Matt, Jess, and guest host Salma Abdalla discuss a study testing the efficacy of a blood-based cancer screening tool, they debate the role of the workplace in mental health, and Salma sees if she can pronounce the word “bubbles” while sounding angry.

Journal club article:

Blood-based cancer screening study

Matt, Jess, and first-time guest host Allegra Gordon discuss a study of the effect of taxes and warning labels on purchases of red meat, they lament the impact of disinformation campaigns, and Matt tells us how AI is going to take our grant writing jobs.

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Taxes and warning labels on red meat purchases study

Matt, Jess, and guest host Jonathan Jay discuss a study on child opportunity in the built environment and physical fitness, they debate whether to get rid of discussion sections, and Jon invites us to consider the Golden Bachelor.

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Neighborhood child opportunity and youth physical fitness study

Matt, Jess, and guest host Amruta Nori-Sarma examine a study of the effect of proximity to wildfires on medical visits, they discuss housing as harm reduction, and Matt goes to Olive Garden.

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Wildfire exposure and health care study

Matt, Jess, and guest host Salma Abdalla examine a study on the use of hearing aids to prevent dementia, they discuss whether loneliness is a public health problem (and, as usual, descend into talking about COVID), and Salma tells us the difference between coffee and concrete.

Journal club article:

Hearing aid and dementia study

Matt and Jess go solo and Jess hosts for the first time! They discuss a study of the effectiveness of a new meningitis vaccine, whether active shooter drills do anything more than scare kids, and debate the best movie candy.

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Meningitis vaccine study

We are taking a one-month break this summer. Please enjoy this “best of” episode celebrating Chris’ contributions to the podcast.

Matt, Jess, and Chris examine a crossover study of the effects of coffee consumption on heart health, they discuss the commercial determinants of health, and Chris gives a heartfelt goodbye to the podcast and to BU.

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Coffee consumption and heart health study

Matt, Jess, and Chris discuss a complex ecologic study on the effect of various interventions for COVID, they debate whether living evidence syntheses can save science, and Chris updates us on what killed Beethoven.

Journal club article:

COVID-19 interventions study

Matt, Jess, and Chris examine a meta-analysis on whether masks reduce respiratory virus transmission, they discuss the peer review madness, and Jess tells us about vibrating pills.

Journal club article:

Masks to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses study