SCIENCE FOR PEOPLE WHO GIVE A SHIT
IMPORTANT, NOT IMPORTANT

Health & Medicine Episodes

Public health, biotech, research, medicine, and more
March 18, 2024

The Best Depression Treatment For You

You know you're stressed. You know you're anxious. Do you have depression? And do you need to know the latest in the biology of how the brain works and depression works or doesn't work and whether the gut is involved in gett…
Feb. 19, 2024

Saving Democracy From The Bottom Up

What are reverse coattails, and how might they slow climate change, prevent the next pandemic, and keep Nazis off of school boards? That's today's big question, and my returning guest is Amanda Litman . Amanda is one of my f…
Jan. 8, 2024

Best of: Why We Can't Focus

How do we get our attention back? That's today's big question. I think about it every day, and my guest is Johann Hari . Johann and I recorded this conversation in 2022 , and with the Internet in general and social networks …
Jan. 1, 2024

Best of: Internal Activism

How's your mental health around climate change? That is today's big question, and my guest is Britt Wray. Britt and I recorded this conversation in 2022. It is an all-time favorite of mine and of our listeners. Britt is the …
Dec. 4, 2023

How To Make Ethical Decisions

Has there ever been a more important time, a more consequential time, to lead with ethics? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Susan Liautaud . Susan is the author of The Power of Ethics and of the Little Book o…
Nov. 13, 2023

The Female Origin of Species

How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution? And why the hell are we just finding out about it now? That's today's big question, and my guest is Cat Bohannon . Cat is the author of the incredible new b…
Nov. 6, 2023

Can Your Gut Predict Alzheimer's?

Can your gut composition predict Alzheimer's? That's today's big question and my returning guest is Gautam Dantas. Gautam heads up the Dantas Lab at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis . His lab works a…
Oct. 30, 2023

What Causes Depression?

Content Warning We're going to be talking about stress and anxiety, depression, suicide, and more today. If any of this could be triggering to you in any way, please feel free to just skip over this one. Nothing in this conv…
Aug. 21, 2023

How To Access Better Maternal Mental Health Care

How can we provide better mental health support for pregnancy, postpartum, and loss around pregnancy? That's today's big question, and obviously in America in 2023, it's a loaded one, so I'm so thankful that my guest today i…
Aug. 14, 2023

What Can You Do With Just 493 Genes?

How did we get here? That's today's big question, and today my guests are Roy Moger-Reischer , and our first three-time guest, Brandon Ogbunu . Roy Moger-Reischer is a scientist trained in microbiology, evolution and data an…
July 10, 2023

How To Live A Happy Life

How can we live happier lives? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Marc Schulz, the co-author with Dr. Robert Waldinger of “The Good Life: Lessons From the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness” They're …
May 29, 2023

Best of: How to Protect Yourself from Wildfire Smoke

What's in wildfire smoke and how can you protect yourself from it? Those are today's big questions, and my guest is Dr. Mary Prunicki. Dr. Prunicki is the Director of Air Pollution and Health Research at Stanford University …
May 17, 2023

Health Care Is A Human Right

Is healthcare a human right? That's today's big question, and it clearly shouldn't be a question, but here we are. My guest to help explain the obvious today is Dr. Sheila Davis, the CEO of Partners in Health . Sheila entere…
April 17, 2023

Best of: Black Moms Matter

Why is it so dangerous to have Black babies in America? April 11-17th is Black Maternal Health Week , and so we are replaying one of our favourite episodes from 2021 with guest Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois, a …
April 10, 2023

Finding the Humanity in Artificial Intelligence

If you had all of the data in the world at your hands, what question would you ask first? That's today's big question, and my guest is Dr. Emma Pierson . Emma is an assistant professor of computer science at the Jacobs Techn…