Technology writer Brian Merchant joins us to talk about the surprising and shadowy world of crowd-sourced contract killers.
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Finding E.T. Won’t Be Cheap
Science journalist Adam Mann joins us to talk about the renewed push and excitement to fund the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, despite skepticism and pushback.
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Battlefield Medicine Needs To Change Right Now
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Wood joins us to talk about current experiments and crucial advances taking place in battlefield medicine that could push the chances of survival well beyond a one-hour window.
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A More Nuanced Approach To Pain Management
Science writer Yudhijit Bhattacharjee joins us to talk about how researchers are developing a more nuanced understanding of pain and how that’s informing treatment.
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How Our Brains Keep Us Safe
Scott Grafton, chair of the neuroscience department at the University of California – Santa Barbara, joins us to discuss the science of how we move without thinking.
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The Epidemics That Changed The World
Frank M. Snowden, the Andrew Downey Orrick Professor Emeritus of History and History of Medicine at Yale University, joins us to talk about how infectious outbreaks — both terrifying and romanticized — have shaped our world.
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It’s Gonna Be OK: You Can Survive Grief
George A. Bonanno, chair of the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Columbia University’s Teachers College, joins us to talk about research that shows a complex pattern of grieving and new insights into resilience
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We Can See The Future – So Why Do We Fail To Plan?
Bina Venkataraman joins us to talk about why we’re so bad at developing foresight – and what we can do about it.
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We Need To Update Our Definition Of ‘War’
Tanisha M. Fazal, associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, joins us to talk about how a belief that modern war is tapering off is a dangerous falsehood.
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Grieving Before Someone’s Gone
Pauline Boss, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, joins us to talk about her work that has helped articulate the lonely and confusing feelings of loss even as someone lives.
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Let Them Eat Dirt!
New York Times reporter Matt Richtel joins us to talk about our complicated immune system, which is capable of both healing the body and turning on it. His new book is called “An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System.”
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Can Stem Cells Really Cure Everything?
Health and science journalist Laura Beil joins us to talk about the stem cell industry skirting the line between innovation and danger.
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