Podcast appearances and mentions of sarah zhang

Early in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists predicted the SARS-CoV-2 virus would mutate slowly. They were wrong. Hundreds of thousands of viral mutations and multiple seasonal waves later, we now know why. The answer changes researchers' understanding of viral evolution — and it could help predict the evolution of other viruses in the future. Emily talks about it all with Sarah Zhang, a health writer for The Atlantic. Want to hear more virology or human biology stories? Let us know by emailing shortwave@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This election could all come down to abortion. Laura Bassett from The Cut and Sarah Zhang from The Atlantic have both been writing about the issue and how it's playing into this election. Sarah's recent piece in The Atlantic examined how Idaho's draconian abortion laws have set the state's healthcare back for women. Laura has been writing about the issue for years and says that it poses a serious threat to Ted Cruz's reelection campaign in Texas. NYC! Come see a live taping of the Al Franken Podcast. We'll be joined by Jessica Taylor, Jeremy Peters and Mark Jong-Fast with Mark Leibovich. Get your tickets today! https://www.alfranken.com/appearancesRead Laura's writing in The Cut: https://www.thecut.com/author/laura-bassett/Subscribe to Laura's Substack called Nightcap: https://www.laura-bassett.com/Read Sarah Zhang's incredible piece on Idaho abortion laws in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/10/abortion-ban-idaho-ob-gyn-maternity-care/679567/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we discuss the transformative impact of AI on truth and reality, focusing on a thought-provoking article from The Verge by Sarah Zhang titled 'No One's Ready for This.' We explore the implications of AI-generated deepfakes and manipulated images, emphasizing the challenge of distinguishing real from fake in a digital age. We delve into philosophical and ethical dilemmas posed by AI advancements, touching upon topics ranging from fake news to future social dynamics, with references to historical and political contexts. Larry's suggestion of integrating insights from a younger, digitally-savvy generation highlights the evolving digital landscape, questioning the future reliability of images and information online.   00:00 Introduction: The AI Show Idea   00:39 Debate on AI's Role in Content Creation   01:21 Introducing Larry Bot   01:44 Discussion on AI and Photography   02:38 Impact of Fake Photos on Society   03:31 The Future of Truth in Media   08:02 Technological Savvy of the Younger Generation   12:45 Ethical Dilemmas and Future Conversations   14:18 Conclusion: Reflecting on the Future   No one's ready for this   smarticlepodcast@gmail.com   #genzmen #genz #aifakes #pixel9 #fakephotos #deepfakes #whatistruth #whatisreal  #smarticlepodcast #podcast #smarticle @Smarticleshow  @BDDoble @larryolson threads.net/@smarticleshow @brand.dobes The Smarticle Podcast  https://www.smarticlepodcast.com/

Send us a textExploring ANZA Cycling: Community, Safety, and Enthusiasm with Sarah ZhangIn this episode, Sarah Zhang, the new events director for ANZA Cycling, shares her journey as an expat and her involvement with the cycling community in Singapore. Highlights include her background, her experience joining ANZA during the pandemic, and the supportive environment for new members. Sarah discusses cycling gear specifics, safety procedures, various rides the club offers, and her vision for future events. She emphasises the importance of community, how ANZA Cycling fosters friendships, and offers advice for those interested in joining. The episode concludes with details on how to get involved and upcoming events.00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:37 Sarah's Expat Journey01:20 Joining ANZA Cycling Club02:08 Cycling Experience and Challenges03:28 Cycling Gear and Safety05:21 ANZA Cycling Club Activities10:26 Cycling Trips and Adventures14:57 Exploring the Role of an Events Director15:22 Upcoming Workshops and Training Sessions16:37 Joining the Cycling Club: Steps and Requirements19:03 Cycling with Family: Encouraging Youth Participation20:03 Memorable Rides and Personal Experiences24:01 Advice for New Cyclists25:33 The Community Spirit of ANZA Cycling26:53 Conclusion and How to Get InvolvedGet in touch with Sarah or ANZA Cycling:Website: https://www.anza.org.sg/sports/cycling/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ANZACyclingemail/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anzacycling/Email: membership@anzacycling.comRemember, the conversation doesn't end here. Join us on our social media platforms to share your thoughts and continue the dialogue:Email: podcast@trulyexpat.comFacebook Page: Truly Expat PodcastInstagram: @trulyexpatpodcastTikTok: @trulyexpatpodcastLinkedin: Truly Expat PodcastWebsite: www.trulyexpatlifestyle.comPodcast: https://podcast.trulyexpatlifestyle.comThanks for tuning in to our latest episode. Subscribe for more valuable insights and information for expats in Singapore and beyond.

NBC reporter Lawrence Hurley explains how Donald Trump could win at the Supreme Court even if his broad immunity argument is rejected. Finding matched donors for bone-marrow transplants has always been a major challenge. A repurposed drug has solved that problem. Sarah Zhang from The Atlantic has the details. The Athletic looks into how name, image, and likeness payments in college football are affecting the NFL draft. Today’s episode was guest-hosted by Gideon Resnick.

Note: This podcast is a companion to the Ground Truths newsletter “A Big Week for GLP-1 Drugs”Eric Topol (00:06):It is Eric Topol with Ground Truths, and with me today is Dr. Daniel Drucker from the University of Toronto, who is one of the leading endocrinologists in the world, and he along with Joel Habener and Jens Juul Holst from the University of Copenhagen and Denmark, have been credited with numerous prizes of their discovery work of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) as we get to know these family of drugs and he's a true pioneer. He's been working on this for decades. So welcome, Daniel.Daniel Drucker (00:43):Thank you.Eric Topol (00:45):Yeah, it's great to have you and to get the perspective, one of the true pioneers in this field, because to say it's blossom would be an understatement, don't you think?Daniel Drucker (00:57):Yeah, it's been a bit of a hectic three years. We had a good quiet 30 plus years of solid science and then it's just exploded over the last few years.Eric Topol (01:06):Yeah, back in 30 years ago, did you have any sense that this was coming?Daniel Drucker (01:14):Not what we're experiencing today, I think there was a vision for the diabetes story. The first experiments were demonstrating insulin secretion and patents were followed around the use for the treatment of GLP-1 for diabetes. The food intake story was much more gradual and the weight loss story was quite slow. And in fact, as you know, we've had a GLP-1 drug approved for people with obesity since 2014, so it's 10 years since liraglutide was approved, but it didn't really catch the public's attention. The weight loss was good, but it wasn't as spectacular as what we're seeing today. So this really has taken off just over the last three, four years.Eric Topol (01:58):Yeah, no, it's actually, I've never seen a drug class like this in my life, Daniel. I mean, I've obviously witnessed the statins, but this one in terms of pleiotropy of having diverse effects, and I want to get to the brain here in just a minute because that seems to be quite a big factor. But one thing just before we get too deep into this, I think you have been great to recognize one of your colleagues who you work with at Harvard, Svetlana Mojsov. And the question I guess is over the years, as you said, there was a real kind of incremental path and I guess was in 1996 when you said, well, this drug likely will inhibit food intake, but then there were gaps of many years since then, as you mentioned about getting into the obesity side. Was that because there wasn't much weight loss in the people with diabetes or was it related to the dose of the drugs that were being tested?Why Did It Take So Long to Get to Obesity?Daniel Drucker (03:11):Well, really both. So the initial doses we tested for type 2 diabetes did not produce a lot of weight loss, maybe 2-3%. And then when we got semaglutide for type 2 diabetes, maybe we were getting 4-5% mean weight loss. And so that was really good and that was much better than we achieved before with any glucose lowering drug. But a lot of credit goes to Novo Nordisk because they looked at the dose for liraglutide and diabetes, which was 1.8 milligrams once daily for people with type 2 diabetes. And they asked a simple question, what if we increase the dose for weight loss? And the answer was, we get better weight loss with 3 milligrams once a day. So they learn that. And when they introduced semaglutide for type 2 diabetes, the doses were 0.5 and 1 milligrams. But in the back of their minds was the same question, what if we increased the dose and they landed on 2.4 milligrams once a week. And that's when we really started to see that the unexpected spectacular weight loss that we're now quite familiar with.Eric Topol (04:16):Was there also something too that diabetics don't lose as much weight if you were to have match dose?Daniel Drucker (04:22):Yeah, that's a general phenomenon. If one goes from either diet to bariatric surgery, and certainly with weight loss medicines, we tend to see maybe two thirds to three quarters of the amount of weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes. We don't really understand it. The brain pathways are probably resistant to some of the pathways that are activated that lead to weight loss, and it's really an interesting observation that needs further study.The Brain EffectEric Topol (04:50):Yeah, it's fascinating really. And it might've at least in part, held up this progress that has been truly remarkable. Now, recently you published a paper among many, you're a very prolific scientist, of course, physician scientist, but back in December in Cell Metabolism was a very important paper that explored the brain gut axis, the ability to inhibit inflammation and the mechanism through Toll-like receptors that you were seeing that. So maybe you could summarize the fact that you saw this, you were quoted in this Atlantic piece by Sarah Zhang, the science behind Ozempic was wrong. The weight loss effects of GLP-1 drugs have little to do with the gut and basically claiming that it's related to the effects on the brain, which of course could be reduced inflammation, reduced or inhibiting centers of addiction craving, that sort of thing. So how do you interpret your recent results and ongoing studies regarding GLP-1's effect on the brain?Daniel Drucker (06:02):Sure, so to be clear, I don't think that was a quote. I never would've said the science behind Ozempic was wrong. I think that was a headline writer doing what they do best, which is catching people's attention. I think what I was trying to say is that where this field started with insulin secretion first and then weight loss second, those are clearly very important pharmacological attributes of GLP-1. But physiologically, if we take GLP-1 away or we take the receptor away, you don't really develop diabetes without GLP-1. You don't really gain a lot of weight without GLP-1. So physiologically it's not that important. Why do we have GLP-1 in the distal gut? I think physiologically it's there to defend against infection and reduce gut inflammation. But we noticed that GLP-1 reduces inflammation in many different places in the heart and blood vessels and in the liver and many organs where you don't see a lot of GLP-1 receptors and you don't see a lot of GLP-1 receptors on immune cells.Daniel Drucker (07:04):So that really led us to the question, well, how does it work and affect all these organs where we don't see a lot of the receptors? And that's where we landed on the brain. Obviously the nervous system can communicate with many different cell types in almost every organ. And we identified neurons that expressed the GLP-1 receptor, which when blocked abrogated or completely eliminated the ability of GLP-1 to reduce inflammation in the periphery in white cells or in lungs. So it's been known for some time that the brain can control the immune system. So this is just the latest piece in the puzzle of how GLP-1 might reduce inflammation.Eric Topol (07:49):And just to be clear, I was quoting the Atlantic headline, not you that you were quoted within that article, but this is something that's really interesting because obviously GLP-1 is made in the brain in certain parts of the brain, it's transient in terms of its half-life made from the gut. But when we give these drugs, these agonists, how does it get in the brain? Because isn't there a problem with the blood brain barrier?Daniel Drucker (08:22):So I don't think the drugs get into the brain very well. We have a lot of data on this, so people have done the classic experiments, they either make radioactive ligands or fluorescent ligands, and they look how much gets in it and not very much gets in beyond the blood-brain barrier. And we also have big drugs that are immunoglobulin based and they work really well, so they don't get into the brain very much at all. And so, the way I describe this is that GLP-1 talks to the brain, but it doesn't directly get into the brain to meaningful extent, it does communicate somewhat there are areas obviously that are accessible in the area of the stream and circumventricular organs, but most of the time we have this communication that's not well understood that results in the magic that we see. And there are some discussions around for the neurodegenerative disease story where GLP-1 is being looked at in Parkinson's disease and in people with Alzheimer's disease. Would you be able to get more benefit if you could get the drugs into the brain to a greater extent, or would you simply increase the adverse event profile and the adverse response? So really important area for study as we begin to go beyond diabetes and obesity.Eric Topol (09:41):Yeah, I mean as you're pointing out, there's two ongoing trials, pretty large trials in Alzheimer's, early Alzheimer's, which may be a little bit too late, but at any rate, testing GLP-1 to see whether or not it could help prevent progression of the disease. And as you also mentioned, diseases and Parkinson's. But I guess, so the magic as you referred to it, the gut -brain axis so that when you give the GLP-1 family of drugs, we'll talk more about the double and triple receptor in a moment, but when you give these drugs, how does the message you get from the gut to the brain would you say?Daniel Drucker (10:27):So pharmacologically, we can give someone or an animal the drug, it does reach some of the accessible neurons that have GLP-1 receptors, and they probably transmit signals deeper into the brain and then activate signal transduction. So one way to look at it, if you use c-fos, the protein, which is an immediate early gene, which is increased when we activate neurons, we see rapid activation of c-fos in many regions that are deep within the brain within minutes. And we know that GLP-1 is not getting directly to those neurons, but it's activating pathways that turn on those neurons. And so, there's probably a very intricate set of pathways that sense the GLP-1 and the accessible neurons and then transmit those signals deeper into the brain.Double and Triple Receptor AgonistsEric Topol (11:18):Okay, well that makes sense. Now, as this has been moving along in obesity from semaglutide to tirzepatide and beyond, we're seeing even more potency it appears, and we have now double and triple receptors adding into glucagon itself and the gastric inhibitory polypeptide, and there's mixed data. So for example, the Amgen drug has the opposite effect on GIP as does the dual receptor, but comes out with the same weight loss I guess. How do we understand, I mean you know these gut hormones inside and out, how do we get such disparate results when you're either blocking or revving up a peptide effect?Daniel Drucker (12:13):Yeah, it's a mystery. I always sort of joke that you've invited the wrong person because I don't fully understand how to reconcile this honestly. There are some theories you could say that tirzepatide may possibly desensitize the GIP receptor, and that would align with what the GIP receptor blocking component is. And so, I think we need a lot of research, we may actually never know in humans how to reconcile these observations. I think we can do the experiments in animals, we're doing them, other people are doing them to look at the gain and loss of function and use best genetics. But in humans, you'd have to block or activate these receptors in very specific populations for a long period of time with tools that we probably don't have. So we may not reconstruct. We may end up with Maritide from Amgen that's producing 15-20% plus weight loss and tirzepatide from Lilly, that's spectacular, that's producing more than 20% weight loss. And yet as you mentioned at the GIP level, they have opposite effect. So I don't think we fully understand. Maybe your next guest will explain it to you and invite me on. I'd be happy to listen.Eric Topol (13:27):Well, I don't know. I don't think anybody can explain it. You've done it as well as I think as possible right now. But then we have the triple receptor, which it seems like if you take that drug, you could just go kind of skeletal. It seems like there's no plateau and its effect, that is I guess is it retatrutide, is that the name of it?Daniel Drucker (13:47):Retatrutide, yeah.Eric Topol (13:48):Retatrutide, okay. And then of course we're going on with potentially oral drugs or drugs that last for a year. And where do you see all that headed?Daniel Drucker (14:00):So I think the way I describe innovation in this field is there are two buckets that we've talked about today. So one bucket is the new molecule, so we're going to have all kinds of different combinations that will be peptides, that will be small molecule orals, the NIH is funding innovative programs to see if we can develop cell-based factories that produce GLP-1. There are gene editing and gene therapy approaches. So there are going to be multiple different molecular approaches to delivering molecules that are better and hopefully easier to take maybe once monthly, maybe every six months. So that's really exciting. And the other obvious bucket is the disease that we're targeting, so we started off with type 2 diabetes. We're now firmly established in the obesity field. In your field, we've seen consistently positive cardiovascular outcome trials. We had a press release a few months ago in October - November saying that semaglutide reduces chronic kidney disease. We have trials underway with peripheral artery disease with Parkinson's disease, with Alzheimer's and a number of neuropsychiatric conditions. So I think we're going to see both innovation on the molecule side as well as expanding if the trials are positive, expanding clinical indication. So it's going to be a pretty exciting next couple of years.Eric Topol (15:21):Right, no question. And as you well know, just in the past week, the FDA gave the green light for using these drugs for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which was an important randomized trial that showed that. Now there's got to be some downsides of course there's no drug that's perfect. And I wanted to get your comments about muscle loss, potentially bone density reduction. What are the downsides that we should be thinking about with these drugs?Side EffectsDaniel Drucker (15:54):Sure, so the known side effects are predominantly gastrointestinal. So we have nausea, diarrhea, constipation and vomiting. And very importantly, if those side effects are severe enough that someone can't eat and drink for 24 hours, we need to tell them you have to seek medical attention because some people will get dehydrated and rarely get acute kidney injury. This is rare, but it's described in many of the outcome trials, and we definitely want to avoid that. Gallbladder events are probably one in several hundred to one in a thousand, and that can be anywhere from gallbladder inflammation to gallbladder stones to biliary obstruction. Don't fully understand that although GLP-1 does reduce gallbladder motility, so that may contribute. And then very rarely we're seeing reports of small bowel obstruction in some people difficult to sort out. We don't really see that in the large clinical trials, but we have to take people at there were, we haven't seen an imbalance in pancreatitis, we haven't seen an imbalance of cancer.Daniel Drucker (17:01):There is no evidence for clinically significant bone disease either at the level of reduced bone densities or more importantly at the level of fractures. And we have a lot of real world data that's looked at that. Now muscle losses is really interesting. So when the initial drugs were approved, they didn't produce much weight loss. We didn't think about it. Now that we're getting the 15 20% plus, the question is, will we see clinically significant sarcopenia? And I use the word clinically significant carefully. So we definitely see muscle lean mass loss on a DEXA scan, for example. But what we're not seeing so far are people who are saying, you know what my grip strength is weak. I can't get up off the chair. I have trouble reaching up into the cupboard. My exercise or walking capacity is limited. We're not seeing that. In fact, we're seeing the opposite.Daniel Drucker (17:53):As you might expect, people are losing weight, they're less achy, they can move more, they can exercise more. So the question is buried within that data, are there some individuals with real clinical sarcopenia? And as we get to 25% weight loss, it's very reasonable to expect that maybe we will see some individuals with clinical sarcopenia. So you're very familiar. There are half a dozen companies developing medicines to promote fat mass loss and spare muscle with or without semaglutide or tirzepatide. And this is a really interesting area to follow, and I don't know how it's going to turn out. We really have to see if we are going to see enough clinically significant muscle loss and sarcopenia to merit a new drug category emerge, so fascinating to follow us.Eric Topol (18:46):No, I'm so glad you reviewed that because the muscle loss, it could be heterogeneous and there could be some people that really have some substantial sarcopenia. We'll learn more about that. Now that gets me to what do we do with lifelong therapy here, Daniel, where are we going? Because it seems as though when you stop these drugs, much of the benefit can be not potentially all, but a substantial amount could be lost over time. Is this something that you would view as an insulin and other hormonal treatments or how do you see it?The Question of ReboundDaniel Drucker (19:26):Yeah, so it's fascinating. I think that traditional view is the one that you just espoused. That is you stop the drug, you regain the weight, and people are concerned about the rebound weight and maybe gaining more fat and having less favorable body composition. But if you look at the data, and it's coming very fast and furious. A few months ago, we saw data for a tirzepatide trial, one of the surmount obesity trials, the first author was Louis Aronne in New York and they gave people tirzepatide or placebo for 38 weeks. And then they either continue the tirzepatide or stop the tirzepatide. One year later, so no tirzepatide for one year, more than 40% of the people still managed to keep at least 10% of their weight off, which is more than enough in many people to bestow considerable metabolic health. So I think there are going to be people that don't need to take the medicines all the time for weight loss, but we must remember that when we're excited about heart attacks and strokes and chronic kidney disease, there's no evidence that you can stop the medicines and still get the benefits to reduce those chronic complications.Daniel Drucker (20:46):So we're going to have to get much more sophisticated in terms of a personalized and precision medicine approach and ask what are the goals? And if the goals are to reduce heart attack strokes and death, you probably need to stay on the medicine if the goals are to achieve weight loss so that you can be metabolically healthy, there may be a lot of people who can come off the medicine for considerable amounts of time. So we're just learning about this. It's very new and it's really exciting.Suppressing Inflammation as the Common ThreadEric Topol (21:11):Yeah, no question. And just going back to the inflammation story in heart disease, it was notable that there were biomarkers of reduced inflammation in the intervention trial before there was any evidence of weight loss. So the anti-inflammatory effects here seem to be quite important, especially with various end organ benefits. Would you say that's true?Daniel Drucker (21:35):Yeah, I think that's one of my favorite sort of unifying theories. If we step back for a minute and we come into this and we say, well, here's a drug that improves heart disease and improves liver inflammation and reduces chronic kidney disease and may have some effect on atherosclerosis and is being studied with promising results and neurodegenerative disease, how do we unify all that? And one way is to say all of these chronic disorders are characterized by a component of chronic inflammation. And Eric, it's fascinating. I get reports from random strangers, people who've been on tirzepatide or people who have been on semaglutide, and they tell me, and you'll be fascinated with this, they tell me, my post Covid brain fog is better since I started the drug. They send me pictures of their hands. These are people with chronic arthritis. And they say, my hands have never looked better since I started the drug. And they tell me they've had ulcerative colitis for years on biologics and all of a sudden it's in remission on these drugs. So these are case reports, they're anecdotes, but they're fascinating and quite consistent with the fact that some people may be experiencing an anti-inflammatory effect of these medicines.Eric Topol (22:55):And I think it's notable that this is a much more potent anti-inflammatory effect than we saw from statins. I mean, as you know, well they have an effect, but it's not in the same league, I don't think. And also the point you made regarding this is a very good candidate drug class for Long Covid and for a variety of conditions characterized by chronic inflammation. In fact, so many of our chronic diseases fit into that category. Well, this is fascinating, and by the way, I don't know if you know this, but we were both at Johns Hopkins at the same time when you were there in the early eighties. I was there as a cardiology fellow, but we never had a chance to meet back then.Daniel Drucker (23:41):So were you just ahead of Cricket Seidman and the whole team there, or what year was that?Eric Topol (23:46):Just before them, that's right. You were there doing, was it your internship?Daniel Drucker (23:50):I was doing an Osler internship. I think Victor McKusick loved to have a Canadian every year to recognize Osler, one of the great Canadians, and I was just lucky to get the slot that year.Eric Topol (24:04):Yeah, it's wild to have watched your efforts, your career and your colleagues and how much of a profound impact. If you were to look back though, and you were to put this into perspective because there were obviously many other hormones along the way, like leptin and so many others that were candidates to achieve what this has. Do you think there's serendipity that play out here or how do you kind of factor it all together?Daniel Drucker (24:38):Well, there there's always serendipity. I mean, for decades when people would write review articles on the neuropeptides that were important for control of hunger and satiety and appetite circuits, I would open the article, read it, and I'd say, darn, there's no GLP-1 on the figure. There's no GLP-1 or receptor on the figure, but there's leptin and agouti and the POMC peptides and all the melanocortin and so on and so forth, because physiologically, these systems are not important. As I mentioned, you don't see childhood obesity or genetic forms of obesity in people with loss of function mutations in the GLP-1 sequence or in the GLP-1 receptor. You just don't see a physiologically important effect for having low GLP-1 or having no GLP-1. And that's of course not the case for mutations in NPY or the melanocortin or leptin, et cetera.Other EffectsDaniel Drucker (25:36):But pharmacologically, it's been extraordinarily difficult to make drugs out of these other peptides and pathways that we talked about. But fortuitously or serendipitously, as you point out, these drugs seem to work and amazingly GPCRs are notoriously prone to desensitization. We use that in clinical medicine to turn off entire circuits. And thankfully what goes away with GLP-1 are the adverse effects. So nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, we see those during the first few weeks and then there's tachyphylaxis, and they generally go away in most people, but what doesn't go away through good fortune are the ability of GLP-1 to talk to those brain circuits and say, you know what? You're not hungry. You don't need to eat. You don't need to think about food. And that's just good luck. Obviously pharmacologically that's benefited all of us working in this area.Eric Topol (26:31):It's extraordinary to be able to get desensitized on the adverse effects and not lose the power of the benefit. What about addiction that is, whether it's alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, addictive behavior, do you see that that's ultimately going to be one of the principal uses of these drugs over time?Daniel Drucker (26:55):The liver docs, when I give a talk at a metabolic liver disease meeting, they say we love GLP-1 because not only might it take care of liver disease, but there are still some people that we see that are having problems with alcohol use disorders and it might also reduce that. And obviously there are tons of anecdotes that we see. If you go on social media, and you'll see lots of discussion about this, and there's a hundred or so animal paper showing that addiction related dependence behaviors are improved in the context of these medicines. But we don't have the clinical data. So we have a couple of randomized clinical trials, small ones in people with alcohol use disorder, very unimpressive data. We had a trial in people with smoking, didn't really see much, although interestingly, they noted that people drank less alcohol than they did the smoking trial. So there are dozens and dozens of trials underway now, many investigator initiated trials looking at whether it's nicotine or cocaine or cannabinoids or all kinds of compulsive behaviors. I think in the next 12 to 24 months, we're going to start to learn are these real bonafide effects that are seen in large numbers of people or are these just the anecdotes that we won't get a very good complete response. So it's really exciting neuroscience and we're going to learn a lot over the next couple of years.Eric Topol (28:20):Yeah, no, it's a fascinating area which just extends the things that we've been discussing. Now, let's say over time, over the years ahead that these drugs become because of the competition and various factors, perhaps in pill form or infrequent dosing, they become very inexpensive, not like they are today.Daniel Drucker (28:44):That'd be great speaking as a non-pharmaceutical physician.Eric Topol (28:48):Yeah, yeah, no, these companies, which of course as you well know, it accounts for the number one economy in Denmark and is having a big impact in Europe. And obviously Eli Lilly is now the most valued biopharma company in the world from all these effects are coming from this drug class, but let's just say eventually it's not expensive and the drug companies are not gouging and pleasing their investors, and we're in a different world. With all these things that we've been discussing, do you foresee a future where most people will be taking one form or another of this family of drugs to prevent all these chronic conditions that we've just been discussing independent of obesity, type 2 diabetes, the initial frontier? Do you think that's possible?Daniel Drucker (29:42):Yeah, I'm a very conservative data-driven person. So today we don't have the data. So if I was in charge of the drinking water supply in your neighborhood and I had unlimited free cheap GLP-1, I wouldn't dump it in there just yet. I don't think we have the data, but we have trials underway, as you noted for Alzheimer's disease, a challenging condition for our society with a huge unmet need if like fingers crossed, if semaglutide does show a benefit for people living with early Alzheimer's disease, if it helps for Parkinson's, if it helps for metabolic liver disease, there are also studies looking at aging, et cetera. So it's possible one day if we have a lot more data that we will begin to think, okay, maybe this is actually a useful medicine that should deserve much more exposure, but today we just don't have the data.Eric Topol (30:38):Absolutely. I couldn't agree more, but just wanted to get you kind of speculate on that a bit off script if you will, but what your thoughts were, because this will take a long time, get to that point, but you just kind of wonder when you have an absence of chronic significant side effects overall with these diverse and relatively potent benefits that cut across many organ systems and as you just mentioned, might even influence the aging process, the biologic process.Worsening InequitiesDaniel Drucker (31:10):There's another related sort of angle to this, which is that the accessibility of these medicines is very challenging even in well-developed countries, the United States, Europe, et cetera, and we have hundreds of millions of people in the global south and less well-developed economies that are also challenged by heart disease and diabetes and obesity and chronic kidney disease and liver disease. And I think we need to start having conversations and I think they are happening just like we did for HIV and just like we did for hepatitis and certainly we did very quickly for the Covid vaccines. We need to think out of the box and say we need to help people in other parts of the world who may not have access to the medicines in their current form and at their current pricing. And I think these are really important moral and ethical discussions that need to be happening now because soon we will have small molecules and the price will come down and we need to make sure it's not just people in well-developed countries that can afford access to these medicines. I think this is a great opportunity for pharmaceutical companies and the World Health Organization and other foundations to really think broadly about how we can benefit many more people.Eric Topol (32:29):I couldn't agree with you more and I'm so glad you emphasize that because we can't wait for these prices to come down and we need creative ways to bridge, to reduce inequities in a vital drug class that's emerged to have far more applicability and benefit than it was initially envisioned, certainly even 5, 10 years ago, no less 30 years ago when you got on it. So Daniel, I can't thank you enough for this discussion. Really a candid discussion reviewing a lot of the things we do know, don't know will know someday perhaps. I just want to note, I know so many people are cheering for you and your colleagues to get recognized further like by the Nobel folks in the years ahead. I think it's pretty darn likely and hopefully when we get a chance to visit again in the years ahead, we'll unravel some of the things that we discussed today that we didn't know the answers and that you as a really an authority and pioneer in the field. Also, I could admit that there's a ways to go to really understand the boundaries if there are boundaries here for how these drugs are going to be used in the years ahead.Daniel Drucker (33:51):Yeah, it's another great story for basic science and bench to bedside, and it's just another story where none of us could have predicted the outcomes that we're talking about today to their full extent. And so to the extent that we can convince our governments and our funding agencies to really fund discovery science, the benefits are never apparent immediately. But boy, do they ever come in spades later on in an unpredictable manner. And this is just a great example.Eric Topol (34:20):Yeah, I also would say that this work cracking the case of obesity, which has been a stumbling block, I ran a big trial with Rimonabant, which was a failure with the neuropsychiatric side effects and suicidal ideation that had to get dropped. And there's many others like that as you know, very well Fen-Phen, and a long list. And the fact that this could do what it's doing and well beyond just obesity is just spectacular. And what I think it does, what you just mentioned, Daniel, is the basic science work that led to this is I think an exemplar of why we should put in these efforts and not expect immediate benefits, dividends of those efforts. Because look what's happened here. If you can break through with obesity, imagine what lies ahead. So thanks so much for joining and we'll look forward to continuing to follow your work. I know you're publishing the same pace, exceptional prolific pace over many, many years, and I'm sure that's going to continue.Daniel Drucker (35:34):Well, I have a great team and so it's a pleasure me to go into work and talk to them every day.********************Thanks for listening to/reading Ground Truths.Please share if your found this podcast informative Get full access to Ground Truths at erictopol.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to Artbeat Radio!      In this installment of Artbeat Radio's “The Special Needs Talk Show”, Jillian and Kaitlyn have a fun and funny conversation with their music teacher, Briana. They cover it all from opera music to Avatar: The Last Airbender, with plenty of hijinks in between. Plus! "Cats, cats, cats galore!"    Thank you to Jillian Anderson, Joshua Andrews, Claire Feth, Kaitlyn Johanson, Peter Marchesini, Stephanie Monis, Liam Porter, Sarah Zhang and Madori Namikawa for creating this episode!    Thanks for listening and tune in next time!    Follow us on instagram @artbeatradio    For more information about our organization, please visit our website www.ableartswork.org    

Welcome back to Artbeat Radio!      Today on The Special Needs Talk show, Kaitlyn and Liam have a conversation with Able ARTS Work San Diego art instructor, Christina, asking her about all things art! Who are her favorite artists? What are her favorite art movements and styles? How long has she been doing art? And more! Thank you to Jillian Anderson, Kaitlyn Johanson, Renee Morneau, Liam Porter, and Sarah Zhang for your contributions to this amazing episode! Thanks for listening and tune in next time!    Follow us on instagram @artbeatradio    For more information about our organization, please visit our website www.ableartswork.org      

Feel that in your nose? If you're like everyone else this time of year, you've probably got that dreaded nasal congestion that comes with the colds and flus this time of year. But nasal congestion is more complicated than you think. Abdul reflects on the collective burden of the annoying illnesses we fight through every year. Then he speaks with Sarah Zhang, a staff writer at the Atlantic who recently wrote about why nasal congestion is more complicated than you might think.

When I was growing up, I could never change the opinion of my mother by saying, “But everyone else is doing it.”My mom had the courage and confidence to believe that Everyone Else's mother was wrong.That's a high level of courage and confidence. I'm hoping that you have it, too.When I speak to advertising professionals on the subject of advertising, I often find myself having to explain how certain widely-held beliefs are wrong. I will patiently produce the evidence, the case studies, and scientific documentation. In most instances, the audience will concede that I am right. Then someone will say, “But everyone else is doing it,” as though it is impossible for “everyone else” to be wrong.Here's an example: most people believe in tightly targeting the right customer. They are convinced that the secret of successful advertising is to “reach the right people.”I believe targeting is essential if you are in a business that sells to other businesses.If you sell computer chips, you need to reach computer manufacturers, so send a letter, an email, a salesman to knock on their door. If you sell cardboard boxes by the traincar load, you need to reach companies that sell things packaged in cardboard boxes. Send a letter, an email, a salesman to knock on their door. The world of B2B lives and dies with their ability to “reach the right people.”But when you are selling a product or service to the public, “targeting the right customer” works only about 10% better than reaching the untargeted masses.If the cost of targeting is less than 10% higher than the cost of not targeting, go ahead and target. But I am confident you will find that targeting usually costs considerably more than that.“But everyone else is doing it.”Please excuse me while I bang my head against the wall.Nielsen is the highly scientific organization that measures television and radio audiences.D2D is cloud based, and leverages open source technology designed to collect, manage, and analyze complex data.Les Binet is a highly respected data scientist.In the summer of 2020, Les Binet published a huge, longterm study on the effectiveness of marketing. Here is one of the many things he learned:“In many ways, online marketing and online media has done itself a disservice by focusing on targeting more than reach. A couple of very interesting studies are out there. One was a study by Nielsen, about the relative contributions of reach versus targeting in effectiveness, and they concluded, with a survey of about 500 econometric models, that targeting only adds about 10% to the effectiveness of the campaign on average. A very similar result came from some work by D2D, where they looked at over 200 econometric models, from a wide range of categories, and they concluded that targeting of a campaign adds only about 10% to effectiveness. So the same numbers, two very different methods.”Have you been following the news about Phenylephrine, the decongestant that was proven to be ineffective in 2007 and in multiple studies since then, but is still on the shelf 16 years later?According to a recent news story by Sarah Zhang,“Americans collectively shell out $1.763 billion a year for cold and allergy meds with phenylephrine, according to the FDA, which also calls the number a likely underestimate. That's a lot of money for a decongestant that does not work.”Generally speaking, I'm in favor of government staying out of the way of business, but this seems to be a case where the Federal Trade Commission might ought to step in

All of a sudden it seems like everyone knows someone who has tested positive for COVID. Are we back in a wave? How bad could it get? How effective will the new vaccine be? What do we actually know about COVID now that we didn't before, and will it protect us? We talk to Atlantic science writers Katie Wu and Sarah Zhang about all the questions you are trying to avoid about Covid this summer and fall.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dear Loyal Readers,Thank you for being here! I have three things for you this week, so let's get right to it.1️⃣ Article ClubThis month we've been focusing on “How Much Would You Pay to Save Your Cat's Life?” by Sarah Zhang. Originally published in The Atlantic last December, it's a piece I highly urge that you read. Here's why:* It explores the rising trend of cat kidney transplants (expensive! controversial!)* Ms. Zhang asks a provocative question and examines it from all sides* Even though the article is about pets, it's really about human relationshipsWhere's the line between being a caring pet owner and doing too much? If you consider your pet a part of the family — or if you judge people who consider their pet part of the family — you'll love this article.I hope you'll sign up to discuss the piece on Sunday, June 25, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT on Zoom. Article Clubbers are kind and thoughtful and welcoming. Our conversations are always in small, intimate, facilitated groups. Reach out if you have questions or if you want to participate in the conversation but are secretly shy or nervous.2️⃣ My interview with Sarah ZhangOne of the best parts of Article Club (in addition to our monthly discussions) is the generosity of journalists and how they share their insights on the outstanding articles they write. Ms. Zhang (who has two cats herself!) was kind and thoughtful, and it was a delight to chat with her. We talked about a number of topics, including:* why this topic — how much we are willing to spend on our pets — is fraught with judgment (what's too much? too little?)* how cat kidney transplants raise major ethical questions (namely: the kidney comes from another cat, who can't consent)* how pets serve an “in-between” role in our lives — how they're not exactly our children, but they're not exactly our property (and how that's confusing)I hope you take a listen! (You can click the player at the top or subscribe to The Highlighter Article Club on your favorite podcast player.)3️⃣ Issue #400 is coming! What do you think about all this?We're coming up on eight years and 400 issues of this newsletter, which is a mild marvel, and to celebrate the occasion, I'd love to hear from you. What has been your experience of reading The Highlighter Article Club or participating in the discussions? Do you have any kind words, or words or wisdom, or requests for the next eight years? Feel free to leave a comment or reply privately. Thank you!Thank you for reading this week's issue. Hope you liked it.

Legal textbooks have always been expensive but these days, the cost of a new commercially-published antitrust law casebook can range from $300 to $500. What if a high-quality casebook were available at little or no cost? With the support of the ABA Antitrust Law Section, NYU Law School Professors Christopher Sprigman and Daniel Francis recently completed the world's first openly-licensed antitrust law casebook. Listen to this episode as they talk with co-hosts Alicia Downey and Sarah Zhang about this important project and whether eliminating the expense of traditional casebooks might lead to an increase in law students taking antitrust and potentially pursuing careers in the field. With special guests: Daniel Francis, Assistant Professor of Law, New York University School of Law Christopher Jon Sprigman, Murray and Kathleen Bring Professor of Law, New York University School of Law, and Co-Director, Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy Related Links: Daniel Francis & Christopher Jon Sprigman, Antitrust Principles, Cases and Materials Hosted by: Alicia Downey, Downey Law LLC and Sarah Zhang, Baker Botts L.L.P.

Some people taking the diabetes/weight-loss drug Ozempic say they now are not abusing alcohol, smoking or even compulsively biting their nails. Sarah Zhang, staff writer for The Atlantic, looks into the reports and data on this, and why researchers think this might be happening.

Mexico's Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) is an autonomous agency responsible for competition law enforcement, policy and advocacy nationwide. At the same time, an entirely separate agency—the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT)—has jurisdiction to enforce the competition laws in the telecommunication and broadcasting sectors. How do the two agencies determine where one agency's jurisdiction ends and the other agency's begins? Marta Loubet, a competition lawyer based in Mexico City, joins Alicia Downey and Sarah Zhang to discuss the origins of the jurisdictional divide between COFECE and IFT, its relationship to COFECE's ongoing digital markets initiatives, and what changes the future may bring. Listen to this episode to learn more about a unique and important feature of the Mexican competition regime. With special guest: Marta Loubet, White & Case LLP Related Links: Henry Capin-Gally, Germán Macías, Marta Loubet, Román González Melo, Mexico: An introduction to Competition (Chambers & Partners 2022) COFECE Website IFT Website Hosted by: Alicia L. Downey, Downey Law LLC and Sarah Zhang, Baker Botts LLP

More than 50% of the thinking part of the human brain is dedicated to processing visual information. We are, in a word, visual beings. And yet around the world, our vision is getting worse — and we're not quite sure why. Abdul talks about the life-changing impact of correcting vision. Then he speaks with Sarah Zhang, staff writer at The Atlantic, about what we know about the growing burden of nearsightedness.

Immigration politics have taken center stage after migrants were flown from Texas to Martha's Vineyard last week.  Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has waded into the story after his administration chartered a plane to fly 48 immigrants there at a cost of $615,000.  What's happened now is that some of the migrants have filed a lawsuit saying they were “lured” to take the flights through fraud and misrepresentation and a Texas sheriff has opened an investigation into the legality of the move.  Gary Fineout, reporter at Politico and author of the Florida Playbook, joins us for what to know.   Next, why does it seem like so many kids need glasses these days?  Myopia, or nearsightedness, for decades was thought to be just a genetic condition, but optometrists are seeing kids come in with vision worse than their parents.  Cutting back on screen time and spending more time outdoors and in open space could help, but there is also a sprouting market for treatments to slow the progression called “myopia control” or “myopia management.”  These can take the form or contacts, lenses or drops.  Sarah Zhang, staff writer at the Atlantic, joins us for more on the myopia generation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining Connor tonight are two guests David McMahon & Sarah Zhang. First Connor will discuss the fight to stop the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority sale to Aqua and why this matters with activist and organizer David McMahon. They will dive into efforts in Norristown and the "NOPE" group that has been fighting against Aqua for years. Then Connor will jump into CBSD's book banning policy that was passed by the School Board last night 7/26. He will be joined by activist and organizer Sarah Zhang who spoke out about the policy and wrote an op-ed for the Bucks County Beacon (read here - https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/07/why-we-need-students-to-mobilize-in-central-bucks-and-why-we-need-them-now/) Lastly, Connor will show a video of School Board Director Tabitha Dell'Angelo from the hearing on this crazy policy and why voices like this are so important and how YOU can make a difference. All of this and more on tonight's program. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and hit the like button on the stream! Support on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/greatersocietymedia Find all the show links here - https://linktr.ee/greatersocietymedia Follow on Instagram - @greatersocietymedia Follow Connor on Twitter - @ConOHanlon Greater Society Media is a progressive media company dedicated to bringing insightful analysis to viewers and readers on political topics of today from the local level to the international. ​ The Greater Society Podcast is a weekly progressive show that focuses on analyzing American politics, current events, and history. The show covers a wide range or topics and will incorporate various guests to dive deeper into their specialties. Shows are broadcasted live on YouTube and available in audio versions as well where you listen to your podcasts. What sets the show apart is the focus on local organizing and the impacts we can all make on a local level as Connor OHanlon (the host) leverages his experience as Chairman of a local Democratic committee and former candidate for office to bring you an inside look at how politics is done. We aim to bring nuance to each and every discussion and debate and look forward to covering the unfolding history of America. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Amidst the current momentum for antitrust reform, are U.S. lawmakers and enforcers thinking about the role of innovation in the right way? Aurelien Portuese, Director of the Schumpeter Project on Competition Policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, joins Sergei Zaslavsky and Sarah Zhang to discuss the concept of dynamic efficiency and how antitrust should feature innovation as a central concern. Listen to this episode if you want to learn more about the importance of innovation to competition policy, the relationship between innovation and market power, and whether contemplated antitrust reforms sufficiently take innovation into account. With special guest: Aurelien Portuese, Director of the Schumpeter Project, ITIF Related Link: Aurelien Portuese biography  Hosted by: Sergei Zaslavsky and Sarah Zhang

This is an episode that first aired in 2018 and then again in the thick of the pandemic in 2020. Why? Because though Horseshoe crabs are not much to look at, beneath their unassuming catcher's-mitt shell, they harbor a half-billion-year-old secret: a superpower that helped them outlive the dinosaurs, survive all the Earth's mass extinctions, and was essential in the development of the COVID vaccines.  And what is that secret superpower? Their blood. Their baby blue blood.  And it's so miraculous that for decades, it hasn't just been saving their butts, it's been saving ours too. But that all might be about to change.   Follow us as we follow these ancient critters - from a raunchy beach orgy to a marine blood drive to the most secluded waterslide - and learn a thing or two from them about how much we depend on nature and how much it depends on us. Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about special events. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org. And, by the way, Radiolab is looking for a remote intern! If you happen to be a creative, science-obsessed nerd who is interested in learning how to make longform radio… Apply! We would LOVE to work with you.  You can find more info at wnyc.org/careers. Citations: Alexis Madrigal, "The Blood Harvest" in The Atlantic, and Sarah Zhang's recent follow up in The Atlantic, "The Last Days of the Blue Blood Harvest"  Deborah Cramer, The Narrow Edge Deborah Cramer, "Inside the Biomedical Revolution to Save Horseshoe Crabs" in Audubon Magazine  Richard Fortey, Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms Ian Frazier, "Blue Bloods"  in The New Yorker  Lulu Miller's short story, "Me and Jane"  in Catapult Magazine Jerry Gault, "The Most Noble Fishing There Is"  in Charles River's Eureka Magazine or check out Glenn Gauvry's horseshoe crab research database

You're listening to Lingo Phoenix's word of the day for June 16. Fudge Day Today's word is home, spelled h-o-m-e. home /həʊm $ hoʊm/ ●○○ verb home in on something phrasal verb to direct your efforts or attention towards a particular fault or problem Researchers are homing in on the cause of the disease. The report homed in on the weaknesses in the management structure. He homed in on the one weak link in the argument. These two samples yielded only partial genomes, but the team was able to reconstruct enough to home in on changes in nucleoprotein, one of the proteins that make up the virus's replication machinery. — Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 24 May 2021 to aim exactly at an object or place and move directly to it The missile was homing in on its target. The missile homed in on the ship. The bat can home in on insects using a kind of ‘radar'. In Golden Horde's case, if a bomb is streaking toward a radar installation and then the bomb's infrared seeker detects a nuclear-capable ballistic missile launcher, the bomb will home in on the launcher instead. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 15 Jan. 2021 With your word of the day, I'm Mohammad Golpayegani. We love feedback. If you want to email us, our address is podcast@lingophoenix.com, or you can find me directly on Twitter and message me there. My handle is @MoeGolpayegani. Thanks for listening, stay safe, and we'll see you back here tomorrow with a new word.

You've probably seen the recent debates about abortion in the news and on social media. We're not here to get political but these debates do give us the opportunity to call out a huge issue: people on both sides see individuals with disabilities as less than human. And today we're talking about it (as best as we can). Because we acknowledge the amount of support it takes to raise a child with Down syndrome and the way that having certain privileges makes things a little simpler. And we also know that our systems don't support our children well once they're born. So much change needs to happen.. and we think changing the perception of Down syndrome is a good place to start. You're invited to sit in this discomfort and uncertainty with us as we discuss disability, abortion, and the value of a human. -- SHOW NOTES Check out the post we mention from Amy Julia Becker. Listen to previous episodes about abortion and disability: 99. Our Response to “The Last Children with Down Syndrome” by Sarah Zhang 34. Our Response to the East Family's Negative Down Syndrome Diagnosis 31. An Important Conversation about Abortion & Down Syndrome Get involved with The Lucky Few Foundation's Summer Storytelling Tour HERE. Pre-order Everyone Belongs by Heather Avis HERE. LET'S CHAT Email hello@theluckyfewpodcast.com with your questions and Good News for future episodes. HELP US SHIFT THE NARRATIVE Interested in partnering with The Lucky Few Podcast as a sponsor? Email hello@theluckyfewpodcast.com for more information! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theluckyfewpod/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theluckyfewpod/support

There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether large platforms can favor themselves over potential competitors. Some of these discussions surround high-profile pending legislation seeking to rein in the self-preferencing tactics and policies of some of the biggest technology platforms in the world. But is it a good idea to eliminate self-preferencing by large platforms? Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of the Chamber of Progress, joins John Roberti and Sarah Zhang to discuss whether it is necessary to address self-preferencing behavior by big tech platforms. Listen to this episode to learn more from an expert who has thought extensively about these issues. Related Links: Chamber of Progress Hosted by: John Roberti and Sarah Zhang

Paul Farmer, Global Health Leader, Dies At 62 Paul Farmer, physician and co-founder of the humanitarian medical organization Partners in Health died unexpectedly this week in Rwanda at the age of 62. Farmer was widely known for his compassion, and his conviction that all people around the world, regardless of their means, deserved access to quality medical treatments and interventions. Sarah Zhang, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins John Dankosky to remember Paul Farmer and his work around the world, from Haiti to Peru to Russia. They also discuss concern over a possible re-emergence of wild polio in Malawi, a new U.N. report linking climate change to a potential increase in wildfires around the world, and the case of Hank the Tank—a burly bear troubling Lake Tahoe. We'll also get an update on the tale of a wayward piece of space junk soon to impact the moon, and dive into the link between Epstein-Barr virus and multiple sclerosis. We recently discussed research establishing the link between the two conditions—and now there is new work looking at the possible mechanism of the connection.   Blind Patients With Eye Implant Left In The Dark As Its Startup Struggles Barbara Campbell was walking through a New York City subway station during rush hour when her world abruptly went dark. For four years, Campbell had been using a high-tech implant in her left eye that gave her a crude kind of bionic vision, partially compensating for the genetic disease that had rendered her completely blind in her 30s. “I remember exactly where I was: I was switching from the 6 train to the F train,” Campbell tells IEEE Spectrum. “I was about to go down the stairs, and all of a sudden I heard a little ‘beep, beep, beep' sound.'” It wasn't her phone battery running out. It was her Argus II retinal implant system powering down. The patches of light and dark that she'd been able to see with the implant's help vanished. Terry Byland is the only person to have received this kind of implant in both eyes. He got the first-generation Argus I implant, made by the company Second Sight Medical Products, in his right eye in 2004, and the subsequent Argus II implant in his left 11 years later. He helped the company test the technology, spoke to the press movingly about his experiences, and even met Stevie Wonder at a conference. “[I] went from being just a person that was doing the testing to being a spokesman,” he remembers. Yet in 2020, Byland had to find out secondhand that the company had abandoned the technology and was on the verge of going bankrupt. While his two-implant system is still working, he doesn't know how long that will be the case. “As long as nothing goes wrong, I'm fine,” he says. “But if something does go wrong with it, well, I'm screwed. Because there's no way of getting it fixed.”   Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.   Climate Change Ruins The World Championship Sled Dog Derby Teams of sled dogs and mushers from across the United States and Canada visited Laconia this weekend for the 93rd annual World Championship Sled Dog Derby. Racers were in good spirits, though they faced slushy conditions on Friday and Saturday—a situation that has become more common, many mushers said, as climate change causes winters to warm. Vince Buoniello was the chief judge for the Laconia race, which has a deep and prestigious history in the sled dog world. He likened it to the Super Bowl. “Laconia was always a magic name. Everybody wanted to race Laconia,” he said. Through his 65 years in the sled dog world, Buoniello has seen big changes—fewer people seem to be involved in the sport, and it's harder to find undeveloped land for sledding trails. And, he said, warming winters have made races difficult to schedule. “We raced every weekend for years and years. It was an exception if a race ever got canceled. Now, forget it. It's changed drastically,” he said. “To see mud, it just blows your mind. It just never used to happen.” Buoniello, who is 90, said judging the race in the warm conditions had tired him out a bit. But, he said, his love for the sport and the animals has made it worthwhile throughout his career. “The dogs kept me going,” he said. “It was just such love. It was just pure love.” Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.   An Elusive Search For Freedom From Human-Made Noise If you stand in the middle of a busy street in New York City and listen to the sounds around you, you're hearing what Bernie Krause calls “the anthropophony.” It's the cacophony of “incoherent and chaotic” noise that's drawing people away from the natural world. “In fact, the further we draw away from the natural world, the more pathological we become as a culture,” he said. Krause has been charting this change for more than 50 years, as one of the world's foremost chroniclers of nature sounds. He's recorded more than 15,000 species and their habitats. In his new book, The Power of Tranquility in a Very Noisy World, he makes the case that human-made noise is causing us stress. Krause offers a simple prescription: “Shut the hell up,” and listen to the soundscapes of nature, what he calls “the biophony.” “If we listen to sounds of the natural world, for example, which are the original soundscapes that we were exposed to, it's very restorative and therapeutic,” he said. Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.    

Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News on Sunday that Omicron's apparent ability to evade some protection from COVID vaccines is "sobering". But the good news, he said, is that boosters can dramatically increase the level of defense. We'll get the latest on the new variant from Fauci, including why he thinks we may not need Omicron-specific vaccines. Then, the Atlantic's Sarah Zhang joins us to take your questions on COVID and talk about her latest article "Omicron's Explosive Growth Is a Warning Sign"

Scientists have discovered that some female condors don't need males to reproduce. This phenomenon is known as parthenogenesis, and it's been observed in other animals too. The Atlantic's Sarah Zhang explains how it was found in California condors and its implications for these endangered birds.

In her recent story for The Atlantic, health reporter Sarah Zhang writes that we all know how the COVID-19 pandemic ends: the virus becomes endemic, and we'll have to live with it forever. But what's unknown is how we'll manage the transition to endemicity, a path ahead that right now she says is nonexistent. We'll talk to Zhang about how the country finds its "off-ramp to normal."

Cardi B and Penn Badgley are being weird on Twitter and we love it. Jamie Lee Curtis and her daughter Ruby opened up about how things have changed since Ruby came out as trans. AND we're talking with The Atlantic's Sarah Zhang about DNA donors and the movement trying to change anonymity laws. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Eighteen months into our fight with this coronavirus, it may feel frustrating that we're still in this battle, but there are many reasons to feel hopeful. One reason is that we know a lot about this virus now and have plenty of tools to fight it. We meet the superheroes prepared to help us defeat the coronavirus: Sgt. Socially Distanced, the Masked Mentor, the Testmaster and the Vaxinator! Plus: Gilly, one half of the hit podcast Going Viral with Kara and Gilly, and a special guest explain what a virus variant is and how the delta variant is different from the original coronavirus. Also, journalist Sarah Zhang helps us understand how the pandemic could end. All that, plus a new mystery sound and a Moment of Um that answers the question "How do skunks spray their stink?"

Stephen Henderson talks with Katherine Wu and Sarah Zhang of The Atlantic about their reporting on where we are in the pandemic and what people need to know in the coming months.

In this hour Stephen Henderson speaks with Katherine Wu and Sarah Zhang of The Atlantic about evolving threat of COVID-19.

Before Covid-19 began spreading across the globe last year, virologist Nathan Wolfe already knew what was becoming abundantly clear: The world was woefully unprepared to prevent the spread of novel viral threats. To prevent similar devastation, he challenges people to imagine a different future where viruses are regularly tracked in groups of individuals—providing a sort of weather map of viruses. "We should have always-on systems that are capable of monitoring for all of the viruses present, all of the microbes present within a society, and that's within reach." He speaks with Sarah Zhang, staff writer for The Atlantic, about where viruses come from, how to eliminate future pandemics, and why he doesn't think Covid-19 was deliberately released into the world. Wolfe is the founder and chairman of Metabiota and was a professor of epidemiology at UCLA.

Pfizer's Vaccine Is Now Fully Approved. What's Next For The Pandemic? This week, the COVID-19 vaccine marketed by Pfizer finally received full FDA approval, moving out of the realm of “emergency use” to the status of a regular drug. In the wake of that change, many organizations—from the Pentagon to Ohio State University to the city of Chicago—are moving to require vaccinations against the coronavirus. It remains to be seen just how much the status change will move the needle on vaccination numbers—and more importantly, new cases and hospitalizations—in the U.S. Sarah Zhang, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Ira to talk about what might be next for the pandemic, discussing the virus becoming endemic and how the Delta variant is changing people's risk calculations. They also explore how different countries, from the U.K. to Vietnam to New Zealand, are coping. Plus, ways that the virus continues to upend business as normal—from SpaceX launches to water treatment.   How To Make Solar Power Work For Everyone If you follow Ira on social media, you may have noticed a trend in his posts over the last few months: They've become very joyful about the cost of his energy bill. Why? This year, he installed solar panels on his roof—and he's not alone. The cost of solar panels has dropped nearly 70 percent since 2014, so more and more individuals and companies are jumping in. Even during COVID-19, solar installations in the U.S. reached a record high in 2020. For Ira and many others, solar panels turn homes into their own power generators. During some times of the day, the panels produce enough excess power that it's fed back to the grid. As more and more people jump into solar power, big questions remain about how an energy grid designed for fossil fuels will be impacted. If everyone's home is a utility, how do you best distribute power to a region? Accessibility is also a big concern. If there's a need to retool how the country thinks about energy creation and use, how do we make sure it's accessible to everyone? Joining Ira to talk through these big-picture solar energy quandaries are Joseph Berry, senior research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and Sam Evans-Brown, executive director of Clean Energy New Hampshire based in Concord, New Hampshire.

Vox's Umair Irfan explains why you might need one. The Atlantic's Sarah Zhang says the coronavirus is here forever, but ultimately, it might not be so bad. This episode was produced by Will Reid, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In season 2, episode 3, we chat with Sarah Zhang from Omescape Escape Rooms in the California Bay Area. Sarah is one of the creators of the award-winning, online escape room game, Pursuit of the Assassin Artist, which was voted the #1 online escape room in the 2020 TERPECAs – the Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts' Choice Awards. It was also a winner at our own 2020 Golden Lock Awards. 2020 was a difficult year for most escape room companies. Many operators adapted their games for virtual play, allowing players to experience the games through a digital interface. Omescape elevated the online escape room, creating an experience that took advantage of the virtual format by introducing a time-loop mechanic. Sarah walks us through their creative design process, citing many games that excited and inspired her. She talks openly about borrowing concepts from her favorite games. Through some magical alchemy, she has managed to distill various aspects and mechanics into what is far and away one of the strongest games to emerge from the virtual escape room scene. Sarah was incredibly humble and such a sweetheart. It was an absolute delight having her on our podcast. Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors:  SEO ORB - Marketing and SEO optimization created specifically for escape rooms by an enthusiast. Telescape by Buzzshot - Virtual escape room game creation and interface software. Bring increased functionality to your virtual escape rooms. Music Credits  All music provided by GameChops:  "The Legend of LoFi" by Dj Cutman & James Landino "Hateno Village" by Mikel & GameChops "Fairy Fountain" by Mikel & GameChops

While case counts in the U.S. continue to drop, there are still headlines about variants and "breakthrough" infections that might worry you. Fortunately, The Atlantic staff writer Katherine Wu explains to James Hamblin and Maeve Higgins why these shouldn't alarm us just yet. And staff writer Sarah Zhang drops in to help figure out how to keep pandemic puppies from being too anxious as people return to pre-pandemic routines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fully Vaccinated Can Unmask Often, CDC Says As the number of vaccinated Americans continues to rise and evidence mounts that the vaccines may reduce viral transmission in addition to lessening disease severity, the CDC announced Thursday that fully-vaccinated people may be able to go mask-free except in specific crowded indoor situations. The announcement caused celebration in some circles and anxiety in others, with people wondering how the new guidelines fit into their personal risk assessments. Sarah Zhang, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Ira to talk about the latest news in the pandemic and beyond, including a WHO committee report discussing the early days of the outbreak, the latest on the Colonial gas pipeline shutdown, research into cats’ love of sitting in boxes, and more.   Can An Algorithm Explain Your Knee Pain? In an ideal world, every visit to the doctor would go something like this: You’d explain what brought you in that day, like some unexplained knee pain. Your physician would listen carefully, run some tests, and voila—the cause of the issue would be revealed, and appropriate treatment prescribed. Unfortunately, that’s not always the result. Maybe a doctor doesn’t listen closely to your concerns, or you don’t quite know how to describe your pain. Or, despite feeling certain that something is wrong with your knee, tests turn up nothing. A new algorithm shows promise in reducing these types of frustrating interactions. In a new paper published in Nature, researchers trained an algorithm to identify factors often missed by x-ray technicians and doctors. They suggest it could lead to more satisfying diagnoses for patients of color. Dr. Ziad Obermeyer, associate professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkley joins Ira to describe how the algorithm works, and to explain the research being done at the intersection of machine learning and healthcare.   Ever Wonder Why Big Cereal Chunks Are Always On Top? You may not have heard of it, but you’ve probably seen the “brazil nut effect” in action—it’s the name for the phenomenon that brings larger nuts or cereal chunks to the top of a container, leaving tinier portions at the bottom of the mix. But the process by which granular materials mix is weirdly hard to study, because it’s difficult to see what’s going on away from the visible surfaces of a container. In recent work published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers turn the power of three-dimensional time-lapse x-ray computer tomography onto the problem. By using a series of CT scans on a mixed box of nuts as it sorted itself by size, the researchers were able to capture a movie of the process—finally showing how the large Brazil nuts turn as they are forced up to the top of the mix by smaller peanuts percolating downwards. Parmesh Gajjar, a research associate in the Henry Moseley X-ray Imaging Facility at the University of Manchester, talks with SciFri’s Charles Bergquist about the imaging study, and the importance of size segregation in mixing of materials—with applications from the formation of avalanches to designing drug delivery systems.   This Alaskan Glacier Is Moving 100 Times Faster Than Usual One of the glaciers on Alaska’s Denali mountain has started to “surge.” The Muldrow Glacier is moving 10-100 times faster than usual, which is about three feet per hour. About 1% of glaciers “surge,” which are short periods where glaciers advance quickly. Geologist Chad Hults has been on the glacier to study it during this surge period. He talks about how the glacier’s geometry and hydrology contribute to this surge period.          

This week, I'd like to share with you all an article titled “You Recovered From COVID-19. Now Your Coffee Smells Like Sewage” written by Sarah Zhang for the Atlantic. This article was published on March 22, 2021. Sarah interviewed a woman named Ruby Martinez who at first lost her sense of smell and then began experiencing parosmia. This is now an all too familiar story but continues to be important which is why I wanted to share it with all of you. In addition to learning more about Ruby's smell disorder story, Sarah dives into the background and science behind smell training and how it all began back in the 80s. To read the article "You Recovered From COVID-19. Now Your Coffee Smells Like Sewage” by Sarah Zhang, click here. Connect with Sarah Zhang on Twitter here. To listen/read the NPR Short Wave podcast episode about this story hosted by Emily Kwon on the NPR website, click here. To listen to the NPR Short Wave podcast episode on Apple podcasts, click here. To learn more about the Smell and Taste Association of North America (STANA) click here. To donate to STANA, click here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thesmellpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thesmellpodcast/support

A curious symptom of COVID-19 that can stick with patients for a long time is loss of smell. Researchers don't know exactly how prevalent the loss of smell ism and while most people recover from it, some will not. This has given new life to a very specific treatment: smell training. Emily Kwong talks to the Atlantic's science reporter Sarah Zhang about how practicing how to smell might help those who've lost their sense of smell. For more on smell training, read Sarah's piece in The Atlantic. You can email Short Wave at ShortWave@npr.org.

The Mental Health Costs Of ‘Everyday’ Racism On March 16, a 21-year-old white man killed six Asian women and two other people in multiple shootings in Atlanta. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asians and Asian-Americans in the U.S. have experienced a rise in racist attacks, which psychologists say are tied to anti-Chinese rhetoric from the former White House administration, as well as others who have scapegoated Asian Americans. The Stop AAPI Hate reporting center was created in March of 2020 to track these events. The project is a collaboration between the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies Department. The center reports that more than 3,700 acts of hate were brought to their attention between their founding and February 28 of this year, including verbal harassment or shunning, physical assault, and civil rights violations. At the same time, people who identify as Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) have increasingly reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, or requested screenings for mental health diagnoses. Charissa Cheah, a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County has found that even witnessing acts of hate or discrimination can affect someone’s mental health—and spill over to their children. And Kevin Nadal, a psychology researcher at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, has documented how microaggressions, considered a more covert form of racism than physical violence, can cause trauma. Cheah and Nadal discuss the connection between chronic exposure to racist behavior and mental health, along with resources for people who may be experiencing the effects of trauma, as well as the long history of anti-Asian racism in the United States.   To Milk A Tick Ticks are masters of breaking down the defenses of their host organism to get a blood meal. They use anesthetics to numb the skin, anticoagulants to keep the blood flowing, and keep the host’s immune system from recognizing them as invaders and kicking them out. And the key to understanding this is in the tick’s saliva. Biochemist and microbiologist Seemay Chou discusses how she milks the saliva from ticks to study what compounds play key parts in these chemical tricks. She also talks about how ticks are able to control the microbes in their saliva.   A Year Of Staying Home Has Led To A Global Chip Crisis The global pandemic has led to a different kind of worldwide crisis: a global chip shortage. Demand for semiconductor chips—the brains behind “smart” devices like TV’s, refrigerators, cars, dishwashers and gaming systems—has spiked after a year of staying and working from home. And the pressure on global supply chains has never been greater. Sarah Zhang, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Science Friday to explain what happened. Plus, why AstraZeneca came under fire from U.S. regulators this week and how one scientist has finally solved a 20-years-long mystery about the bald eagle.

We've been waging a desperate battle against deadly viruses, in both reality and fiction. In this episode, we talk to Sarah Zhang, a staff writer with the Atlantic, about what we've learned from the fight against COVID-19. And we talk about the scariest and weirdest viruses in science fiction.

Will Vaccines Work Against New Variants Of The Coronavirus? The rollout of COVID-19 vaccination programs around the world has been anything but smooth. Complicating the effort is the virus itself. The original coronavirus genome that the current vaccines were based on has mutated. Now, there are three virus variants, and experts are somewhat concerned. How will the vaccines scientists have worked so hard to make fare against these three variants, and future ones? Stephen Goldstein, post-doctoral researcher in evolutionary virology at the University of Utah, joins Ira to talk about what the new numbers on vaccine effectiveness against these variants really mean. This Biden Appointee Is Bringing Justice To Green Energy President Joe Biden has the most ambitious climate change agenda of any U.S. president in history. A large part of the plan is a shift away from fossil fuels to clean energy, like wind and solar power. A new member of Biden’s energy team wants to prioritize something we don’t normally hear from the federal government: energy justice, or making sure communities aren’t left behind, or stepped on, in pursuit of a greener world.  Shalanda Baker, deputy director for energy justice at the U.S. Department of Energy and law professor on leave at Northeastern University in Boston, joins Ira to talk about equitable energy, “The Big Greens,” and her new book, Revolutionary Power: An Activist’s Guide to the Energy Transition. The Thinking Behind New Double-Masking Recommendations If you’re at the grocery store or taking a walk in the brisk winter air, you might see someone sporting the new pandemic trend—double masks. Sometimes it’s a cloth mask over an N95; sometimes it’s two fabric masks layered together. And it’s not because it’s cold out (although the extra warmth is nice). This week the CDC says it’s considering updating its masking guidelines to include wearing two masks, to protect against new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus. Sarah Zhang, staff writer for The Atlantic, joins Ira to discuss whether two masks are really better than one. Plus, how the U.K. is studying whether mixing Astrazeneca’s new vaccine with a dose of Pfizer or Moderna’s formula might actually be more effective at obtaining immunity.

Only 18 children with Down syndrome were born in Denmark in the year of 2019. The article “The Last Children of Down Syndrome” by Sarah Zhang is exploring all the reasons why.. starting with prenatal testing. Zhang says, “Prenatal testing is changing who gets born and who doesn't. This is only the beginning.” Today, we're taking time to respond to this article and sharing our own thoughts on prenatal testing, eugenics, the idea of “risk aversion,” the hopes we have for our children, and so much more. This is a heavy one, friends. But we hope you stick with us for this important conversation. __ SHOW NOTES Read The Last Children of Down Syndrome by Sarah Zhang LET'S CHAT Email hello@theluckyfewpodcast.com with your questions and Good News for future episodes. HELP US SHIFT THE NARRATIVE Interested in partnering with The Lucky Few Podcast as a sponsor? Email hello@theluckyfewpodcast.com for more information! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theluckyfewpod/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theluckyfewpod/support

We're very relieved, but now entering the strange time of vaccine purgatory. Staff writer Sarah Zhang joins Jim and Katherine to answer your questions. Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at www.theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics Discussed:A recent post on Instagram by Feminists Choosing Life of NYThe Atlantic article, The Last Children of Down SyndromeThe staggering statics of babies aborted due to Down Syndrome The origins and history of eugenicsThe racism of eugenicsEugenics and sex selection abortionsRecent examples of people defending eugenics  Links Mentioned:Pro-Life America Podcast Episode 16: “Can You Be Pro-Life & Believe In Exceptions?” Feminists Choosing Life Of NY post on Instagram"The Last Children of Down Syndrome" - The AtlanticWill Can Fly - That Dad Blog Have a topic you want to see discussed on the show? [Submit it here.]To learn more about what Life Dynamics does, visit: https://lifedynamics.com/about-us/ Be Sure To Follow Life Dynamics:Our WebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagramYouTube   

Sarah Zhang, staff writer for The Atlantic, talks about the rapidly evolving state of prenatal testing, and the impact it is already having on the number of children born with special needs and vulnerabilities.

Lovely Intertrekkies, we hope you're doing alright out there as we drag on into the nth month of this pandemic. To help you through it, here is a deep dive into Star Trek's portrayal of widespread, highly virulent, or large-in-the-literal-sense diseases. Mask up, stand far away from each other, and put us in your earballs!     Episodes:  The Next Generation "The Naked Now" (S1E3) Enterprise "Bounty" (S2E25) Voyager "Faces" (S1E14)* DS9 "The Quickening" (S4E24) Voyager "Macrocosm" (S3E12) The Animated Series "The Albatross" (S2E4)     Recommendations!   The Delta Flyers (podcast) - Garrett Wang (Harry Kim) and Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris) recap every episode of Voyager   Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic** by David Quammen (2012 book) - fascinating tales of zoonotic diseases, aka illnesses that pass from animals to humans (kinda like COVID!)   Episode 151: Body Diversity and Inclusivity Women at Warp (podcast episode) Follow @jessicamalatyrivera - Infectious disease expert Masks Work.   Face masks: what the data say by Lynne Peeples via Nature   Scientific Brief: Community Use of Cloth Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 via CDC   Masks Work. Really. We'll Show You How by Or Fleisher, Gabriel Gianordoli, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, Karthik Patanjali, Miles Peyton and Bedel Saget via NYT   Non-consensual use of body parts in history and medicine (a very incomplete list)   George Washington and Slave Teeth via mountvernon.org   The Surgeon Who Experimented on Slaves by Sarah Zhang via The Atlantic     The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot   Nazi Medical Experiments from the Holocaust Encyclopedia via US Holocaust Memorial Museum   How long does it take to make a vaccine?   Vaccine Development, Testing, and Regulation via historyofvaccines.org   5 charts that tell the story of vaccines today by Douglas Broom via World Economic Forum   Anti-Vaxxers make us

Puerto Rico's Famous Arecibo Observatory Decommissioned The astronomical observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, has been standing since 1963. It has weathered hurricanes, earthquakes, and time itself. But in August, a large cable—holding up one of three towers that help suspend the telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform above the collecting dish—slipped out of its socket. It fell into the dish below, leaving a trail of broken panels. One broken cable seemed like a fixable problem, but in early November a second cable broke. Now, after engineers assessing the damage said it’s likely these breakages have increased strain on the remaining cables, and pointed to fraying strands on additional cables, scientists and others worried of the odds of an accelerating spiral of broken cables, which would cause the massive receiver to collapse onto the dish below and destroy the observatory beyond repair. On Thursday, it seemed the National Science Foundation agreed with these worries: The agency announced it would decommission the historic observatory, and plan for a demolition process that could eliminate the portions at risk of collapse while preserving as much of the structure as possible. As National Geographic contributor (and daughter of one-time observatory director Frank Drake) Nadia Drake wrote Thursday, “It’s game over.” SciFri producer Christie Taylor talks to Drake, former observatory director Mike Nolan, and astronomer Edgard Rivera-Valentín about the damage, as well as the telescope’s irreplaceable role in detecting Earth-threatening asteroids, and its huge importance as a symbol for Puerto Ricans. What Our Climate Can Look Like Under Biden The transition from a Trump presidency to a Biden administration will be a stark contrast for many sectors—perhaps most notably for climate change. While Trump spent his time in office rolling back environmental rules and regulations and setting the country’s climate progress back, president-elect Joe Biden has promised the most ambitious climate plan of any incoming American president in history. The plan is sprawling: investing $400 billion over ten years in clean energy, conserving 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030, and prioritizing environmental justice are just the tip of the plan. Biden also promises to take executive action to reverse the harmful climate rollbacks made during the Trump administration. But is this plan realistic, or even possible if Republicans continue control of the Senate? Joining Ira to talk about the Biden plan is Emily Atkin, author and founder of HEATED, a daily newsletter about the climate crisis, and Rebecca Leber, climate and environment reporter for Mother Jones. What The Latest Promising Pfizer And Moderna Vaccine Trials Mean After a long ten months, the moment we’ve been waiting for is almost here. This week, drug companies Moderna and Pfizer both announced that clinical trials on their respective COVID-19 vaccines had concluded, and both were found to be 95% effective against the coronavirus. While that may be very welcome good news, it comes in the same week that deaths from the coronavirus surpassed 250,000 in the United States. The Atlantic staff writer Sarah Zhang joins Ira to talk about what we can expect over the coming months as these vaccines roll out—with more still to come. Plus, the prehistoric parasites that likely killed a dinosaur, and a scientific debate is sparked on TikTok.  

The Wall Street Journal and NPR explain the implications of delaying the transfer of power from one administration to the next. And the Washington Post reports that the White House is preparing the Trump administration’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year, even though Trump will not be president during that time. Vox breaks down what Trump can do during his final days in office. Sarah Zhang writes in the Atlantic about how rollout of an eventual COVID-19 vaccine during the lame-duck period between two administrations could work. The National Park Service announced that veterans and Gold Star families will have free lifetime access to all national parks, the Washington Post reports.Vox breaks down what Trump can do during his final days in office. Sarah Zhang writes in the Atlantic about how rollout of an eventual COVID-19 vaccine during the lame-duck period between two administrations could work. The National Park Service announced that veterans and Gold Star families will have free lifetime access to all national parks, the Washington Post reports.

The path out the pandemic is a vaccine. Short of that, it could be rapid testing. And the sooner, the better ... right? Sarah Zhang and Alexis Madrigal explain how close we are to each solution — and how much of a solution each may be if rushed. Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at www.theatlantic.com/supportus

Sarah Zhang wrote about it for the Atlantic: a decades-long scientific operation in Central America that keeps flesh-eating screw worms effectively eradicated from every country north of Panama. Sarah tells the story of the science behind the effort, and the man who came up with it. Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

Mel tells Josie all about The Hydro Majestic Hotel, the fanciest place in the NSW Blue Mountains area with a quirky history of being a sanatorium, WWII soldier respite centre and... home of 25,000 crabs?Credits:The Hydro Majestic Hotel websitehttps://www.hydromajestic.com.au/Dictionary Of Sydneyhttps://dictionaryofsydney.org/In Daily, Caroline Berdonhttps://indaily.com.au/eat-drink-explore/travel/2017/06/06/hydro-majestic-feels-creaks-time/ SMH, Tim Barlasshttps://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/blue-mountains-hydro-majestic-makes-a-30m-return-to-former-glory-20141025-11bren.htmlThe Atlantic, Sarah Zhang https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/12/dark-history-of-showering/577636/As always, love us please:Join The Zest Is History Podcast group on FB by searching for "The Zest Is History Podcast" on Facebook.Follow us on Instagram @thezestishistory and Twitter @ZestHistory.Follow Mel on Instagram @melissamason_ and Josie on Instagram @josierozeHooroo! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Staff writer Sarah Zhang joins Jim and Katherine to talk about the limits of antibody testing, whether we’ll be carrying around cards with our immunity status, and the lessons she’s learned from reporting on Yellow Fever.

April is Citizen Science Month! It’s a chance for everyone to contribute to the scientific process—including collecting data, taking observations, or helping to analyze a set of big data. And best of all, a lot of these projects can be done wherever you happen to be personally isolating. Caren Cooper, an associate professor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and co-author of the new book A Field Guide To Citizen Science: How You Can Contribute to Scientific Research and Make a Difference, joins Ira to talk about what makes a good citizen science project, how to get involved, and suggestions for projects in all fields of science. Cooper is also the project leader for the citizen science project Crowd The Tap, looking at mapping water infrastructure and the prevalence of lead pipes throughout the country. For more projects to keep you company through this Citizen Science Month and beyond, head over to sciencefriday.com/citizenscience.   Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system and the closest to the sun. The temperature there can reach up to 800 degrees, but the planet is not an inert, dry rock. Scientists recently found water ice at the poles of the planet, and another team found possible evidence for the chemicals building blocks of life underneath Mercury’s rocky terrain—a landscape pitted with impact craters and haphazardly strewn hills. Those results were published in the journal Scientific Reports. Planetary astronomer Deborah Domingue takes us on a planetary tour and talks about what Mercury can tell us about the rest of the solar system.   All sorts of COVID-19 treatments have been proposed, but some are more promising than others. One of these experimental treatments is using the blood plasma from recovered patients to infuse antibodies into those who are currently sick. This week, New York put out a call for plasma donations, becoming the first state to attempt this approach. Sarah Zhang of The Atlantic talks about what we know about the effectiveness and hurdles of this type of treatment. She also discusses the second wave of COVID-19 infections hitting Asia, and the CDC’s changing stance on personal face mask usage.  

Brushing Up On Tooth Science Most of us spend our time at the dentist holding our mouths open, saying “ahhh,” and occasionally sticking out our tongues. But if you could ask a dentist anything, what would you want to know? Ira asks University of Utah researcher Rena D’Souza and UPenn’s Mark Wolff about cavity formation, the oral microbiome, gum disease, and the future of stem cells in teeth restoration. Plus, NYU researcher Rodrigo Lacruz explains new research on how excessive fluoride can disrupt tooth cell functions and why you should still keep drinking that fluoridated tap water.  East Africans Battle A Plague Of Locusts Brought On By Climate Change A swarm of locusts the size of a city may sound biblical, but it’s the reality right now in East Africa. The pest is devouring the food supply of tens of millions of people, wreaking havoc on crops and pasturelands. Local residents are doing all they can to keep the swarms at bay, but the locusts may be here to stay for a while, as experts suggest their presence may be due to climate change.  Sarah Zhang, reporter at The Atlantic, tells us about the locust issue along with other science news from the week. Why Coal Country May Be Going Solar A new bill passing through the West Virginia state legislature would increase the state’s solar capacity by 2,500%. Environment reporter Brittany Patterson at West Virginia Public Broadcasting tells us the State of Science.  

2020 has just begun, but we’re still celebrating all the amazing work done by science journalists in 2019. Thanks to them, we’ve been informed on stories like the new illnesses linked to vaping, the first image of a black hole, and the increase in youth-led climate change protests. At our year in review event at Caveat in NYC on December 18, 2019, three science storytellers—Arielle Duhaime-Ross, Sarah Zhang, and Ariel Zych—took the stage with a notable story they reported in 2019, including the untold and surprising facts that may not have made it to their final draft.

We got some results from the NASA Twin Study and it's teaching us about long term space travel. The study focused on identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly. Scott spent 340 days in space, while Mark remained on Earth. Comparing their results, NASA found that there were changes to Scott's DNA, genes, body bacteria and more. Claire Maldareli, Associate editor at Popular Science, joins us for what happens to your body when you live in space for a year. Next, Washington has become the first state in the country to legalize human composting. Before, the only acceptable means of disposition of a human body was burial or cremation, now we have “natural organic reduction.” The process involves wood chips, takes about four weeks, and yields about two wheelbarrows worth of soil. Brendan Kiley, reporter for the Seattle Times, joins us for a new alternative to burial or cremation Finally, we speak to Sarah Zhang, writer at the Atlantic, about the sperm donor who has met 17 of his kids. Tim Gullicksen began donating sperm in 1989 and most of his kids are 18-25 years old now. They found him and other siblings through the Donor Sibling Registry and DNA test sites like 23andMe. A new family unit has formed and Sarah helps tell you their story. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the 1940s, Frances Glessner Lee brought new rigor to crime scene analysis with a curiously quaint tool: She designed 20 miniature scenes of puzzling deaths and challenged her students to investigate them analytically. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and their importance to modern investigations. We'll also appreciate an overlooked sled dog and puzzle over a shrunken state. Intro: In a lecture at Cornell, Vladimir Nabokov considered Gregor Samsa's new species. Siren Elise Wilhelmsen taught a clock to knit a scarf. Flickr and the Smithsonian American Art Museum have image galleries of Frances Glessner Lee's nutshell studies. Sources for our story: Corinne May Botz, The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, 2004. Frances Glessner Lee, "Legal Medicine at Harvard University," Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science 42:5 (January-February 1952), 674-678. M. Uebel, "Corpus Delicti: Frances Glessner Lee and the Art of Suspicion," Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences 27:2 (2018), 124-126. Jacquelyn A.D. Jones, "The Value and Potential of Forensic Models," Forensics Journal 8 (2017), 58-65. Katherine Ramsland, "The Truth in a Nutshell," Forensic Examiner 17:2 (2008), 1620. "Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death," Forensic Magazine, Sept. 8, 2017. Jimmy Stamp, "How a Chicago Heiress Trained Homicide Detectives With an Unusual Tool: Dollhouses," Smithsonian.com, March 6, 2014. Sarah Zhang, "How a Gilded-Age Heiress Became the 'Mother of Forensic Science,'" Atlantic, Oct. 14, 2017. Nicole Cooley, "Death and Feminism in a Nutshell," Paris Review, Feb. 5, 2018. Nigel Richardson, "Murder She Built," Telegraph Magazine, Jan. 31, 2015, 36. Catherine Nixey, "Who Shot Barbie?", Times, Nov. 10, 2014, 9. Jessica Snyder Sachs, "Welcome to the Dollhouses of Death," Popular Science 262:5 (May 2003), 38. William L. Hamilton, "Heiress Plotted 19 Grisly Crimes. Investigation Underway," New York Times, Jan. 10, 2018. Ariella Budick, "Bring Up the Bodies: Dioramas," Financial Times, Dec. 30, 2017, 14. "The Art of Murder: Miniature Dioramas of Unexplained Deaths – In Pictures," Guardian, Oct. 27, 2017. Maura Judkis, "Homicide Sweet Homicide," Washington Post, Oct. 27, 2017, T19. "These Miniature Murder Scenes Have Shown Detectives How to Study Homicides for 70 Years," Washington Post, Sept. 17, 2017, A.24. Chris Hewitt, "Crime-Scene Replicas Still Have Tale to Tell in Minneapolis Filmmaker's Documentary," Saint Paul Pioneer Press, March 18, 2013. Michael Sragow, "Murder in a Nutshell," Baltimore Sun, June 3, 2012, E.1. "Visible Proofs: Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death," New York Times, May 11, 2009. Amanda Schaffer, "Solving Puzzles With Body Parts as the Pieces," New York Times, Feb. 28, 2006. Robert Gottlieb, "True Story of Elderly Heiress Who Designed Dioramas of Death," New York Observer, Jan. 24, 2005, 21. Robin Summerfield, "Crime in a Nutshell," Calgary Herald, Jan. 1, 2005, G9. Jennifer Schuessler, "Murder in the Dollhouse," Boston Globe, Oct. 24, 2004, E.2. John Woestendiek, "Murder in Miniature," Baltimore Sun, Oct. 14, 2004, 1E. Eve Kahn, "Murder Downsized," New York Times, Oct. 7, 2004, F.1. "Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death," Smithsonian American Art Museum (accessed Nov. 10, 2019). "Dollhouse Crime Scenes," CBS Sunday Morning, Jan. 14, 2018. Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, "The Tiny, Murderous World of Frances Glessner Lee," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, Nov. 18, 2017. Alison Thoet, "Photos: These Gruesome Dollhouse Death Scenes Reinvented Murder Investigations," PBS NewsHour, Nov. 20, 2017. Ann Marie Menting, "Death in a Nutshell," Harvard Medical School, Sept. 18, 2017. Corinne May Botz, "The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death" (accessed Nov. 10, 2019). Gabrielle Alberts, "This Is Where I Leave You: Unsettling Realities of a Miniature," dissertation, University of Cape Town, 2013. Ferdinand Demara as "Hospital Doctor" in The Hypnotic Eye (1960). Sources for our listener mail segment: Wikipedia, "Ferdinand Waldo Demara: Films/TV" (accessed Nov. 13, 2019). IMDb, "The Hypnotic Eye" (accessed Nov. 13, 2019). IMDb, "Fred Demara: Biography" (accessed Nov. 16, 2019). Wikipedia, "M*A*S*H (TV series)" (accessed Nov. 13, 2019). "Captain Adam Casey," The Monster M*A*S*H Wiki (accessed Nov. 13, 2019). "Dear Dad ... Again (TV series episode)," The Monster M*A*S*H Wiki (accessed Nov. 13, 2019). Brendan Michael, "Check Out Willem Dafoe Mushing in First Look Image of Disney+’s 'Togo,'" Collider, Oct. 24, 2019. IMDb, "Togo (2019)" (accessed Nov. 16, 2019). Wikipedia, "Togo (film)" (accessed Nov. 14, 2019). "'The Great Alaskan Race' Review: A Historic Sled Rescue Turned to Mush," New York Times, Oct. 24, 2019. IMDb, "The Great Alaskan Race (2019)" (accessed Nov. 16, 2019). Dennis Harvey, "Film Review: 'The Great Alaskan Race,'" Variety, Oct. 24, 2019. It Happens Every Thursday, 1953. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Dianna Gabbard. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). We're very sorry to have to say that we recently had to say goodbye to Sasha. We feel very grateful that we got to share our lives with her for over 18 years, but several days ago we learned that she had advanced bone cancer. Until quite recently she had been very active, alert, and engaged in life, so the news was rather a shock to us. The cancer wasn't treatable, and after a few days we realized that the time had come for us to have to say goodbye. She will be very missed, and no beloved pet is ever fully replaceable, but we do hope at some point in the future to find another cat that needs a good home, when we are ready. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Not a single woman won a Nobel Prize in the science category this year. This is not unusual: according to the United Nations, only 20 women have made it to the list of winners in physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine in more than a hundred years. While women are increasingly opting to be scientists, there is still a huge gap. Women are often told that subjects like engineering and mathematics are not for them. They face discrimination in hiring, growth and funding for research. In this special edition, #WorklifeIndia heads to the India Economic Summit organised in Delhi by the World Economic Forum. We speak to female tech entrepreneurs and scientists and ask them what’s holding women back in the field of science. Presenter: Devina Gupta Contributors: Sabine Klauke, head of engineering, Airbus Defence and Space; Dr Ruchi Saxena, founder, Caerobotics Healthcare Solutions and director, India Flying Labs; Sarah Zhang, founder, Guangzhishu Technology (Points); Pritika Mehta, data scientist and entrepreneur

President Trump warned that Iran “made a very big mistake” after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard shot down and American RQ-4A Global Hawk surveillance drone.  Iran maintains that the drone crossed their airspace, but the US says that is just not true.  Bryan Bender, defense editor at Politico, joins us for more on the drone shoot down and continued tension with Iran. Next, in the aftermath of the shootings in Parkland last year, prosecutors around the country turned to a zero tolerance policy when it came to students who made threats against a school. This even prompted one prosecutor in Texas, to charge 216 students in 3 months.  But now, some are moving away from that because they want to avoid overcharging students in cases that don't turn out to be serious. Dan Frosch, Reporter for the WSJ, joins us for how priorities are changing. Finally, we speak to Sarah Zhang, writer at the Atlantic, about the sperm donor who has met 17 of his kids.  Tim Gullicksen began donating sperm in 1989 and most of his kids are 18-25 years old now.  They found him and other siblings through the Donor Sibling Registry and DNA tests like 23andMe.  A new family unit has formed and Sarah helps tell you their story. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

There is a very interesting legal fight playing out right now, phase 1 is done and we are moving to phase 2. A jury has just found that a man named Edwin Hardeman developed cancer from exposure to Roundup weedkiller he used in his yard. Hardeman developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using Roundup for 26 years on his yard. Sara Randazzo, legal reporter for the WSJ joins us for details of the case and what to expect for Phase 2 of the trial, determining what liability Bayer and Monsanto have. Next, an incredible story about finding family and living with the new reality that you might have 50 brothers and sisters. Jacoba Ballard knew she was donor-conceived and wanted to find some half siblings who might have had the same donor.  Her investigation led her to find other siblings and something unexpected.  It all pointed to one man, Donald Cline.  Cline was a fertility doctor who was accused of using his own sperm to impregnate women who came to him for artificial insemination. Sarah Zhang, writer at the Atlantic, joins us for this crazy story and how all the newfound siblings feel now that the truth is out. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the death of President George Herbert Walker Bush, the resurgence of exorcisms, and the viral popularity of the Squatty Potty. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Forty-first president George H.W. Bush died recently at age 94. Niki mentioned diverging analyses of Bush’s legacy from historians Tim Naftali at Slate and David Greenberg at POLITICO. Natalia recommended historian Josh Clark Davis’ viral thread about Bush’s War on Drugs. Neil wrote about Bush’s experience with the religious right at the Washington Post. Catholic exorcisms are on the rise. Niki referred to this article at The Conversation about the role of Pope Francis in this rise. A product called the Squatty Potty is a consumer hit. Natalia referred to this Guardian article about changes in how we relate to toilets and our bodies, as well as to another product, Tushy, that illustrates a new openness to discussing once-taboo bodily functions.    In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History: Natalia recommended Jaime Lauren Keiles’ Vox article, “Reconsidering the Jewish American Princess.” Neil commented on the controversy over every president reciting the Apostles’ Creed at George H.W. Bush’s funeral except President Trump. Niki discussed Sarah Zhang’s Atlantic article, “300 Million Letters Are Missing From the Human Genome.”

A Chinese researcher recently touched off a global controversy when he announced the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies. The claims remain unverified, but the news shocked and dismayed scientists around the world. Atlantic staff writers Ed Yong and Sarah Zhang join Matt Thompson to discuss the news and what it means for the future of genetic editing. Links - The CRISPR Baby Scandal Gets Worse by the Day (Ed Yong, December 3, 2018) - Chinese Scientists Are Outraged by Reports of Gene-Edited Babies (Sarah Zhang, November 27, 2018) -A Reckless and Needless Use of Gene Editing on Human Embryos (Ed Yong, November 26, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Horseshoe crabs are not much to look at.  But beneath their unassuming catcher’s-mitt shell, they harbor a half-billion-year-old secret: a superpower that helped them outlive the dinosaurs and survive all the Earth’s mass extinctions.  And what is that secret superpower? Their blood. Their baby blue blood.  And it’s so miraculous that for decades, it hasn’t just been saving their butts, it’s been saving ours too. But that all might be about to change.   Follow us as we follow these ancient critters - from a raunchy beach orgy to a marine blood drive to the most secluded waterslide - and learn a thing or two from them about how much we depend on nature and how much it depends on us.   BONUS: If you want to know more about how miraculous horseshoe crabs are, here's a bunch of our favorite reads: Alexis Madrigal, "The Blood Harvest" in The Atlantic, and Sarah Zhang's recent follow up in The Atlantic, "The Last Days of the Blue Blood Harvest"  Deborah Cramer, The Narrow Edge Deborah Cramer, "Inside the Biomedical Revolution to Save Horseshoe Crabs" in Audubon Magazine  Richard Fortey, Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms Ian Frazier, "Blue Bloods"  in The New Yorker  Lulu Miller's short story, "Me and Jane"  in Catapult Magazine Jerry Gault, "The Most Noble Fishing There Is"  in Charles River's Eureka Magazine or check out Glenn Gauvry's horseshoe crab research database   This episode was reported by Latif Nasser with help from Damiano Marchetti and Lulu Miller, and was produced by Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty with help from Liza Yeager. Special thanks to Arlene Shaner at the NY Academy of Medicine, Tim Wisniewski at the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives at Johns Hopkins University, Jennifer Walton at the library of the Marine Biological Lab of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Glenn Gauvry at the Ecological Research and Development Group. Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate. 

We discuss the article "How Cats Used Humans to Conquer the World" by Sarah Zhang in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/06/cat-domination/530685/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/artistmaterialist/support

“Humanity is now in the midst of its fastest-ever period of change,” writes Ed Yong in the July/August issue of The Atlantic. Urbanization and globalization mean pathogens can spread and become drug-resistant more quickly than ever. Yong joins executive editor Matt Thompson and fellow science writer Sarah Zhang to discuss what vulnerabilities exist a century after the 1918 pandemic, and how our sharpest risks might be societal and psychological. Links - “The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?” (Ed Yong, July/August 2018 Issue) - “VIDEO: Is Trump Ready for a Global Outbreak?” (Ed Yong, Jun 14, 2018) - “China Is Genetically Engineering Monkeys With Brain Disorders” (Sarah Zhang,  June 8, 2018) - “The Perfect Storm Behind This Year's Nasty Flu Season” (Sarah Zhang,  January 13, 2018) - “Trees That Have Lived for Millennia Are Suddenly Dying” (Ed Yong, Jun 11, 2018) - @sarahzhang on Twitter; @-mention her if you’ve read Audrey Schulman’s A Theory of Bastards - 160 Years of Atlantic Stories - “How Bad Is the Flu?” (Justina Hill, March 1944 Issue) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia debate the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the Golden State Killer, and the news that Americans are forgetting the Holocaust.  Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: At this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, comedian Michelle Wolf caused controversy. You can watch Wolf’s full performance here. Niki referenced Megan Garber’s Atlantic article, “The Slow, Awkward Death of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.” Natalia cited this Columbia Journalism Review article noting that some members of the WHCA are opting to bring journalism students rather than celebrities to the event. The Golden State Killer, who claimed fifty victims in the 1970s and 80s, has been apprehended thanks to DNA evidence. Neil recommended Sarah Zhang’s Atlantic article explaining how police investigators used genealogy websites to find the killer. (We discussed genetic testing websites on Episode 90.) Niki referred to Michelle McNamara’s posthumously published I’ll Be Gone in the Dark that helped solve the crime, and Neil referenced McNamara’s Los Angeles magazine article about how the serial killer terrorized California. Natalia recommended the Atlanta Monster podcast that chronicles a serial killer who victimized that city. A troubling report suggests Americans are decreasingly aware of the scale of the Holocaust. Natalia discussed Rebecca Onion’s Slate article historicizing this apparent illiteracy. Niki cited this Atlantic article considering Poland’s relationship to its role in the Holocaust along with Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands and Jan Gross’ Neighbors. In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History: Neil shared Dana Goldstein’s New York Times article, “Teacher Pay is So Low in Some U.S. School Districts That They Are Recruiting Overseas.” Natalia discussed Kyle Swenson’s Washington Post article, “Harold Bornstein: Exiled from Trumpland, Doctor Now ‘Frightened and Sad’.” Niki discussed Pamela Burger’s JSTOR Daily article, “The Bloody History of the True Crime Genre.”

In 1770, Hungarian engineer Wolfgang von Kempelen unveiled a miracle: a mechanical man who could play chess against human challengers. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet Kempelen's Mechanical Turk, which mystified audiences in Europe and the United States for more than 60 years. We'll also sit down with Paul Erdős and puzzle over a useful amateur. Intro: Lewis Carroll sent a birthday wish list to child friend Jessie Sinclair in 1878. An octopus named Paul picked the winners of all seven of Germany’s World Cup games in 2010. Sources for our feature on the Mechanical Turk: Tom Standage, The Turk, 2002. Elizabeth Bridges, "Maria Theresa, 'The Turk,' and Habsburg Nostalgia," Journal of Austrian Studies 47:2 (Summer 2014), 17-36. Stephen P. Rice, "Making Way for the Machine: Maelzel's Automaton Chess-Player and Antebellum American Culture," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, 106 (1994), 1-16. Dan Campbell, "'Echec': The Deutsches Museum Reconstructs the Chess-Playing Turk," Events and Sightings, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 26:2 (April-June 2004), 84-85. John F. Ohl and Joseph Earl Arrington, "John Maelzel, Master Showman of Automata and Panoramas," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 84:1 (January 1960), 56-92. James W. Cook Jr., "From the Age of Reason to the Age of Barnum: The Great Automaton Chess-Player and the Emergence of Victorian Cultural Illusionism," Winterthur Portfolio 30:4 (Winter 1995), 231-257. W.K. Wimsatt Jr., "Poe and the Chess Automaton," American Literature 11:2 (May 1939), 138-151. Peggy Aldrich Kidwell, "Playing Checkers With Machines -- From Ajeeb to Chinook," Information & Culture 50:4 (2015), 578-587. Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis, "IBM's Chess Players: On AI and Its Supplements," Information Society 24 (2008), 69-82. Nathan Ensmenger, "Is Chess the Drosophila of Artificial Intelligence? A Social History of an Algorithm," Social Studies of Science 42:1 (February 2012), 5-30. Martin Kemp, "A Mechanical Mind," Nature 421:6920 (Jan. 16, 2003), 214. Marco Ernandes, "Artificial Intelligence & Games: Should Computational Psychology Be Revalued?" Topoi 24:2 (September 2005), 229–242. Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis, "The Revenge of the Object? On Artificial Intelligence as a Cultural Enterprise," Social Analysis 41:1 (March 1997), 29-45. Mark Sussman, "Performing the Intelligent Machine: Deception and Enchantment in the Life of the Automaton Chess Player," TDR 43:3 (Autumn 1999), 81-96. James Berkley, "Post-Human Mimesis and the Debunked Machine: Reading Environmental Appropriation in Poe's 'Maelzel's Chess-Player' and 'The Man That Was Used Up,'" Comparative Literature Studies 41:3 (2004), 356-376. Kat Eschner, "Debunking the Mechanical Turk Helped Set Edgar Allan Poe on the Path to Mystery Writing," Smithsonian.com, July 20, 2017. Lincoln Michel, "The Grandmaster Hoax," Paris Review, March 28, 2012. Adam Gopnik, "A Point of View: Chess and 18th Century Artificial Intelligence," BBC News, March 22, 2013. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21876120 Ella Morton, "The Mechanical Chess Player That Unsettled the World," Slate, Aug. 20, 2015. "The Automaton Chess Player," Scientific American 48:7 (February 17, 1883), 103-104. Robert Willis, An Attempt to Analyse the Automaton Chess Player, of Mr. de Kempelen, 1821. "The Automaton Chess-Player," Cornhill Magazine 5:27 (September 1885), 299-306. Edgar Allan Poe, "Maelzel's Chess-Player," Southern Literary Messenger, April 1836, 318-326. You can play through six of the Turk's games on Chessgames.com. Listener mail: Nicholas Gibbs, "Voynich Manuscript: The Solution," Times Literary Supplement, Sept. 5, 2017. Annalee Newitz, "The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript Has Finally Been Decoded," Ars Technica, Sept. 8, 2017. Natasha Frost, "The World's Most Mysterious Medieval Manuscript May No Longer Be a Mystery," Atlas Obscura, Sept. 8, 2017. Sarah Zhang, "Has a Mysterious Medieval Code Really Been Solved?" Atlantic, Sept. 10, 2017. Annalee Newitz, "So Much for That Voynich Manuscript 'Solution,'" Ars Technica, Sept. 10, 2017. "Imaginary Erdős Number," Numberphile, Nov. 26, 2014. Oleg Pikhurko, "Erdős Lap Number," Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick (accessed Sept. 15, 2017). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alex Baumans, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

 Birthday parties: must we really? Every kid, every year? Can we skip the goody bags? Can we ban slumber parties now and forever? Is it possible to spend less than four figures on a fete for a four-year-old?  In this episode we discuss ways to make birthday parties easier:    stopping “The Great Crap Exchange” (Margaret will die on this hill)  how to manage size of your guest list  the right budget for a party (with special dispensation for parties in the winter)  the crucial-ness of the backup activity  how Etsy can make your kid’s party Pinterest-worthy for less than a trip to Party City    In the end, it’s Mom’s loving effort that will be remembered more than the result. Right? Amy sure hopes so, because this is the LEGO birthday cake she made for her 8-year-old (stop laughing)      and here is the Lightning McQueen cake Margaret made once (SHOW OFF).    Here’s some interesting/helpful/horrifying links to further reading on this topic:    more on Amy’s horrible baking skills but also the time she threw a kick-ass LEGO birthday party * Sarah Zhang for The Atlantic: Blowing Out Birthday Candles Increases Cake Bacteria by 1,400 Percent * baby Leo pees on his first birthday cake * Parents Drop $40,000 For Toddler’s Birthday * Rookie Moms: 5 Tips for a Cheaper Third Birthday Party Thanks to everyone who entered our SmartyPants Vitamins giveaway on our Facebook page! Your birthday party worsts were truly horrible- so bad we turned them all into haikus. In addition to featuring them in this episode, we’ll be sharing them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram over the next two weeks, with identities obscured to protect the innocent. The winner of a SmartyPants Vitamins Family Pack, including their Men’s, Women’s, and Children’s multivitamins, is Heather! Enjoy some #smartyhealth!       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Limitless Laowai, I was delighted to welcome back to Limitless Laowai Sarah Zhang, Social Media Influencer and International Lifestyle Guru. In today's show, we're going to be continuing our conversation related to her dreams to bring the very best wine, food, fitness and lifestyle resources to upscale Chinese consumers. In this second show with Sarah, we dive deep into the opportunities and challenges that are present in an increasingly connected social media world. We also discuss what she does to relax and regroup given her exceptionally large number of social media followers. Lastly, we tackle how Sarah feels to be named a person who "represents modern China." You're going to want to hear her thoughts on this wonderful honor. Special thanks to this episode's sponsors, Concordia International School Shanghai; discover more at www.concordiashanghai.org. // What'd you think of this show? Send comments, questions, and feedback to the host at Pete@limitlesslaowai.com.

In this episode of Limitless Laowai, I was delighted to welcome to Limitless Laowai Sarah Zhang, Social Media Influencer and International Lifestyle Guru. In today's show, we're going to be starting a fascinating conversation related to how Sarah took her dreams and turned them into reality, all while working and traveling the world.  Sarah's dream is to bring the very best wine, food, fitness and lifestyle resources to upscale Chinese consumers and she's a major force on Social Media.   You'll find Sarah's energy to be delightful as we dive deep into the opportunities and challenges that are present in an increasingly connected social media world. We also discuss her business strategies for developing successful programs that educate while also being entertaining. It's an episode you're not going to want to miss.   Special thanks to this episode's sponsors, Concordia International School Shanghai; discover more at www.concordiashanghai.org. // What'd you think of this show? Send comments, questions, and feedback to the host at Pete@limitlesslaowai.com.