Today, we give a dam about beavers. These busy rodents don’t just chill and go with the flow — it turns out their grabby paws are actually helping hands in the fight against climate change. We dive into how this works with ecologists Dr. Emily Fairfax and Dr. Ben Dittbrenner. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsBeavers

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Intro: How beavers “beaver away”
(02:22) Chapter One: How beavers can help 
(06:18) Chapter Two: Can we move beavers for the better? 

This episode was produced by Disha Bhagat, with help from Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler and R.E. Natowicz. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Wendy Zukerman is our Executive Producer. Gimlet’s managing director is Nicole Beemsterboer. Fact checking by Eva Dasher. Mix and sound design by Catherine Anderson. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Emma Munger, and Bobby Lord.

Science Vs is a Spotify Original Podcast and a Gimlet production. Follow Science Vs on Spotify, and if you want to get notifications every time we put out a new episode, tap the bell icon in your app.
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I’ll Be Dammed: Beavers Fighting Climate Change

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.

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If you Google "The Funniest Joke in the World," you'll be very disappointed. The internet might serve you something like, "What has many keys but can't open a single lock??” (Answer: A piano). Screw that. That's not funny. Enter Science Vs. We’re going on a romp to find out once and for all: What is the funniest joke in the world. According to science. And for this quest we've interviewed a bunch of amazing comics including Tig Notaro, Adam Conover, Dr Jason Leong, Loni Love, as well as special guest Latif Nasser of Radiolab and, of course, some scientists: Neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott and Psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman. Which Joke Will Win??? 
 
Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsFunniestJoke

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) The Quest Begins
(08:40) Why laughing matters
(13:13) The scientific search for the world's funniest joke
(17:40) Woof, quack or moo?
(21:33) The comedy K
(26:30) Do different cultures have different senses of humour?
(28:27) The winner!
(32:15) Scientific theories of humour (lol)
(38:28) Why the winning joke isn't funny
(40:26) How do you stop a dog from humping your leg? 
(44:43) Meet the comedy gods

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman, with help from Michelle Dang, Joel Werner, Rose Rimler and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Sarah Baum. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka, Emma Munger, So Wylie, and Bobby Lord. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to including Dr Andrew Farkas, Professor Penny MacDonald, Dr Maggie Prenger and a huge thank you to Professor Chris Westbury for sharing your amazing spreadsheet!! Thanks to all the comedians we interviewed in this episode including Tig Notaro, Adam Conover, Loni Love, Takashi Wakasugi, Urooj Ashfaq, Dr Jason Leong, Penny Greenhalgh and Mohammed Magdi. 
Another big thanks to Lindsay Farber, Roland Campos, Lauren LoGiudice, Andrea Jones-Rooy and the other comics at The Joke Lab; and all the comics that we spoke to and couldn't fit into the episode, we really really appreciate you and your time! Thanks to Ben Milam, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Stupid Old Studios, Paige Ransbury, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 
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The Funniest Joke in the World

[Video available on Spotify] Wendy and emma chamberlain of the Anything Goes podcast sit down for a chat and get deep about “the guru effect,” science garbage on the internet, accusations Wendy’s faced of being a pyromaniac, orgasms and much more.
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Wendy Talks About Her Pyromaniac Past — and More [Video]

Tons of us are feeling run-down and crummy and are wondering: What can we do about it? Well, lots of influencers have an answer: balancing our hormones. These influencers, including some doctors, recommend special supplements, diets, exercises, and prescriptions to tame our cortisol, boost our testosterone, and tackle our estrogen. Are they on to something? We get to the bottom of it with endocrinologists Dr. Deena Adimoolam and Prof. Anne Cappola; and urologist Prof. Mohit Khera. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsHormoneBalancing

(00:00) Hormones are hot right now 
(02:57) A tale of cortisol and supplements
(14:25) Are we in a testosterone crisis?!
(20:42) Should you boost your T?
(27:35) Is estrogen the enemy?

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Michelle Dang,  and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka, and Peter Leonard. Research help from Timmy Broderick. Recording help from Alex Stuckey. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to including Dr. Amit Raval, Dr. Andrea Sansone, Prof. Bob Spencer, Dr. Daniel Rippon, Dr. Emma Adam, Dr. Hannah Troxel, Dr. John Hough, Dr. Jonathan Little, Prof. Paul Cooke, and Prof. Paula Hillard. Special thanks to Joel Werner, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. 

﻿Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications.
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Hormone Balancing: Should You Try It?

It’s 1849, and a gruesome murder has just happened at Harvard. As body parts turn up, the science of the day is put to the ultimate test to find out: who committed this brutal killing? Prof. Paul Collins tells us how this morbid mystery unfolds.  

﻿Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsMurderInTheIvoryTower

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) The murder that shocked Harvard
(02:35) A very rich man disappears
(06:08) The tea chest of horrors
(07:34) The professor
(09:33) The janitor
(12:00) The case against the professor 
(14:25) The trial
(17:48) 1800s forensics enter the picture
(25:29) The verdict

This episode was produced by Kaitlyn Sawrey with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn and Odelia Rubin. Editing by Blythe Terrell, with help from Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music by Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. A huge thanks to Jessica Murphy and the team at the Harvard University Archives, plus Lars Trembly and Matthew Nelson, Frank Lopez, Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman Family.

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 

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Murder in the Ivory Tower

Weed has gone mainstream, and it's been rebranded as a wellness drug that you can customize to fit your needs. Want to feel relaxed? Well, you'll need a kind of pot called Indica. Want to get pepped up? Go for Sativa. But what can weed really do for us? We’re going to pack a bowl full of science facts, sit back, put our feet up and find out: Can cannabis really improve your mental health? Does it matter what strain you take? And how safe is it – can it mess with your memory? To find out, we talk to agricultural scientist Dr. Sean Myles, psychopharmacologist Dr. Amir Englund, and psychologist Dr. Carrie Cuttler. 

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsCannabisTranscript 

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) A New World of Weed
(05:32) Can Different Strains of Weed Do Different Things for You?
(13:18) Can CBD Give You a More Mellow High?
(22:46) Can Weed Help with Anxiety or Depression?
(24:55) What Are The Risks of Using Cannabis?
(35:30) What’s the Safest Way to Use Cannabis?
(38:25) Can Weed Boost Your Creativity?

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang, and Joel Werner. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Eva Dasher. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Bumi Hidaka and Peter Leonard. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to including Professor Ryan Vandrey, Professor Christopher Barnes, Dr. Siqi Xue, Professor Susan Tapert, Dr. Michael Dunn, Dr. Linda Parker, Professor Deepak D'Souza, Professor Vikaas Sohal, Professor Loren Frank, and Dr. Ethan Russo. Also thanks to Jill Conforti, the Zukerman Family, Joseph Lavelle Wilson, Bernadette Sciandra, and Chris Suter. 

Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. 
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I’ll Be Dammed: Beavers Fighting Climate Change

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