S5.10 - EGF President Manja Marz on Go & the Brain & a Surprise Birthday Interview | Go / Baduk / Weiqi

This episode is from All Things Go, a podcast about the board game Go, also known as Baduk in Korea and Weiqi in China.

Travis speaks with Manja Marz, president of the European Go Federation and a 4-dan player, about a pilot study examining what happens in the brain during high-level Go games. Manja explains how the study measured brain oxygenation, pulse, muscle tension, game position, and player self-reports, and she shares early observations involving time pressure, major mistakes, individual thinking styles, and possible differences between male and female participants. The episode also includes a surprise birthday interview in which Travis’s wife asks him about the origins of All Things Go, his production process, favorite interviews, editing habits, and how the show is evolving toward a more sustainable mix of unscripted and curated episodes.

Full transcript, related episodes, and additional resources:

https://allthingsgogame.com/2026/07/27/manja-marz-go-brain-study-podcast-birthday-interview/

Join the All Things Go Discord community:

https://discord.gg/uf3jgEAA4J

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastAC

Manja Marz Interview

• The European Go Federation Article about the study & contact information if you would like to contribute
• The Go Magic interview with Manja
• One of my favorite shows, This American Life with an episode about a blind man using echo location to "see"; the occipital lobe activated!

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