There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Gimlet that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to and cover everything from 5G and Pandemics, to Vaping and Fasting Diets.
Ancient Aliens: Who Really Built the Pyramids?
[REBROADCAST] Is it possible that the pyramids were built with a helping hand ... from aliens? If not, how did the ancient Egyptians build them without modern technology? To get to the bottom of this, we speak to author Erich von Däniken, paleoanthropologist Dr. Shelby Putt, Egyptologist Dr. Mark Lehner, and archaeologist Prof. David S. Anderson. Check out the transcript here: https://bit.ly/3LbPnoJ This episode was produced by Rose Rimler with help from Wendy Zukerman, along with Meryl Horn, Kaitlyn Sawrey, Michelle Dang and Odelia Rubin. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Michelle Harris and Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music by Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. A huge thanks to the team at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, as well as Professor Pierre Tallet, Professor Roland Enmarch, Jens Notroff, Professor Erin L. Thompson and everyone else who spoke to us for this episode … thanks for your help. A special thanks to Sarah Hendricks, Jake Finnicum, Frank Lopez, Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman Family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Trans Kids: The Misinformation Battle
U.S. politicians are trying to keep trans kids from getting the medical care they need to transition — and states are banning them from playing on the sports teams that match their gender. So we’re looking at the science here, and asking: are the medical treatments for trans kids dangerous? And do trans folks have an advantage when it comes to sports? We talk to Florence Ashley, Dr. Jack Turban, and Joanna Harper to find out. Note: in this episode we discuss suicide and self-harm. Please take care when listening to the show, and here are some resources: Trans Lifeline: A Trans peer support hotline: 1-877-565-8860 Trevor Project: crisis support services to LGBTQ young people: Call 1-866-488-7386 or Text ‘START’ to 678-678 US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). International suicide hotlines: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3tmtFsh This episode was produced by Meryl Horn, Rasha Aridi, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, and Wendy Zukerman with help from Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler, and Courtney Gilbert. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Nick DelRose. Consulting by Rebecca Kling. Music written by Mr Mu Menage, Leon Trapedera, Robby Bold, and Lucas Ambarga. Thanks to the experts we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr. Arjee Javellana Restar, Dr. Jody Herman, and Dr. Toni D’Orsay. Very special thanks to all the trans kids and their parents we heard from, Crispin Torres, Alex Blumberg, Jack Weinstein, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Here’s What’s Coming Up!
There’s tons of misinformation, fads and strong opinions floating around out there — but then there’s SCIENCE. Find it here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Misinformation: What Should Our Tech Overlords Do?
After Joe Rogan was accused of spreading Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on his podcast, Spotify landed in the hot seat. People (including us!) wanted to know what the platform was doing to stop it. In this episode, we look into how tech platforms are fighting misinformation — and find out what actually works. To find out we speak to Professor David Rand, Professor Hany Farid, Laura Edelson and evelyn duoek. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3BOEsOo This episode was produced by Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler, and Wendy Zukerman with help from Meryl Horn, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, and Rasha Aridi. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell, with help from Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Nick DelRose. Thanks to the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr David Broniatowski, Dr. Alice Marwick, Dr. Anna Zaitsev, Dr. Homa Hosseinmardi, Dr. Kevin Munger, Manoel Ribeiro, Dr. Rachel Kuo, Jessica Ann Mitchell Aiwuyor, and Nick Nguyen. Very special thanks to Max Green, Casey Newton, Courtney Gilbert, Dr Karl, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Joe Rogan: The Malone Interview
Recently, Joe Rogan aired an interview that scientists are up in arms about — with Dr. Robert Malone. Malone talked smack about the Covid-19 vaccines, talking about scary side effects and implying that the vaccines are a risk to our fertility. Enter Science Vs. We fact check the bejesus out of it and zoom out to talk about the bigger picture: what to watch for if you’re worried about getting sucked in by misinformation online. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3rqgRjy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Moon: Why Are We Really Going Back?
The moon race is back! Countries — and billionaires — are lining up to take a crack at returning to the moon. But why are we really going? Some say this is a lunar gold rush, that countries want to mine the moon for resources. Others are saying the real reason to go to the moon today is that it’ll help us get to Mars. To find out, we talk to engineer Dr. Angel Abbud-Madrid, physicist Prof. Nicolle Zellner, and astronomer Prof. Gregg Hallinan. Check out our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3oC5kMx This episode was produced by Meryl Horn and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Thanks to the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr. Tom Simko, Professor Jack Burns, Dr. Paul Byrne, Dr. Martin Elvis, Dr. John Mather, Dr. Jennifer Whitten, Dr. Ian Crawford, Dr. Simon J Lock, and Dr. Greg De Temmerman. Special thanks to Chris Suter, Jack Weinstein, the Zukerman family, the Fausther-Keeys family, and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fauci on How This Ends
Dr. Anthony Fauci sits down with us to talk about omicron, how this pandemic actually ends — and how he’s fighting back against the haters. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3Djq9jX Science Vs is produced by Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn, Michelle Dang, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Daniel Ramirez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Omicron: Do You Need to Freak Out?
Welp, the pandemic has served up yet another poop sandwich, and it’s called omicron. This variant is popping up in dozens of countries across the world, and scientists are racing to get a handle on it. So how bad could this be? And could it sneak past our vaccines? To find out, we talk to virologist and immunologist Professor Ann Sheehy, Prof. Art Wallace, epidemiologist Dr. Barbara Cohn, immunologist Dr. Ali Ellebedy and virologist Dr. John Tembo. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/31rpKit This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn, Michelle Dang, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Nick DelRose. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Thanks to the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Prof. Paul Bieniasz, Katarina Grande, Prof. David O'Connor, and Dr. Duncan MacCannell. Special thanks to Mia Malan, Musa Malaza, Hunter, Jack Weinstein, the Zukerman family Rachel Ward and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Presenting Gastropod: How Chilis Conquered the World
This week we’ve got a spicy treat for you: a show called Gastropod. Hosts Nicola Twilley and Cynthia Graber dig into the world of food and serve up a forkful of science, plus a dash of history. In this episode: chili peppers! Why do we love spicy things when they set our mouths on fire? Plus, where did chilis come from — and how did they take over the world? Find more Gastropod here: https://gastropod.com/ Gastropod thanks: the Somerville, Mass., store Christina’s Spices, which ships all around the country—they have the best selection of chiles Cynthia has found anywhere online, even compared to places that specialize in chiles. And if you want to do a tasting, you’ll want the New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute chile tasting wheel, which Danise helped develop. It’s got heat profile notes and flavor notes and it’s a lot of fun to use. Thanks also to Maricel Presilla, Danise Coon, Harold McGee, Pam Dalton, and Edward Wang. Science Vs is hosted and executive produced by Wendy Zukerman; our producers are Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. Editing by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jurassic Park: Hold On to Your Butts
Could our dreams for a real Jurassic Park come true? Headlines say scientists are closer than ever to resurrecting prehistoric animals like the woolly mammoth. But is this for real!? Can we really bring back long-gone animals from the dead … maybe even the dinosaurs? We speak to paleontologists Professor Jack Horner and Professor Mary Schweitzer, and biologists Professor Beth Shapiro and Robyn Bortner. Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/30IpnQm This episode was produced by Michelle Dang and Wendy Zukerman with help from Nick DelRose, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Eva Dasher. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Thanks to the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr. Joseph Frederickson, Dr. Phil Bell, Dr. David Button, Dr. Andrew Farke, Professor Steve Brusatte, Professor Philip Currie, and Dr. Kenneth Carpenter. Special thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Killer Asteroids: NASA Strikes Back
[REBROADCAST] Asteroids! In just two weeks, NASA plans to launch a first-of-its-kind mission to try to move an asteroid off its path. If it works, this could be a huge breakthrough in protecting us from runaway space rocks. So we’ve updated this episode from a few years ago, where we talked about how serious this asteroid threat is — and some of the other ways we might fight back. We speak with asteroid researcher Dr. Alan Harris, astrophysicist Dr. Sergey Zamozdra, computational physicist Dr. Cathy Plesko, and physicist Dr. Andy Cheng. Check out our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3CZfThv This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman and Lexi Krupp, with help from Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Caitlin Kenney and Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Michelle Harris and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard and Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Peter Leonard, Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka and Emma Munger. Recording assistance from Verónica Zaragovia, Sofi LaLonde, Lawrence Lanahan, and Kevin Caners. Translation help from Andrew Urodov and Dmitriy Tuchin. A big thanks to all the scientists we spoke to: Dr. Carrie Nugent, Dr. Mark Boslough, Dr. David Kring, Dr. Daniel Durda, Dr. Kelly Fast and the other Dr. Alan Harris. And thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Monkey Say What? LEOPARD!!
Science isn’t always dressed up in fancy lab coats and goggles — sometimes it goes undercover! In this episode, we go behind the scenes in the Congolese rainforest to show you just how down and dirty scientists are willing to get to answer their questions. We find out how the putty-nosed monkey might be chattier than we thought — and what all that monkey gab could mean. Researcher Frederic Gnepa Mehon gives us the scoop. Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/3jM6EtC This episode was produced by Ekedi Fausther-Keeys and Taylor White with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Nick DelRose, Michelle Dang, and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Our voice actor is Shaka Mali. Interpreting by Dania Suleman, written translation by Ngofeen Mputubwele. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Bobby Lord and Bumi Hidaka. A huge thanks to all the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr. Claudia Stephan, Professor Klaus Zuberbühler and Dr. Kate Arnold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chronic Pain: Can Our Brains Fix It?
People with chronic pain often struggle with it for years while doctors scour their bodies for the cause. But are we looking in the wrong spot? For some of us, could an answer — and the solution — actually be in our brains? To find out, we talked with Professor Lorimer Moseley, Dr. Javeria Hashmi, and psychologist Alan Gordon. Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/3jHBvYb To learn more about Alan’s therapy, check out his new book, “The Way Out.” This episode was produced by Nick DelRose with help from Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn, Michelle Dang, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Our executive producer is Wendy Zukerman. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Thanks to the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Professor Akiko Okifuji, Dr. Emma Guymer, Kajal Patel, María Villarreal Santiago, Dr. Massieh Moayedi, Dr. Peggy Compton, Dr. Ramakrishnan Mani, Sheren Gaulbert, and Dr. Yoni Ashar. And special thanks to Joe Cohen, Nolan Gardner, Sarah Nguyen, Liwen Hu and Will Everett. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Legendary Condom Queen
Dr. Joycelyn Elders is a total badass. She grew up in poverty in rural Arkansas, but in 1993 she rose to become the surgeon general of the United States — appointed by President Bill Clinton. Joycelyn wanted to put sex education front and center, to help teenage girls avoid getting pregnant. Decades ago, she was saying things that could be ripped out of the headlines today. But America wasn’t ready for this, and after just over a year, she was fired. Today on the show: a conversation with Dr Joycelyn Elders. We'll take you inside the room when Clinton fired her, and we’ll find out what it takes to get America's politicians to talk about sex education. Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/3prfvnR This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman with help from Michelle Dang, Ekedi Fausther-Keeys, Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, and Nick DelRose. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Eva Dasher. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Peter Leonard, Bobby Lord and Bumi Hidaka. And a big big thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Burnout: Can We Fix Work?
Work can really suck. And for lots of us, burnout has been feeling especially terrible. This week, we dive into how burnout messes with our brains and bodies, and we find out whether working from home is making things worse. Plus: Could the four-day workweek be the key to fixing our jobs? We speak to neuroscientist Professor Wendy Suzuki, economist Professor Nick Bloom, and Dr. Alex Pang. Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/3FPO90w Check out Wendy Suzuki’s book, Good Anxiety, and Alex Pang’s book, Shorter. We also talked to Professor Heejung Chung about the downsides of working from home. Her book is The Flexibility Paradox. This episode was produced by Meryl Horn with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Nick DelRose, Michelle Dang, and Ekedi Fausther-Keeys. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bumi Hidaka. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Bobby Lord and Bumi Hidaka. A huge thanks to all the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Professor Heejung Chung, Professor Ivanka Savic Berglund, Professor Tammy Allen, Dr. Miriam Marra, Dr. Washika Haak-Saheem, Dr. Will Stronge, Professor Michael Dokery, and Professor John Roberts. And a big big thanks to Bethel Habte, Ellen Frankman, Mike Podmore, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices