Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it. The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today. Not medical advice. At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it. As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet. I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint. My beliefs: Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet. All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions. Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information. Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself) “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess) “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Episodes
The surprising link between oral bacteria and heart disease.
Episode Summary: Dr. Pekka Karhunen explains the connection between oral bacteria, cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease, discussing how oxidized LDL cholesterol triggers inflammation in arteries, how bacteria from the mouth can infiltrate arterial plaques to form biofilms, and the implications for heart disease prevention through lifestyle changes like bet...
How nutrition and medications impact mitochondrial health.
Wide release date: October 1, 2025.
Episode Summary: Dr. Chris Masterjohn talks about the intricate relationships between nutrition, prescription drugs, and mitochondrial health, discussing how molecules like acetaminophen and SSRIs affect the body beyond their intended purposes, particularly impacting inflammation and energy metabolism. The discussion gets...
Genetic & environmental factors that affect brain health, including why people age faster in outer space. (Note: technical difficulties affected the audio quality of this recording somewhat)
Episode Summary: Dr. Jacob Raber explains how apolipoproteins, particularly ApoE, influence brain health and disease risk; their role in cholesterol metabolism, Alzheimer’s disease, and responses to environmental stressors like...
How maternal obesity epigenetically reprograms liver metabolism in offspring, predisposing them to metabolic disease.
Episode Summary: Dr. Elvira Mass talks about macrophages, specialized immune cells that vary by tissue and play crucial roles beyond fighting infections, such as supporting organ function; Kupffer cells (liver macrophages) and how maternal obesity during pregnancy reprograms these cells in offspring, le...
Aging, tissue repair, and the longevity benefits of psilocin.
Episode Summary: Dr. Louise Hecker discusses her research on tissue repair and regeneration, explaining how fibroblasts drive wound healing by forming scar tissue but fail to resolve properly with age, leading to fibrotic diseases like pulmonary fibrosis and liver cirrhosis; they discuss aging hallmarks such as oxidative stress and telomere shortening, and h...
The effects of protein restriction on metabolism, liver hormones, brain, and behavior.
Episode Summary: Dr. Christopher Morrison talks about how animals sense and prioritize nutrients like protein, discussing defense mechanisms for essentials such as oxygen, water, sodium, and energy; the brain's role in detecting protein deprivation via signals like FGF21; trade-offs between growth, reproduction, and longevity un...
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Cellular clean up by immune cells and how early-life fructose exposure leads to neurodevelopmental problems.
Episode Summary: Dr. Justin Perry talks about the body's constant cellular turnover—about 3 million cells die per second in adults (double in children and women)—handled by phagocytes like macrophages that engulf and digest debris to prevent diseases like lupus. They explore phagocytosis steps, macrophage a...
The potential link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and autism, with a surprise phone call from RFK partway through.
Episode Summary: Dr. William Parker talks about autism spectrum disorder (ASD), its rising prevalence since the 1980s, and the controversial hypothesis that acetaminophen exposure in susceptible infants and children triggers most cases via oxidative stress. They discuss ASD's clinical definition; his...
Wide release date: August 25, 2025
Episode Summary: Dr. Uffe Ravnskov talks about his decades-long career challenging the idea that high cholesterol causes heart disease, discussing LDL's protective role in the immune system by binding to bacteria, the harms and biases in statin research influenced by pharmaceutical companies, evidence that high cholesterol benefits the elderly and reduces infection/cancer risks, ...
The appendix's hidden role and how "good" parasites like helminths shape immune health.
Episode Summary: Dr. William Parker discusses gut anatomy, the appendix's role in harboring beneficial bacterial biofilms and immune tissue, and how modern hygiene depletes helminths (intestinal worms), causing immune overreactions like allergies, autoimmunity, and psychiatric conditions. He explores helminth sel...
What is the core evolved function of the endocannabinoid system?
Episode Summary: Dr. Giovanni Marsicano is a neuroscientist based in Bordeaux, France, where he leads a research group at INSERM focusing on the endocannabinoid system.
About the guest: Giovanni Marsicano, PhD discusses the endocannabinoid system, starting with its core components like CB1 receptors and lipid-based molecules derived from omega-6 fatty acid...
Overview and alternative interpretation to the mainstream view on how dietary fat and cholesterol relate to cardiovascular disease.
Episode Summary: Tucker Goodrich is an engineer by training who has become a prominent independent researcher and blogger on nutrition and metabolic health, focusing on the harms of seed oils and polyunsaturated fats.
About the guest: Nick Jikomes and Tucker Goodrich explore atherosclerosis...
Human metabolism, primate evolution, and modern health challenges with evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer.
Episode Summary: Anthropologist Dr. Herman Pontzer discusses human evolution and metabolism, comparing humans to primates like chimps and gorillas to explain our higher energy use, bigger brains, and longer lives despite trade-offs in reproduction and activity; they discuss dietary shifts from plant-based ...
The deep connection between sunlight and life, from the scale of the cosmos to the quantum.
Episode Summary: Astrophysicist Dr. Robert Fosbury discusses the sun's characteristics as a star, its analogies to living systems via entropy and complexity, and Erwin Schrödinger's insights on life as order-maintaining entities; he explores how near-infrared (NIR) light from the sun penetrates bodies to enhance mitoch...
How brain synapses work and fuel themselves with fat.
Episode Summary: Dr. Timothy Ryan talks about the high energy costs of synapses, the role of mitochondria and glycolysis, and challenge the long-held view that the brain relies solely on glucose by discussing new evidence that neurons burn fats from lipid droplets for fuel, especially during activity. The talk touches on metabolic flexibility, links to epilepsy trea...
Episode Summary: Dr. Eugene Chang talks about the microbiome’s role as a vital organ, the impacts of antibiotics and Western diets on microbial health, and strategies for restoring a damaged microbiome through diet and fecal microbial transplants. They delve into microbiome dysbiosis, its links to modern diseases, and Chang’s research on personalized microbiome interventions.
About the guest: Eugene Chang, MD is a phys...
The genetics of sleep duration and sleep timing.
Episode Summary: Dr. Ying-Hui Fu discusses her research on the genetics of sleep, focusing on natural short sleepers who thrive on 4-6 hours of sleep and the heritability of sleep traits like duration and timing. She explores how sleep efficiency, rather than just duration, may explain why some need less sleep without health deficits, and delves into the molecular and ci...
A blend of biology, philosophy, and history exploring how hormones and endocrine disruptors affect social behavior and society.
Episode Summary: Dr. Charles Cornish-Dale discusses the decline of masculinity in modern society, linking it to falling testosterone levels, environmental endocrine disruptors, and the limitations of liberal democracy. Drawing on Francis Fukuyama’s “End of History & the Last Men” and histo...
How our biological clocks shape biology from the molecular to behavioral level.
Episode Summary: Dr. Joseph Takahashi discusses circadian rhythms, exploring their biological basis, from molecular mechanisms to their impact on metabolism and health; the discovery of circadian clock genes; role of the suprachiasmatic nucleus, and how light, feeding, and oxygen influence these rhythms. The conversation highlights practica...
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