I Came For Science

Did you ever wonder why there are not more male contraceptives? In this episode, team member Daphne Trillana asks the question "where are the promised new male contraceptives"? Laura and Daphne discuss this issue and then Laura talks with two experts in the field: Logan Nickels of The Male Contraceptive Initiative and Dr. Stephanie Page, an endocrinologist who develops and studies new methods of male contraception. Together, they explain the history of the development of male contraceptives, current research and promising directions, and what the future of male contraceptives looks like.

Welcome back to Season 4 of I Came For Science. In this episode, Laura interviews Dr. Meg Martin about her research on conservation breeding. Conservation breeding is a method of increasing the populations of endangered and threatened species by having them breed in captivity and then releasing the resulting offspring into the wild when they are old enough. Traditionally, breeding pairs were chosen to maximize the genetic diversity of the population. However, until relatively recently, the important role of mate choice was not considered. Dr. Martin's work has changed this approach to use the science of sex to improve reproductive outcomes.

In this episode, we embrace a different meaning of our title "I Came For Science" by standing up for science funding. One of our production team members, Lain Patton, interviews our host, Laura Sirot, about how science funding works in the U.S. and what the recent changes mean for the current and future states of science, scientists, and the general public.

Were you that kid who always kept asking "But, why?" after adults in your life answered questions. Or, do you know a kid like that? Our guest for this episode, Dr. Nathan Burke, was that kid. His parents and teachers would get annoyed by all his questions until he found "his people" among evolutionary biologists. Evolutionary biologists persistently ask "But, why" questions about the way the biological world works. In this episode, Dr. Burke explains how his questions led to new hypotheses about asexuality, sexual cannibalism, and, even, dealing with criticism.

In this episode, we continue exploring the science of female arousal. Laura interviews Maureen Pollack, a mompreneur. She is the inventor of the WaterSlyde, a water-based device designed for female pleasure. Maureen explains how she developed the idea and the prototype for the WaterSlyde and what she learned about female arousal, the sex toy industry, and, even, plumbing along the way! It is a delightful story of self-discovery that has led to many satisfied customers.

We are now embarking on an exploration of the science of female arousal. In the first episode of this series, Laura interviews her former student and current colleague, Harper Jones. Harper is pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology in the Women's Integrative Sexual Health (WISH) Lab. In this episode, she explains the methods that the WISH lab uses to measure arousal and what research questions can be addressed with these methods. She continues on to discuss her research on the reasons that people use alcohol or drugs in the context of sexual activity, especially for people with previous sexual trauma. Her results may surprise you!

Welcome back to Season 3 of I Came For Science. If you are just joining us as a listener, we encourage you to listen back to Seasons 1 and 2 to hear our episodes on a range of topics including pubic hair, polyamory, spider sex, reproductive losses, and queer family building.

Whether you like it or not, your children are going to learn about sex. Wouldn't it be good if they learn accurate information from a trusted adult?

In this episode, we hear from Sarah Dahlston, senior director of education at Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio. Sarah explains to us what scientific studies of sex education tell us about the relative effectiveness of abstinence only education and comprehensive sex education. She also debunks common misconceptions about sex education and informs us about the current laws regulating the teaching of sex ed in Ohio.

In our final episode of Season 2, we explore the science of sperm storage. Sperm storage occurs when sperm viability is maintained outside of the male reproductive tract. This process happens, at least for some time period, naturally in all internally-conceiving animals. Sperm storage is also used by humans for assisted reproduction and fertility preservation. We learn about both processes through interviews with Dr. Teri Orr who studies bat reproduction and Matthew Hudnall who is the director of a sperm bank and a fertility preservation center.

This episode follows up on Episode 12 which explored reproductive losses in humans. In this episode, Laura interviews primatologist and endocrinologist Dr. Jacinta Beehner about reproductive losses in non-human animals. Jacinta explores this topic through the lens of female reproductive strategies, using non-invasive techniques to track the reproductive physiology of wild primates.

This episode follows up on our last episode about family building. In this episode, Laura talks with Dr. Christa Craven about reproductive losses, especially as they are experienced by people who are LGBTQ+. These losses come in a variety of forms and times during the family building process and can be impacted by environmental and social stresses. Laura and Christa also discuss how the causes of reproductive losses in humans relate to reproductive losses in non-human animals, which is the focus of our next episode.