{"podcast":{"title":"What The If?","slug":"what-the-if-2494024","podcast_index_feed_id":2494024,"rss_url":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/WhatTheIf","website_url":"https://whattheif.com","image_url":"https://i1.sndcdn.com/avatars-6bpoeT7LIDOyW3jp-f2Domg-original.jpg","author":"Philip Shane (info@whattheif.com)","episode_count":450,"summary":"Welcome to the show where we learn science by exploring the universe by pushing it... to the limit. A dangerous mix of Science & Fiction, hosted by Philip Shane & Matt Stanley","last_synced_at":"2026-06-17T12:18:21.742498+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-if-2494024"},"episode":{"title":"Walking on IO with Robin Andrews! (Encore)","slug":"walking-on-io-with-robin-andrews-encore","published_at":"2026-01-08T04:06:25+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-if-2494024/walking-on-io-with-robin-andrews-encore","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-if-2494024","url":"https://soundcloud.com/whattheif/walking-encore","audio_url":"http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2243600954-whattheif-walking-encore.mp3","summary":"We're taking a break this week while Philip recovers from the 'double-whammy' of flu and COVID boosters. (Science works, but sometimes it makes you nap!) However, we couldn't let January 7th pass unnoticed. On this day in 1610, Galileo first spotted Jupiter's moon, Io. To celebrate, we’ve unlocked the vault for an encore of one of our most popular episodes ever. Strap in for a tour of a lava-covered world with Robin Andrews in... \"Walking on IO\". ---- DR. ROBIN GEORGE ANDREWS, science writer for The NY Times, National Geographic, Scientific American, and many more, joins us with an IF that'll keep you on your feet: What The IF we could walk on Jupiter's ultra volcanic moon, IO? Would you walk on a hot pizza? If so, you're ready for the trip! The views of Jupiter would be spectacular, but bring your kevlar umbrella because lava's gonna come flyin' out of the sky. One of the most spectacular places in the solar system, Io is also terribly mysterious, bizarre, and confusing to even the greatest scientists of our time. Pack your bags, bring some galoshes, and let's go! --- Robin Andrews is a doctor of experimental volcanology, a full-time freelance science journalist, a part-time photographer, a scientific consultant, an occasional lecturer, public speaker and explain-how-volcanoes-work TV guest, as well as a pending author of a rather curious book. He can tell you exactly how powerful the Death Star is, how cryovolcanoes on alien worlds work, why a supervolcano probably isn’t what you think it is, and why the Moon is shrinking. His work has appeared in THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE ATLANTIC, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, EARTHER, GIZMODO, FORBES, THE VERGE, ATLAS OBSCURA, DISCOVER MAGAZINE, WIRED and elsewhere. VISIT his website: robingeorgeandrews.com -------- REVI…","meta_description":"We're taking a break this week while Philip recovers from the 'double-whammy' of flu and COVID boosters. (Science works, but sometimes it makes you nap!)…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3527,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-the-if-2494024/episodes/walking-on-io-with-robin-andrews-encore/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-if-2494024/walking-on-io-with-robin-andrews-encore.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}