Lady Science Podcast

In this episode, the hosts talk about open source software and how its seemingly liberal ethos can perpetuate some of mainstream tech’s same gender and racial biases. STS and communications scholar Christina Dunbar-Hester joins in to talk about her book Hacking Diversity and how some open source advocates are attempting to make their communities more inclusive. For show notes and transcripts, visit www.ladyscience.com/podcast.

In this episode, the hosts talk about the history of children’s science toys and then get a little nostalgic telling each other about their own childhood toys. Historian and writer Rebecca Onion joins in the discussion to talk about science and childhood in the U.S. and about her book, Innocent Experiments: Childhood and the Culture of Public Science in the United States. For show notes and transcripts, visit www.ladyscience.com/podcast.

In this episode, the hosts look at the Indigenous knowledge and science that produced the first Thanksgiving and the ways Indigenous knowledge has been dismissed by modern Western science. Kelsey Dokis-Jensen of the Indigenous STS group at the University of Alberta joins in to talk about her research on caribou populations, which combines Indigenous knowledge and modern research methods. For show notes and transcripts, visit ladyscience.com/podcast.

The hosts dive into the long history of the Anatomical Venus, a three-dimensional life-sized dissectable female wax model. They discuss its origins in the Middle Ages and the lasting influence it has had on biological theories about race. Amanda Mahoney, curator of the Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum at at Case Western Reserve University, joins into to talk about the ethical considerations curators need to take into account in today’s museums. For show notes and transcripts, visit www.ladyscience.com/podcast.history-anatomical-venus-wax-anatomy.

This episode is all about sports! The hosts discuss the history of sex verification testing in women’s sports, looking at the examples of Stella Walsh and Caster Semenya. They are joined by Amira Rose Davis, professor of History, African American Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Penn State University and co-host of Burn It All Down, a feminist sports podcast. Davis talks about her research on black girls and women in 20th century sports. For show notes and transcripts, visit www.ladyscience.com/podcast.

The hosts go behind the scenes of the BBC series ‘Gentleman Jack,’ based on the diaries of Anne Lister, with the show’s consultant Anne Choma. Choma tells us about adapting Lister’s diaries for television drama, Anne Lister’s science reading list, and more! For show notes and transcripts, visit. www.ladyscience.com/podcast/behind-the-scenes-gentleman-jack-anne-lister-anne-choma.

In this episode, the hosts talk with Ingrid Okert, who researchers the history of science education on television. Ingrid goes behind the scenes of the Children’s Television Workshop to show what made the programs Sesame Street and 3-2-1 Contact so special. For show notes and transcripts, visit www.ladyscience.com/podcast.

To get into the Back-to-School spirit, the hosts discuss some classic and current science education television shows, including The Magic School Bus, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. For show notes and transcripts, visit ladyscience.com/podcast/ep22-science-education-tv.com.

In this episode, the hosts talk about the long history of women advocating for nature and wildlife conservation, and how these early women paved the way for our current environmental justice movements. Dr. Tina Sikka joins in to talk about feminist science as a remedy for anthropogenic climate change. For show notes and transcripts, visit www.ladyscience.com/podcast/how-women-built-the-environmental-movement.

To honor Pride Month, the hosts take a look at queer women in the history of science. In telling the story of physicians Elizabeth Cushier and Emily Blackwell, the hosts explore how queer women were able to build marriages and families together before romantic friendship between women became taboo. Historian of archaeology Kathleen Sheppard joins in to talk about the queer relationship between archaeologists Maggie Benson and Nettie Gourlay and how their relationship was integral to both their personal and professional lives. For show notes and transcripts, visit ladyscience.com/podcast/episode-20-romantic-friendship-and-queer-marriage-in-science.