The Pulse

The new year often feels like a good time to make a fresh start, to tackle some issue that’s giving you grief — eating habits, work-life balance, having time for friends or exercise… but as the pandemic rages on, it’s hard to have the energy to keep trudging along, let alone become some better version of yourself.

Which is why more people than ever are turning to therapy. But the process of therapy can still seem a bit opaque. What exactly happens in therapy? How does it work? And which approach is right for which issues? On this episode, we get inside the heads of therapists to find out how they ply their craft, and what it takes to really feel better.

We hear stories about what happened when a city took a bold step toward providing free, virtual mental health services to its residents. Also: what happens when politics and therapy collide; how Freud’s brainchild — psychoanalysis — is still relevant; and what it’s like to grow up as the child of two shrinks.

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It seems like every week, we hear about new breakthroughs in cancer treatment — new discoveries, new medications, new hopes for a cure. The war on cancer has been a slow and steady grind, with incremental progress that’s been built one study, one breakthrough at a time.

Behind each of those small but meaningful victories are years of unseen work — lifetimes spent studying specific cells, protein structures, gene mutations, and more.

On this episode, we take a look at some of the latest breakthroughs in cancer treatment, and the personal stories behind them. We hear about the tradeoffs with new lung cancer screenings, find out how immunotherapy is advancing, and talk with a veteran of cancer research about the big wins and grating frustrations.

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As a materials scientist, Anna Ploszajski was trained to analyze materials on a number of levels — their atomic structure, their chemical properties, their ability to conduct or resist electricity, their magnetism, hardness, ductility, and more.

But Ploszajski quickly realized there was a hole in her knowledge — in terms of what it feels like to work with materials hands-on. She set out to understand things differently, learning by doing. Along the way, she met craftspeople who built their own body of knowledge about everything from glass and steel, to sugar and wool, using only their eyes, their instincts, and their hands. Her new book is called “Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning Through Making.”

On this episode, we follow Ploszajski and others on their journeys to understand everyday materials through the process of creating. We also hear why making things can feel so empowering and soothing, and learn about a movement that wants all of us to learn how to fix our belongings.

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Humans have long tried to mitigate their own destructive impact on the planet through conservation efforts. Often, those efforts are attached to one iconic species or another — the majestic bald eagle, cuddly cute baby seal, or awe-inspiring blue whale. But is this about them, or is it about us? On this episode, we take a closer look at conservation, and dig into the human motivations and emotions behind it.

We hear stories about a near-extinct fish called the delta smelt — and whether it’s actually worth saving; how a weird-looking bird has sparked a battle over land in the American West; and how plucky raccoons carve out their own existence in cities.

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In 2018, Owen Rivers woke up in a hospital bed after a fentanyl overdose — and could no longer form new memories. It was a terrifying experience; he’d ask the same questions over and over — why he was there and what had happened to him — only to forget the answers.

On this episode, we’ll hear Owen’s story and explore what scientists are finding out about the connection between overdoses and amnesia — along with what all of this means for other people suffering from memory loss. Science journalist Lauren Aguirre captured this scientific puzzle in her book “The Memory Thief: And the Secrets Behind How We Remember — A Medical Mystery” and she joins us to discuss what she’s learned.

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Living on a planet that’s been inhabited by humans for hundreds of thousands of years means pretty much every piece of ground that you walk on holds some history. Somebody was born right here, somebody died, somebody got married, gave a speech, or ran a store. Maybe a famous battle was fought on this spot. Maybe the piece of grass you call your lawn was once sacred ground.

Over time, left alone, the structures and belongings of those who came before us return to the ground, becoming layers of dust and dirt. In some places, we choose to preserve that history, and the land that holds it — in others, the physical past is razed to the ground, and exists only in human memories.

Either way, being in those places can be a powerful experience — an anchor for our memories, and how we remember what happened.

On today’s episode we look at the connection between place and memory and why they’re so deeply linked. We hear stories about a mountain in West Virginia that was the site of a bloody battle between coal miners and mine owners — and the ongoing fight over how that history should be remembered. We take a tour of an area that used to be known as Black Bottom, a largely African-American neighborhood in Philadelphia that was razed in the name of development. And we talk to scientists about how memories exist in our brains, and why they’re so deeply tied to place.

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The human brain has an incredible capacity for processing information, from sensory data, to casual conversations, to everything we hear and read — in fractions of seconds. Not only that, our brains make sense of it all, allowing us to learn, work, form relationships, and navigate the world. On this episode, we take a closer look at how this all works — and why it sometimes doesn't. We hear stories about listening instead of reading — and test the limits of speed listening; we'll find out why reading comprehension tests in schools may be misguided; and why some people who think they're hard of hearing might actually have a different issue going on.

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Thanksgiving is near, which means many families will come together with loved ones over a shared meal that celebrates abundance. But along with their appetites, guests bring their food preferences. As omnivores, vegetarians, vegans, or those interested in eating sustainably grown food gather, a meal can turn into a battleground for arguments that go way beyond what’s on the plate.

On this episode, we explore our desire to make food choices that benefit our health — and perhaps the health of the planet — and why we get so passionate about these choices. Are we taking the old saying “We are what we eat” too seriously — using our food choices as an anchor for identity? Gastroenterologist and winner of the BBC’s MasterChef competition Saliha Mahmood Ahmed describes mouth-watering ways to combine delicious flavors that promote good gut health, and why she thinks it’s perfectly fine to occasionally eat a jam-filled doughnut. Food writer Alicia Kennedy talks about her choice to become first vegan and then vegetarian, and why her family still seems to think it’s a phase.

And we visit a farm that was created with hard work, enthusiasm, and idealism: small and sustainable, with a mission to make humanely raised animal products available to many people … but a closer look reveals that things may not be idyllic as promised.

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For thousands of years, humans have obsessed over Mars from afar. At first, maybe it was the fact that Mars stands out in the night sky because of its reddish color. But as we learned more about Mars and the conditions there, it was the possibility of life on this distant planet that captured our collective imagination. At its closest, Mars is nearly 40 million miles away from Earth — and we’ve tried for centuries to bridge that distance, using everything from telescopes to flybys and probes. Mars has inspired wild fantasies about distant civilizations and little green men. It’s put a spell on many observers, who hope to unlock its mysteries. On this special episode of The Pulse, we explore what we are learning about Mars, and when we can expect to actually see humans set foot on the red planet.

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There are 19 million veterans in the U.S. who have served in the armed forces. For many, the military gave them a sense of shared purpose, a strong connection to their comrades. But that community often disappears when they get out of the service, leaving many feeling alone, or misunderstood. On top of that, many veterans suffer with lingering health challenges, both visible and invisible. On this episode, we talk to veterans about what they experienced, and what they want other people to know. We hear stories about one woman’s struggle to get help for her PTSD, how Shakespeare is helping veterans transition back to civilian life, and some of the health effects that come with combat.

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