Science in the News SITN Boston

Episode 28: We’re back with a new episode of Sit’N Listen, this time with guests Dr. Carl Bergstrom and Dr. Jevin West to discuss their book "Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World."

Introduction (00:00)
About the authors (00:50)
What is bullshit? (09:01)
Goodhard’s Law (13:39)
Graph reading pitfalls (20:46)
Correlation and causation (24:39)
Assessing scientific claims (34:23)
Combating public misinformation (39:50)
Conclusion (46:25)

For More Information:

Book: https://www.callingbullshit.org/
Course Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2OtU5vlR0k&list=PLPnZfvKID1Sje5jWxt-4CSZD7bUI4gSPS
Carl Bergstrom: http://ctbergstrom.com/
Jevin West: https://jevinwest.org/
Tyler Vigen’s website on unrelated correlated variables: https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations.
Article in The Atlantic about the marshmallow test and confounding variables: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/marshmallow-test/561779/

This episode was written and produced by Edward Chen, Sanjana Kulkarni, Shantam Ravan, and Samantha Tracy. Special thanks to Justin Skycak for help with Zoom audio processing.

Feel free to send us any comments, questions, or topic suggestions at sitnpodcast@gmail.com.

Episode 27: We’re back with a new episode of Sit’N Listen, this time with the second part of our two part series on Earth & Space.

This episode was written by: Samantha Tracy, Priya Veeraraghavan, and Edward Chen

A special thanks to the Sit’N Listen production team: Delphine Tripp, Chad Stein, Daniel Richard, Samantha Tracy, Priya Veeraraghavan, and Edward Chen

Feel free to send us any comments, questions, or topic suggestions at sitnpodcast@gmail.com.

In the first episode on our Earth and Space Series, we heard a little bit about how research on Earth’s oceans has had major implications for the search for life in the cosmos. Here, we’ve published an extended interview with a pioneer in this area of exploration: Dr. Christopher German. Dr. German is a Senior Scientist who focuses on geochemistry at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In this extended interview, you can hear more about Ocean Worlds, the search for life in our solar system, the technology that makes this possible, and how Dr. German was able to bring together the fields of oceanography and astrobiology.

You can learn more about Dr. German and his work at https://www.whoi.edu/profile/cgerman/ and NASA’s Ocean Worlds project at https://oceanworlds.whoi.edu/

This interview was recorded on April 14, 2021.
This episode was produced by Chad Stein.

Episode 26: We’re back with a new episode of Sit’N Listen, this time with the first part of our two part series on Earth & Space.
In this episode we will discuss:
How learning about our own oceans can teach us about life in space
The benefits of space-age technology, a little closer to home.
Space as a final frontier or future landfill

This episode was written by: Daniel Richard, Chad Stein, Delphine Tripp

A special thanks to the Sit’N Listen production team: Delphine Tripp, Chad Stein, Daniel Richard, Samantha Tracy, Priya Veeraraghavan, and Edward Chen

Feel free to send us any comments, questions, or topic suggestions at sitnpodcast@gmail.com.

Show notes:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D1gBfXkg7hZ7vPxkDWLw9PD1RZ1TKb-wRODJSh9jmJ4/edit?usp=sharing

Pint-Sized Science, Season 2 Episode 5
Title:
How Our Bodies Respond to Viruses and What Sets SARS-CoV-2 Apart

Interviewee: Dr. Sara Cherry, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Interviewer: Hope Merens, PhD Student in Molecular Biology, Harvard University

Over the past year, COVID-19 has affected every aspect of our society. The cause of the pandemic, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is one of many existing RNA viruses. But not every virus causes a pandemic. What makes SARS-CoV-2 so infectious? How does our body react to a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how does this compare to other infections? And finally, what novel antiviral therapies are scientists working on to protect us from SARS-CoV-2 and future viruses? Join us this week on the Pint-Sized Science podcast as we discuss these questions with Dr. Sara Cherry, a leading professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Pint-Sized Science: Season 2, Episode 4
A Gynecologist and a Clinical Psychologist Walk Into an Interview: A Conversation about Painful Sex, Vulvodynia, and Inclusive Sexual Health
Interviewees: Dr. Caroline Pukall, Professor of Psychology at Queen's University at Kingston, and Dr. Andrew Goldstein, Director of the Centers for Vulvovaginal Disorders
Interviewer: Theodora Mautz, AB '19, Clinical Research Coordinator at the Centers for Vulvovaginal Disorders

**This episode features mature content and viewer discretion is advised.**

Why does sex hurt? In this episode, we interview two experts on chronic vulvar pain and explore the "biopsychosocial" aspects of conditions that fall under the umbrella category of vulvodynia (pain in the vulva). Join us as we talk about pain in the vulva, how these experts make research on sexual health inclusive both in terms of identity and preference, and in terms of global reach.

Note: occasionally, she/her pronouns and "woman/women" are used in this episode to describe people who have vulvodynia. However, we would like to emphasize that anyone with a vulva can suffer from vulvodynia, and both Dr. Pukall and Dr. Goldstein treat and seek to help people of all gender identities.

For more information on vulvodynia conditions and the research that Dr. Pukall and Dr. Goldstein conduct, please visit http://vulvodynia.com/conditions and https://www.sexlab.ca/