Hello and welcome to the first Verge ESP episode of 2016! First of all, some good news: we're gonna be weekly this year. Second of all, some bad news: both Lemmy (of Motörhead fame) and David Bowie died. (Can someone please check on the rest of the iconic UK musicians?) We'll talk a little about how we were affected by their lives and careers — but that's hardly all. Did you notice all those health gizmos at CES this year? It's part of a weird trend, where tech companies can dodge FDA...

Memes were everywhere this week, from Drake to a "drunk" comet spewing booze across our solar system. Emily and Liz tackle the plusses and minuses of space giving up clickbait. Emily talks about HBO's Project Greenlight and the vastly different standards men and women (especially women of color) are held to in the film industry. And Liz welcomes award-winning science fiction author Ann Leckie, who just published the conclusion of her Imperial Radch trilogy.

Emily and Liz follow up on their experiences watching The Martian, talk about Elon Musk's bizarre cult of personality (and his dastardly plans for Mars), try to make sense of some questionable, high-tech psychosis pills currently being tested, and try not to faint while talking about how graphic the second season of The Knick is. Emily also interviews New Yorker music writer John Seabrook on his new book The Song Machine, where he delves into the intricate craft of the modern pop song and its...

Liz and Emily go to Mars on the ESP spaceship as they talk about NASA’s findings this week and the upcoming movie The Martian. And speaking of sustaining life, the British Medical Journal published an investigation on food that is seriously in error– Liz explains why, and checks the BMJ’s work.

Liz and Emily chat about the up-coming Ghostbusters movie, brand activation and personality, NASA logos, and Pluto and its moon Nix. Then, journalist and author Steve Silberman joins the show and talks about autism’s tale of two scientists, which is featured in Silberman’s most recent book NeuroTribes.What does space have to do with the autism community? Tune in to find out.

This week, Liz and Emily talk about the VMAs, Mr. Robot, Lana Del Rey, and Oliver Sacks. What do all these things have in common? Drugs.

This week on VergeESP: Emily wants to know why California has so many weird colors, Liz loved the new HEALTH album, and Suntory is sending whiskey to space, and both ladies would like to drink it when it comes back to Earth (yo, Suntory! hit us up!) Plus: what’s going on with GMOs and why is the Senate involved? And what promise does Oculus hold for narrative film?

This week, on Verge ESP: SPOILER ALERT! Liz will spoil the Pluto flyby (it totally worked!); Emily has feelings about Pixels and the videogamification of movies. Plus, social psychologist — and spoiler expert — Nicholas Christenfeld drops by to tell Emily what he’s found in his research on spoilers. And at the very end of the show — spoiler — Liz and Emily spoil two major works of art.

This week on Verge ESP: Find out about Magic Mike, space telescopes, and why your brain can understand film edits. How long does it take to plan a space telescope? Why is Magic Mike more girl-friendly than Pitch Perfect 2? How is it possible that Liz and Emily both went to the same bars as kids? (Spoiler alert: Iowa) All this plus special guest neurologist Jeffrey Zacks on this week’s episode.

This week on Verge ESP: Emily tells you everything you need to know about "Tom's Diner," as well as the real meaning of Taylor Swift v Apple. Liz, meanwhile, has two things on her mind: rockets and sex, exactly in that order. Plus Emily interviews Jennifer Phang, the filmmaker behind Advantageous.

This week on Verge ESP: Liz and Emily talk about scientific fraud, Game of Thrones's fixation with abusing young women, what to expect from Apple Music (and why the service strengthens the position of record labels) and why you shouldn't trust studies that link creativity with mental illness. Plus, Liz interviews science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson about his new book Aurora and how to write science fiction while getting the science part right. This episode's...

Oil, bionic limbs, and hackers — today we discuss Mad Max, the Santa Barbara oil spill, brain-controlled robot arms, and interview Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers of Halt and Catch Fire. Find out how to drink beer using a brain-controlled robot, why Mad Max's explosions and chase scenes rule so hard, the catastrophic consequences of fossil fuels, and the creative choices behind Halt and Catch Fire.