company. Automation and computation show up repeatedly. Catalyst research with Meta raises the hard problem of automated X-ray diffraction and why characterization determines whether a dataset is useful. Microsoft Azure Quantum Elements appears in a conversation about prediction paired with actual synthesis, which gives the show a useful bias toward closing the loop between model and material. Materialism is best for listeners who like careful explanation, lab realism, and the engineering consequences of invisible structure. It respects complexity without making mystery the point. The pleasure is in seeing ordinary and advanced materials become legible.
Made for: For materials science students, engineers, researchers, and technically curious listeners who enjoy patient explanations of real materials problems. It also suits science listeners who want everyday objects connected to microstructure, processing, and characterization.
What sets it apart: Materialism stands out by pairing specialist materials science with concrete analogies and industry-facing examples. It moves fluently between fundamentals, instruments, processing constraints, commercialization, and AI-enabled discovery.
In this podcast, Taylor and Andrew investigate the past, present, and future of materials science and engineering. Topic areas ranging from cutting edge materials technology, the history of different materials, the commercialization of new materials, and exciting advances in processing and characterization are all covered in detail. Our episodes include things like the unlikely discovery of superglue or teflon, the fascinating backstories about modern biomaterials like dialysis filters, and updates on new technologies including wearable electronics, next generation batteries, and nanomaterials. In short, we hope to help listeners understand the critical role that materials have played in soc…
Kevlar and spandex become a crystallinity lesson; your stretchy clothes now have a backstory.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A skier's clothing problem opens into crystallinity, Kevlar, spandex, and the heat-and-moisture mechanics behind smoother cotton.
Textile materials become a tidy way into the hidden engineering of everyday clothing. Andrew Falkowski and Dr. Taylor Sparks, joined by Kate Winning of Oxford Space Systems, start with a skier's familiar layering problem: inner fabric that moves moisture away from the body, plus…
A grounded explanation of how phase-field models turn microstructure evolution into linked, iterative math.
Phase Field Modeling makes microstructure evolution feel less abstract by tying it to things listeners can picture, then showing how those pictures become calculation.
A technical look at how structural clues may reveal how real materials were made.
This episode follows Taylor Sparks, a professor of material science and engineering at the University of Utah, from a month of beamline experiments in Grenoble, France, 14 years earlier into a broader question: what can structure tell us about real materials?
Porous crystals, unusual physical behavior, and the promise of designing matter for tunability.
Metal-organic frameworks come through as a materials-design challenge with an unusually wide canvas. Their modular structures can be tuned for specific properties, while their pores and pore edges leave space for chemistry that feels genuinely odd.
A practical, candid look at the process decisions behind combining additive manufacturing ideas with SPS.
This episode follows the engineering puzzle that emerges when additive manufacturing concepts meet SPS and the materials in a part refuse to behave the same way.
Nanotechnology, from lab tools to real-world systems.
Particle accelerators, compost piles and Queen's guitarist, all explained.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
An exploration of the engineering behind everyday textile materials, featuring textile design expert Kate Winning and her work at Oxford Space Systems.
Professor Taylor Sparks interviews Professor Jake Baer about phase field modeling, a computational method for simulating microstructure evolution in materials.
A scientist recounts his experience using synchrotron XRD facilities and discusses the potential of exploring imperceptible phenomena.
A discussion about metal organic frameworks and their physical properties, sparked by the Nobel Prize and featuring a researcher from Cambridge.
An interview exploring the novel combination of SPS sintering and additive manufacturing for advanced ceramic processing.
Mubashir Mansour recounts Sri Lankan sapphires receiving Kashmir origin certificates because their chemistry resembled a more expensive source.
Materialism hosts Jared and a co-host examine LionGlass, a phosphate-based glass from John Morrow's group at Penn State University, using a July paper.
This episode explores the challenge of discovering new, lower-cost catalysts using AI and machine learning, featuring guests from Meta's Fundamental AI Research team.
An interview with Aikid van Vught about his company VSParticle, which uses spark ablation to create nanoparticles and is shifting to become a nanopore slayer company.
This episode of the Materialism Podcast discusses a new approach from Microsoft Azure that accelerates materials discovery by combining AI predictions with experimental validation.
The president of QuesTek discusses the history and current status of integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) and his background in ceramic engineering and philosophy.
An exploration of why great ideas in ceramics and technology often fail to reach the market, featuring insights from a Delta Faucet R&D expert.