The podcast of the month this month is one of my all time favorites. It’s called Science for the People.
If you want to learn a lot about science this podcast is exactly what I would recommend. Every week they interview a different author/ scientist/ researcher about something they have published. Each episode is about an hour long and incredibly informative. The really cool thing is that every episode is full of information about one specific topic and you really learn a lot about the science behind it.
I have just recently started listening so I have only listened to about 20 episodes, however, it is first on my list whenever I get a chance to listen. Unfortunately my podcast app has an issue with downloading the episodes so I can only listen when I’m in an area where I get great service.
My favorite episodes so far have been:
Episode #536: let them eat dirt. They interview Dr Bretty Finlay about his book about letting kids be exposed to germs. It was amazing and really made me feel better about my anti-antibacterial stance on child rearing.
Episode #532: a class conversation. In this one they talk with Daniel Laurison, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Swarthmore College and coauthor of the book “The Class Ceiling: Why it Pays to be Privileged”, about class and its impacts on people and our systems.
I loved that they really went in depth into how different people define class and the issues with the definitions and why we shouldn’t be so quick to judge those we don’t view as middle or upper class. It’s pretty fascinating.
Honorable mentions: The climate doomsday episode was one of my favorites because I had just finished reading David Wallace-Wells’s new book on climate change and it was fantastic getting to hear him talk.abiut it right after finishing it.
Also the prosperity without growth because I have been independently studying economics over the past 6 or 7 years and found what Tim Jackson had to say. I was so impressed that apparently I couldn’t stop mentioning how much I wanted to read his book Prosperity Without Growth, so C bought it for me for my birthday! I was elated to say the least.
Finally the best episode is apparently a yearly episode they put out for the holidays. It’s entitled “give a nerd a gift” and it goes over all the best nerd gifts of the year both in books and non books. The book list gives me my reading list for the year (I’ve already read 3 books on the list) and the non book list gave me ideas for at least three gifts this year. Actually I ended up giving everyone on my list who wasn’t a small child something from this episode.
Lastly if you donate at least $5 a month they will send you amazing swag on a different super awesome little known scientist every year. This year they celebrated Mary Golda Ross, if you don’t know a out her look her up. She’s beyond amazing.
Needless to say if you are a science nerd this podcast is a must for you. Go listen. Now. Also tell them I sent you!
