Best American Scientist Magazine Podcasts (2024)

1
Introducing: Homegoings 35:41

27d ago35:41

35:41

Host Myra Flynn unpacks one soul food recipe: collard greens, with local and world-renowned chefs, and even her own mother. Together they explore how the history of a once undesirable food mimics the resilience, innovation, and perseverance of a once considered undesirable people. * Homegoings is a: Podcast, TV show, and event-series where no topic…

1
The Ancient Child Who's Changing Archaeology 37:08

3M ago37:08

37:08

Can museums and archaeology harm the dead? An Indigenous archaeologist from Brazil challenges traditional approaches to studying human bones. Her work reveals how standard practices—such as assigning catalog numbers to ancient bodies—are violent and biased. As she encounters the remains of a 700-year-old child in a university museum, their stories …

1
Comics As a Medium for Women’s Rights 29:49

4M ago29:49

29:49

As a form of popular culture, comics have provided humor, action, and entertainment to readers of all ages and across generations. But comics also intertwine art and humor to creatively make political statements, challenge media censorship, and address controversial issues of the times. This podcast episode focuses on how comics can be tools for so…

1
Smartphones Are Bicycles For Our Minds 26:16

4M ago26:16

26:16

Where is your smartphone right now? If you’re like most smartphone users in the United States, it’s probably within a few feet of your reach, if not sitting in your hand. In the last 15 years, smartphones have quickly, seamlessly, and profoundly been embedded in the daily lives of most Americans. There are now few, if any, domains of modern life th…

1
When Scientists Take to the Streets 29:12

4M ago29:12

29:12

María Pía Tavella is an Argentine biological anthropologist and science writer. In conversation with host Eshe Lewis, María shares a snapshot of the multiple hurdles the scientific community is facing in Argentina and reflects on the role of science communication. How is scientific research related to our daily lives? In what ways are science contr…

1
A Dam’s Downstream Consequences 26:25

4M ago26:25

26:25

Discussions about the impacts of dams around the world are often focused on the displacement of communities due to the creation of reservoirs and the submergence of towns and cities. What happens when a dam affects more people downstream than it displaces upstream? How does a dam impact humans living downstream? In this episode, Parag Jyoti Saikia …

1
Why Do We Eat at Funerals? 24:05

5M ago24:05

24:05

Funeral traditions around the world involve a range of rituals. From singing to burying to … eating. Why is food such a common practice in putting our loved ones to rest? In this episode, Leyla Jafarova, a doctoral student at Boston University, examines the role of funeral foods in different cultural contexts—from the solemn Islamic funeral rites o…

1
Chatter That Matters 30:19

5M ago30:19

30:19

What role does gossip play in human societies? In this episode, Bridget Alex and Emily Sekine, editors at SAPIENS magazine, chat with host Eshe Lewis to explore gossip as a fundamental human activity. They discuss gossip’s evolutionary roots, suggesting it may have developed as a form of "vocal grooming" to maintain social bonds in groups. It also …

1
The Problems of Digital Evidence in Terrorism Trials 34:45

5M ago34:45

34:45

Today most people around the world are using digital gadgets. These enable us to communicate instantaneously, pursue our daily work, and entertain ourselves through streaming videos and songs. But what happens when our past digital activities become evidence in criminal investigations? How are the data that mediate our lives turned into legal argum…

1
Learning from Handy Primates 29:32

5M ago29:32

29:32

Many of our primate relatives use tools. How do they use them? And why?And what do these skills mean for understanding tools across the animal kingdom, including for us humans? In this episode, host Eshe Lewis delves into a conversation with Kirsty Graham, an animal behavior researcher. Kirsty explains how primates such as chimpanzees use tools to …

1
Moving Through Deaf Worlds 34:18

6M ago34:18

34:18

Why do people migrate from one country to another, leaving behind friends, family, and familiarity in search of another life elsewhere? And how might their experiences look different if they are deaf? Ala’ Al-Husni is a deaf Jordanian who moved to Japan five years ago, where he still lives with his deaf Japanese wife and their family just outside o…

1
Untangling the World’s First-Known String 35:10

6M ago35:10

35:10

At the Abri du Maras site in southern France, archaeologists recovered twisted plant fibers dating back 50,000 years, suggesting Neanderthals had knowledge of plant materials and the seasonal cycles necessary for making durable string. This finding challenges a view of Neanderthals as simplistic and inferior to modern humans, highlighting their sop…

1
In Search for the First Cyborg 32:12

6M ago32:12

32:12

These days, a mention of cyborgs often conjures images from a science fiction future: robot arms and legs, infrared eyes, and other modified humans. However, we don’t need to look into the future to find cyborgs. In many ways, people today are already cyborgs. We are deeply intertwined with technology—from the clothes we wear to the structures we l…

1
Black Influencers Beyond the Screens 34:34

6M ago34:34

34:34

Anuli Akanegbu is the host of BLK IRL, an audio docuseries. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in cultural anthropology at New York University, conducting research on Black creatives who are contract workers in Atlanta, Georgia. In conversation with SAPIENS’ podcast host, Dr. Eshe Lewis, Anuli delves into the historical and current successes and struggl…

1
Cultures of Technology: Season 7 Trailer 1:09

7M ago1:09

1:09

Since the dawn of our species, the ability to make things has made us who we are. Human-made objects, large and small, have enabled and molded evolutionary forces, sparked and expressed our imagination, guided and structured social relations, transformed and destroyed the environment–and much more. This season of the podcast looks at how a wide ran…

1
Episode 1: Saundra Thomas The Community Connector 29:56

9M ago29:56

29:56

This episode get to meet a Saundra Thomas, board member and advisor of Indigo Arts Alliance, a cultural nonprofit in Portland, Maine. Saundra Thomas will dazzle you with her 30 years of media experience and her love of Maine. Originally released in April of 2021 for In The Pocket.By Florence S. Edwards

1
Can We Understand One Another? 30:00

11M ago30:00

30:00

Hosts Kate Ellis and Doris Tulifau explore the perils and possibilities of the kind of fieldwork that defined Margaret Mead as an anthropologist. They provide answers to the Mead-Freeman controversy but also ask the questions that remain. In this season finale, we circle back to the problems with coming of age … in Samoa and everywhere. Season 6 of…

1
Weaving Stories: Two Women Speak 30:32

11M ago30:32

30:32

We turn from Margaret Mead’s and Derek Freeman’s conflicting accounts of adolescence and sexuality in Samoa to more stories from Samoans themselves. Author and poet Sia Figiel and activist and anthropologist Doris Tulifau are two Samoan women from different generations. Yet they share a bond and have a similar experience of terrible violence and su…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

American Scientist Magazine Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
All Things VEU with VEU Magazine

All Things VEU with VEU Magazine

1
SAPIENS: A Podcast for Everything Human

SAPIENS

1
In the Pocket

Florence S. Edwards

1
Introducing: Homegoings 35:41

1
The Ancient Child Who's Changing Archaeology 37:08

1
Comics As a Medium for Women’s Rights 29:49

1
Smartphones Are Bicycles For Our Minds 26:16

1
When Scientists Take to the Streets 29:12

1
A Dam’s Downstream Consequences 26:25

1
Why Do We Eat at Funerals? 24:05

1
Chatter That Matters 30:19

1
The Problems of Digital Evidence in Terrorism Trials 34:45

1
Learning from Handy Primates 29:32

1
Moving Through Deaf Worlds 34:18

1
Untangling the World’s First-Known String 35:10

1
In Search for the First Cyborg 32:12

1
Black Influencers Beyond the Screens 34:34

1
Cultures of Technology: Season 7 Trailer 1:09

1
Episode 1: Saundra Thomas The Community Connector 29:56

1
Can We Understand One Another? 30:00

1
Weaving Stories: Two Women Speak 30:32

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