Episodes
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Balls in the Air
The FIFA World Cup kicks off today in North America, as qualifying teams compete for the sport's most coveted prize: The World Cup trophy. Not to be over looked, the commemorative ball is more than eye-catching visual design. Their surfaces can comprise different numbers of panels, new textural...
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Balls in the Air with John Eric Goff (Video Interview)
The FIFA World Cup kicks off today in North America, as qualifying teams compete for the sport's most coveted prize: The World Cup trophy. Not to be overlooked, the commemorative ball is more than eye-catching visual design. Its surfaces can comprise different numbers of panels, new textural...
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Certain and Wrong: Why False Facts Feel True | Wired For This
Today, we’re joined by Dr. Cecilie S. Traberg. The transcript for this episode will be available the day following the original airdate. Links/Sources mentioned: Dr. Traberg’s website: https://www.cecilietraberg.com/ Solomon’s Secret, a digital murder mystery game designed to explore the…
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Cognitive Confidence | Wired For This
Today, we’ll hear from Dr. Dan Willingham, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. He’s taught there since 1992, and until about 2000, studied the neural basis of learning and memory. But today, all of his research concerns the application of cognitive psychology to K-16…
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The “For You” Algorithm | Wired for This
In this episode, we're talking about how we consume, process, and share information—and how all of this is changing as our relationships with technology evolve. Jason Lodge is the Director of the Learning, Instruction, and Technology Lab and Professor of Educational Psychology in the School of...
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The Urge to Blame | Wired for This
Emma Levine and Shereen Chaudhry join this episode of Wired for This. Transcript Links/Sources mentioned: HOPE LAB, led by Dr. Levine and Dr. Chaudhry with Dr. Erika Kirgios and Dr. Jane Risen Some relevant HOPE LAB research from Dr. Shereen Chaudhry: Chaudhry, S.J. & Loewenstein, G. (2019)...
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Plasticity in Practice | Wired for This
What does it take to change a mind? In episode two of Wired for This, we’ll hear from Dr. Katy Milkman, James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and host of the behavioral economics podcast Choiceology. She cofounded the Behavior Change for Good Initiative...
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The Science of Yet | Wired for This
Welcome to Wired for This—a deep dive into how we think, believe, change, and connect. In this limited series, we’ll explore the psychology of human behavior and neuroscience—what drives us forward, what holds us back, and how we navigate a world bursting with noise, contradiction, and…
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Coming Sept. 10th, The American Scientist Podcast presents: "Wired for This"
The American Scientist Podcast presents a new audio series, Wired for This, premiering on September 10, 2025. Wired for This offers an in-depth look at how we think, believe, change, and connect. In this bi-weekly limited series, we’ll examine the psychology of human behavior and…
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First Principles and Beyond
Chris Pickard is a materials scientist who employs what are called first principles methods—modeling techniques that work out material properties using fundamental rules such as quantum mechanics and Newton’s laws. Trained as a condensed matter physicist, he refocused on materials science just as...
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Global Discourse on Science Communication
An interview with the president and founder of African Gong, Elizabeth Rasekoala. Her current book "Race and Sociocultaral Inclusion in Science Communication" brings together perspectives from science communicators from the global south. Host, Katie L. Burke, Digital Features Editor at American...
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Changing Policies on COVID-19 Transmission
An interview with Virginia Tech environmental engineer, Linsey Marr. Her expertise in aerosols came to center stage as she and her colleagues worked for years to change policies based on faulty ideas about the transmission of the coronavirus. Host, Katie L. Burke, Digital Features Editor at...
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Why We Podcast: Sharing Your Voice in Science
We'll hear from science communication leaders and podcasters on why podcasting is an important platform for Science. Interviews from Samir Honwad—professor at the University of Buffalo, Wendy Zuckerman—host of Science VS and 2022 Sigma Xi IFORE award winner, and Aaron Scott and Emily Kwong from…
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How to Start a Fusion Fire
Andrea "Annie" Kritcher discusses her and her team's achieved ignition, raising new hopes for fusion as a practical energy source. Host Corey S. Powell and American Scientist Magazine.
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The Early Human Social Network
Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias is melding enviromental data and how these early populations interacted. Host Corey S. Powell and American Scientist Magazine.
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Physicians Need Caregiving Support Policies
The collision of the Great Resignation and long-standing gender inequities in medicine is heightening calls for improved family leave policies at American health care institutions. Host Jordan Anderson and American Scientist editor Katie L. Burke discuss caregiving support policies, bringing in...
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Synthesizing Engineering and Biology
On using synthetic biology to create next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics -- an interview with James J. Collins of Harvard and MIT, one of founders of the field.
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Science Curious Through Science Fiction
How science fiction promotes science curiosity and why that matters. Hear from science communication practitioners and scholars Reyhaneh Maktoufi, Thomas DeFrantz, and Stephanie Castillo.
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Pulling Back the Cosmic Veil
The first images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are already transforming our view of the universe. Hear from John Mather, Nobel Laureate and senior project scientist for JWST at NASA.
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The Genes Behind Ecosystems
There are many ways organisms adapt to their environments, which can be seen both with the eye and in an organism's genetic sequence.
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The Brain Cartographer
Researchers are working to understand the cellular composition and diversity of the brain, creating a catalog of cell types as well as seeking to plot the relationships, structures, and functions of those cell types.
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3D Printing Medical Devices
Arrays of microneedles that could replace injections have been the subject of research for some 50 years, but have not yet been commercially successful. A new type of high-resolution 3D printing could change that.
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Beyond the Honeybee
As entomologist Suzanne W.T. Batra has long argued, there are far better pollinator bees than they honeybee. Hear an interview with the researcher whose colleagues at the USDA named a research conference "Batrafest" to honor her.
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Open Flow
Liquid-filled scaffolds that are not enclosed, but don’t leak? A team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory came with a 3D-printed unit with an internal structure that water clings to and flows into... even though it has holes.
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Platforms, Echo Chambers, and Misinformation
Rewards and pitfalls to communicating science on social media: a discussion with Michael Xenos at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, BlackInNeuro and SciComm Collective's Danielle Nadin, and Samantha Yammine, also known on the internet as Science Sam.
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Entanglement and Choice
Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi discusses his memoir, A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Streets to the Stars.
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Fixing Broken Biological Clocks
Structural problems in STEM workplaces, and the importance of inclusivity in institutions -- a conversation with Shirley Malcom.
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A Sea Change in STEM
Structural problems in STEM workplaces, and the importance of inclusivity in institutions -- a conversation with Shirley Malcom.
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Guardrails for Biotech
Lessons from past biotechnology controversies and the potentials and concerns that lie ahead -- a conversation with Insoo Hyun.
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(Re)building trust in public health campaigns
Approaches to engage marginalized communities -- a conversation with Stephaun Elite Wallace.
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Data Communication
Exploring all things data visualization.
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Art and Environmental Education
Using art as a tool for environmental education.
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Science and Hip Hop: Using Music to Communicate Science
How science communicators are using music to make science more reflexive, equitable, and engaging to audiences.
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The Crazy Anatomy of Horned Dinosaurs
This remarkably diverse group of dinosaurs went far beyond Triceratops.
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A More Universal Language
Seeking to better describe the world, researchers are attempting to blend the languages of science and art.
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Developing New Vaccines
An interview with virologist Peter Jay Hotez on the anti-vaccine movement and other challenges to vaccine development, including poverty, war and conflict, urbanization, and climate change.
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Synesthesia’s Altered Senses
An interview with Anina Rich, who heads the Perception in Action Research Centre at Macquarie University and the Synaesthesia at Macquarie research group. She investigates synesthesia to learn about how the brain integrates information.
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The Human Need for Visible Data
An interview with Manuel Lima, Senior UX Design Leader for Google, avid historian, and author of books exploring how certain visual themes, such as circles, go back to the beginnings of human understanding.
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Channeling Lasers
New computing applications are ahead for soft materials that can guide light.
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Climate Modeler
An interview with atmospheric scientist Ben Santer, who helped to author the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's famous conclusion in 1995 of the “discernible human influence on global climate” and who has continued his research through to the present day at Lawrence Livermore National...
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Family-Friendly Science Communication
All-ages programming is a challenge, but Tinkercast's "WOW in the World" is popular among both parents and children.
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Detecting Gerrymandering
Detecting gerrymandering is an active research field, particularly given new voting methods such as ranked-choice voting, but ending the practice takes more than mathematical know-how.
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The Hardest Tissue
New imaging reveals the hidden structure that makes enamel in human teeth so tough, inspiring researchers to use the knowledge to create tougher synthetic materials.
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Using Pop Culture to Teach Science
An interview with high school teacher Matt Brady -- author of "The Science of Rick and Morty: The Unofficial Guide to Earth's Stupidest Show" -- on his use of pop culture in the science classroom.
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Microsized Architecture
An interview with University of Maryland engineer Ryan Sochol, whose team has developed a technique to do three-dimensional printing at capillary sizes, for better modeling of living systems.
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Laser Pulses Examine Water Surface Chemistry
An interview with Geraldine L. Richmond, Presidential Chair in Science and professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon, and the current President of Sigma Xi, the organization that publishes American Scientist magazine.
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Water Quality versus Water Quantity
Coal-ash spills and water quality: an interview with Avner Vengosh, a geochemist at Duke University, on his latest research.
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Dying for a Drink
Overuse, population growth, and climate change are turning water into a powerful tool for conflict in many parts of the world.
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Air Quality Trade-Offs
Modern life is costing us months of our lives.
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Seeing the Sixth Sense
Live imaging of body-sensing neurons required both new techniques and new technology.
About this show
Periodic audiocasts from American Scientist, a publication of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Honor Society.
Hosted by
American Scientist Magazine
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