Stereo Chemistry
by Chemical & Engineering News
Stereo Chemistry shares voices and stories from the world of chemistry. The show is created by the reporters and editors at Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), an independent news outlet published by the American Chemical Society.
Episodes
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Uncovered: The Capitals of Chemistry
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN reporter, Rowan Walrath and UX designer Shea Murphy, about their article exploring the top cities in the Chemical Industry. They dive into subjects ranging from the hard data to the tools used during the article design...
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Bonus: The Future of Scientific Collaboration, A View from Industry
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of ACS, C&EN is convening perspectives across two panel discussions to explore how chemistry societies might support science into the future. As chemistry remains the "central science," AI, climate change, and a shifting global landscape are some of the...
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Bonus: Chirality claims the Chem Nobel (again)
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Henri B. Kagan at Paris-Saclay University and Kenso Soai at the Tokyo University of Science for their work on manipulating the synthesis of chiral molecules. C&EN reporter Bri Barbu joins host Gina Vitale to discuss what these chemists discovered,...
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Bonus: Shaping the Future of Chemistry Societies
On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of ACS, C&EN is convening perspectives across two panel discussions to explore how chemistry societies might support science into the future. As chemistry remains the "central science," AI, climate change, and a shifting global landscape are some of the...
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C&EN Uncovered: Sustainability In Space
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN Editors, Fionna Samuels and Brianna Barbu, about their contributions to C&EN's Space Package and how sustainability and geochemistry will have an effect on humanity's future space endeavors. You can find their articles…
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Bonus: Can we carbon-capture our way out of climate change?
In this episode of Stereo Chemistry's sister podcast, Inflection Point, hosts David Anderson and Gina Vitale travel back in time to understand how we are capturing carbon at the source and removing existing CO2 from our atmosphere. They also bring in C&EN reporters Alex Scott and Fionna Samuels…
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Uncovered: The Laser Edge of Cryo-Electron Microscopy
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN Senior Editor, Laurel Oldach, about an ultrabright breakthrough in laser technology that may change the way we look at cry-electron microscopy. You can find the link to the article here. Subscribe to Stereo Chemistry now…
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C&EN Uncovered: Sustainable Earth Mining in Brazil
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN Editor, Matt Blois, about an article he wrote regarding recent sustainable breakthroughs in Rare Earth Mining. Together, they talk about these claims as well as the potential future of mining for rare earth materials...
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Inflection Point: Retinol, the magical molecule's bizarre history
In this episode, hosts David Anderson and Gina Vitale travel as far back as ancient Egypt to unearth the wide-ranging uses of retinol. They also bring in C&EN reporter Craig Bettenhausen to discuss why retinol is such a powerhouse molecule for skin care, and they hear from a contraceptives...
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C&EN Uncovered: A Quantum Milestone
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN Editor, Ananya Palivela, about her featured article about a recent breakthrough in quantum computing. Together, they talk about IBM's benchmark collaboration with two research laboratories and how it may change the way we...
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Bonus: C&EN's Future of Chemistry Designing Out Pollution Panel
In this bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry, we are featuring a panel discussion from this year's ACS Spring Meeting. Our panelists, Mohamed Ateia Ibrahim, Ann Lee-Jeffs, Juliana Vidal, and Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal discuss the future of chemistry designing out chemistry pollution, outlining key...
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C&EN Uncovered: Is Vitrification a Clear Solution for Nuclear Waste?
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN Editor, Fionna Samuels, about her featured article detailing a recent breakthrough coming from the Hanford Site: nuclear waste vitrification. Together, they delve into the history of one of the most notorious nuclear...
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C&EN Uncovered: From Alchemy to AI, and the Funds Behind It All
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN Editor, Chris Gorski, as well as graphic artist and freelance illustrator, Ryan Inzana, about their collaborative efforts to make one of C&EN's most innovative articles to date. This illustrative and immersive article…
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Stereo Chemistry revisited: 'Wicked amazing scientist' James Harris's untold story
Little was publicly known about the first Black scientist to codiscover an element. Chemists may know James Harris as the first Black scientist to be credited with codiscovering an element. In fact, we referenced this in a previous episode of Stereo Chemistry about making superheavy elements. But...
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C&EN Uncovered: Behind the scenes of the chaotic COP30
In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN Policy and Regulation reporter, Delger Erdenesanaa, about her article talking about the trials and takeaways of the 30th annual United Nations climate summit. Check out Delger's story on COP30 and the proposed biobased...
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Bonus episode: The ancient, 'juicy' origins of antibiotic resistance
C&EN's award-winning podcast Inflection Point leans on our 100-year archive to trace headline topics in science today back to their disparate and surprising roots. In each episode, we explore three lesser-known moments in science history that ultimately led us to current-day breakthroughs. With...
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Bonus episode: The electric innovations that brought lithium-ion batteries online
C&EN's award-winning podcast Inflection Point leans on our 100-year archive to trace headline topics in science today back to their disparate and surprising roots. In each episode, we explore three lesser-known moments in science history that ultimately led us to current-day breakthroughs. With...
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Inflection Point: The era-spanning epiphanies that enabled gene editing
C&EN's award-winning podcast Inflection Point leans on our 100-year archive to trace headline topics in science today back to their disparate and surprising roots. In each episode, we explore three lesser-known moments in science history that ultimately led us to current-day breakthroughs. With...
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Inflection Point: How under-appreciated critters inspired GLP-1 drugs
In the first episode of our second season, hosts David Anderson and Gina Vitale travel back in time to relive three historical moments that led to blockbuster drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. They also talk with C&EN reporter Aayushi Pratap about how future GLP-1 drugs may expand on the current…
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MOFs: What is this Nobel-prize-winning group of materials?
In this episode, Uncovered hops back to the first episode of C&EN's StereoChemistry, which delved into the materials that won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Reporter Matt Davenport spoke with now-laureate Omar Yaghi and a handful of other researchers in and around this exciting subfield of...
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Inside the cavernous crystals that won the Chem Nobel
The 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded on Oct. 8 to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi for their work on metal organic frameworks (MOFs). Senior editor Prachi Patel joins a bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry to discuss what MOFs are, why they are so useful, and how they were...
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Uncovered: The Strange Copy and Paste Chemistry of Skeletal Editing
Will Skeletal Editing revolutionize the way we see chemical interactions? In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN associate editor, Brianna Barbu, about her article diving into the new and exciting frontier of Skeletal Editing. Check out Brianna's story on...
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Bonus: C&EN's Future of Chemistry Degrees Panel
In this bonus episode of Stereo Chemistry, we are featuring a panel discussion from this year's ACS Fall Meeting. Our panelists, Stefan France, Glory Onajobi-Lee, Victor Olet, and John Gavenonis discuss the future of chemistry degrees, the importance of collaboration, and the fluidity of…
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C&EN Uncovered: Global Top 50 Chemical Firms in 2025
Can the world's top 50 chemical firms bounce back from a global economic downturn? In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN senior correspondent, Alexander Tullo, about his coverage of C&EN's Global Top 50 Chemical Firms list. Uncovered offers a deeper look at...
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Inflection Point: The mind-bending innovations that built quantum computing
Hosts David Anderson and Gina Vitale travel back in time to relive three historical moments that were meaningful to the development of quantum computers. They also bring in C&EN reporter Mitch Jacoby to discuss scientific advances enabled by quantum chemistry. C&EN's Inflection Point leans on our...
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C&EN Uncovered: Will Emerging Technology Lead Us Into A New Antibiotic Golden Age?
Are we on the cusp of a new era of Biochemical discovery? In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN reporter Max Barnhart about his recent C&EN cover story on the frontiers of bioprospecting for new antibiotics. Uncovered offers a deeper look at subjects from...
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Bonus Episode: 'Inflection Point' traces the serendipitous origins of PFAS
Inflection Point leans on C&EN's 100-year archive to trace headline topics in science today back to their disparate and surprising roots. In each episode, we explore three lesser-known moments in science history that ultimately led us to current-day breakthroughs. With help from expert C&EN...
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C&EN Uncovered: Can altering ocean chemistry fight climate change?
Can climate catastrophe be stymied by tweaking seawater chemistry? In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN reporter Fionna Samuels about her recent C&EN cover story concerning Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) as a method to combat climate change by increasing...
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C&EN Uncovered: Turning tides for endotoxin testing
The drug industry may finally phase out using horseshoe crab blood. What took so long? In this episode of C&EN Uncovered, host Craig Bettenhausen speaks with C&EN assistant editor Laurel Oldach about the use of horseshoe crab blood in pharmaceutical endotoxin testing, the challenges of...
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Bonus episode: Introducing Inflection Point
The new podcast Inflection Point leans on C&EN's 100-year archive to trace headline topics in science today back to their disparate and surprising roots. In each episode, we explore three lesser-known moments in science history that ultimately led us to current-day breakthroughs. With help from...
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C&EN Uncovered: Indoor air monitoring goes to school
The COVID-19 pandemic put the importance of indoor air quality in stark relief. The air in schools was of particular concern, and that concern spurred collaboration between researchers and school staff to find interventions to improve air quality to safeguard the health of students and staff.…
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Stereo Chemistry: How the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was won
On Oct. 9, the 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M. Jumper for their work in prediction and design of protein structures. C&EN's executive editor for life sciences, Laura Howes, joins a special episode of Stereo Chemistry to discuss why the trio...
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C&EN Uncovered: PhD to CEO, how chemistry entrepreneurs are making the jump
In the 20th century, corporate powerhouses like Bell Labs and DuPont Central Research funded R&D from their balance sheets, creating a clear path for postdoctoral scientists to innovate beyond their university research. In 2024, with the decay of corporate laboratories, graduates are taking the...
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C&EN Uncovered: Solvent Waste Levels, EPA Regulations, and Disposal
On average, from 2011 to 2021, academic labs generated around 4,300 metric tons of hazardous waste each year. One of the largest lab-used solvents discarded is dichloromethane and more than half of that waste ends up burned. In today's episode, policy reporters Krystal Vasquez and Leigh Krietsch...
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C&EN Uncovered: Ongoing tragedies in Flint and East Palestine
Tragedies in the communities of Flint, Michigan, and East Palestine, Ohio, continue to affect residents 10 years and 1 year on, respectively, from the initial events. Residents of both cities continue to rebound and rebuild despite ongoing issues revolving around the toxic chemicals that were...
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C&EN Uncovered: Can 'forever chemicals' be destroyed?
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of chemicals known as PFAS, are often called "forever chemicals" because of how long they persist in the environment. They are prevalent in drinking water and have been linked to negative health outcomes. A slew of cleantech start-ups are cropping up...
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C&EN Uncovered: The small-molecule drug renaissance
As the science of drug discovery has grown in scale and gotten more complicated, so have the drug molecules themselves. But there's a promising class of drugs made of just a handful of atoms that punch above their weight by leveraging the natural chemistry of the cell. Recent discoveries have...
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C&EN Uncovered: The ocean floor is littered with valuable minerals. Should we go get them?
Resting on the bottom of the ocean are potato-sized nodules of valuable minerals that are more or less up for grabs. Multiple corporations and some nations are racing to build deep-sea drones that can withstand the extreme conditions at the seafloor and bring these 1-20 cm nodules to eager buyers...
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C&EN Uncovered: The race to report on the Nobel Prizes
The Nobel Prize announcements are big events at Chemical & Engineering News. But we find out the winners at the same time as everyone else. Then, the race is on for our reporters. This year, staffers Laurel Oldach and Mitch Jacoby took on the task of covering the science prizes. In this episode,...
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C&EN Uncovered: Looking back on 100 years of chemistry
The first issue of C&EN was published in 1923 with the stated purpose of "the promotion of research, the development of the chemical industry, and the welfare of the chemist." The world of chemistry has grown a lot since then, and the magazine has been there to report on it all. To celebrate our...
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Jennifer DiStefano and Jared Mondschein on the transition from the bench to the policy office
Early-career scientists are increasingly gravitating toward science policy, but the transition from the research bench to the policy office can be a tricky one. What can that path look like, and how can chemistry knowledge translate into a successful science policy career? In this bonus episode…
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C&EN Uncovered: Making hydrogen is easy; making it green is a challenge
Hydrogen might be the key to a clean energy future, but only if it can be made without fossil fuels. Most hydrogen today is made from methane. With generous government tax credits and enthusiasm for sustainable technology, the race is on for green hydrogen. Craig Bettenhausen, our usual host,...
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Mining metals and minerals from seawater
The modern world runs on electronic devices and energy systems that are powered by valuable elements such as lithium and uranium. There are a limited number of terrestrial mines that produce energy-critical elements, which makes the supply of these materials prone to disruption. So researchers…
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C&EN Uncovered: Can tires turn green?
Be they powered by fossil fuels, batteries, or hydrogen, cars are here to stay. So what can be done to make tires greener? In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN reporters Alex Scott and Craig Bettenhausen look at where the rubber meets the road, literally. Scott examined efforts to make tires...
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Here's what happens when wastewater treatment facilities fail
When two wastewater treatment facilities in Baltimore, Maryland, broke down in early 2021, the surrounding waterways began filling up with sewage. In this episode of Stereo Chemistry, C&EN business reporter Craig Bettenhausen takes the pod to visit the Back River Plant and Patapsco Plant in the...
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Bonus: Executive producer Kerri Jansen hands over the mic
Stereo Chemistry's longtime host Kerri Jansen is stepping down from her role as executive producer of the podcast. Jansen has been with Stereo Chemistry since it began in 2018, and has played an integral role in the production of C&EN's flagship podcast. In this bonus episode, Jansen talks with...
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C&EN Uncovered: The battle for Lake Maurepas
Carbon capture and sequestration is the trapping of CO2 emitted by industrial processes and depositing it beneath the Earth's surface. Spurred on by tax credits offered by recent federal legislation, companies are racing to implement the technology in geologically suitable locations such as in...
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C&EN Uncovered: Lithium iron phosphate comes to North America
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are cheaper, safer, and longer lasting than batteries made with nickel- and cobalt-based cathodes. In China, the streets are full of electric vehicles using this technology. But LFP never caught on as a chemistry for electric vehicle batteries in North...
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Microplastics pollute our drinking water: What are the risks?
Researchers reported finding microplastics in drinking water nearly 5 years ago, prompting California lawmakers to require monitoring of the state's drinking water for the tiny particles. But in 2018, there were no standard methods for analyzing microplastics. So California regulators reached out...
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C&EN Uncovered: What exascale computing could mean for chemistry
At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a supercomputer named Frontier has broken the exascale computing barrier, meaning it can calculate more than a million trillion floating-point operations per second. In this episode, C&EN reporters Craig Bettenhausen and Ariana Remmel discuss how Frontier works…
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About this show
Stereo Chemistry shares voices and stories from the world of chemistry. The show is created by the reporters and editors at Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), an independent news outlet published by the American Chemical Society.
Hosted by
Chemical & Engineering News