This Podcast Will Kill You

We really don’t give fungi the credit they deserve. Over the years of this podcast, we’ve covered only a handful of fungal pathogens, and pathogenic fungi themselves represent a teeny tiny proportion of the incredible diversity of fungal life on this planet. But with this book club episode, we’re attempting to correct this oversight, at least a little bit. Toxicologist and science writer Dr. Emily Monosson joins us to discuss her book Blight: Fungi and the Coming Pandemic. We chat about how fungal epidemics have shaped entire ecosystems, altered economies, and invaded hospitals. Despite the devastating impact pathogenic fungi have made, we still underappreciate their potential to cause harm in the future, as our climate changes, as our land use changes, and as globalization continues. In Blight, Monosson delivers an important reminder that we should use what we have learned about these historical outbreaks to limit the harm fungi may cause in the future. Tune in today to gain a new appreciation for this incredible group of organisms.

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That same little bottle of retinol serum sitting on your bathroom counter - how does it work? Does it actually work? Those are the questions we’re taking on in part two of our retinoids two-parter. The answers, as you might expect, are complicated. Because as it turns out, “retinoid” is a catch-all term for a bunch of different types of compounds, all of which work in slightly different ways. And on top of that, the testing required to demonstrate efficacy isn’t exactly held to the highest of standards. But we do the best with what we have to get to the bottom of this retinoid puzzle. Tune in to learn everything you ever wanted to know about retinoids.

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That little bottle of retinol serum sitting on your bathroom counter - what do you know about its history? This week, we’re digging deep into the man behind the medicine, renowned dermatologist Dr. Albert Kligman, and the unethical research he conducted at Holmesburg Prison in the mid-20th century. Kligman’s research program at Holmesburg spanned decades, involved dozens of experiments (including tretinoin) and thousands of individuals, received ample funding from public universities and many pharmaceutical companies, and was generally praised until it all came crashing down in the early 1970s. But, as we’ll discover, the unethical behavior persisted even after the program’s closure as Kligman fought to get tretinoin to market. The murky history of retinoids might be a bit too long to include on the label, but this episode forces us to consider the human cost of a household product and the importance of acknowledging that history.

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When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted in 1999 that they had discriminated against women on its faculty, it sent shockwaves throughout institutions of higher learning across the country. In this TPWKY book club episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Zernike joins us to discuss her book The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science, which details the sequence of events that led sixteen scientists to demand the equality that had been denied to them for so long. Zernike, who was one of the reporters to break the story in 1999, centers this story on molecular biologist Dr. Nancy Hopkins, who, armed with a tape measure, brought this history of marginalization to light. Simultaneously personal and panoramic, The Exceptions carefully illustrates the sexism entrenched in higher education and academia and sends an important message: this problem is far from solved. Tune in for a fascinating discussion about an infuriating topic.

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Stiff person syndrome, like many rare diseases, does not get nearly the same amount of screen time or name recognition that other, more common diseases do. For many people, Celine Dion’s announcement of her diagnosis with the condition in 2022 marked the first time they had heard of it. This limited awareness surrounding stiff person syndrome marks just one of the many challenges keeping this disease and other rare disorders in the dark. In this episode, we attempt to shed some light on stiff person syndrome, exploring the complex biology, frustrating history, and hopeful future of this disease. Because while the field of stiff person syndrome research faces many hurdles, there are also so many individuals - researchers, patients, advocates - and organizations that fight to bring this and other rare disorders into the light. Tune in today!

Links:

National Organization for Rare Diseases

Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center

Johns Hopkins Stiff Person Syndrome Center

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Five years ago, we asked you all to ask us anything, and you delivered. We answered dozens of listener questions, like how we first met, our favorite quarantinis, where we were in our career journeys, and so many more. But in the years since that first “ask us anything”, a lot has changed for both of us! So we’re coming back to you with the answers to more of your probing questions, like “what disease names would make good person names?”, “where are you in the world these days?”, “if you could have only one sandwich for the rest of your life, what would it be?” and a million more, ranging from serious to silly and everywhere in between. Tune in for a non-stop, self-indulgent Ask the Erins!

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How is it that we can’t remember where we put our keys or the name of the person we just met, but we can recall in excruciating detail the embarrassing interaction we had at the grocery store ten years ago? Sometimes it seems like our memory works against us more than it does for us. But, as it turns out, this aspect of our memory is more a feature than a bug, and the key to understanding the difference may lie in our evolutionary history. Dr. Charan Ranganath, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California at Davis, joins us today to discuss his book Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters. Dr. Ranganath deftly guides readers through not only the “how” of memory formation but also the “why”, helping us to understand why we remember certain things and forget others. Tune in for a fascinating discussion ranging from the importance of context (like smell) in memory to the different types of memory, from decision-making to memory competitions, and so much more!

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One day, you’re enjoying a beautiful hike through the tall grass. A few months later, you find yourself in anaphylaxis from a post-hike hamburger. The culprit: a tick bite. In this much-requested episode, we take on alpha-gal syndrome, the red meat allergy triggered by the bite of a tick. Sometimes science is stranger than fiction. How exactly does an encounter with a tiny arachnid cause your throat to swell up and your skin break out into hives hours after eating red meat? Is it all red meat? Is it all ticks? How on earth did anyone even make this connection in the first place? Those are just a few of the questions we answer in this action-packed episode that has us venturing into surprising topics, like primate evolution, ancient epidemics, and cancer treatments. Tune in for all this and more.

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For life on this planet, iron is not optional. It is essential. When our iron levels are low, we can get sick, and when they get really really low, we can even die. But you know what they say, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. In the case of iron, the genetic condition hemochromatosis is often to blame for iron overload, but why is too much iron a bad thing? In this episode, we explore that question and many others, starting with why iron is a biological non-negotiable and how a lack of iron regulation in hemochromatosis can lead to severe tissue damage. Then we’re going Deep Time™ to suss out the origins of our dependence on iron, a journey that eventually leads us to the Neolithic Revolution and the 20th century realization that a certain ancient medical practice is not as obsolete as previously thought. Tune in to catch us ironing out the details of this incredibly common genetic disorder.

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Phosphorus is an element that wears many faces. Its overuse as a fertilizer has polluted freshwater ecosystems, transforming rivers and lakes from thriving communities to lethal zones devoid of life. Its role as an explosive has brought fiery death and suffering to many during times of war. And its dwindling global supply poses an existential threat to humanity. Because phosphorus is not just a destructive force - it is essential for all of life on this planet. In The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance, author Dan Egan explores the multi-faceted nature of phosphorus and the surprising ways this element has shaped our world. Egan, Journalist in Residence at the Center for Water Policy in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences, transports readers from the guano-covered islands off the coast of Peru to the fertile fields of the American Midwest, from the 17th century laboratories reeking of boiled urine to our tenuous future as the demand for this element outpaces its supply. Tune in to learn about this powerful yet underappreciated element.

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