Recently, Joe Rogan aired an interview that scientists are up in arms about — with Dr. Robert Malone. Malone talked smack about the Covid-19 vaccines, talking about scary side effects and implying that the vaccines are a risk to our fertility. Enter Science Vs. We fact check the bejesus out of it and zoom out to talk about the bigger picture: what to watch for if you’re worried about getting sucked in by misinformation online.

Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3rqgRjy
UPDATE 2/11/22: When we first published this episode, we said that in more than 60 papers we'd gone through, we'd found only one reported case of someone dying from myocarditis after a Covid-19 vaccine. Some listeners questioned this, and we re-checked our work and found several more deaths. The episode has been updated — and thanks to the listeners who picked this up.
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Joe Rogan: The Malone Interview

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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Health & Fitness

The Abortion Pill is now the most common way to have an abortion in the US. Yet what exactly happens when you take these pills is shrouded in mystery. Even many doctors don't know how well they work! Today, we're letting the sun shine on the abortion pill. We'll walk you through what happens when you take these pills: what they do to your body, and how safe are they for your physical and mental health? To explore all this - and more - we speak to Dr Sara Whitburn, Professor Oskari Heikinheimo, and Professor Ushma Upadhyay.

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

The Abortion Project's Instagram @theabortionproject
Science Vs's Instagram @science_vs
If you want to talk to someone - there's some great resources in here: spotify.com/resources

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) The battle over the abortion pill 
(04:28) How does the abortion pill work? 
(09:05) How it feels to take the abortion pill
(14:34) How often do people hemorrhage?
(21:22) What's "normal" bleeding? 
(24:11) Does taking the abortion pill affect your mental health? 
(32:02) Why some people prefer the abortion pill

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn and Wendy Zukerman, with help from Rose Rimler, and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord, Emma Munger, So Wylie, Bumi Hidaka and Peter Leonard. Thanks to all the researchers we spoke to including Dr. Tiffany Green, Dr. Ned Calonge, Professor Jenny Higgins, Dr. Daniel Aaron, Dr. Beverly Winikoff, and Dr. Abigail Aiken. Also thanks to Lauren Silverman, 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 Abortion Pill: How Dangerous Is It Really?

With the powers of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists discovered some super weird things in the early Universe, and it's making some nerds question our theory of everything. 
This story comes to us from our friends at Unexplainable at Vox Media.

Find Unexplainable’s transcript here: https://bit.ly/ScienceVsUnexplainable

In this episode, we cover:
(0:00) Liftoff
(01:10) The James Webb Space Telescope 
(04:57) Party of the early universe 
(08:39) Mysteries of the early galaxies 
(15:23) How do we figure it out?

This episode was produced by Brian Resnick, with help from Noam Hassenfeld and Meradith Hoddinott, who also manages the Unexplainable team. Editing from Jorge Just, music from Noam, and mixing and sound design from Cristian Ayala. Fact checking from Kelsey Lannin. Mandy Nguyen is searching for new forms of life.

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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What the Hell Is at the Edge of Space?

Getting your heart broken sucks — and for some of us, it even feels physically painful. So why does it hurt so bad? And what can science tell us about how to get over it? We dive into all of this with neuroscientist Prof. Lucy Brown. 

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

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Heartbreak sucks
(07:17) What heartbreak does in the brain
(12:14) What heartbreak does in the body
(15:07) How to get over heartbreak 

The episode does mention abuse. Here are some resources if you’re struggling to move on from abuse: 

https://resources.byspotify.com/

https://www.loveisrespect.org/resources/why-am-i-struggling-to-move-on-after-abuse/


This episode was produced by Michelle Dang, with help from Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn, Kaitlyn Sawrey and Lexi Krupp. Editing by Caitlin Kenney and Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly and Erica Akiko Howard. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard and Bobby Lord. Music written by Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka, Emma Munger, and Bobby Lord. A huge thanks to all the scientists we got in touch with for this episode, including Professor Larry Young, Professor Tiffany Field, Professor Ethan Kross, Professor Sandra Langeslag, and Professor Naomi Eisenberger. Thanks to Lori Segal. A special thanks to 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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Heartbreak: Why It Feels So Achy Breaky

Comedian Tig Notaro, who just released her fifth comedy special, "Hello Again," joins us for a chat about the science of her comedy: telling us how she builds jokes, and of course sharing a bunch of dumb and fabulous jokes. Enjoy! 

Here's our Funniest Joke in the World Episode!! 

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


In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) We're interviewing Tig! 
(01:22) I could be a comedian? 
(02:47) How Tig creates a joke 
(08:59) The element of surprise
(12:27) The world's funniest joke?
(13:55) Tig's favorite jokes

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman, with help from Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bobby Lord and Bumi Hidaka. 

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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Tig Notaro Shares Her Favorite Jokes

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 Ha! or Nah!: A 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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Joe Rogan: The Malone Interview

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