Best Faye Flam Podcasts (2024)

1
The Oldest Everything: Searching for the Oldest Thing in the Universe 22:46

1y ago22:46

22:46

What’s the world’s oldest surviving building? Language? Useful technology? The oldest living organism? The oldest species of living organism? The oldest rock on the planet and the oldest star in the cosmos? How do scientists measure the ages of ancient things? In this podcast series, “The Oldest Everything”, I’ll go in search of the oldest things i…

1
66. Cracking the Mystery of Long Covid w/ Bruce Levy 30:40

2+ y ago30:40

30:40

Some scientists think long Covid is caused by lingering inflammation. Others think the virus might hide out in the body. Two years into the pandemic, scientists are scrambling to understand long Covid and find treatments. Bruce Levy is chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He now heads the Re…

1
Pandemic Misinformation - How Politics and Polarization Are Distorting the Science w/ Roger Seheult & Florian Krammer [Episode 11 Rebroadcast] 31:20

2+ y ago31:20

31:20

I think this February 2021 episode is more relevant than ever today. It explores the subjective, politicized way that some ideas get labelled as misinformation and why it’s so important for experts to explain why something is likely to be wrong rather than dismissing it out of hand - and why censorship can cause more harm than good. Original Descri…

1
65. Science vs. Long Covid w/ Ziyad Al-Aly 22:41

2+ y ago22:41

22:41

Some people still have symptoms from a Covid-19 infection picked up in 2020 and are wondering if there’s any relief in sight. Many suffer months of debilitating fatigue and neurological problems, and Covid-19 can increase risk for heart disease. Scientists are scrambling to understand why, and how to prevent or treat what’s come to be called "long …

1
64. Covid-19, Sense of Smell and the Brain w/ Mark Albers 31:24

2+ y ago31:24

31:24

Covid-19 has some weird long-term effects, including prolonged inability to taste or smell, and various neurological symptoms – difficulty concentrating, memory loss and crushing fatigue. Alzheimer’s Disease is also connected to changes in smell and ability to remember smells. My guest, neurologist Mark Albers of Massachusetts General Hospital will…

1
63. Lessons from Germ Warfare Against Rabbits w/ Andrew Read 31:03

2+ y ago31:03

31:03

In the 1950s, 100 million rabbits were overrunning Australia – an invasive species crisis that led people to unleash germ warfare – infecting them with a deadly virus called myxomatosis. It was devastating – 99.9% of the rabbits across the continent died, according to Penn State University biologist Andrew Read. But the survivors rebounded, and ove…

1
62. Overconfidence and Other Covid-19 Mistakes w/ Michael Osterholm 29:40

2+ y ago29:40

29:40

We seem to be in Covid intermission now, with low cases but lots of warnings that the disease will stage a comeback, probably in some new mutated form. It’s a time to reflect back on the last two years, and consider the many misleading predictions and projections, including the notion that the pandemic would go away if enough people wore a mask. In…

1
61. The Folly of Following the Science w/ Jacob Hale Russell 35:35

2+ y ago35:35

35:35

Science can tell us something about the risks of Covid-19 but it can’t tell us how much risk to accept, or how much to sacrifice in the name of mitigation. Too often politicians used the phrase “Follow the Science” to silence much-needed public debate and create the illusion that science allowed no other alternatives to the policies they wanted to …

1
60. Covid Threat Lingers, Society Turns the Page w/ Dan Barouch 19:56

2+ y ago19:56

19:56

There’s a lot of anxiety this week as the public, politicians and even some scientists are moving on from restrictions and mask-wearing that defined the last two years. And yet, SARS-CoV-2 is very much still with us, a sub-variant called BA.2 is still posing a threat, and new variants are likely to emerge. And there’s evidence that protection from …

1
59. From The World’s Oldest Virus to The Newest Pandemic Variant w/ Erin Bromage, Bill Hanage, David Sanders & Sarah Otto 34:19

2+ y ago34:19

34:19

In this episode I set off on a quest to find the oldest endemic human virus–the one that’s been riding along with our species the longest. The answer is harder to get than I’d anticipated, but along the way I learn about some ancient viruses, and how viruses shape our evolution as they evolve themselves. I’ll also discuss where the omicron variant …

1
58. Why the Worst, Most Deceptive People Are Also the Most Politically Savvy w/ Michael Bang Peterson 26:19

2+ y ago26:19

26:19

Spreading rumors and misinformation about enemies for political gain has deep roots in humanity’s affinity for tribal behavior, says political scientist and evolutionary psychologist Michael Bang Petersen of Aarhus University in Denmark. His latest work shows that the biggest super-spreaders of misinformation and hatred on social media are actually…

1
Alternatives to Censorship w/ David Rand & Gordon Pennycook [Episode 28 Rebroadcast] 28:51

2+ y ago28:51

28:51

Social media companies may claim censorship is for our own good – to shield us from misinformation – but the process has no transparency. And Facebook and Twitter algorithms are set up to amplify sensational claims, to push people into polarized camps, and delude users about the popularity and value of what are often fringe ideas. Social scientists…

1
57. What It Means If Covid-19 Becomes Endemic w/ Aris Katzourakis 24:52

2+ y ago24:52

24:52

Suddenly the word endemic is all over the media – perhaps it’s replacing “herd immunity” and “new normal” to put words to people’s hopes that the pandemic will end soon. But what does endemic mean and when will Covid-19 get there? I pose these questions to Aris Katzourakis, an expert in viral genomics and evolution at Oxford University, and author …

1
56. The Strange Randomness of Covid-19 Immunity w/ Gaurav Das Gaiha 27:41

2+ y ago27:41

27:41

Almost everyone has a story of someone who was healthy and received all the shots and still got wiped out by Covid-19 this winter. While there’s no doubt getting vaccinated and boosted vastly lowers your odds being hospitalized, there’s a random element in this omicron phase of the pandemic that comes down to our genes. Immunologist Gaurav Das Gaih…

1
55. How Vaccine Memory Works Against Covid-19 w/ Shiv Pillai 35:45

2+ y ago35:45

35:45

It’s a confusing time right now - in January of 2022, since so many vaccinated people are coming down with omicron. The virus has changed a lot since the vaccines were formulated, but the data show they are still offering partial protection. To understand what’s going on, I asked immunologist(and poet) Shiv Pillai to explain how our bodies “remembe…

1
54. When to Trust Big Pharma in the Covid-19 Battle w/ Derek Lowe 31:46

2+ y ago31:46

31:46

Big pharma is out for big pharma, but that doesn’t mean we don’t benefit from drugs, vaccines and treatments – AIDS was a death sentence until pharma came up with drugs called protease inhibitors that allowed people with HIV to live out their lives. Now there’s Paxlovid - a protease inhibitor to fight Covid-19. The biggest downside of this drug is …

1
53. Why Some Covid-19 Treatments Work w/ Roger Seheult 26:38

2+ y ago26:38

26:38

Few subjects are more contaminated with misinformation than treatments for Covid-19, with many patients still demanding Ivermectin in hospitals despite the drug’s failure in clinical trials. But now, finally, we’re hearing claims that new drugs really do save lives. Pfizer just got approval for a pill called Paxlovid, and now there’s evidence a che…

1
52. Müge Çevik’s Down-to-Earth View of Omicron 23:51

2+ y ago23:51

23:51

Omicron is less deadly but spreading at blinding speed. Is it the end of the world or no big deal? The UK is several weeks ahead of us in their omicron wave and can give us a sense of what might happen here. Physician Müge Çevik will join us from the Scotland, where she’s an infectious disease specialist and a lecturer at the University of St. Andr…

1
51. Booster Mandates: Where's the Science? w/ Stephen Kissler 24:54

2+ y ago24:54

24:54

With omicron exploding, we’re seeing vaccine mandates expand and booster mandates on the table. What’s the scientific rationale? Mandates are predicated on the idea that vaccines stop or at least reduce transmission, and booster mandates on the notion that unboosted people pose a danger to society. Do they? I’ll be talking about vaccines and transm…

1
50. Vaccines vs Omicron w/ Emma Hodcroft 26:43

2+ y ago26:43

26:43

Some experts tell us to be very afraid, others are not so sure. But what matters about the omicron problem is how we solve it – and that means understanding what it is, how well vaccines protect against it, and whether to focus efforts on boosters, getting doses to other countries, or creating a new vaccine tailored for this emerging variant. My gu…

1
49. To Boost or Not To Boost w/ Dan Barouch 30:01

2+ y ago30:01

30:01

That’s a hard question, with a sudden change in CDC recommendations that everyone over 18 get one and not much explanation. Scientists have started to change their minds about boosters as they’ve seen more breakthrough cases. Another rationale was protection against the new variant – omicron - but it’s not clear how well our vaccines will work agai…

1
48. Sick Buildings and the Pandemic w/ Joseph Allen 27:45

2+ y ago27:45

27:45

Most people aren’t going to wear a mask forever, even if viruses remain a persistent threat. What we now know is that respiratory viruses are transmitted mostly through the air, mostly indoors, and mostly in badly ventilated buildings. I talk with Harvard Professor Joseph Allen about a new normal that makes sense. It’s okay, he says, that vaccinate…

1
47. Mental Health and the Pandemic w/ Lucy McBride 26:43

2+ y ago26:43

26:43

For the last 20 months society has focused primarily on a single aspect of health – avoiding SARS-CoV-2. But as the pandemic drags on, some people argue we need to bring back a big picture perspective. General practitioner Lucy McBride says her patients are showing up with all kinds of complaints about health problems beyond Covid-19, and she’s see…

1
46. Evolution and the Future of Covid-19 w/ Jesse Bloom 25:24

2+ y ago25:24

25:24

One of the most unnerving things about this pandemic is that the virus keeps changing. And yet, viruses we’re familiar with don’t spawn vastly more dangerous variants every year. Even flu, while it changes enough to require a new shot, doesn’t usually turn the world upside down. Will SARS-CoV-2 reach some limit on the new variants it can produce? B…

1
45. Havana Syndrome: A Disease of Body or Mind? w/ Suzanne O'Sullivan 34:20

2+ y ago34:20

34:20

It started with a young undercover agent in Havana hearing a piercing noise, then realizing that his ears wouldn’t stop ringing and he’d lost some of his hearing. Soon he told colleagues who remembered hearing weird noises. Soon they, too, started to feel distressing symptoms – difficulty concentrating, headaches, insomnia, dizziness. Now more than…

1
44. The Experts Change Their Tune on Covid-19 w/ Amesh Adalja 24:47

2+ y ago24:47

24:47

In late October, experts in the US stopped talking about taking extreme precautions against Covid-19 and started talking about learning to live with the virus. Does this represent a change of heart or a change in the science? It’s been hard for experts to detangle their scientific opinions from their feelings and values. In this episode I’ll talk w…

1
43. Antisocial Science w/ John Ioannidis 31:59

3y ago31:59

31:59

There’s no there’s no doubt science has advanced humanity’s store of useful, reliable knowledge. Still, sometimes scientists, groups or whole fields get off track. Stanford professor John Ioannidis is famous for diagnosing why medical research had started producing too many unreliable results. Statistical errors, lack of cross checks, and cutting c…

1
42. Why Neil deGrasse Tyson Thinks Science Is True 34:47

3y ago34:47

34:47

How do we know what’s true? What should we trust and what should we question? I’ll talk about the nature of science, truth and critical thinking with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. We’ll talk about why so many scientists doubt the UFOs are alien interlopers, but do take seriously the possibility of multiple universes. We’ll also talk about his…

1
41. Where Medicine Doesn’t Follow the Science w/ Gilbert Welch 32:29

3y ago32:29

32:29

Medicine is based partly on science, partly on tradition, partly on assumptions and partly on profits. My guest in this episode, physician Gilbert Welch, says many screening healthy people for cancer, for example, is very profitable, but there’s surprisingly little evidence that it helps people live longer. His most recent book is called Less Medic…

1
40. Theranos: Medicine's Unhealthy Infatuation with Technology w/ Daniel Holmes & Eleftherios Diamandis 24:53

3y ago24:53

24:53

The blood testing company Theranos was the darling of the medical establishment for years before a journalist helped expose the fact that its technology didn’t work. Now the CEO Elizabeth Holmes has gone from being the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire to being on trial for fraud. But the fact that the company got so big on so little ev…

1
39. Are Vaccines Helping or Hurting? w/ Derek Lowe 27:34

3y ago27:34

27:34

The prevalence of Covid-19 even in highly vaccinated countries such as Israel has led to a scary rumor that vaccines are actually making the disease worse. That has happened before with other vaccines - sometimes antibodies can actually turn traitor and help the virus through something called antibody dependent enhancement. Medicinal chemist Derek …

1
38. The Science of Mask Mandates for Kids w/ Elissa Schechter-Perkins & Vinay Prasad 29:59

3y ago29:59

29:59

Should mask mandates for kids go all the way down to age 2? Should kids have to keep masks on at recess? Should kids wear cloth masks despite little evidence of protection? Is universal masking in schools the new normal? Emotions are running high and relevant scientific studies are in short supply. I’ll be talking with two doctors, Dr. Elissa Schec…

1
37. Beyond Covid-19 – Other Looming Threats w/ Rodney Rohde 16:25

3y ago16:25

16:25

If we weren’t all obsessed with the pandemic, there would be scare stories about a life-threatening fungus that’s infecting people in Texas and Washington DC. It can’t be cured with drugs that would normally be used for fungal infections. Even as we battle a virus, fungi and bacteria are evolving resistance to known drugs, and as clinical laborator…

1
36. Breakthrough Cases, Boosters, and Confusion w/ Bill Hanage 21:36

3y ago21:36

21:36

There’s still a strong consensus that getting vaccinated is better than not – but a surprising lack of information on which vaccines work best, how long protection lasts, and why cases are skyrocketing in some places with high vaccination rates, including Israel, where more than 60% of the population is fully vaccinated with the Pfizer shot. Here i…

1
35. Why is the Pandemic So Hard to Predict? w/ Sam Scarpino 24:21

3y ago24:21

24:21

We take precautions, get vaccinated, and yet cases surge again and again. And then the waves decline unexpectedly, defying predictions. There’s no good explanation for why cases are going up in some places and not others. And there’s not nearly enough information on which venues or activities are the most dangerous. By contrast, weather forecasters…

1
34. Official and Unofficial Misinformation on Vaccines w/ Art Krieg 25:47

3y ago25:47

25:47

Vaccines aren’t perfect. Physician Art Krieg knows that all too well since his fully vaccinated 90-year-old father recently died from Covid-19. But he makes a good case that getting vaccinated still helps protect the community by lowering your odds of getting infected and vastly lowering your odds of being hospitalized. Dr. Krieg also tackles the q…

1
33. Using Biology to Recalculate the Pandemic's Future w/ Vineet Menachery 25:59

3y ago25:59

25:59

What can the scientific study of the delta variant tell us about the pandemic’s future? Does it make sense go back to taking precautions to deal with a temporary setback, or is it time we all learn how to live with some risk? Today I talk with immunologist and microbiologist Vineet Menachery from the University of Texas Medical Branch. He explains …

1
32. The Long Memory of Vaccines: Explained w/ Monica Gandhi 21:52

3y ago21:52

21:52

Jubilation at the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines is giving way to debates about boosters and fears of breakthrough infections. And people are understandably confused about how vaccines work. How could they possibly help us fight a virus years or even decades in the future? Infectious disease expert Monica Gandhi of the University of California, …

1
31. Ivermectin: The Chemistry of Hope and Hype w/ Derek Lowe 25:21

3y ago25:21

25:21

There are philosophical reasons that political conservatives are more likely to cheer for experimental Covid-19 drugs - hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin – and reasons that political liberals are more likely to cheer for vaccines. But you can’t always get what you want. In this episode, medicinal chemist Derek Lowe, author of the In the Pipeline bl…

1
30. Fear and Fatigue Shape Our Response to Delta w/ Müge Çevik & Shira Doron 23:02

3y ago23:02

23:02

Just when Americans were getting back to normal life, a new variant is leading some public health officials to call for a return to distancing, masks and fear. How will the new, more transmissible variant change the future now that around half the population is vaccinated? Some clues come from the UK, where my first guest, Müge Çevik, works as an i…

1
29. Are Doctors Misinformed About Stress? w/ Michael Romero 20:54

3y ago20:54

20:54

Is the stress associated with being busy harming our health? If so, why are so many people stressed out by doing less during the pandemic? Stress is confusing because the concept is built on a questionable foundation. Tobacco companies paid researchers to show that a big rise in heart disease in the mid 20th century was caused by stress. But that w…

1
28. Why Social Media Has Misinformation Overload w/ David Rand & Gordon Pennycook 27:46

3y ago27:46

27:46

Science doesn’t lend itself to fact checking, since science isn’t a set of facts but a process for finding things out. That’s why Facebook got criticized for deleting posts suggesting the virus causing Covid-19 might have had something to do with a lab accident. The reality is we don’t know where the virus came from. This week, social scientists Da…

1
27. What the Mainstream Media Got Wrong About the Pandemic w/ David Leonhardt, David Wallace-Wells & Gary Schwitzer 34:23

3y ago34:23

34:23

Newspapers, magazines and television played a critical role in informing people about the pandemic, and many news outlets did a good job. But some also fed misconceptions – often exaggerating risks, or equating small risks with large ones, as well as dismissing those who suggested a possible lab leak origin of the pandemic as conspiracy theorists. …

1
26. A Brief History of Lab Errors, Germ Warfare, and Secrecy w/ Jamie Metzl & Bill Sargent 34:04

3y ago34:04

34:04

We were told the first person to get Covid-19 was probably a rural farmer or hunter or trafficker in wildlife, but now the attention has turned to the possibility it was a scientist or lab technician. In this episode I’ll try to give that idea some historical context. Jamie Metzl is a WHO advisor and former State Department official who talks about…

1
25. Our Post-Vaccine Future w/ Monica Gandhi 36:13

3y ago36:13

36:13

The history of Covid-19 is already littered with bad predictions. There are exceptions, such as AIDS expert Monica Gandhi, who foresaw from the first clinical trial results that the pandemic would wane where vaccines – and good public health information - were readily available. Her vision of the future now is that Covid will fade as a major source…

1
24. Hazardous Research at Virology Labs w/ Richard Ebright 27:52

3y ago27:52

27:52

What is going on in virology labs around the world? Are they really using genetic technology to create superviruses? Though scientists still don’t know whether a lab accident had anything to do with the start of Covid-19, the possibility has raised questions about dangers lurking in labs. Biologist Richard Ebright, a professor at Rutgers University…

1
23. Can We End This Nightmare Yet? w/ Babak Javid 24:07

3y ago24:07

24:07

Life suddenly feels normal in the United States, with Covid cases down, hospitals clearing out, and people taking off their masks. But India, recently praised for controlling the virus, is now immersed in a crisis worse than anything seen so far in the pandemic. UCSF physician and infectious disease expert Babak Javid talks with me about the changi…

1
22. The Painfully Slow Return to Normalcy w/ Denis Nash & Tana Smith 22:45

3y ago22:45

22:45

On Friday, the CDC finally told vaccinated people they don’t have to wear masks anymore except in a planes, public transportation and a handful of other places. It’s an important step in the return to normalcy, but why now? And what’s taken so long? And when will CDC let up on children? In the days before the mask recommendation changed, I grilled …

1
21. Why We Feel Naked Without a Mask w/ Mark Changizi 24:25

3y ago24:25

24:25

People around the country have changed their behavior in big and small ways that don’t always line up with rules or guidelines to prevent Covid-19. People flout rules and take risks, and then take measures that go far beyond the rules, including wearing masks outdoors in situations where CDC says it’s not necessary. Neurobiologist Mark Changizi has…

1
20. The Fake Science Detectives w/ David Sangers & Elisabeth Bik 31:54

3y ago31:54

31:54

To cheat is human – and cheating affects most human endeavors, even science. Fake science refers to a growing problem with papers that look like they describe real experimental results but the data are made up, or copied from someone else’s work, often on a different disease altogether. Meet two scientists who’ve volunteered to become fake paper sl…

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Faye Flam Podcasts

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