Listeners of this podcast are likely no strangers to the horrifying history of eugenics, a topic that has made an appearance in our episodes on epilepsy, Huntington’s disease, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, and many others. We have touched on eugenic policies that prohibited marriage, encouraged and permitted forced sterilization, and restricted immigration ... Show More
Nov 18
Special Episode: Gabriel Weston & Alive
<p>In an anatomy and physiology class, you may learn how the different heart valves work to circulate your blood, how the structure of your kidney helps to maintain electrolyte levels, and how the expansion and contraction of your lungs sets off a carefully orchestrated cascade o ... Show More
49m 47s
Nov 11
Ep 193 Necrotizing Fasciitis: A strange beast
If you were asked to describe necrotizing fasciitis in three words, you might choose: rapid, deadly, and rare. The third of those adjectives may provide some comfort, but the first two are the clear inspiration for this infection’s more lurid nickname: flesh-eating bacteria. In t ... Show More
1h 7m
Nov 4
Ep 192 New World Screwworm: Oh-oh here they come
It’s the stuff nightmares are made of. A fly lands on an open wound and lays hundreds of eggs, from which hatch countless ravenous maggots. There they writhe, devouring flesh, insatiable and relentless. Every minute they dig deeper and deeper until flesh gives way to bone. Even t ... Show More
1h 10m
Apr 2022
The Role of Race and Ethnicity in Medicine
While season 4 of Chasing Life is in production, the team is sharing some of their favorite podcasts. First up, The Pulse from WHYY, a weekly health and science podcast and radio show.
On this episode, host Maiken Scott dives into the changing conversation about race and ethnicit ... Show More
49m 40s
Mar 2023
The Origins of Inequality (Angela Saini)
<p>“People have always fought against anyone trying to impose power on them or trying to assert their status on them. That is true right throughout history, from written records onwards, certainly, you know, we have evidence of it, even in some of the most misogynistic societies ... Show More
1 h
May 2023
Mayim Bialik On: Anxiety, Anger, Believing in Both Neuroscience and God, and the Pressures of Being a Teen TV Star
<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p>---</p> <p>Historically on this show, we want guests who either have skills that they can teach us (i.e. meditation teachers or happiness rese ... Show More
59m 12s
Jun 2022
The Science of Handling Uncertainty | Maya Shankar
<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p><em>---</em></p> <p>It seems like a design flaw in our species that we live in a world of constant change yet most of us are not comfortable w ... Show More
59m 30s
Apr 2023
Cristina Mejia Visperas, "Skin Theory: Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory" (NYU, 2022)
An abolitionist approach to STS and the history of the life sciences: this is the model that Cristina Mejia Visperas offers in her book, Skin Theory: Visual Culture and the Postwar Prison Laboratory (NYU 2022). By now, scientists’ experiments on captive men at Philadelphia’s Holm ... Show More
56m 32s
Jan 2024
The Science of Rescuing Your Attention Span | Gloria Mark
<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p><em>---</em></p> <p>Our ability to focus is not lost, it's just changing. Here's what we can adapt.</p> <p>Here's a horrifying fact: the avera ... Show More
1h 12m