Episodes Archive
Dissecting Bumble Bee Health #563
June 14, 2020
Yes, bumble bees are important pollinators. But they're also fascinating, cute and colorful. This week's episode can trace its origins to a flowery Sierra Nevada meadow where host Carolyn Wilke reported on guest Michelle Duennes' project of catching bumble bees to study their health. Three years and hundreds of bees later, we check in on the project. Hear all about the adventures of working with bumble bees, from flash freezing bees in the field to baking pollen cookies for lab colonies. We also talk bee conservation, bumble bee colors, and a bit of roller derby. Related links: Duennes Lab Michelle... Read More
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Black Lives Matter #BLM
June 07, 2020
We're taking a step back from our scheduled episode this week to ensure the important discussions around Black Lives Matter continue to stay in focus. Black voices are leading conversations about deep-rooted racism they have experienced and witnessed. These conversations aren't hard to find. We've included a few resources below to get you started if you aren't sure where or how to get started, but don't let these be the only things you engage with. General Black Lives Matter website Ways You Can Help Books How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi Between the World and Me by... Read More
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Superbug to Bedside #562
May 24, 2020
By now we're all good and scared about antibiotic resistance, one of the many things coming to get us all. But there's good news, sort of. News antibiotics are coming out! How do they get tested? What does that kind of a trial look like and how does it happen? Host Bethany Brookeshire talks with Matt McCarthy, author of "Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic", about the ins and outs of testing a new antibiotic in the hospital. Read More
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The Race to Identify All Living Things #561
May 17, 2020
This week on Science for the People, we're diving into the world of DNA barcoding. We speak with Mehrdad Hajibabaei, Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph, about the International Barcode of Life. And we discuss how you can contribute to the field of DNA barcoding with Sujeevan Ratnasingham, Associate Director of Informatics and Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph. This episode is hosted by Anika Hazra. Related links: Hajibabaei Lab Centre for Biodiversity Genomics International Barcode of Life Sujeevan Ratnasingham and his Twitter... Read More
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That's the Yeast of your Worries #560
May 10, 2020
Like many people these days, you might be spending your time at home making bread. Maybe you couldn't find instant yeast and decided that sourdough didn't sound that hard. But the colony of wild yeast you've nurtured is more marvelous than you probably expect. Today host Marion Kilgour discusses a small corner of the wonderful world of yeast with Sudeep Agarwala from Ginkgo Bioworks. Related links: A Twitter thread on sourdough advice from Sudeep Agarwala A Twitter thread on lentil-based sourdough from Sudeep Agarwala Read More
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Notes From a Transplant Surgeon #559
April 26, 2020
One of the most amazing things modern medicine does is organ transplants: literally taking organs like the lungs or the heart from recently dead people and using them to replace the failing organs in living, critically ill people, giving them a second shot at living a fuller life. How and when did we first figure out how to do this? What does a modern transplant look like? And what is it like to be the doctor who takes from death to give life? This week host Rachelle Saunders talks with Dr Joshua Mezrich, Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division... Read More
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Good Drugs, Bad Companies #558
April 19, 2020
Medicines. We all need to take them. And it seems like the prices are just getting higher and higher. Luckily, generics offer a cheaper alternative. And we are told that they are both the same drug and do the same thing, we assume in the same way. But it turns out that's not really quite true. This week, we're talking with Katherine Eban about her book "Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom". Related links: After a scandal, a one-sided warning against generic drugs by Jeremy Greene in The Washington Post Ranbaxy's empty promises by Katherine... Read More
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Homeschool STEM Resource Extravaganza #557
April 12, 2020
With many schools closed and parents looking for resources to help keep children stuck at home engaged and still learning, the hosts of Science for the People stuck on our curation caps and did some digging to create a list of STEM themed online resources for students of all ages and interests. This week we take a break from our usual format so that hosts Bethany Brookshire and Rachelle Saunders can showcase these great resources and hopefully help you find a few that your at-home student is keen to explore. Find a link to every learning resource we talk about... Read More
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The Power of Friendship #556
March 29, 2020
It's 2020 and times are tough. Maybe some of us are learning about social distancing the hard way. Maybe we just are all a little anxious. No matter what, we could probably use a friend. But what is a friend, exactly? And why do we need them so much? This week host Bethany Brookshire speaks with Lydia Denworth, author of the new book "Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond". This episode is hosted by Bethany Brookshire, science writer from Science News. Read More
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Coronavirus #555
March 22, 2020
It's everywhere, and it felt disingenuous for us here at Science for the People to avoid it, so here is our episode on Coronavirus. It's ok to give this one a skip if this isn't what you want to listen to right now. Check out the links below for other great podcasts mentioned in the intro. Host Rachelle Saunders gets us up to date on what the Coronavirus is, how it spreads, and what we know and don't know with Dr Jason Kindrachuk, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba. And... Read More
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Coders #554
March 15, 2020
Tech, computers, code, security vulnerabilities, hacking elections... We hear about the technical change, but what about the subculture of tech and coders that brought it about? Who are these people who -- in the words of our guest today - "are among the most quietly influential people on the planet"? Rachelle Saunders digs into this topic with writer Clive Thompson, author of the new book "Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World". Read More
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Scan All Fishes #553
March 08, 2020
This week is all about fish. All about ALL the fish, actually. Biomechanicist Adam Summers shares about his adventures in studying fish and CT scanning them. Adam and a community of researchers are working to take 3D scans of all known fish on Earth: some 34,000 species and counting. New host Carolyn Wilke and Adam discuss the project, the diversity of fish — fish that fight, float upstream, cling to rocks and more - and advising animators on the films Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. Read More
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The First Cell #552
February 23, 2020
This week we take a closer look at what cancer is, how it works, and what makes it so hard to treat without shying away or ignoring the human experience of cancer for patients and their families. We talk with Dr Azra Raza, oncologist, Professor of Medicine, Director of the MDS Center at Columbia University, and author of the new book "The First Cell and the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last". Read More
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Translating Science, Part 2 #551
February 16, 2020
This week on Science for the People, we're discussing how Siksika become one of the official translation languages for press releases from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The area of the world that is now known as Canada has an abundance of distinct languages; according to the 2016 Census, over 70 are still spoken. But the British government, and then the Canadian government, spent generations trying to prevent children from learning these languages. One of the languages spoken in the prairies is Siksika, also called Blackfoot (the English translation). Host Marion Kilgour speaks to Sharon Yellowfly and Corey Gray... Read More
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Translating Science, Part 1 #550
February 09, 2020
This week, we're discussing the opportunities and challenges of using Zulu, a language that has traditionally been excluded from science journalism, to share discoveries with a new audience. Host Marion Kilgour speaks with Sibusiso Biyela, science communicator at ScienceLink and a contributor at South African science news website SciBraai. Related links: Decolonizing Science Writing in South Africa on The Open Notebook by Sibusiso Biyela Read More
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Let's Get Slimy #549
February 02, 2020
Algae. What springs to mind when you read that word? Maybe a seaweed forest? Maybe a pond covered in scum? Maybe a red tide? Those are all algae, and they can all change the world in different ways. This week Bethany Brookshire talks with Ruth Kassinger about the history, present and future of algae and her new book, "Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us". This episode is hosted by Bethany Brookshire, science writer from Science News. Read More
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Land and Ocean Conservation 101 #548
January 19, 2020
This week we're talking about land and ocean conservation: what it means to protect our land and oceans, the complexities of competing interests and international boundries, and how well Canada is doing at conserving its most important wild areas. Helping us wrap our heads around it are National Parks Program Director Alison Ronson and National Oceans Program Director Candace Newman from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS). This episode is hosted by Rachelle Saunders. Related links and resources: 2019 Parks and Protected Areas Report 2019 Oceans Report 2019 Climate Change Report 2019 Successes Blog Aichi Biodiversity Targets IPBES Global... Read More
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The D Factor: The Dark Side of Your Personality #547
January 12, 2020
This week on Science for the People, we're discussing dark personality traits. Everyone has them, and how they manifest themselves depends on your "D" level. We'll be speaking with Ingo Zettler, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen and a member of the team of researchers who put forward the theory of the common core of dark personality traits, about what the "D" factor is and what influences your "D" level. This episode is hosted by Anika Hazra. Related links: The dark core of personality on APA PsycNET The Dark Factor of Prsonality: Theory of Common Core of... Read More
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2019, But Make It Science #546
January 04, 2020
It's 2020, but we're looking back. What were the biggest science stories of 2019? Well, it was a big year for lots of things. Black hole pictures, vaping illnesses... and lots and lots of climate change news. Come on a trip down memory lane with us and the writers at Science News magazine as we take a look back at some of the top science stories of the last year. Related links: Most Americans now see signs of climate change where they live Countries urgently need to ramp up emissions cuts to meet climate targets IPCC report warns of a... Read More
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Where Have All the Antibiotics Gone? #545
December 21, 2019
Antibiotics. You know the drill. You get a bacterial infection, you get an antibiotic, and a few days or a week later, you're all better. But these days, that idyll is under threat as bacteria evolve to work around our drugs. So... where are the new, better antibiotics? Well, it's time to follow the money. We speak with David Shlaes about how the antibiotic drug pipeline works and why it's drying up. And we'll speak with Maryn McKenna about what happens when one antibiotic drug's price goes through the roof. Related links: The Antibiotics Business Is Broken - But There's... Read More
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