Podcast appearances and mentions of Katherine J Wu

The acting head of the NIH reportedly pushed back against legal guidance to resume grant funding, leaving federal workers in the lurch. Also, though fungi make up a tiny part of the human microbiome, they play an important role in both the prevention and development of many diseases.Cuts And Conflicting Directives Sow Confusion For NIH WorkersJust over a month after President Trump's inauguration, federal science in the US is in a state of disarray. Executive orders to halt grant funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have faced court challenges. Last week, a federal judge extended a restraining order on a proposal to cap NIH grant funding for indirect costs, costs that experts say are critical to their work. But according to new reporting, staff within the NIH have been left without clear guidance about moving forward with those grants, with the NIH's acting director reportedly pushing back against legal guidance from the agency's lawyers to restart distribution of the funding.Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Katherine J. Wu, staff writer for The Atlantic, who reported on the turmoil at the NIH. They also talk about other science news of the week, including an update on the measles outbreak in Texas, how to see every planet in the solar system this week, and how scientists think runner Faith Kipeygon could be the first woman to break a four-minute mile.You've Heard Of The Microbiome—Welcome To The MycobiomeYou've heard of the microbiome, the community of bacteria, viruses, archaea parasites, and fungi that live in our bodies. But that last member of the group, fungi, get a lot less attention than the others. And perhaps that's unsurprising. After all, bacteria outnumber fungi 999 to 1 in our guts.But now, scientists are beginning to piece together just how important fungi truly are. Disruption in the fungal balance can play a role in the development of Crohn's disease, irritable bowel disease, celiac disease, colorectal cancer, some skin diseases, and more.Host Flora Lichtman talks with Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, microbiologist and professor at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine, who has dedicated his career to studying the fungi in our bodies, and coined the term mycobiome over a decade ago.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

A six-week abortion ban took effect in Florida this week, dramatically restricting access to the procedure not just in the nation's third-most-populous state but across the South. Patients from states with even more restrictive bans had been flooding in since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.Meanwhile, the CEO of the health behemoth UnitedHealth Group appeared before committees in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers grilled him about the February cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare and how its ramifications are being felt months later.Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News' Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.Julie Rovner: ProPublica's “A Doctor at Cigna Said Her Bosses Pressured Her To Review Patients' Cases Too Quickly. Cigna Threatened To Fire Her,” by Patrick Rucker, The Capitol Forum, and David Armstrong, ProPublica.Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Associated Press' “Dozens of Deaths Reveal Risks of Injecting Sedatives Into People Restrained by Police,” by Ryan J. Foley, Carla K. Johnson, and Shelby Lum.Sarah Karlin-Smith: The Atlantic's “America's Infectious-Disease Barometer Is Off,” by Katherine J. Wu.Rachana Pradhan: The Wall Street Journal's “Millions of American Kids Are Caregivers Now: ‘The Hardest Part Is That I'm Only 17,” by Clare Ansberry.Click here for a transcript of the episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RSV has reached epidemic levels in the southern US. Also, beech leaf disease is spreading rapidly in Massachusetts.RSV Drug For Infants In Short SupplyRespiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is a common illness that—for most—looks like a common cold. But for infants, it can be an intense illness, leading to hospitalization. That's why it was a relief for parents and physicians when an immunization drug for all infants was approved in July.However, it's become clear the demand for the drug is greater than the supply. This week, the CDC issued an alert about the drug's limited availability, and recommended that only infants under 6 months and those with underlying health conditions receive it until further notice. An RSV spike in the southern US has reached seasonal epidemic levels, a sign that transmission will likely climb in other areas soon.Katherine J. Wu, science writer for The Atlantic, joins guest host Flora Lichtman to chat about this story as well as mouse mummies in the Andes, Hurricane Otis defying forecasts, a secret benefit of “Asian glow,” and other big news from the week.Beech Leaf Disease Is Spreading Rapidly in MassachusettsA new tree disease has spread in forests in Massachusetts, joining invasive pests and climate change as top priorities for foresters to address.The state has found beech leaf disease in more than 90 communities since it was first discovered in the state in 2020.“Lately this has been one of our biggest concerns and my team devotes a lot of time to it. We do expect to see a lot of long-term impact and trees lost from it,” said Nicole Keleher, forest health program director at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.Beech leaf disease is caused by an unusual parasite: a nematode, which is a microscopic roundworm, that infects the leaves and buds. Researchers believe that it may be spread by birds, insects and wind. This makes it more difficult to treat than visible insects like the emerald ash borer that can be somewhat contained by asking people not to transport wood between forests, according to Keleher.Infected leaves can develop dark patches or stripes, and often will curl up. The infection causes the tree's leaves to fall off and can eventually starve the tree, which can die within a few years.Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.To stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters. Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

We bring back these episodes originally released in April 2022 about extra doses and the confusion of using the word booster. We talk about getting certain terms in the graveyard of tearing down terminology and  making sure folks understand what these extra vaccine doses are all about.  How many do we need??  And why are scientists and medical doctors not agreeing??  How do we manage the vaccine fatigue, the inequity and the inconvenience? How you decide for yourself using a risk benefit and alternative analysis, and what is the deal with the 87 dose man???  And isn't big pharma just saying we need this for them to get rich and we are just tiring the immune system??  You are not sheep!  You are survivors! Email us your questions and comments at DrToniandDrAimee@gmail.com.Check out our YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/@helpmakeitmakesense6769Thanks to Jeff Jeudy as always for providing the tunes!!!Shout out to Shared Harvest for sponsoring this episodehttps://www.sharedharvestfund.org/1.  Ravindra K. GuptaEric J. Topol.  COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections.   Science, 374 (6575), • DOI: 10.1126/science.abl8487 2.  Katherine J Wu.  America Created Its Own Booster Problems.  The Atlantic. April 12, 20223.  https://fortune.com/2020/11/09/pfizer-vaccine-funding-warp-speed-germany/4.  Offit, P.  Covid-19 Boosters---Where from here? NEJM April 2022. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe2203329

Today you'll learn about how a bolt of lightning created a brand new, never before seen material, how researchers can tell how stressed you are by listening to you type on your keyboard, and a new study that suggests elephants are more like humans than we ever thought. Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/lightning-material-typing-stress-domesticated-elephantsLightning Material “USF geoscientist discovers new phosphorus material after New Port Richey lightning strike.” by Cassidy Delamarter. 2023.https://www.usf.edu/news/2023/usf-geoscientist-discovers-new-phosphorus-material-after-new-port-richey-lightning-strike.aspx“Routes to reduction of phosphate by high-energy events.” by Luca Bindi, et al. 2023.https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00736-2“Lightning.” National Geographic. N.d.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/lightning?loggedin=true&rnd=1681824031573Typing Stress “Detecting stress in the office from how people type and click.” by Christoph Elhardt. 2023.https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2023/04/detecting-stress-in-the-office-from-how-people-type-and-click.html“Workplace Stress.” OSHA. N.D.https://www.osha.gov/workplace-stressDomesticated Elephants “Elephants may be domesticating themselves.” by Virginia Morell. 2023.https://www.science.org/content/article/elephants-may-be-domesticating-themselves“Elephants as an animal model for self-domestication.” by Limor Raviv, et al. 2023.https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2208607120“You Asked: How are pets different from wild animals?” by Katherine J. Wu. 2018.https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/asked-pets-different-wild-animals/Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 5, 2023 is: abscond • ab-SKAHND • verb To abscond is to leave, flee, or escape a place in secret and go into hiding. Often, someone is said to have absconded with something. // The suspect absconded to Canada before investigators could reach her at home. // He became concerned that one of his co-conspirators would abscond with the money. See the entry > Examples: “Squirrels snarf hard taco shells, and abscond with Nutella jars; subway rats chow down on pizza, while seagulls have ripped fries and even a KFC wrap straight out of human mouths.” — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2023 Did you know? In “Take the Money and Run,” a 1976 earworm by the Steve Miller Band, the singer punctuates a song about teenage bandits with the catchy refrain “Go on, take the money and run.” Granted, the song probably wouldn't have charted had it been titled “Abscond,” but the meaning would have been the same. Abscond is a word most often used in formal writing for when someone is running and hiding from the law, often with cash or other ill-gotten gains. In legal circles it's used specifically when someone flies like an eagle from a jurisdiction to evade the legal process, as in “absconded from parole.” The history of abscond doesn't evade scrutiny: it comes from the Latin verb abscondere, meaning “to hide away.” (That word's root is condere, meaning “to conceal.”) Today, whether some joker absconds by going to the country to bury some treasure or by taking a jet airliner beyond the law's reach, they are, in essence, hiding themselves away.

In this week's episode, we take a look at the mysterious and deceptive world of psychics. Part 1: Rich Tackenberg is skeptical when a psychic tells him there's something wrong with his car. Part 2: Science journalist Katherine J. Wu interviews neuroscientists Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik to get a better idea of how psychics, like the one from Rich Tackenberg's story, operate. Rich Tackenberg is: a happily married gadget geek, a new homeowner, an SNL apologist, an Apple fanboy, a recent convert to tea, a dog owner, a recovering people-pleaser, a comedy nerd, an LA resident, a New York native, a snob about disposable pens, and (most importantly) a big fan of lists.  Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik are award-winning neuroscientists and professors at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center. They are best known for their studies on perception, illusions, and attentional misdirection in stage magic. They produce the annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest, now in its 13th edition, and are the authors of the international bestseller Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday Deceptions and Champions of Illusion: The Science Behind Mind-Boggling Images and Mystifying Brain Puzzles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today you'll learn about a new process that could turn plastic waste and CO2 into lipstick, how cold and flu season isn't different, you are, and a way to turn the forest into farmland without cutting down trees. Plastic Waste Fuel  “Could waste plastic become a useful fuel source?” by Katherine Latham. 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64703976“Our planet is choking on plastic.” n.a. N.d.https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/Colds Got Worse? “Colds Haven't Changed. So Why Do They Suddenly Feel So Bad?” by Katherine J. Wu. 2023. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/02/common-cold-virus-symptoms-immunity/673193/“The National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System.” CDC. 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/index.html“BIOFORE Syndromic Trends.” n.a. 2023. https://syndromictrends.com/Trees and Mushrooms  “Growing mushrooms alongside trees could feed millions and mitigate effects of climate change, research finds.” n.a. 2023. https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2023/march-2023-news/growing-mushrooms-alongside-trees-could-feed-millions-and-mitigate-effects-of-climate-change-research-finds/“Edible fungi crops through mycoforestry, potential for carbon negative food production and mitigation of food and forestry conflicts.” by Paul W. Thomas & Alistair S. Jump. 2023. https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2220079120“Edible mycorrhizal fungi of the world: What is their role in forest sustainability, food security, biocultural conservation and climate change?” by Jesus Perez-Moreno, et al. 2021. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10199#:~:text=Edible%20mycorrhizal%20fungi%3A%20This%20name,different%20cultures%20around%20the%20world.Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.

Dirty Diapers Reveal How Germy Babies' Microbiomes Are In a new study, researchers picked through the dirty diapers of more than 600 infants. Those stinky diapers were a gold mine of info—they contained more than 10,000 virus species. And though it may sound terrifying, those viruses play a key role in babies' microbiomes. Guest host and SciFri producer Kathleen Davis talks with Katherine J. Wu, staff writer at The Atlantic about this story and other science news of the week. They chat about climate change's influence on the twilight zone, what critters can be found on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a surprising twist in the story of Mars' moon Deimos, the impressive sleeping habits of elephant seals, and why insects seem to flock to the light when it's dark out.   From Backyards To Barn Yards, The Surprising Science Of Chickens Raising backyard chickens continues to grow in popularity. The number of households in the United States with a backyard flock jumped from 8% in 2018 to 13% in 2020, according to a survey by the American Pet Products Association. But our fondness for chickens is hardly new. The relationship between humans and chickens goes back thousands of years, to when humans began domesticating the red junglefowl native to Southeast Asia. Guest host Sophie Bushwick has a compre(hen)sive conversation with Tove Danovich, freelance journalist and author of the new book Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them, about how she was charmed by her own backyard chickens, the history of their domestication, and the surprising science of chicken intelligence.   Why Climate Activists Are Turning To Drastic Measures For Earth Day this year, people all over the world took to the streets to demand climate action. But as large and loud as these protests can be, they are often met with inaction. So activists are ramping up their efforts. Just within the last year, we've seen people chain themselves to banks, throw mashed potatoes at a Monet painting, shut down highways, and even glue themselves to museum walls, all in the name of climate justice. Those actions went viral and really seemed to strike a nerve. How did we end up here? Guest host Kathleen Davis talks with Dr. Dana Fisher, professor of sociology at the University of Maryland College Park, about the state of climate activism and the tactics at play.   Recasting The Climate Movement In ‘How To Blow Up A Pipeline' Climate activism is getting the big screen treatment this spring, with the new film “How to Blow Up a Pipeline.” This action-packed heist film follows a group of young climate activists, disillusioned by the slow pace of climate action, who decide to take drastic action in the name of the climate. What follows is a tense ‘will they-won't they' story set in Texas oil country. The name of this movie comes from a 2021 nonfiction book by Andreas Malm. That book is a manifesto that argues that property damage and sabotage is the only way forward for climate activism. The movie features characters who struggle with this question, and whether there's a different way to accomplish their climate goals. Guest host Kathleen Davis speaks with Ariela Barer, who co-wrote, produced, and acted in the film. They chat about bringing this complicated topic to the big screen, and creating characters reflective of the real-life climate movement.   Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.  

Julio and guest co-host Renée Graham, opinion columnist at The Boston Globe, get into the latest CDC guidance and the investigations into former President Donald Trump, including the FBI's search at Mar-a-Lago and the investigation into 2020 election interference in Georgia. They also recap this week's primaries, from Representative Liz Cheney's loss in Wyoming to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's run for Congress. This episode was mixed by Rosana Cabán. ITT Staff Picks: “By some estimates, roughly three-quarters of the country harbors at least some immunity to recent variants. But those tools and others remain disproportionately available to the socioeconomically privileged,” writes Katherine J. Wu about the coronavirus pandemic's “soft closing” in this piece for The Atlantic. “Nobody from Trump to Tucker would be able to threaten American democracy without the willingness of white conservative voters to trash everything to keep themselves in power,” writes Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation in this piece.  Aaron Rupar and Noah Berlatsky write about how Trump is an ongoing danger and will continue to commit crimes if he is not held accountable, in this piece for Public Notice. Photo credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

Jeff and Phil welcome journalist Katherine J. Wu, who covers science as staff writer for The Atlantic. She talks about joining science with storytelling, where we went wrong (and right) with our collective pandemic response, and the most erroneous assumptions we're making about COVID right now. This episode is paid for by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Find boosters near you at vaccines.gov. #WeCanDoThis. 

John and Craig tackle the third question every development executive asks: “why now?” What makes an idea relevant to the moment? They offer ways writers can think about this early on in their process, including reframing it as “how now?” instead. We then talk about reversals and look at how they work on the page, using a scene from Chernobyl. This week's follow up includes discussions on abortion access, post-release editing, and the impact of cancelling an almost-finished movie. In our bonus segment for premium members, the guys debate when to engage with stupid people and when it's best to ignore them. Links: Lots of exciting updates for premium members coming up, sign up for a membership here! WGA Health Plan covers travel for abortion-related expenses More Than 400 TV Showrunners Demand Netflix, Disney and More Offer Safety Protocols in Anti-Abortion States Batgirl Shelved Netflix Retroactively Editing Stranger Things The Falconer by Annie Kaempfer, watch here! Follow along with this discussion on reversals – Chernobyl scene here, full script here. Antlers Do What No Other Bones Can by Katherine J. Wu for The Atlantic House of DaVinci 3 video game Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription! Craig Mazin on Twitter John August on Twitter John on Instagram Outro by Nico Mansy (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at ask@johnaugust.com You can download the episode here.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 15, 2022 is: akimbo • uh-KIM-boh • adjective or adverb Akimbo means "having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward." It is also used in the broader sense of "set in a bent position." // The model, arms akimbo, struck a pose at the end of the runway. See the entry > Examples: "When these little frogs jump, they leap spectacularly, their airborne bodies imbued with all hope.... In their final descent, the toadlets sometimes reach for a handhold, but the effort is for naught. They crash to the ground, arms akimbo, landing not on their forelimbs with grace, but on their butt, their belly, their back, their head, in bouncing-beach-ball defeat." — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 15 June 2022 Did you know? It's akimbo nowadays, but in Middle English, the adverbial phrase in kenebowe was used for the bent, hand-on-hip arm (or later, for any bent position). Originally, the term was fairly neutral, but now saying that a person is standing with "arms akimbo" implies a posture that communicates defiance, confidence, aggressiveness, or arrogance.

“The appearance of the anus was momentous in animal evolution, turning a one-hole digestive sac into an open-ended tunnel,” writes Katherine J. Wu in her Atlantic piece, “The Body's Most Embarrassing Organ Is an Evolutionary Marvel,” set to appear in this year's Best American Science and Nature Writing. Yet societal taboos can keep us from talking about this evolutionary marvel, and that “creates a bit of a blind spot—one that keeps us from understanding a fundamental aspect of our own biology.” Wu joins us to celebrate the anus and its biology, and to hear how you talk about – or avoid talking about – the anus and other underappreciated body parts.

With travel mask mandates dropping, increasing cases, and more COVID variants, precaution exhaustion is real, but the pandemic is far from over. Guest host Juana Summers talks with science writer Katherine J. Wu of The Atlantic about how the U.S. has moved from a collective approach to an individual-focused mindset in its handling of the pandemic.Then, Juana is joined by Kellie Carter Jackson and Leah Wright Rigueur, hosts of the new Oprahdemics podcast, to talk about Oprah Winfrey's reign as 'Queen of Talk' and her influence on the culture. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at ibam@npr.org.

In this episode, we continue to tear down terminology and give you the tools to understand the purpose of extra doses, how you decide for yourself using a risk benefit and alternative analysis, and what is the deal with the 87 dose man???  And isn't big pharma just saying we need this for them to get rich and we are just tiring the immune system??  You are not sheep!  You are survivors! Email us your questions and comments at DrToniandDrAimee@gmail.com.Thanks to Jeff Jeudy as always for providing the tunes!!!1.  Ravindra K. GuptaEric J. Topol.  COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections.   Science, 374 (6575), • DOI: 10.1126/science.abl8487 2.  Katherine J Wu.  America Created Its Own Booster Problems.  The Atlantic. April 12, 20223.  https://fortune.com/2020/11/09/pfizer-vaccine-funding-warp-speed-germany/4.  Offit, P.  Covid-19 Boosters---Where from here? NEJM April 2022. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe2203329

In this episode, we talk about getting certain terms in the graveyard of tearing down terminology and  making sure folks understand what these extra vaccine doses are all about.  How many do we need??  And why are scientists and medical doctors not agreeing??  How do we manage the vaccine fatigue, the inequity and the inconvenience? Email us your questions and comments at DrToniandDrAimee@gmail.com.1.  Ravindra K. GuptaEric J. Topol.  COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections.   Science, 374 (6575), • DOI: 10.1126/science.abl8487 2.  Katherine J Wu.  America Created Its Own Booster Problems.  The Atlantic. April 12, 20223.  https://fortune.com/2020/11/09/pfizer-vaccine-funding-warp-speed-germany/4.  Offit, P.  Covid-19 Boosters---Where from here? NEJM April 2022. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe2203329

Hey waddayaknow? There are more variants in the news. Back when Omicron was first making headlines at the end of last year, we made a Breaking News Consumer's Handbooks: Variant Edition. Brooke spoke to Katherine J. Wu, a staff writer at The Atlantic who covers science, to review the steps a news consumer can take to stay informed minus the anxiety.  Breaking News Consumer's Handbook: Variant Edition (Andrea Latimer/WNYC) For a linkable text equivalent, a pdf version is available here. This is a segment from our December 3rd, 2021 program, Pigeon With A Mustache.

Gaby read an article in the Atlantic called "The Never-Aging Ants With a Terrible Secret: A parasite gives its hosts the appearance of youth, and an unmatched social power in the colony" by Katherine J. Wu and asks what if humans could experience this bizarre, better that your average parasitic experience? So Matt volunteers to become Queen for a day... or a decade... until he's eaten by a Polar Bear. Ya never know what the IF will bring, and this week, it's a doozy, so grab your golden crown and prepare to live large in your social group when you get the tapeworm that makes you royal! Here's the Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/05/ant-tapeworm/618919/ And here's the original scientific paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8131941/ --- Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Email us at feedback@whattheif.com and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! --- Want to support the show? Check out our membership rewards at Patreon.com/Whattheif And you can review the show on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Don't miss an episode! Subscribe at WhatTheIF.com Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

Katherine J. Wu of the Atlantic tells us that virologists don't mean what WE mean when they say the Omicron variant of COVID is "milder" - that misunderstanding is leading to a lot of poor public health decisions, letting our guard down around a still-fatal pandemic. Then, we look over Ryan Cooper's piece in the week, entitled "Wisconsin's One-Party Rule is What the GOP Wants Everywhere" and how, despite having a Democratic governor, virtually all policy in the state is under the thumb of the Republicans. Finally we review the findings that 2021 had the hottest ocean temperatures on record, and what that means for the future. All that and more on TMI for Friday, January 14, 2022 - listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

In this episode, we set out to explore whether false narratives about the pandemic and the COVID-19 vaccines have overshadowed science or whether science has managed to hold its own, particularly in light of the politicization of the pandemic.Politics has certainly influenced who has chosen to get vaccinated. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “there continue to be differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates along partisan lines, a gap that has grown over time.” The Kaiser study showed that almost 53 percent of people who live in counties that voted for Biden were fully vaccinated compared to nearly 40 percent of people in counties that went to Trump. To better understand why people continue to reject overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the safety of the vaccines when compared to the dangers posed by the virus, we spoke to three people to learn more about the false narratives surrounding COVID-19 and the vaccines. Our first guest is Dr. Katherine J. Wu, a staff writer for The Atlantic who has a PhD in microbiology and immunobiology from Harvard University and has covered many different aspects of the coronavirus since the pandemic began. She tells us that when there is a crisis like this pandemic, it's not unusual for misinformation to follow and spread confusion.Our second guest is Texas resident Tony Green, a Republican voter who has written about his first-hand experience with COVID-19. In June 2020, Green and his partner invited six family members to spend the weekend at their home in Dallas. At the time, Green was still referring to the pandemic as a “scamdemic” — wildly blown out of proportion. But over the course of that weekend, he developed symptoms of COVID-19 that would eventually land him and some his extended family in the hospital. In all, the virus spread to 14 members of his family and took the lives of two of them. (Starts at 18:25).Our third and final guest is U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy who tells us why he issued his “Confronting Health Misinformation” advisory and a special toolkit to help people learn how to navigate their way through all the false and misleading information not just about the virus and vaccines, but about all kinds of health-related topics. (Starts at 35:32).Is that a fact? is brought to you by the nonpartisan, non-profit News Literacy Project. For more information, go to newslit.org.Related links: Confronting Health Misinformation: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Building a Health Information EnvironmentA Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation“What are we so afraid of?” Tony Green, as told to Saslow, Washington PostA harsh lesson in the reality of COVID-19, Tony Green, DallasVoiceCoronavirus reporting, by Katherine J. Wu

By now, the new coronavirus variant has been detected in dozens of countries – including the U.S. On this week's On the Media, hear what pigeons can tell us about how to react to the omicron variant. Plus, why we should know the names of the scientists in Botswana, South Africa, and Hong Kong who found the new strain. And what rights we do, and don't, have when it comes to when we die.  1. Katherine J. Wu [@KatherineJWu], staff writer at The Atlantic covering science, on what we do (and mostly don't) know about the new omicron variant. Listen. 2. Jeremy Kamil [@macroliter], associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, on the scientists who found omicron, and why we should know their names. Listen. 3. Katie Engelhart [@katieengelhart], journalist and New America fellow, on the complicated right to die. Listen. Music from this week's show: Horizon 12.2 - Thomas NewmanEye Surgery - Thomas NewmanSlow Pulse Conga  - William PasleyCello Song - Nick DrakeBerceuse in D Flat Major, Op. 57 (Chopin) - Ivan MoravecTime After Time (Cyndi Lauper) - Miles Davis

From boosters to breakthrough infections, pandemic vocabulary is still all over the news. On this week's On the Media, why the terms we use to talk about the virus obscure as much as they reveal. And, why the history of medical progress is filled with so many twists and turns. Plus, why a preference for simple stories has made it so hard to keep track of the pandemic.  1. Katherine J. Wu [@KatherineJWu], staff writer at The Atlantic, on the slippery definitions of our pandemic vocabulary. Listen. 2. Dr. Paul Offit [@DrPaulOffit], professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, on why medical progress always carries risk. Listen. 3. OTM correspondent Micah Loewinger [@MicahLoewinger] speaks with Soren Wheeler [@SorenWheeler] and Rachael Piltch-Loeb [@Rpiltchloeb] about why the narrative arc of the COVID-19 pandemic has been deeply unsatisfying. With some help from Kurt Vonnegut. Listen. Music: In the Bath - Randy Newman Milestones - Bill Evans Trio Paperback Writer - Quartetto d'Archi Dell'orchestra Sinfonica di Giuseppe Verdi Quizas Quizas Quizas - Ramon Sole  Misterioso - Kronos Quartet Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Brad Mehldau Trio  

Eugene and Charis discuss the recent rebranding the CIA launched to attract more diverse employees. They also talk about the 2021 Public Domain Day and what it means for works to enter the public domain. 00:04:25 CIA rebrand 00:19:42 Public Domain Day CIA rebrands to encourage diversity but identity of logo designer remains top secret by Cajsa Carlson Start of 2020 Ushers Thousands of Once-Copyrighted Works Into the Public Domain by Katherine J. Wu Support us at patreon.com/maekan and join our community, which includes weekly newsletters and a vibrant Discord. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/maekanitup/message

How well you fare in fighting a new pathogen like SARS-CoV2 depends in large part on how your immune system responds to—and kills—the virus. The immune system’s job is to protect you from invasions, both right after you’re infected as well as when you encounter similar viruses in the future. As the pandemic marches on, we still don’t know exactly how our immune systems tackle this virus. The people who get the sickest seem to have an exaggerated, but ineffective immune response that turns on their own bodies. Others have lasting symptoms, sometimes for months. Immune responses even seem to vary based on your sex. Increasingly, research suggests that COVID-19 is a disease like many others, at least in some important ways. Your body remembers the virus, and may therefore fight it more effectively the next time you encounter it—which has big implications for eventually developing an effective vaccine. Immunobiologist Deepta Bhattacharya and New York Times science journalist Katherine J. Wu talk to Ira about the complicated and varied response of the immune system to SARS-CoV2—and why current research suggests we can be optimistic about gaining long-lasting immunity from future COVID-19 vaccines. Plus, cephalopods—mollusks like octopus, squid, and cuttlefish—seem to universally excite people. Many marine enthusiasts have a favorite, from the color-changing octopus to the multi chambered nautilus. But these smart, colorful undersea creatures also raise a lot of questions. How do they move? How do they change shape and color? How intelligent are they? How do researchers study these animals? Squid biologist Sarah McAnulty answers listeners’ questions, and catches us up on the latest cephalopod news.  And Hurricane Laura made landfall Wednesday night in Louisiana after strengthening from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm in less than a day. As residents try to find shelter in pandemic-safe ways, meteorologists are warning of an “unsurvivable” storm surge reaching as far as 30 miles inland. National Geographic editor Nsikan Akpan describes the factors that have caused the storm to so quickly gain strength. Plus, why recent changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations on who should get a coronavirus test and when people should quarantine are alarming epidemiologists and other experts—and other news from the week. 

Cytokine storm is when the body’s immune response goes into an overdrive and attacks healthy cells and organs, leading to death. ThePrint’s Sandhya Ramesh takes a look at why this happens among severe Covid patients and how drugs are being developed to treat this. ----more----Read Katherine J. Wu's report here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/health/coronavirus-immune-system.html Watch the Pure Science on how immune system works here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UZuMHHB3Ro&list=PLfa0eRI2uIaSF0WKEDAEHP024wsf_gLYb&index=10Read the research paper on immunological misfiring here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2588-y 

This week we present two stories about people struggling with their identity. Part 1: When science journalist Katherine Wu interviews a scientist about a new facial recognition algorithm, the conversation turns more personal than she expected. Part 2: Hurricane Katrina gives Mary Annaise Heglar a new perspective on both her grandfather and home state. Katherine J. Wu is a Boston-based science journalist and storyteller whose writing has appeared in Smithsonian magazine, Scientific American, NOVA Next, and more. She's also a senior producer for The Story Collider. In 2018, she earned a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunobiology from Harvard University, where she studied how bacteria deal with stress so she could one day learn to do the same. She can spell "tacocat" backwards. Mary Annaise Heglar is a climate justice essayist and communications professional based in New York City. Her writing has been published in Vox, Dame Magazine, Zora, and Inverse. She writes regularly on Medium and rants almost daily on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why aren't we curing the world's most curable diseases? Some tropical diseases can be treated with very inexpensive daily treatments yet they aren't. Katherine J. Wu, Candidate in Microbiology at Harvard University discusses why people are still suffering from diseases.