Top 10 Books from Science Podcasts - Jan 2026

Insights Shaping Scientific Understanding

Across January’s most-discussed books, science in everyday life is the unifying thread, with titles ranging from city-scale climate planning to quantum-era biology and spaceflight risk. Peter Newman’s focus on future “net zero” cities signals ongoing interest in practical roadmaps for decarbonization and urban design, especially where infrastructure and electric vehicles intersect. Classic works like William James’s The Principles of Psychology and Schrödinger’s What is Life? surface in conversations about self-esteem, consciousness, and the physics–biology boundary, suggesting a continued reliance on foundational texts to explain current debates. Meanwhile, space-themed titles (from Planet of the Apes and The Time Traveler’s Wife to Controlling Risk and Black Hole Blues) are used to frame concrete questions about radiation exposure, time, and operational safety in human spaceflight. Together, the list points to an audience balancing long-term planetary sustainability, curiosity about life and mind, and the practical risks of pushing further into space.

Methodology

The podcasts included in this report are curated by MavenSignal to represent the trusted voices in this category.

We ingest public RSS feeds, analyze each episode, extract book mentions with AI, and validate with humans. The resulting data is normalized and deduplicated, building the canonical signal for the MavenSignal platform. Every insight and ranking is drawn from that verified layer.