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PodcastsRank #13473
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Short Wave

NPR
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Life SciencesPodcastsScienceAstronomyEN-USunited-statesWeekly
4.7 / 5
New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong, Aaron Scott and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.<br><br><em>If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at </em><em>plus.npr.org/</em><em>shortwave</em>
Top 26.9% by pitch volume (Rank #13473 of 50,000)Data updated Feb 10, 2026

Key Facts

Publishes
Weekly
Episodes
1.8K
Founded
N/A
Category
Life Sciences
Number of listeners
Private
Hidden on public pages

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Public snapshot
Audience: 1M–4M / month
Canonical: https://podpitch.com/podcasts/short-wave
Cadence: Active weekly
Reply rate: Under 2%

Latest Episodes

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Babies got beat: Why rhythm might be innate

Fri Feb 06 2026

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Rhythm is everywhere. Even if you don’t think you have it, it’s fundamental to humans’ biological systems. Our heartbeat is rhythmic. Speech is rhythmic. Even as babies, humans can track basic rhythm. Researchers wanted to find out if there were more layers to this: Could babies also track melody and more complicated rhythms? So they played Bach for a bunch of sleeping newborns and monitored the babies’ brains to see if they could predict the next note. What they found offers clues about whether melody and rhythm are hard-wired in the human brain or learned over time. We also get into what powers the eating habits of some snakes and chameleons, and insights into the role of sleep in problem-solving. Have a scientific question you want us to answer? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave. Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.  This episode was produced by Jordan-Marie Smith and Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Christopher Intagliata. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineers were Jimmy Keeley and Hannah Gluvna.  Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

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Rhythm is everywhere. Even if you don’t think you have it, it’s fundamental to humans’ biological systems. Our heartbeat is rhythmic. Speech is rhythmic. Even as babies, humans can track basic rhythm. Researchers wanted to find out if there were more layers to this: Could babies also track melody and more complicated rhythms? So they played Bach for a bunch of sleeping newborns and monitored the babies’ brains to see if they could predict the next note. What they found offers clues about whether melody and rhythm are hard-wired in the human brain or learned over time. We also get into what powers the eating habits of some snakes and chameleons, and insights into the role of sleep in problem-solving. Have a scientific question you want us to answer? Email us at shortwave@npr.org. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave. Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.  This episode was produced by Jordan-Marie Smith and Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Christopher Intagliata. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineers were Jimmy Keeley and Hannah Gluvna.  Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

Key Metrics

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Pitches sent
24
From PodPitch users
Rank
#13473
Top 26.9% by pitch volume (Rank #13473 of 50,000)
Average rating
4.7
Ratings count may be unavailable
Reviews
639
Written reviews (when available)
Publish cadence
Weekly
Active weekly
Episode count
1.8K
Data updated
Feb 10, 2026
Social followers
8.6M

Public Snapshot

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Life SciencesPodcastsScienceAstronomy
Country
United States
Language
EN-US
Language (ISO)
Release cadence
Weekly
Latest episode date
Fri Feb 06 2026

Audience & Outreach (Public)

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Audience range
1M–4M / month
Public band
Reply rate band
Under 2%
Public band
Response time band
Private
Hidden on public pages
Replies received
Private
Hidden on public pages

Public ranges are rounded for privacy. Unlock the full report for exact values.

Presence & Signals

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Social followers
8.6M
Contact available
Yes
Masked on public pages
Sponsors detected
Yes
Guest format
Yes

Social links

No public profiles listed.

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Audience & Growth
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Monthly listeners49,360
Reply rate18.2%
Avg response4.1 days
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Contact preview
p***@hidden
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Sponsor signals
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Sponsor mentionsLikely
Ad-read historyAvailable
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How To Pitch Short Wave

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Reviews

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4.7 / 5
RatingsN/A
Written reviews639

We summarize public review counts here; full review text aggregation is not shown on PodPitch yet.

Frequently Asked Questions About Short Wave

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What is Short Wave about?

New discoveries, everyday mysteries, and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes. It's science for everyone, using a lot of creativity and a little humor. Join hosts Emily Kwong, Aaron Scott and Regina Barber for science on a different wavelength.<br><br><em>If you're hooked, try Short Wave Plus. Your subscription supports the show and unlocks a sponsor-free feed. Learn more at </em><em>plus.npr.org/</em><em>shortwave</em>

How often does Short Wave publish new episodes?

Weekly

How many listeners does Short Wave get?

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