The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Benjamin List and David W. C. MacMillan for their development of asymmetric organocatalysis, which has proved to be a powerful tool for building molecules. In this special episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen, C&EN reporter Leigh Krietsch Boerner, and C&EN editorial fellow Emily Harwitz delve into the science behind the prize. Merck's Rebecca Ruck also joins the Stereo Chemistry crew to weigh in on how organocatalysis has impacted drug development.

An edited transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/2WOGCNR.

Read more about the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry in Leigh Krietsch Boerner's article on the prize at bit.ly/3iD0hs2.

Image credit: © Frank Vinken (List); Princeton University, Department of Chemistry, © Todd Reichart (MacMillan)

This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing an episode of Third Pod from the Sun, a podcast from the American Geophysical Union, featuring an interview with retired astronaut and former professional athlete Leland Melvin. In the episode, Melvin describes how an early⁠—and explosive⁠—interest in chemistry grew into a scientific career at NASA and two missions to the International Space Station.

Find more stories from Third Pod from the Sun at thirdpodfromthesun.com, Apple podcasts, and wherever you get podcasts.

Image credit: Courtesy of Third Pod from the Sun/C&EN

This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing an episode of Orbitals that features an interview with forensic chemist Shari Forbes, an expert in human decomposition who studies the odors of decomposition at a body farm in chilly Quebec. Research at body farms—research facilities dedicated to studying what happens to human bodies after death—supplies law enforcement with valuable information about the process of decomposition in various scenarios. A transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/3jdvLFN.

Find more stories from Orbitals on the American Chemical Society's website, acs.org, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Image credit: Courtesy of Orbitals/C&EN

(Part 2/2) This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing a pair of episodes from Distillations, a podcast from the Science History Institute. We rely on rare-earth elements to make many essential technologies like smartphones, medical imaging devices, and wind turbines. But how much do you know about where these extraordinary materials come from? In this two-part series, Distillations hosts Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago explore the source of rare earths' "magic," the costs of acquiring these elements and what scientists are doing to try to find a way to produce them sustainably.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/373odhN.

Find more stories from Distillations at Distillations.org.

Image credit: Courtesy of Distillations/C&EN

(Part 1/2) This month, Stereo Chemistry is sharing a pair of episodes from Distillations, a podcast from the Science History Institute. We rely on rare-earth elements to make many essential technologies like smartphones, medical imaging devices, and wind turbines. But how much do you know about where these extraordinary materials come from? In this two-part series, Distillations hosts Alexis Pedrick and Elisabeth Berry Drago explore the source of rare earths' "magic," the costs of acquiring these elements and what scientists are doing to try to find a way to produce them sustainably.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/373odhN.

Find more stories from Distillations at Distillations.org. Image credit: Courtesy of Distillations/C&EN

This month, we're sharing an episode of the podcast My Fave Queer Chemist. Hosted by graduate students Bec Roldan and Geraldo Duran-Camacho, the show celebrates the excellence of LGBTQ+ chemists everywhere. Stereo Chemistry is excited to share this recent episode featuring inorganic photochemist Irving Rettig. In the episode, Rettig discusses his background in art conservation, his experiences finding support and community in grad school, and his work promoting transgender-inclusive name change policies within academic publishing.

Note: This episode includes the use of slang terms for some members of the LGBTQ+ community. A transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/3624azW. Follow My Fave Queer Chemist on Twitter at @MFQCPod. Find new episodes at anchor.fm/mfqc.

Read C&EN's article "LGBTQ+ Chemists You Should Know About" at cenm.ag/historiclqbtq. Image credit: My Fave Queer Chemist/Will Ludwig/Yang Ku/C&EN

More than 50 years of missions to Mars paint a clear picture of a cold, dry, desert planet. And at the same time, photographs, minerals, and other data tell scientists that Mars once had as much water as Earth, or even more. Why are the two planets so different today? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, we talk to scientists about the latest research on Mars's water and where they think the water went.

Listen to the end of the episode for an announcement about the future of Stereo Chemistry.

Sign up for C&EN's newsletter at bit.ly/chemnewsletter.

A transcript for this episode is available at bit.ly/3hPfHcP.

Image credit: Kevin Gill/Flickr based on data from NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/USGS

Toxic elements like lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium in food are not a new problem. But when they show up in pureed vegetables and other foods intended for babies, alarm bells go off. That's what happened in recent months following a bombshell congressional report that found neurotoxic metals in baby food from multiple manufacturers. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, host Kerri Jansen and C&EN reporter Britt Erickson explore the fallout from that report and renewed efforts by baby food manufacturers, regulators, advocacy groups, and agricultural scientists to rein in the problem.

Subscribe to Stereo Chemistry now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Instructions for adding Chemistry Update to your smart speaker are available at cenm.ag/chemistryupdate. An edited transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/32JQhox. Image credit: Ollinka/Shutterstock

Living longer has been a human obsession for centuries, but while medical science has helped extend average life span, not all those extra years can be healthy. It turns out that aging is a major risk factor for disease. Follow along as host Kerri Jansen and reporter Laura Howes ask if instead of extending life span, we could extend health span and how modern science could make that a reality. An edited transcript of this episode is available at bit.ly/2NKNZkV. Help us shape the future of Stereo Chemistry by taking the survey at bit.ly/StereoChemSurvey. Image credit: Yang H. Ku/C&EN

Where do you take your career after you've won all of science's biggest prizes? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN executive editor Lisa Jarvis sits down with Nobel laureates Frances Arnold and Jennifer Doudna to hear about whether their career goals changed after they got that early-morning phone call in October and how the pandemic has shifted the way they approach their work. A script of this episode is available at bit.ly/3u7jCW7. Sign up for C&EN's newsletter at cenm.ag/chemnewsletter. Catch up on last year's package of trailblazing women chemists, edited by Jennifer Doudna, at cenm.ag/2020trailblazers. Image credit: Caltech (Arnold)/Laura Morton Photography (Doudna)