Apr 14

Ep 207 Tear Gas: How can a chemical weapon be “humane”?

Tear gas is an expected, normalized part of protests today. But its use in international war is banned. How can that be? That’s just one of the questions we investigate in this episode. First, we take you through the long history of tear gas and its emergence alongside deadlier c ... Show More

1h 15m

Apr 7

Ep 206 Oropouche Virus: More than a smidge worrisome

Though discovered relatively recently, Oropouche virus has been making headlines as an emerging vector-borne infectious disease on the rise. Not transmitted by the usual suspects (like ticks and mosquitoes), this virus is instead spread through the bites of midges or no-see-ums. ... Show More

1h 12m

Mar 31

Ep 205 Cancer Part 4: Where do things stand today?

For the entirety of our species’ history, our approach to cancer has largely been to react, to design new therapies and better combinations of treatments. This energy has certainly been well-spent, but what if we didn’t have to use treatment at all? Or what if we could minimize t ... Show More

1h 19m

Sep 2020

COVID-19 Series: The Origin Story of the Coronavirus

In the last 17 years, there have been three new deadly coronavirus epidemics, but where do emerging diseases emerge from?

15m 18s

Sep 2020

How the Virus Will Be Different This Winter

We’re learning constantly about SARS-CoV-2: what it does to the human body, how it spreads, and why it seems to transmit more readily in certain situations compared with others. Knowing how long the virus lives under different conditions is crucial for understanding the drivers o ... Show More

10m 35s

Mar 2020

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

As the world reacts to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Robert and Joe devote an episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind to cover what’s currently known about the virus and what you can do as infections continue to spread. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheart ... Show More

1h 7m

Mar 2023

412: Viruses Broken Down

For most of our lives, we've been taught that viruses make us sick. But there is ... Show More

39m 52s

Nov 2022

The ‘Tripledemic’ Explained

This winter, three major respiratory viruses — respiratory syncytial virus or R.S.V., the flu and the coronavirus — are poised to collide in the United States in what some health officials are calling a “tripledemic.”What does this collision have to do with our response ... Show More

25m 36s

May 2020

Is the Virus Getting Worse?

Last week, researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory released alarming news: At least one variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 had significantly mutated to become more contagious. If true, this would have major implications. A new variant could, for example, hamper e ... Show More

12m 37s

Apr 2021

Coronavirus: How Scary Are the Variants?

UPDATE 4/13/21: Since this episode published, there has been some evidence linking the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to rare blood clots. As of April 13, there were six cases in the U.S. out of more than 6.8 million doses, and one person had died. The CDC and FDA have rec ... Show More

33m 54s

Jun 2020

The Next Two Years of the Virus

More than six months into a shape-shifting pandemic that’s killed more than 454,000 people worldwide, it’s clear we are losing the battle against the outbreak. Most experts believe an effective vaccine won’t be ready until well into 2021. So how do we adjust our thinking from bea ... Show More

13m 30s

Mar 2020

Where Do Viruses Come From?

How do animals get viruses to pass on to humans? That’s what listener Ian wanted to know. To find out, we’re exploring the science of virology - the study of viruses. Virologist Dr. Jasdave Chahal explains how coronavirus jumped through two species into humans, and where they cam ... Show More

16m 8s

Ep 111 RSV: What’s syncytial anyway?