Science Vs

By Gimlet

Education

What's Science Vs about?

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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LAST EPISODE

The Fight to Fix a Racist M...

09.22.2022

The EEG is an incredibly important medical tool — and it’s been failing Black patients for decades. So today we’ll hear from two young, Black scientists who teamed up with hairdressers to do something about it. We speak to neurologist ...

Science Vs episodes:

09.22.2022 The Fight to Fix a Racist Medical Gadget The EEG is an incredibly important medical tool — and it’s been failing Black patients for decades. So today we’ll hear from two young, Black scientists who teamed up with hairdressers to do something about it. We speak to neurologist ...
09.15.2022 Vegans: Are They Right? Do vegans have a right to be so smug? We’re finding out whether it really is better for the environment, and our bodies, to go vegan. We speak to environmental researcher Joseph Poore, historian Prof. Connie Hilliard, anthropologist Prof. Katharine ...
09.08.2022 Hydration: Are You Drinking Enough Water? Celebs and wellness blogs treat water like a magic elixir that will make us the most attractive and healthiest version of ourselves. But do these claims hold water? And how much do we really need to be drinking to stay ...
09.01.2022 We're Back for Season THIRTEEN There’s tons of misinformation, fads and strong opinions floating around out there — but then there’s SCIENCE. Season 13 starts on September 8! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
08.03.2022 Fauci on Monkeypox: What Went Wrong We called up Dr. Anthony Fauci to talk about monkeypox. We wanted to know — what’s the deal with the slow response here? And why haven’t we gotten this virus under control? Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/3BB7WBi This ...
08.02.2022 Monkeypox: What's Going On? Monkeypox has been spreading around the world. So … what exactly is this disease? How worried should we be, and how can people stay safe? We talk to Dr. Carlton Thomas, Professor Chloe Orkin and Professor Yan Xiang. Check out ...
06.30.2022 Abortion: The Science and the Supreme Court Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. And in their opinion, we found a lot of scientific-sounding statements. So we wanted to find out whether these statements are true. We’ll tell you what actually happens in an ...
06.09.2022 Nightmare on Science Street Today, we’re sharing a collection of spooky science stories. You’ll hear about a nightmare in the ocean, a nightmare on land, and even a nightmare … IN YOUR MIND. We talk to scientists including marine biologist, Dr. Olga Shpak and ...
06.02.2022 Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You? [REBROADCAST] Could fake medicine actually take away your pain or treat a disease? We dig into the science of placebos to find out more about the power of the mind to heal. We speak to medical researcher Prof. Ted Kaptchuk, ...
06.02.2022 Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You? [REBROADCAST] Could fake medicine actually take away your pain or treat a disease? We dig into the science of placebos to find out more about the power of the mind to heal. We speak to medical researcher Prof. Ted Kaptchuk, ...
05.26.2022 A Mystery in the Air When a little girl, Ella Kissi-Debrah, suddenly got sick and landed in the hospital, doctors were stumped. In this episode, her mom, Rosamund, takes on the fight to find out what exactly happened to Ella. And the answer has BIG ...
05.12.2022 ASMR: How Whispering Hijacks the Brain ASMR is huge. People say these videos of someone whispering or making soft sounds can make them feel all tingly inside, and even help them feel calm and less anxious. So, what’s going on here? We talk to scientists who ...
05.05.2022 Serial Killers: The Mind of a Murderer [REBROADCAST] What makes a serial killer? What drives them to kill again and again? To find out the truth about this ghastly lot, we talked to forensic psychologist Prof. Eric Hickey, criminologist Ass. Prof. Wayne Petherick, and psychiatrist Prof. Gwen ...
04.28.2022 Processed Food: A Load of Baloney? We hear over and over that processed food is bad for us. But is there actually something funky going on here — or is it just junk food? We dig into what these foods are doing to our bodies. You’ll ...
04.21.2022 The Story of a Covid Wonder Drug Today, we’re digging into the weird and wooly world of ivermectin. When promising papers came out early in the pandemic, a lot of scientists got excited about the drug, but then … cracks started to show. We went down the ...
04.15.2022 Spotify and Misinformation: An Update! Today on the show an update about our push to get Spotify to do more to stop misinformation spreading on the platform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
04.07.2022 The Abortion Underground REBROADCAST. The Supreme Court is set to rule on a major abortion case this year, and the court could decide to overturn Roe v. Wade. Already, places like Oklahoma, Texas and Idaho are rolling out major abortion restrictions. So today, ...
03.29.2022 Ukrainian War: Fighting Russia's Propaganda Machine Russia attacked Ukraine more than a month ago — and the war has raged ever since. From the beginning, Russia has been pushing out propaganda and disinformation about what’s actually going on. So this week, we’re sharing parts of a ...
03.24.2022 Ancient Aliens: Who Really Built the Pyramids? [REBROADCAST] Is it possible that the pyramids were built with a helping hand ... from aliens? If not, how did the ancient Egyptians build them without modern technology? To get to the bottom of this, we speak to author Erich ...
03.18.2022 Trans Kids: The Misinformation Battle U.S. politicians are trying to keep trans kids from getting the medical care they need to transition — and states are banning them from playing on the sports teams that match their gender. So we’re looking at the science here, ...
03.11.2022 Here’s What’s Coming Up! There’s tons of misinformation, fads and strong opinions floating around out there — but then there’s SCIENCE. Find it here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
02.25.2022 Misinformation: What Should Our Tech Overlords Do? After Joe Rogan was accused of spreading Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on his podcast, Spotify landed in the hot seat. People (including us!) wanted to know what the platform was doing to stop it. In this episode, we look into how ...
02.05.2022 Joe Rogan: The Malone Interview 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 ...
12.10.2021 The Moon: Why Are We Really Going Back? The moon race is back! Countries — and billionaires — are lining up to take a crack at returning to the moon. But why are we really going? Some say this is a lunar gold rush, that countries want to ...
12.04.2021 Fauci on How This Ends Dr. Anthony Fauci sits down with us to talk about omicron, how this pandemic actually ends — and how he’s fighting back against the haters. Find our transcript here: https://bit.ly/3Djq9jX Science Vs is produced by Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Meryl ...
12.03.2021 Omicron: Do You Need to Freak Out? Welp, the pandemic has served up yet another poop sandwich, and it’s called omicron. This variant is popping up in dozens of countries across the world, and scientists are racing to get a handle on it. So how bad could ...
11.25.2021 Presenting Gastropod: How Chilis Conquered the World This week we’ve got a spicy treat for you: a show called Gastropod. Hosts Nicola Twilley and Cynthia Graber dig into the world of food and serve up a forkful of science, plus a dash of history. In this episode: ...
11.18.2021 Jurassic Park: Hold On to Your Butts Could our dreams for a real Jurassic Park come true? Headlines say scientists are closer than ever to resurrecting prehistoric animals like the woolly mammoth. But is this for real!? Can we really bring back long-gone animals from the dead ...
11.11.2021 Killer Asteroids: NASA Strikes Back [REBROADCAST] Asteroids! In just two weeks, NASA plans to launch a first-of-its-kind mission to try to move an asteroid off its path. If it works, this could be a huge breakthrough in protecting us from runaway space rocks. So we’ve ...
11.04.2021 Monkey Say What? LEOPARD!! Science isn’t always dressed up in fancy lab coats and goggles — sometimes it goes undercover! In this episode, we go behind the scenes in the Congolese rainforest to show you just how down and dirty scientists are willing to ...
10.28.2021 Chronic Pain: Can Our Brains Fix It? People with chronic pain often struggle with it for years while doctors scour their bodies for the cause. But are we looking in the wrong spot? For some of us, could an answer — and the solution — actually be ...
10.21.2021 The Legendary Condom Queen Dr. Joycelyn Elders is a total badass. She grew up in poverty in rural Arkansas, but in 1993 she rose to become the surgeon general of the United States — appointed by President Bill Clinton. Joycelyn wanted to put sex ...
10.14.2021 Burnout: Can We Fix Work? Work can really suck. And for lots of us, burnout has been feeling especially terrible. This week, we dive into how burnout messes with our brains and bodies, and we find out whether working from home is making things worse. ...
10.07.2021 Blue Balls: You're Wrong About Them We join forces with Sarah Marshall from You’re Wrong About to dive into a question for the ages: Blue balls — are they real? We’ve heard that for people with balls, if you get aroused but don’t ejaculate, it can ...
09.30.2021 True Love: Is Monogamy Unnatural? [REBROADCAST] Are humans built for monogamy? Or is the idea of having one partner forever just a myth forced on us by tired old love songs? We revisit the science of love in one of our favorite episodes, hearing from ...
09.28.2021 The Secret World of Plants Plants aren’t just sitting around looking cute; they’re doing all sorts of stuff, like defending themselves, and even warning other plants about danger. Today, we’re talking all about the weird and wily world of plants with Professor Beronda Montgomery from ...
09.23.2021 Childbirth: Are Doctors Messing It Up? Childbirth seems to be getting more and more medicalized, with C-sections and other interventions out the wazoo. But childbirth isn’t a disease! So is all this medical meddling really necessary, or are doctors too trigger-happy with the scalpel? To find ...
09.16.2021 Weight: Is Fat Unhealthy? We’re hearing nonstop chatter about the “quarantine 15.” But should we really care if we put on weight? Is fat bad for us? We talk to Prof. Henry Blackburn, Assoc. Prof. Laura den Hartigh, and Assoc. Prof. A. Janet Tomiyama. ...
09.09.2021 Therapy: Does It Work? Our mental health has taken a turn for the worse the past couple of years. We keep hearing that therapy can help, but it can be a big investment of time and money. So is it worth it? How often ...
09.02.2021 Let’s Do Science Again!! There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Season 11 starts Sept. 9! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
08.19.2021 Presenting Not Past It: The Vax That Got Axed Today, we’re sharing an episode of a show we love: Not Past It. Did you know there was almost an AIDS vaccine? On June 3, 1998, AIDSVAX VAX004 reached the final stage of trials before widespread approval. Not Past It ...
08.10.2021 The Delta Variant: How Bad Is It? This delta variant of the coronavirus seems to really be screwing us over. Cases are spiking in the U.S., and we keep hearing about vaccinated people getting Covid. So how worried should we be? And what is it about delta ...
05.27.2021 Pet Food: How Fancy Should They Feast? There are soooo many options for what to feed your dog or cat, from the cheap stuff at the supermarket to fresh food delivered straight to your door. So what’s the best option? And just how fancy do we need ...
05.20.2021 The G Spot: Come Again? We’re heading into a big summer, with more places and — ahem — people opening up. So we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes about feeling good. Maybe you’ve heard about this magic button in the vagina that can cause ...
05.14.2021 Back From the Dead Today we're telling tales that push life to the ultimate limit. We're bringing things back from the dead, diving into the mysteries of immortality and asking just how much can the human body take? We talk to Rohan Schoeman, Dr. ...
05.06.2021 A Seedy, Late-Night Adventure Today, under cover of darkness, we're hunting buried treasure. This is a wild romp through one of the oldest science experiments in the world. And at first, everything was going to plan. Scientists had a secret map, headlamps, shovels … ...
04.29.2021 Screens: Are They Ruining Our Brains and Mental Health and Eyes and Tons of us are spending waaaayyy more time using screens these days — and it’s freaking us out. We’ve got all kinds of worries. Like, is all this screen time rotting kids’ brains? Is social media destroying our mental health? ...
04.22.2021 Havana Syndrome: Did a Secret Weapon Fry Diplomats' Brains? Back in 2016, U.S. Embassy workers in Cuba were struck by a mysterious noise, followed by symptoms like headaches, dizziness and memory problems. This sent the U.S. scrambling to try to find the culprit. Could it have been an ear-piercing ...
04.08.2021 How Science Created Morons REBROADCAST: This episode looks at how one of the worst ideas in science got a big push from a bad study… and intellectuals of the day lapped it up. We speak to science writer Carl Zimmer and Prof. J. David ...
04.02.2021 Coronavirus: How Scary Are the Variants? UPDATE 4/13/21: Since this episode published, there has been some evidence linking the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to rare blood clots. As of April 13, there were six cases in the U.S. out of more than 6.8 million doses, ...

Older episodes

Science Vs

What's Science Vs about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Science Vs episodes:

The Fight to Fix a Racist Medical Gadget

Vegans: Are They Right?

Hydration: Are You Drinking Enough Water?

We're Back for Season THIRTEEN

Fauci on Monkeypox: What Went Wrong

Monkeypox: What's Going On?

Abortion: The Science and the Supreme Court

Nightmare on Science Street

Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You?

Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You?

A Mystery in the Air

ASMR: How Whispering Hijacks the Brain

Serial Killers: The Mind of a Murderer

Processed Food: A Load of Baloney?

The Story of a Covid Wonder Drug

Spotify and Misinformation: An Update!

The Abortion Underground

Ukrainian War: Fighting Russia's Propaganda Machine

Ancient Aliens: Who Really Built the Pyramids?

Trans Kids: The Misinformation Battle

Here’s What’s Coming Up!

Misinformation: What Should Our Tech Overlords Do?

Joe Rogan: The Malone Interview

The Moon: Why Are We Really Going Back?

Fauci on How This Ends

Omicron: Do You Need to Freak Out?

Presenting Gastropod: How Chilis Conquered the World

Jurassic Park: Hold On to Your Butts

Killer Asteroids: NASA Strikes Back

Monkey Say What? LEOPARD!!

Chronic Pain: Can Our Brains Fix It?

The Legendary Condom Queen

Burnout: Can We Fix Work?

Blue Balls: You're Wrong About Them

True Love: Is Monogamy Unnatural?

The Secret World of Plants

Childbirth: Are Doctors Messing It Up?

Weight: Is Fat Unhealthy?

Therapy: Does It Work?

Let’s Do Science Again!!

Presenting Not Past It: The Vax That Got Axed

The Delta Variant: How Bad Is It?

Pet Food: How Fancy Should They Feast?

The G Spot: Come Again?

Back From the Dead

A Seedy, Late-Night Adventure

Screens: Are They Ruining Our Brains and Mental Health and Eyes and

Havana Syndrome: Did a Secret Weapon Fry Diplomats' Brains?

How Science Created Morons

Coronavirus: How Scary Are the Variants?

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