Mini-Series: The Politics of Medical Expertise
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EP84: Big Psychedelic (ft. Erika Dyke and David Nickles)
Psychedelics have gone from the counterculture, to the mainstream. However, can you turn take such an ineffable thing -- personal revelation, cosmic oneness, spiritual enlightenment, whatever people have called it -- and make it just another commodity? We look at the deep rifts in and around psychedelic medicine, as different camps vie for the future of these drugs.Listen now -
EP82: The Texas Two-Step and Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder
What's safer than baby powder? Parents have been using it for over 100 years to powder their baby's bottoms, and they've found one brand especially trustworthy: Johnson & Johnson. Yet, numerous studies have revealed the presence of trace amounts of asbestos in this talc-based powder.Listen now -
EP80: Dr. Ex Machina (ft. Casey Ross & Ben Chin-Yee)
Could an artificial intelligence diagnosis what ails you? Medical futurists offer a techno-utopian vision of perfect personalized risk assessments, diagnoses, and treatment recommendations. Yet, recent stories belie this optimism.Listen now -
EP78: Misinformed: The Lab Leak & the Politics of Misinformation (ft. Branko Marcetic & Nicole M. Krause)
The COVID-19 lab leak theory went from being dismissed as mere misinformation, to now a credible matter of debate. What's changed, and what does this teach us about science journalism and science communication?Listen now -
EP76: Do You Want to Live Forever?
The story of the Fountain of Youth is as old as history itself. Herodatus, the father of ancient Greek history, wrote of a mythical spring that extended the life of its bathers. Today, entrepreneurs, scientists, and health influencers are still searching for that mythical spring.Listen now