Michigan Minds

University of Michigan
  • 4.4 (8)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

Michigan Minds brings to life the wide-ranging faculty expertise at the University of Michigan. This series features quick yet informative analysis that provides unique perspectives on today’s top issues. U-M faculty are among the world’s leading researchers and teachers across all disciplines. Michigan Minds taps that thought leadership and shares this expertise with the world. It is produced by Michigan News, a division of the Office of the Vice President for Communications. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Ashley Gearhardt: Fake flavors, real cravings create an addiction to processed foods

    22H AGO

    Ashley Gearhardt: Fake flavors, real cravings create an addiction to processed foods

    Many people love to eat ultra-processed foods. Think about those crispy French fries, or the delicious strawberry milkshake. Ultra-processed foods are heavily changed from their original form and made mostly in factories rather than kitchens. Instead of simple ingredients you might recognize—like flour, eggs, or milk—these foods often contain long lists of additives, preservatives, artificial flavors, and chemicals designed to improve taste, texture, and shelf life. Ashley Gearhardt, a University of Michigan psychology professor, studies how addictive processes may drive overeating. She joins the Michigan Minds podcast to share her insights on the impact of these foods on a global level and what drives over-consumption.                                                      "Many of those products are delivering these unnaturally intense and concentrated combos of rapidly absorbable carbohydrates and added fats," she explained. "That combination just does not exist in nature, and our brain never evolved to handle that amount of intense reward stimulation in a food." But it doesn’t stop there. Gearhardt explains that the food industry uses special ingredients and descriptions to “wake up” your brain and make food taste more exciting. Scientists can create strong flavors—like something that tastes like a strawberry—even if there’s no real strawberry in it. For example, the Froot Loops cereal tastes fruity, even though they don’t actually contain fruit. Many of these foods send signals to your brain that remind you of natural foods your body is wired to enjoy, but they’re actually made in factories using chemicals, she said. When these intense flavors are combined with things like refined carbs and fats, they stimulate your brain even more. This can make you start craving those specific tastes. You might find yourself wanting the flavor of Coca-Cola, the spicy “burn” of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, or the sweetness of a strawberry milkshake. "Because of this, people often keep going back to those foods and craving them again and again," she said. Michigan Minds is produced by Greta Guest and hosted by Michigan News staff. Jeremy Marble is the audio engineer, and Hans Anderson provides social media animations. Listen to all episodes of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    21 min
  2. When nurses cannot afford to advance

    MAR 26

    When nurses cannot afford to advance

    Christopher Friese, a University of Michigan professor of nursing and of health management and policy, is a national authority on health care quality, nursing work environments and workforce policy. Friese joins the Michigan Minds podcast to explain how proposed federal caps on graduate student loans could shape nurses’ education and career decisions, what high student debt is revealing about the nursing workforce, and why these policies may have ripple effects for patient care and the future supply of nurse practitioners, midwives, anesthetists and nursing faculty. What makes loan caps on borrowing for graduate nursing degrees different? We are worried about caps on loans for graduate nurses for a couple of reasons. Our study, the Michigan Nurses Study, identified that about a third of registered nurses have substantial levels of debt to begin with. If you already are carrying a lot of debt, imagine trying to advance your career in nursing—that usually means you have to go back for a graduate degree—and then you’re facing an even higher bill.   What we are worried about is that these proposed caps will deter people from even thinking about graduate school. They will just decide, 'I'm not going to pursue graduate school.' And that is bad for the country, because advanced practice nurses and the future faculty that train nursing students do a tremendous amount for our health care system. If we cut off this supply route for graduate nurses, we are worried about health care outcomes and the future of nursing education. Michigan Minds is produced by Greta Guest and hosted by Michigan News staff. Jeremy Marble is the audio engineer and Hans Anderson provides social media animations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    23 min
  3. The elder care gap -- family duty vs. reality

    MAR 13

    The elder care gap -- family duty vs. reality

    It begins with a single, panicked phone call about a fallen parent or a flickering memory, but it is quickly becoming the defining white noise of a nation. As the American population ages and family structures splinter, a quiet domestic struggle has escalated into a pressing national inquiry: Who is actually responsible for our elders? New insights from the University of Michigan suggest that while the American heart remains committed to the ideal of family-led care, the American household is running out of resources to provide it.  Sarah Patterson, a sociologist and demographer at the Institute for Social Research, joined the Michigan Minds podcast to talk about a high-stakes collision between universal moral values and a "math problem" that no longer adds up. Q: Is the traditional family safety net fraying under the weight of several modern demographic shifts.  So I would say that our expectations for family is pretty universal. This is a widely held belief among many people, many nations, that families should help older adults with their care. But as you said, it's becoming sort of a math problem because older adults' families are changing. So we have higher rates of what's known as gray divorce or getting divorced later in life. Family estrangement has become a big topic. For instance, Oprah has been talking about it, so it's a big topic in the public. And there's these sort of family changes that are happening for older adults that call into question what our expectations might be in this changing sort of demographic environment. My research is concerned with how we think about these expectations for families when families are changing… There is a question about whether these sorts of values will persist into the future as there's more pressure on smaller families to take care of older adults in the U.S. Michigan Minds is produced by Greta Guest and hosted by Michigan News staff. Jeremy Marble is the audio engineer and Hans Anderson provides social media animations. Listen to all episodes of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 min
  4. Why cooling inflation isn't saving your bank account

    FEB 25

    Why cooling inflation isn't saving your bank account

    Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers and research associate professor at the Institute for Social Research, specializes in the fields of household finance, consumer sentiment and the impact of economic expectations on the national economy.  Hsu joins the Michigan Minds podcast to discuss her findings on current consumer sentiment, offering insight into persistent high prices and how the labor market is shaping the way Americans manage their budgets today. How do you see consumers responding to these additional budget constraints? The number one factor on consumers' minds is the persistence of high prices and tariffs are a major factor in that. Inflation, however, has come down, so Inflation being the rate of change of prices as opposed to just the price level itself, so inflation has slowed down quite a bit since 2022. But that doesn't mean prices have come down; prices have remained high and that's something that consumers continue to be very frustrated about. The thing is, we all want prices to come down, but historically speaking, it's really hard for prices to come down without something catastrophic happening in the economy, like a major recession. And a major recession will surely affect everyone in a very negative way. I think sometimes it can be hard for people who watch the macroeconomy, including policymakers, to square the fact that inflation has come down, but people are still so unhappy about how prices are eroding away at their living standards. Michigan Minds is produced by Greta Guest and hosted by Juan Ochoa. Jeremy Marble is the audio engineer and Hans Anderson provides social media animations. Listen to all episodes of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    17 min
  5. Toxic foods, food as medicine, epigenetics makes sense of nutritional triggers on health

    FEB 17

    Toxic foods, food as medicine, epigenetics makes sense of nutritional triggers on health

    ANN ARBOR —News, advice and research about what we eat - and drink - and how it influences our health is inescapable. What we hear less about is exactly what's taking place inside the body when nutrition is considered bad or toxic, say ultraprocessed foods like our favorite packaged cookies, chips or frozen pizza, or good and healthy, those whole, methyl-donor-rich leafy veggies, beefs and eggs. If you want a deeper understanding, ask Dana Dolinoy. The answers are in epigenetics, her specialty. As a nutritional and environmental scientist and professor at the School of Public Health, she studies the changes that take place in response to nutrients. Her work digs deep down to the genes and DNA, at the epigenome, where the controls that turn genes on and off are located. Dolinoy is also director of the NIH-supported Michigan Life Stage Environmental Exposures and Disease Center and Michigan Medicine's Epigenomics Core, teams that advance research and understanding of the environmental causes of chronic diseases and conditions. She is also on the team that launched MI-CARES, the Michigan Cancer and Research on the Environment Study, which is recruiting 100,000 Michigan residents to find causes of and solutions to disease. More on the study. As Dolinoy discusses in this episode of Michigan Minds, epigenetics, "is actually a relatively new science. The term was first coined in the 1950s as a way to talk about the intersections of our genes in the environment." Michigan Minds is produced by Greta Guest and hosted by Michigan News staff. Jeremy Marble is the audio engineer and Hans Anderson provides social media animations. Listen to all episodes of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    19 min
  6. How to make your holidays less wasteful and more joyful

    12/15/2025

    How to make your holidays less wasteful and more joyful

    Shelie Miller, a professor in the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability and co-director of the Center for Sustainable Systems, spends a lot of her time in the weeds detailing the environmental impacts of our everyday choices. But people wanting to live more sustainably can make the most meaningful gains by focusing on three big-picture categories, she says: food, transportation and energy usage. That's no different during the holiday season—except for that it's a time with a unique emphasis on feasts, travel and spending time with friends and family in cozy quarters. Miller joins the Michigan Minds podcast to talk about taking on these big themes during the holidays without giving up our traditions or stressing over "green herrings" that aren't as sustainable as you might think. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    23 min
  7. Immigration raids lead to uptick in absenteeism and lower grades

    11/09/2025

    Immigration raids lead to uptick in absenteeism and lower grades

    William Lopez joins the Michigan Minds podcast to discuss his findings on the effects of immigration raids, offering insight into how intensified enforcement efforts shape the well-being and resilience of students and their communities. Michigan Minds is produced by Greta Guest and hosted by Michigan News staff. Jeremy Marble is the audio engineer and Hans Anderson provides social media animations. Listen to all episodes of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    20 min
  8. Semiconductor manufacturing on the rise in the United States

    10/09/2025

    Semiconductor manufacturing on the rise in the United States

    Valeria Bertacco, the Mary Lou Dorf Collegiate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, joins the Michigan Minds podcast to talk about semiconductors – how ubiquitous they are in our lives, why manufacturing moved overseas, and what it will take to produce them in the U.S. Bertacco's research explores hardware solutions for next generation computing and security. She is also the vice provost for engaged learning at the University of Michigan, supporting international partnerships and initiatives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    19 min
See All (303)

Trailer

4.4
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Michigan Minds brings to life the wide-ranging faculty expertise at the University of Michigan. This series features quick yet informative analysis that provides unique perspectives on today’s top issues. U-M faculty are among the world’s leading researchers and teachers across all disciplines. Michigan Minds taps that thought leadership and shares this expertise with the world. It is produced by Michigan News, a division of the Office of the Vice President for Communications. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    University of Michigan
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    303
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © University of Michigan
  • Show Website
    Michigan Minds

You Might Also Like