{"podcast":{"title":"The Why Files: Operation Podcast","slug":"the-why-files-operation-podcast-5570241","podcast_index_feed_id":5570241,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/QCD2348265349","website_url":"https://thewhyfiles.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/a942bed8-29ec-11f1-9dce-dffd9eaf67d0/image/0d52db4cef1bfa19140677129642854a.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Why Files","episode_count":285,"summary":"The Why Files covers mysteries, myths and legends. We tell stories and seek the truth in a fun and lighthearted way. Our content is heavily researched; we don't release an episode unless we're sure we can bring something new to a topic.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-16T10:18:59.559381+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-why-files-operation-podcast-5570241"},"episode":{"title":"Basement: Daniel Whiteson | CERN, Dark Matter, and the Aliens Next Door","slug":"basement-daniel-whiteson-cern-dark-matter-and-the-aliens-next-door","published_at":"2026-04-20T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-why-files-operation-podcast-5570241/basement-daniel-whiteson-cern-dark-matter-and-the-aliens-next-door","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-why-files-operation-podcast-5570241","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/433/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.megaphone.fm/QCD9137888421.mp3?updated=1776655291","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/433/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.megaphone.fm/QCD9137888421.mp3?updated=1776655291","summary":"The Why Files releases video episodes on Spotify every Monday and Friday. And when you become a Spotify Premium subscriber, you get fewer ads – that means more story, less interruption. Daniel Whiteson is a particle physicist at UC Irvine and an active researcher at CERN's Large Hadron Collider — the largest machine ever built — where 5,000 scientists are using high-energy collisions to read the universe's secret menu. He co-hosts the show Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe, co-created an award-winning science show for preschoolers, and recently wrote a book asking whether aliens would even recognize our physics at all. His work sits at the collision point of experimental science, philosophy, and the biggest unanswered questions in physics — what everything is made of, why gravity is so weak, and whether the universe has a bottom. DANIEL LINKS sites.uci.edu/daniel X - @DanielWhiteson Podcast - Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices","meta_description":"The Why Files releases video episodes on Spotify every Monday and Friday. And when you become a Spotify Premium subscriber, you get fewer ads – that means…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":12256,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-why-files-operation-podcast-5570241/episodes/basement-daniel-whiteson-cern-dark-matter-and-the-aliens-next-door/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-why-files-operation-podcast-5570241/basement-daniel-whiteson-cern-dark-matter-and-the-aliens-next-door.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}