Best Trans Disciplinary Podcasts (2024)

1
Changing the Game in Stem Cell Engineering: Xiaojun (Lance) Lian 45:12

2y ago45:12

45:12

The field of stem cell research has progressed immensely since its high-profile politicization in the early 2000s, with researchers now able to harvest cells from uncontroversial sources and manipulate them with ever-increasing accuracy and efficiency. Associate Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering Lance Lian talks about his key role in …

1
Eugenics, Part 2 39:02

2y ago39:02

39:02

In this episode we describe some of the early roots of eugenics and Erik describes his three-ingredient model for eugenics.By Speaking of Race

1
Changing the Game in Epigenetics: Sally Mackenzie 49:00

2y ago49:00

49:00

Sally Mackenzie is one of the world’s foremost experts on epigenetics, the study of how environmental changes affect the way genes are expressed. In this conversation we cover an epigenetic techniques she’s patented, the biotech company she founded, and the potential role that epigenetics could play in human health. Relevant Links Mackenzie Laborat…

1
A Deeper Sickness 36:59

2y ago36:59

36:59

In this episode we interview Erik Peterson about the book he recently released with fellow historian, Margaret Peacock, about the crazy pandemic year of 2020. Race features prominently throughout!Some resources:The website that accompanies the book: https://adhc.lib.ua.edu/pandemicbook/The book: https://www.amazon.com/Deeper-Sickness-Journal-Americ…

1
Changing the Game in Ancient DNA Research: Laura Weyrich 44:03

2y ago44:03

44:03

Laura Weyrich leads efforts to better understand the impact of diet on the communities of microorganisms residing in our mouths, and their influence on human health. In this livestreamed conversation, she talks about her work with Neanderthal teeth, the ethics of dealing with human remains, and shifts in human activity that have changed the makeup …

1
Top 5 Scientific Racisms 27:23

2y ago27:23

27:23

In this episode we respond to a listener question about our top 5 examples of scientific racism. Unfortunately, in the five years of this podcast, we’ve only discussed two of these people/topics, so we’ve got a lot of work to do to get up to speed. The transcript includes references and resources for these topics: http://speakingofrace.ua.edu/uploa…

1
Great is whose sin? 43:22

2+ y ago43:22

43:22

At least since Stephen Jay Gould's 1981 classic Mismeasure of Man, Darwin has been characterized as a kindly anti-racist while Morton has been characterized as a founding father of scientific racism. We argue that the two men were much more alike in their views on both slavery and race.By Speaking of Race

1
Changing the Game in Global Pediatrics: Dr. Steven Schiff 46:32

2+ y ago46:32

46:32

Dr. Steven Schiff has spent much of his career fighting the scourge of infant infection, especially in low and middle-income countries with minimal healthcare infrastructure. In this livestreamed conversation, he explains the difficulties of working in places like Mbale, Uganda and Hanoi, Vietnam; shares hard-won victories in treatment and preventi…

1
Changing the Game in Epidemiology: Nita Bharti 52:00

2+ y ago52:00

52:00

Nita Bharti is an expert on the interplay of population movement and disease and a pioneer in the use of unorthodox data sources to better inform public health decisions. In this livestreamed conversation, she shares her open-minded, intellectually curious approach to epidemiology on multiple continents, working with people, animals, and spillover …

1
Changing the Game in Food Security: David Hughes 48:48

2+ y ago48:48

48:48

David Hughes has won a number of accolades, both from the academic world and in the mainstream media, for his work with PlantVillage. In this livestreamed opening episode of season three, Hughes talks about the factors in his life and career that have made him so effective and iconoclastic. Relevant Links PlantVillage Donate to PlantVillage Fast Co…

1
Racism Not Race 32:38

2+ y ago32:38

32:38

In this episode, we talk with evolutionary biologist Joe Graves and biological anthropologist Alan Goodman about their roles as thought leaders on public education around race, racism, and science (https://cup.columbia.edu/book/racism-not-race/9780231200660). They tell us about how they came to collaborate on their new book Racism not Race: Answers…

1
Eugenics, part 1 44:40

2+ y ago44:40

44:40

Eugenics: the science and practice of promoting “good breeding” among humans. An early-20th-century movement so steeped in white supremacy that even some white people don’t count, much less people of color. Here we begin a series with more than you ever wanted to know about the sinister history of eugenics, including mass sterilization campaigns in…

1
Ryan McMahon: John Wayne Is Dead 1:02:37

2+ y ago1:02:37

1:02:37

Ryan McMahon; groundbreaking Anishinaabe comedian, writer, producer, and creator of compelling media confronts the borders he has faced throughout his entire career. Borders that he was able to kick down in an effort to create a new space for a new narrative about Indigenous presence in today's popular culture as we know it.…

1
Airto Morales: Behind The Wall 56:23

2+ y ago56:23

56:23

Multigenerational trauma and a life of violence led to many of Airto Morales' early years being incarcerated, ultimately landing him with a long prison sentence. But even after getting out from behind the wall, Airto never did leave the prison system. Airto is now an advocate and consultant at the Haywood Burns Institute in Oakland, where he contin…

1
Chris Pape: Freedom Tunnel 48:04

2+ y ago48:04

48:04

First generation NYC graffiti writer, author, documentarian, archivist, and historian Chris Pape, AKA FREEDOM, tells his own surreptitious stories around the Upper West Side Manhattan train tunnel that was ultimately named after him. His decision to live on the streets and paint in the "Freedom" tunnel propelled him toward a career that he never co…

1
Claw Money: Key To The City 57:09

2+ y ago57:09

57:09

World renowned graffiti writer, fashion designer, and cultural icon Claw Money recounts the many borders she had to cross in order to land in the space that she calls Claw & Co. When life puts a fence in your way, you climb it. When it puts a second one, you rip your pants.By Jacob Bronstein, Davis Lloyd, Luz Fleming, James Ash, Sajato Jarrett, Andy Outis, Andy Cotton, Claudia Gold, Andrew Mason, Eric Banta, Navarro Oneman

1
Bennington: Ghost Stories 1:00:20

2+ y ago1:00:20

1:00:20

Bennington alumni spanning four generations come together to share first person paranormal experiences and encounters they had on the small campus in Southern Vermont. As the stories unfold, striking parallels are drawn that prompt deep questions about space, who owns it, and who is not welcome to occupy it. Alex Pintair: When we first got to Benni…

1
Scotty Hard: The Hard Way 41:35

2+ y ago41:35

41:35

Sometimes we cross a line that we never ask to cross. Join us as luminary musician, producer, and mixing engineer Scotty Hard details an evening that changed his life permanently. "When I was mixing the show and I was like, dubbing out all the vocals and doing all this stuff and I'm moving back and forth and I'm in the music and I'm like, I complet…

1
Bonus: Presenting "Crackdown" 28:15

3y ago28:15

28:15

A special bonus episode in your Yard Tales feed. Last week we were lucky enough to hear Garth Mullins tell his incredibly personal tales of having to navigate forbidden space. We heard about his trajectory towards activism, reporting, and radio documentary work. We also got to hear about the birth of his podcast, "Crackdown." So today I'm bringing …

1
Race and Ancestry in Forensic Anthropology 32:53

3y ago32:53

32:53

The idea that race is a biological reality has hung on longest and strongest in the parts of biological anthropology that deal with skeletal remains. In this episode we talk with two forensic anthropologists, Sean Tallman and Allysha Winburn, about how typological notions of race and ancestry have changed over time in this segment of the discipline…

1
Garth Mullins: A Ghost In My Own Life 57:34

3y ago57:34

57:34

Garth Mullins is a journalist and radio documentary producer who focuses on the decriminalization of drugs, issues of race, class, environment, capitalism, colonialism, and oppression. Garth has written for the Vancouver Sun, Georgia Straight, and Vice. His documentaries have appeared on CBC Radio One, he has spoken publicly at countless schools, p…

1
Susan Tran: Canada Is Racist 52:34

3y ago52:34

52:34

Susan Tran is a Vietnamese Canadian who was kidnapped from her mother in Vietnam at the age of two. But she never knew that she even had a mother because her abductor was her own father, intent on keeping her abduction a secret. After immigrating to Canada, Susan discovered that her mother’s strength and resilience was the foundation for her own se…

1
Lupe Maravilla: Tripa Chuca 47:48

3y ago47:48

47:48

Renowned transdisciplinary artist Guadalupe Maravilla was among the first wave of undocumented immigrants to enter the US from Central America when he immigrated alone from El Salvador at the age of 8. In this audio narrative, Maravilla sensitively recounts harrowing tales of traumas experienced during the events leading up to and including his bor…

1
Luz Fleming: Potreros 54:48

3y ago54:48

54:48

A story of finding family boundaries, fleeing danger, and the inescapable pull of graffiti. On a cold winter night in early 1990s San Francisco, a group of kids attempt to quench their insatiable appetite for bus yard destruction with an all-out assault that doesn't go the way they hoped. Storyteller Luz Fleming has to face the tension of touring h…

1
Listen To The Yard Tales Podcast 1:56

3y ago1:56

1:56

Yard Tales. A podcast about crossing boundaries. Coming September 30th. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every other platform in the Yard. And we had to crawl through like open sewers in the jungle. It was not a short trip. You're eating bugs, trying to stay alive, trying to escape, trying to get to the water where we got on a boat. And we fl…

1
Firmin 43:03

3y ago43:03

43:03

Racial equality is a new idea, right? Wrong! Meet Anténor Firmin, renegade Haitian intellectual of the late 19th century. He traveled all over the world, duked it out with elite scientific racists, hung out with Frederick Douglass, even ran for president -- but was exiled. Twice. On this episode, we discuss the Haitian anthropologist whose work is …

1
Skin Color, part 2 48:16

3y ago48:16

48:16

In this episode we finish our discussion of skin color with genetic and evolutionary models proposed throughout the 20th and into the 21st century. Spoiler alert: It's complicated!Script and resources available here: http://speakingofrace.ua.edu/uploads/1/1/0/5/110557873/skin_color_-_2.pdfBy Speaking of Race

1
History of Skin Color 59:06

3y ago59:06

59:06

Skin color is probably THE key thing we think of when we think about race these days, but it wasn't always that way. In this episode, we ask: where and when did skin color become the trait most associated with race? There's so much to talk about that we don't quite make it up to the present day--stay tuned for a sequel where we discuss contemporary…

1
Decolonizing 46:54

3+ y ago46:54

46:54

What does it mean to “decolonize” teaching and scholarship? Why would we want to do that? And how? We take on these questions and more in a panel discussion with social scientists and established scholars of race Lance Gravlee, John L. Jackson Jr., Stephanie McClure, and Yolanda Moses. Some Resources:Blum, Susan D., and Alfie Kohn, eds. (2020). Ung…

1
Karl Pearson and Geoffrey Morant 34:29

3+ y ago34:29

34:29

In this episode we interview historian of science Iris Clever about her research untangling the early 20th century entanglements of the biometricians, physical anthropology, and race. She pursues this topic through the exploration of work by the statistician and Galton protégé, Karl Pearson, and one of Pearson’s favorite students, Geoffrey Morant. …

1
Introducing: Yard Tales 1:30

3+ y ago1:30

1:30

Welcome to the place where we discussed entering forbidden space. We detailed border crossings. We enter space we never asked to enter. Whether to make big life changes, to forward the artistic or professional practice, to escape peril, or just for the sheer thrill of it.By Luz Fleming, Jacob Bronstein

1
Morton-Tiedemann-Gould 30:58

3+ y ago30:58

30:58

In this episode we talk with Paul Wolff Mitchell, of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, about the skull measurements of 19th century founding father of the American School of Anthropology, Samuel George Morton. Morton used his skull measurements to provide scientific support for polygenism (multiple origins of human r…

1
Caste 38:55

3+ y ago38:55

38:55

In this episode, Jo invites Alan Goodman back to review Isabel Wilkerson’s book, Caste. They provide some context from a science and history perspective on both caste and race.Here’s the source that Alan refers to: Egorova, Y. (2009). De/geneticizing Caste: Population Genetic Research in South Asia. Science as Culture, 18(4), 417-434. doi:10.1080/0…

1
How much do we know about the origins of SARS-CoV-2? 1:08:16

3+ y ago1:08:16

1:08:16

On November 11, 2020, we hosted three members of Penn State’s Center for Disease Dynamics, all of whom all of them are deeply involved in ongoing international efforts to piece together a bigger picture of how and why new viruses like SARVS-CoV-2 emerge and spill over from other species to our own. Related Links: “How We Know The Coronavirus Wasn’t…

1
Inside Penn State’s COVID-19 Response 50:46

3+ y ago50:46

50:46

On October 26, 2020, we teamed up with the hosts of the Podward State podcast to interview two members of Penn State’s coronavirus task force. Both have spent countless hours since that start of the pandemic doing all they can to help protect students, faculty, staff, and local community members in an ever-changing, endlessly challenging, and highl…

1
Redlining, Health, and Voting 30:34

3+ y ago30:34

30:34

Did you know that how your neighborhood was assessed by a government agency over 70 years ago had an impact on your health and even your voting rights today? In this episode we talk about how the Home Owners Loan Corporation gave systemic racism in the U.S. a huge boost with their neighborhood ratings from the 1930s to the 1950s!Script: http://spea…

1
Collecting COVID-19 Data for Action 39:50

3+ y ago39:50

39:50

On October 19, 2020, we teamed up with the hosts of Podward State – a Penn State student-produced podcast, to interview researchers working on a profoundly collaborative project designed to measure multiple impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on residents and students in Centre County, PA. Relevant Links: Data 4 Action sign-up page Huck Institutes of …

1
Can Lasers Speed Up Coronavirus Detection? 41:04

4y ago41:04

41:04

On August 20, 2020, we spoke to an interdisciplinary team of scientists collaborating at the intersection of physics, engineering, materials science, epidemiology, and information technology. Their work holds the promise of new rapid identification diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses through enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Relevant Links: Und…

1
SOS interview of Gravlee and Mulligan 22:49

4y ago22:49

22:49

In this episode, we share an interview with Clarence Gravlee and Connie Mulligan, who talk about their cutting-edge research on racism and its effects on our genes (yes, you heard that right!). They show how experiences of racism have direct effects on the telomeres (the caps on the ends of our DNA) that control aging and cell death, literally wear…

1
Evolving Through Our Meta-Crisis (PART 2) 55:00

4y ago55:00

55:00

On June 8, 2020, we spoke to Riane Eisler and David Loye, two veteran systems scientists who have collaborated for more than 40 years as both researchers and marriage partners. In this wrap-up of a 2-part conversation, we explore the promise of partnership and perils of domination on the road to conscious social evolution. Relevant Links: DavidLoye…

1
What is Speaking of Race 9:17

4y ago9:17

9:17

A brief discussion of what Speaking of Race is all about.Transcript and links: http://speakingofrace.ua.edu/uploads/1/1/0/5/110557873/what_is_speaking_of_race.pdfEpisodes mentioned:What you don’t see when you don’t look https://youtu.be/1pwQuN4AM7k THE PROTESTS ABOUT THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD http://speakingofrace.ua.edu/podcast/the-protests-about-…

1
Sausage of Science Promo 0:32

4y ago0:32

0:32

A short suggestion about a sister-podcast on anthropology and science.By Speaking of Race

1
Evolving Through Our Meta-Crisis (PART 1) 58:02

4y ago58:02

58:02

On June 8, 2020, we spoke to Riane Eisler and David Loye, two veteran systems scientists who have collaborated for more than 40 years as both researchers and marriage partners. In this first of a 2-part conversation, we unpack lost insights of Darwin and explore the basics of cultural transformation theory as a tool to evolve society. Relevant Link…

1
Scientific Racism 35:33

4y ago35:33

35:33

In this episode we discuss a speaker who came to UA in Fall 2019 to give a presentation about the evolution of human diversity—but it was actually a presentation of scientific racism in evolutionary clothing. Erik and Jim were part of a panel that rebutted his presentation and we share our experience with Jo.For a transcript and sources, click here…

1
Cryo-Electron Microscopy and the Resolution Revolution 1:01:38

4y ago1:01:38

1:01:38

In this episode, recorded in-person on February 4, 2020, we talked to a team of Penn State researchers and about the stunning advancements made in recent years in the field of electron microscopy. Up for discussion was a short history of electron microscopy, including how the addition of cryogenics has enabled new materials and structures to be ima…

1
Global Effects of Health Messaging on Perceptions, Anxieties & Behaviors 34:40

4y ago34:40

34:40

Aiming to better understand the efficacy of public health messaging in a pandemic, a team of Penn State researchers designed and deployed an unusually open-ended survey that has been translated into 23 languages and reached more than 73 countries. This episode recorded via Zoom on May 20, 2020. Relevant Links: Penn State College of Medicine COVID-1…

1
Open-Source PPE Manufacturing and Sterilization 43:10

4y ago43:10

43:10

In this episode, recorded via Zoom on May 11, 2020, we talked to Penn State personnel about their involvement with the Manufacturing and Sterilization for COVID-19 Project, or MASC. We discussed how University staff and researchers used their resources and expertise to produce and extend the effective life of personal protection equipment needed by…

1
The Protests about the Death of George Floyd 40:31

4y ago40:31

40:31

In this episode we discuss issues surrounding the demonstrations in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.ResourcesCrowdsourced spreadsheet documenting police violence: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YmZeSxpz52qT-10tkCjWOwOGkQqle7Wd1P7ZM1wMW0E/ DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism. B…

1
Research, Policy, and Democracy in the Age of COVID-19 49:20

4y ago49:20

49:20

For this special collaborative episode recorded via Zoom on May 6, 2020, we partnered with the Democracy Works podcast to explore the dynamic and sometimes tense relationship between peer-reviewed scientific research and public policy decision-making. And we discuss how these tensions have been brought to the forefront by the coronavirus pandemic. …

1
American Anthropological Association Project on Race 32:43

4y ago32:43

32:43

In this episode we talk with two past presidents of the American Anthropological Association who played key roles in presenting the public face of American anthropology with regard to race over the past several decades: Yolanda Moses and Alan Goodman. They discuss the outreach efforts of the AAA.Some Resources:Blog posts on Sapiens:Five posts on ra…

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