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 Media 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. This season we tackle plastics, veganism, essential oils, gentrification and CBD cannabis.

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Coronavirus: Are We Back Wh...

07.03.2020

We’re six months into this coronavirus pandemic, which has shaken the world and stunned scientists. What have we learned? Where are we headed? To find out, we talk to virologist Professor John Dennehy, virologist and immunologist Professor Ann Sheehy, and ...

Science Vs episodes:

07.03.2020 Coronavirus: Are We Back Where We Started? We’re six months into this coronavirus pandemic, which has shaken the world and stunned scientists. What have we learned? Where are we headed? To find out, we talk to virologist Professor John Dennehy, virologist and immunologist Professor Ann Sheehy, and ...
06.23.2020 Fauci! He’s Back! Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and America's favorite nerd joins Science Vs again. Wendy chats with Dr. Fauci about the pandemic’s past, present and ...
06.19.2020 Coronavirus: Dude, Where's My Vaccine? All through the pandemic, we’ve been waiting for a possible silver bullet: a vaccine. How soon could we actually get one? To find out, we talk to microbiologist and immunologist Professor Karla Satchell, immunologist Dr. Kathryn Stephenson, Pfizer executive Mike ...
06.12.2020 Coronavirus: Weirdest Virus Ever? The coronavirus seems to cause symptoms all over our body, from nose to toes. So how can one virus do so many strange things? To find out, we talk to gastroenterologist Dr. Anthony DeBenedet, virologist and immunologist Professor Ann Sheehy, ...
06.09.2020 Coronavirus: Protesting in a Pandemic Hundreds of thousands of people have joined the global protest movement sparked by the death of George Floyd. And a lot of doctors and public health experts are on board, despite concerns about the pandemic. So how can protesters stay ...
05.29.2020 Coronavirus: Labs Go Dark Life is on pause for many of us right now. But scientists don’t want to stop! Researchers have had to figure out how to keep experiments going and keep lab animals alive — all while keeping themselves safe. To find ...
05.22.2020 Coronavirus: Sweden Goes Rogue While a lot of countries have put in strict measures, like lockdowns, to stop the coronavirus, there’s been a conspicuous outlier: Sweden. The country has carved a different path, trying to keep its hospitals from being overrun while allowing society ...
05.15.2020 Coronavirus: The Mask Wars When the pandemic started, we were told not to bother with masks. But now it looks like experts have done a 180 here, and a lot of us are being told to cover our mugs when we leave the house. ...
05.08.2020 Coronavirus: Pregnant in a Pandemic How bad is the coronavirus for pregnant people and babies? Producer Meryl Horn is digging into this question for today’s episode. And it’s personal, because Meryl is pregnant and living in the pandemic hot spot that is New York City. ...
05.01.2020 Coronavirus: How Many Silent Spreaders Are There? We’re learning that people can spread the virus when they don’t have symptoms. But how often does that actually happen? We talk to Mark Jorgensen, clinician-scientist Dr. Vivek Naranbhai and CDC epidemiologist Dr. Mateusz Plucinski. Also: KOALA POP SONGS!! Here’s ...
04.24.2020 Coronavirus: Was It Made In a Lab? Since the outbreak started, we’ve been hearing that this coronavirus came from bats before jumping to humans. But recently, claims that the virus escaped from a lab have been getting a lot of attention. So did it? Is there an ...
04.20.2020 Working Out From Home — in 7 Minutes? [Rebroadcast] Social distancing has made it harder for a lot of us to get exercise. So we’re revisiting our episode on the seven-minute workout. Can this bite-size routine really keep us fit? Back in 2018, we asked exercise scientist Prof. Jeff ...
04.17.2020 Coronavirus: Can You Get It Twice? We’re hearing stories of people getting this coronavirus, recovering, and then getting it again. So what’s going on: Does getting this virus give you immunity or not? To find out, we talk to virologist Dr. Kirsty Short of the University ...
04.10.2020 Coronavirus: When Will It End? In the U.S. we've been social distancing for a few weeks now, and the question on everyone’s mind is: When can we go back to “normal”? And what’s happening in China, where they’ve already lifted the lockdown? To find out, ...
04.07.2020 Coronavirus: Should I Disinfect EVERYTHING? There are reports that the coronavirus can survive on surfaces for days. So how careful should we be about cleaning the stuff we touch? And do we need to be disinfecting our groceries? To find out, we talk to pathologist ...
04.03.2020 Coronavirus: Is It Airborne? We’re hearing conflicting things about how the coronavirus spreads — is it through coughs and sneezes only? Or could it be floating in the air, infecting us as we walk down the street or go grocery shopping? We ask Dr. ...
03.31.2020 Coronavirus: Are Young People Safe? From the early days of this coronavirus outbreak, it’s looked like the disease is way worse for older people. But now we’re hearing more stories of younger folks getting really sick. What’s going on? Is this virus scarier for younger ...
03.27.2020 Coronavirus: Will Chloroquine Save Us? President Trump says an anti-malarial drug could be a “gift from god” for treating Covid-19. Does it really work? And is it dangerous? We talk to toxicologist Professor Daniel Brooks, infectious disease specialist Dr. Matthew Pullen, and microbiologist Professor Karla ...
03.24.2020 Coronavirus: Unmasking the Facts and Ibuprofen Scares Healthcare workers across the U.S. are saying they don’t have enough protective gear to keep them safe against the coronavirus. They’re having to reuse masks, and they’re worried that they may have to resort to homemade cloth masks. Is all ...
03.19.2020 Coronavirus: A Story From the Front Lines As Covid-19 cases rise in the U.S., healthcare workers are already struggling to keep up. In a different kind of episode, we bring you an interview with Dr. Antoinette Ward, who is leading Covid-19 testing at a major hospital in ...
03.16.2020 Coronavirus: What Should You Do Now? The coronavirus pandemic is here, and in the U.S., this is starting to get very real. We talk to people in South Korea and Italy to see what life has been like for them. And we find out what the ...
03.12.2020 More Science Vs Coming Right Up Science Vs is back March 19th. Fact you next week.
03.04.2020 Coronavirus: Fears and Facts The new coronavirus continues to spread around the world, and it’s already killed several people in the U.S. People are starting to worry that this will turn into a full-blown pandemic. So how many of us could ultimately get infected ...
01.31.2020 Coronavirus Outbreak: How Scared Should You Be? A new virus showed up in China late last year, and it’s making its way to other countries too. So what do scientists know about the virus so far? And how worried should we be? To find out we talk ...
12.20.2019 How to Stop A Killer Asteroid This week — asteroids. Could a space rock really slam into us and destroy the world? And if we did spot one heading straight for us, is there anything we could do to stop it? We speak with asteroid researcher ...
12.13.2019 Healthcare: How Do We Fix It? American healthcare has big problems. Some say the solution is Medicare For All: one government plan for everybody. But others say government healthcare would be worse than what we already have. Who’s right? And how did things get this bad? ...
12.05.2019 Ants: Tales from the Underground On today’s show, three f-ant-astic stories of survival, friendship and courage about some of the most underrated creatures in the animal queendom. Produced with our friends at Every Little Thing, another Gimlet podcast. We spoke with behavioral ecologist Dr. István ...
11.22.2019 Police Shootings: The Data and the Damage Done It’s been five years since the high profile shootings of several unarmed black teenagers and men launched the Black Lives Matter movement. Since then, police departments have been doing all kinds of things to respond to the deaths and protests. ...
11.15.2019 When a Hospital becomes The Butcher Shop A group of teenagers and college kids were fed up with the lousy healthcare in their neighborhood. So they decided to fight the system head on—a fight that still resonates today. Sid Davidoff, Mickey Melendez, and Cleo Silvers share their ...
11.08.2019 Sleep: All Aboard the Snooze Cruise! Not sleeping enough turning you into a monster? Cutting-edge science helps us understand why. And we sort through the fads to find out, what really works to get more ZZZs. We speak with lab coordinator Pam De Young, sleep researcher ...
10.31.2019 5G: Welcome to the Revolution? How should we feel about 5G? Is it a breakthrough technology that will revolutionize our world, or in a bid to get new gadgets, are we risking our health? To find out, we spoke with electrical engineer Prof. Jeff Andrews, ...
10.25.2019 Vaping: What the Hell is Going On?! Vaping is all the rage in the U.S., but young people are turning up at hospitals barely able to breathe. Over a thousand vapers have gotten sick⁠—34 are dead⁠—and no one knows why. We investigated the case of the mysterious ...
10.11.2019 PANDEMIC!!! If a pandemic ripped across the world, how bad would it really get? You’ve heard the horror stories, but you’ve never heard one like this. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who advises the President on emerging infectious diseases, helps us out. Check ...
10.03.2019 Heartbreak: Why does it hurt so bad? We’ve all been dumped, but some of us have felt physically sick from a heartbreak -- sometimes really sick. Neuroscientist Prof. Lucy Brown explains how pangs from a heartache might not just be in our heads. Check out the full ...
09.27.2019 Football: Should We Cancel It? America’s favorite pastime seems to be plagued by tragedy. Former NFL players have come forward to say they’re suffering from a serious brain disease. Others have ended their lives. So we wanted to know: how risky is playing football? Cornerback ...
09.19.2019 Exercise: Fat Buster or Belly Flop? Lots of people hit the gym to shed unwanted pounds, but they don’t always see results on the scale. This week, we tackle the power of exercise and why you should bother. We speak with obesity expert Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, ...
09.12.2019 Let's...science...AGAIN! Science Vs is back September 19th. Fact you next week.
08.08.2019 The Dinosaur Explosion Why are there so many new, weird dinosaurs? Friend of the show Joel Werner goes down the rabbit hole, and finds a surprising answer. He speaks to paleontologists Dr. Steve Brusatte and Dr. Jonathan Tennant. Listen to Joel’s podcast The ...
06.14.2019 SHARKS!!! Are sharks the super-predators we think they are? Or have we been baited with great white lies? To find out, we interviewed shark researchers Dr. Taylor Chapple, Dr. Tricia Meredith and Dr. Chris Pepin-Neff, along with surfer Mike Wells. Check ...
06.06.2019 How Bad Science Killed A President When President Garfield was shot by an assassin in 1881, the best and brightest in medicine and science did everything they could to save him - and turned the President into a human guinea pig. But they missed something big, ...
05.30.2019 Peanuts: Public Enemy No. 1? Peanut allergy in children has been on the rise since the 1990s. What’s to blame? We find a clue in a very unexpected place, and talk to pediatric allergist Prof. Gideon Lack. Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2rkEcqL Selected ...
05.23.2019 The Abortion Underground Before Roe v. Wade, there were thousands of illegal abortions in the U.S. every year. Some of these were incredibly dangerous; women would use knitting needles or coat hangers to end pregnancies. This, and other illegal methods, could lead to ...
05.09.2019 Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You? 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, neuroscientist ...
05.02.2019 Vaccines: Time for a Booster Shot [Rebroadcast] Autism, seizures, and overloaded immune systems - could these really be side effects of vaccines? From the archives, we bring back our dive into the science to find out how safe vaccines really are. We spoke to public health researchers ...
04.25.2019 Fertility Cliff: Is It Real? We’re often told to have kids quickly, before our biological clock strikes and we fall off the fertility cliff. This week we find out if that’s true for women or men. And if the cliff is real, can you do ...
04.19.2019 Race: Can We See It In Our DNA? For decades, we've heard that race is a social and cultural idea — not scientific. But with the changing world of genetics, is race science back? We speak to sociologist Prof. Dorothy Roberts, evolutionary biologist Prof. Joseph L. Graves Jr. ...
04.12.2019 DNA Kits: Can You Trust Them? Millions of people are sending off their DNA to companies like Ancestry.com and 23andme to find out where they come from, and what diseases they might get. But how much can you trust these DNA kits? To find out, we ...
04.04.2019 Pets on Planes: Are Emotional Support Animals Legit? Can petting Fluffy or Fido help with anxiety on planes? Or are emotional support animals a load of croc? We talk to psychologist Prof. Hal Herzog to find out if science has anything to say on whether these pets should ...
03.29.2019 Fasting Diets: What's the Skinny? Fasting diets are all the rage right now and health-fluencers claim it can help you lose weight, live longer and even fight cancer. So what does the science say? We speak to nutrition researchers Dr Krista Varady and Dr Courtney ...
03.22.2019 Science's Rotten Underbelly During a golden age for scientific progress, a group of scientists were given free rein to do whatever they wanted to their human lab rats. We got new drugs, and learnt exciting new things. But some researchers took it too ...

Older episodes

Science Vs

What's Science Vs about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Science Vs episodes:

Coronavirus: Are We Back Where We Started?

Fauci! He’s Back!

Coronavirus: Dude, Where's My Vaccine?

Coronavirus: Weirdest Virus Ever?

Coronavirus: Protesting in a Pandemic

Coronavirus: Labs Go Dark

Coronavirus: Sweden Goes Rogue

Coronavirus: The Mask Wars

Coronavirus: Pregnant in a Pandemic

Coronavirus: How Many Silent Spreaders Are There?

Coronavirus: Was It Made In a Lab?

Working Out From Home — in 7 Minutes? [Rebroadcast]

Coronavirus: Can You Get It Twice?

Coronavirus: When Will It End?

Coronavirus: Should I Disinfect EVERYTHING?

Coronavirus: Is It Airborne?

Coronavirus: Are Young People Safe?

Coronavirus: Will Chloroquine Save Us?

Coronavirus: Unmasking the Facts and Ibuprofen Scares

Coronavirus: A Story From the Front Lines

Coronavirus: What Should You Do Now?

More Science Vs Coming Right Up

Coronavirus: Fears and Facts

Coronavirus Outbreak: How Scared Should You Be?

How to Stop A Killer Asteroid

Healthcare: How Do We Fix It?

Ants: Tales from the Underground

Police Shootings: The Data and the Damage Done

When a Hospital becomes The Butcher Shop

Sleep: All Aboard the Snooze Cruise!

5G: Welcome to the Revolution?

Vaping: What the Hell is Going On?!

PANDEMIC!!!

Heartbreak: Why does it hurt so bad?

Football: Should We Cancel It?

Exercise: Fat Buster or Belly Flop?

Let's...science...AGAIN!

The Dinosaur Explosion

SHARKS!!!

How Bad Science Killed A President

Peanuts: Public Enemy No. 1?

The Abortion Underground

Placebo: Can the Mind Cure You?

Vaccines: Time for a Booster Shot [Rebroadcast]

Fertility Cliff: Is It Real?

Race: Can We See It In Our DNA?

DNA Kits: Can You Trust Them?

Pets on Planes: Are Emotional Support Animals Legit?

Fasting Diets: What's the Skinny?

Science's Rotten Underbelly

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