The Pulse

By WHYYScience Health & Fitness

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The Pulse episodes

September 30, 2022Solving the Opioid Epidemic
A smile, clean socks, a sandwich, a wound care kit, a heartfelt “how are you feeling today?” All of these things can be part of a public health approach called harm reduction, and many believe it’s the best way to help those who’re living with opioid addiction. The approach is to meet people where they’re at, gaining their trust, and paving a path toward treatment and recovery.
Journalist Beth Macy has covered the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic for years — including in her best-selling book “Dopesick,” which was turned into a Hulu limited series. In her latest book, she pivots to solutions. In “Raising Lazarus” she introduces audiences to the people on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, who are trying to save lives — one person at a time. We talk to Macy about her book and hear from people who are trying new ways to keep people alive and get them into treatment.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
We talk with Ed Bisch about the personal tragedy that led him to connect with other grieving families, and his activism with the group Relatives Against Purdue.
We listen back to Nina Feldman’s story of a volunteer outreach worker in Philadelphia, who believes everybody should have Narcan available.
49 min
September 23, 2022The Evolution of Plastic Surgery
During World War I, thousands of soldiers suffered catastrophic facial injuries. If these soldiers survived their injuries, they were often shunned once they got back home.
Some were forced to sit on brightly painted blue benches so that the public knew not to look at them. Many became isolated — sometimes their fiancées broke off their engagements, or their families rejected them — and came to feel that their lives were no longer worth living.
But then an enterprising surgeon entered the picture, who was determined to repair and even rebuild these men’s injured faces: Harold Gillies.
On this episode, we talk with medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris about her new book “The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I,” which traces Gillies’ pioneering mission to reconstruct faces. We hear about how he gathered artists, radiographers, dental surgeons, and more for novel collaborations, their miraculous results, and how Gillies’ efforts led to the birth of modern reconstructive surgery.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
From the 1960s to the late ’80s, countless people who were incarcerated were given plastic surgery in the hopes that improved looks could reduce recidivism. Reporter Jad Sleiman tells the strange story of this experiment and talks with a famous plastic surgeon to the stars about this flawed program.
Flight nurse Dave Repsher lived an active life — until a medical helicopter he was riding in crashed, resulting in Repsher suffering burns on over 90 percent of his body. Colorado Public Radio’s Ryan Warner tells the story of Repsher’s difficult recovery using cutting-edge techniques.
49 min
September 16, 2022A Journey into the Minds of Whales
Tom Mustill was sure he was going to die — that was the last thing he thought as he watched a humpback whale arc majestically out of the water … and begin to fall directly onto his kayak. But Mustill didn’t die. A video of the incident went viral, and as he later learned from an expert, it appeared that the whale pivoted at the last second — maybe to avoid crushing Mustill. It was a terrifying experience — but one that also ignited a deep curiosity in him. What exactly was the whale thinking? Was it all just an accident? Or was it really trying to save the tiny humans in its wake?
These questions sent Mustill, a biologist-turned-nature documentarian, on a journey to understand whales — how they think, how they live, and how they communicate. The result is his new book, “How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication.” In the process, Mustill discovered a revolution at the intersection of biology and technology — researchers who are using AI to observe, document, and decode animal communications.
We’ll hear about the book and talk to some of the whale researchers who are working to get a better understanding of these animals.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
We talk with Joy Reidenberg — a professor of anatomy at the Icahn School of Medicine — about what she’s learned from her years spent studying whales, including how smart they really are, what makes their brains different from ours, and what new technologies are teaching us about them.
Justin Gregg talks about his work with the Dolphin Communication Project and what he’s learned about how and why they communicate. Gregg’s book is called “If Nietzsche were a Narwhal.”
49 min
September 09, 2022The Fight Against Extinction
Around the world, at dawn, something magical happens. As the sun rises, nature seems to wake up, and different species break into a chorus of song and call. These “dawn choruses” are one way we experience the rich tapestry of life all around us. But that tapestry is wearing thin, as species disappear from our planet at an increasingly fast rate.
On this episode, we take a look at biodiversity — the variety of life on earth. We talk about why it matters, how it’s being threatened, and what people are doing to better understand and protect it. We explore the legacy of the late biologist E.O. Wilson, who popularized the term “biodiversity,” and speak to conservation scientists about their efforts to protect “biodiversity hotspots.” Also, the challenges affecting natural history museum collections, and the fight against the growing threat of species extinction.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
We talk with conservation ecologist and Duke University professor Stuart Pimm about the legacy of his longtime friend and colleague E.O. Wilson, and what it will take to protect and preserve biodiversity on the planet.
What does studying biodiversity look like in the field? It starts with data — collecting lots of data. We hear from four students who participated in the “Paint Rock Forest Dynamics Project” and their efforts to tag every tree over a centimeter in diameter in a forest.
49 min
September 02, 2022Fighting Burnout
The pandemic hasn’t just changed how we live — it’s changed how we work, and how we feel about our jobs. One of the major ripple effects: burnout. Over the past couple years, people in all different jobs — from doctors to teachers, students to hospital workers — have found themselves exhausted and struggling, questioning if it’s them or their workplaces, and if they belong in their jobs at all.
Burnout can lead to serious problems — depression and insomnia, the feeling that your work, or even your life, has no meaning. It can affect job performance too, leading to mistakes that, in some cases, could cost lives. But burnout can also mark a fresh start — a breaking point that leads you onto a new path.
On this episode, we look at what’s fueling widespread burnout, why so many people report feeling pushed to their absolute limits, and what can be done to stop it. We talk with a psychologist about the signs of burnout and how to avoid it, a teacher who was forced to choose between his health and his profession, and a former ER doctor who coaches physicians on how to avoid that sinking feeling.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
We talk with psychologist and burnout expert Brad Johnson about the signs of burnout, how it begins, why it’s more common among women and people of color, and how to deal with it. Johnson is a clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Teachers have always had a high burnout rate — but according to a survey from the National Education Association, that rate has reached crisis proportions. Reporter Jad Sleiman tells the story of how one Philadelphia teacher reached his limit, and was forced to choose between his career and his health. A version of this story was featured on the WHYY podcast series “Schooled.”
We hear from teenagers about what’s stressing them out and how adults sometimes don’t take them seriously. This piece was produced by student reporters at WHYY’s Pathways to Media Careers Youth Employment project.
Rob Orman spent years working as an ER doctor before burnout sent him looking for new opportunities. Now he coaches other physicians on how to avoid the same fate. He tells us about the systemic problems fueling doctors’ high burnout rates, and the compromises that are needed to save America’s stressed-out health care workers.
We talk with Amelia Nogoski about how her PhD program drove her to the edge, and how she walked herself back. Nogoski is an associate professor and music coordinator at Western New England University. Her book is called “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.”
51 min
August 26, 2022From Power Wheelchairs to Prosthetic Hands — the Gear That’s Changing Lives
It was a summer day in 2012 when Bob Richey’s life was changed forever. He was a new college grad, having fun with friends at the beach. Like he’d done so many times before, Richey dove into the surf — but this time, something was off. He broke two vertebrae in his neck and ended up paralyzed from the chest down.
Since then, he’s been using a power wheelchair, which allows him to get around, work as a software engineer, even drive a custom van.
When medical equipment is an absolute necessity — the only way someone can keep going, literally and figuratively — it takes on an outsized role. It must fit right and work right, be accessible and affordable — or the consequences can be grave.
On this episode, we look at the medical gear that’s changing — and even saving — lives. We hear stories about how the ice bucket challenge changed life for people with ALS, the growing role prosthetists are playing in patients’ lives, and the medical device that alerted the bomb squad at the airport.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
Remember the robotic hand that Luke Skywalker gets at the end of “The Empire Strikes Back”? Today, we’re closer than ever to making that kind of prosthesis a reality. We get a glimpse at one such model — The Michelangelo — and what it’s taken for Brian Simms to make it work for him.
50 min
August 19, 2022Parents Know Best — or Do They?
Learning how to be a parent can feel overwhelming, and advice is everywhere. There are the things you’re learning from other parents, the things you’re reading in books, the things you hear from your pediatrician, from influencers, from your great aunt Margaret … and in the meantime, you’re trying to develop your own instincts as a parent.
So who do you listen to? Who’s the real expert? And how much do these decisions ultimately matter to the health and well-being of your kid?
On this episode — navigating parenting advice, and what science can tell us about raising kids. We dig into advice about sleep, food allergies, how much influence parents actually have on their children, and how to raise kids who aren’t a**holes.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
We talk with neurologist and sleep researcher Chris Winter about helpful methods to improve a child’s quality of sleep. Winter also discusses today’s culprits of poor sleep and how they affect the brain. Winter’s books include “The Sleep Solution” and “The Rested Child: Why Your Tired, Wired, or Irritable Child May Have a Sleep Disorder — And How To Help.”
Danya Glabau knows the world of food allergies firsthand — she was diagnosed in college. Her new book, “Food Allergy Advocacy: Parenting and the Politics of Care,” explores this issue from the perspective of parents, who are often forced to become experts fast.
In 1998, the late psychologist Judith Harris published “The Nurture Assumption” — a book that made the controversial argument that peers, not parents, are the most important factor in children’s development. Reporter Jad Sleiman explores how Harris — an outsider in the field — formulated her argument, and how it eventually went from fringe to more mainstream. Steven Pinker discusses his friendship with Harris, and how her arguments influenced his work.
A few years ago, science journalist and mom Melinda Wenner Moyer grew concerned about the bad behavior she was seeing all around her: from bullying and racism to MeToo allegations. How would all of this impact her kids? And how can you raise kids who are kind and empathetic? She started digging into research on how to instill empathy, honesty, and generosity in kids. She explains what she found in her book, “How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes.”
50 min
August 17, 2022 The Pulse Presents: Serum
Serum follows the life and work of Dr. Gary Davis, a Black physician from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was working on a treatment for AIDS in the 1990s. This is episode 3: Red Flags and Green Lights.
Reporter Grant Hill gets in touch with one of the last people to have seen Dr. Davis’ serum in action, a Tulsa photographer named Doug Henderson. The conversation reveals that in 2004, Dr. Davis conducted human trials in Africa — enlisting the help of the photographer and celebrity Bishop Carton Pearson to document and publicize his work. What they witness is both astonishing and shocking: Trials with the doctor’s serum seem to leave participants completely recovered. But soon, things fall apart. Dr. Davis appears panicked and afraid for his life. He disappears. Rumors abound. Back in Oklahoma, the photographer is asked to erase all evidence that any of this ever happened. Then he gets word: The doctor is dead.
Serum, a limited-run podcast, is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
56 min
August 12, 2022 From Polio to COVID — the Evolution of Intensive Care
The modern ICU, or Intensive Care Unit, was born out of a time of crisis. It was 1952, and polio was raging in many places — especially the city of Copenhagen. Patients poured into the hospitals, many of them gasping for air, turning blue, and eventually dying. Then a brilliant doctor tried a radically different approach — pumping air directly into patients' lungs. It was an idea that would require intensive manpower, but save many lives. And it led to the birth of a new kind of medicine: intensive care. Seventy years later, ICUs sit at the cutting edge of modern medicine. They're the destination for the sickest patients — including those who're hovering at death's door — and home to some of medicine's most profound interventions. ICUs can be a place of pain and healing, of comfort and dying, a laboratory for innovation, or a sanctuary for grieving families. On this episode, we take a look at intensive care — its roots, what it's like to work there, and how the coronavirus pandemic has changed it.

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47 min
August 05, 2022Chasing Scientific Holy Grails
Science is all about discovery — tackling the big questions that define our world, and hopefully our future. But some of these questions are as obscure as they are important. The challenges seem endless — with any kind of answer decades or even generations away — but, if answered, these quests could transform life as we know it.
On this episode, we explore some of science’s holy grails — we look into why these questions matter, and how close they are to being answered, and meet the people who are leading the charge.
We hear stories about the search for extraterrestrial life, what fusion power could mean for the fate of our planet, humans’ quest for immortality, and more.
Also heard on this week’s episode:
Technology journalist Peter Ward introduces us to a community of people dedicated to using cutting-edge science to extend their lives — by decades, or maybe even centuries. Ward explains the current state of their quest for immortality, including using cryonics to freeze and preserve the body. His book is “The Price of Immortality: The Race to Live Forever.”
Forget carbon emissions or radioactive waste — hello clean, abundant energy! That is the promise of fusion power, a scientific holy grail that’s hovered outside our grasp for nearly a century. We talk with physicists Martin Greenwald and Clifford Johnson, as well as science journalist Steven Krivit, about how close — or far — fusion power actually is.
49 min

About The Pulse

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Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott. The Pulse takes you behind the doors of operating rooms, into the lab with…