In Plain English: Science Made Simple
In Plain English is a podcast where we discuss scientific research in terms that are accessible to everyone, not just the experts. Every episode will feature an expert in a particular field of science, such as genetics or anthropology. The expert will then present a paper in their field, and the podcast guests--people without much knowledge of the subject--ask questions and discuss the research. Each episode will conclude with a broader discussion of how the paper’s findings impact society as a whole.
Episodes
In this bonus episode on Open Science, I sit down with Dr. Bryan Copits, an early career researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. We talk about the barriers to publishing open access papers as early career scientists, the research-stifling effect exerted by the most "prestigious" journals, and what efforts are currently underway to promote Open Science.
This episode is a follow-up to last week's episode, An Ope...
Currently, scientists need to pay to publish research and readers need to pay to access most research articles. This outdated approach to sharing science slows advancement by locking research behind paywalls, and prevents the public from being able to read the research that their tax dollars funded. In this round table, Sci-Hub founder Alexandra Elbakyan, eLife Editor-in-Chief Michael Eisen, and WashU neuroscientist Bryan Copits d...
Tune in TOMORROW, February 27th at 10 am ET/9 am CT for the first ever In Plain English Live Stream! We will be hosting a round table discussion on Open Science and scientific publishing with the Editor-in-Chief of eLife, Michael Eisen; the founder of Sci-Hub, Alexandra Elbakyan; and WashU neuroscientist Bryan Copits.
You can find the live stream at this link: https://youtube.com/live/4oiTDnGmWXs
An edited version of the round tabl...
What do the blood in your blood vessels, the waves on a beach, and bubbles from a bubble bath have in common? They're all fluids, interacting with other fluids in complex ways that can be modeled by computers! Join expert Alex Barrett and guests Cole Barker and Christina Niavi to learn more about the important role surface tension plays in interactions between fluids, and the many important applications of modeling these compli...
In this bonus episode of In Plain English, I talk with defense lawyer Alec Karakatsanis about the paper "The Injustice of Underpolicing in America," by Christopher Lewis and Adaner Usmani. We cover the undisclosed assumptions, missing statistics, and cynical worldview behind this piece of propaganda masked as a scientific paper.
You can find the paper, Alec's response, and the authors' rebuttal on our website here.
On this special episode of In Plain English, Brendan Ziebarth, Nick Wolslegel, and I talk about the political side of space travel: billionaire joy rides, corporate asteroid mining, climate impact, and more.
This episode was inspired by our conversation on Season 1, Episode 4: Where did Earth's Water Come From? You can listen to that episode here.
You can find the sources we referenced in our conversation and view the episode t...
Join expert SB Pye and guests Tania Lintz and Hannah Trettenero for a deep dive on virus outbreaks, and why some new viruses spread like wildfire while others peter out.
You can download this paper on our website here.
If you liked this episode and want to learn more about viruses, you can send questions to SB at e.pye@wustl.edu, or submit them via the Continue the Conversation tab on our website! You can also check out virolog...
Join expert Christina Niavi and guests Alex Barrett and David Latchman to learn what happens to our immune cells during chronic infections and cancer, and how we can harness our understanding of the immune system to develop better treatments for these diseases.
You can download this paper on our website here.
If you liked this episode, be sure to follow Christina Niavi on Twitter @ChristinaNiavi and David Latchman @SciWrit...
Join expert Alex Albury and guests SB Pye and Sasha Dmytrenko to find out what kinds of music make us want to tap our feet, and why!
You can download this paper for free on our website.
If you liked this episode, be sure to follow Alex Albury on Twitter @albury_alex and check out his recent article in the conversation on why you know more about music than you think: https://theconversation.com/youre-not-tone-deaf-and-you-know-m...
Join expert Vera Thornton and guests Doris Meinerding and Hannah Waterhouse for Part 2 of a thought-provoking look "behind the scenes" of scientific research, to answer the question "Why are research findings sometimes wrong?"
Remember to follow In Plain English on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest announcements! If you are able, please consider becoming a Patron to help support In Plain E...
Join expert Vera Thornton and guests Doris Meinerding and Hannah Waterhouse for Part 1 of a thought-provoking look "behind the scenes" of scientific research, to answer the question "Why are research findings sometimes wrong?" Part 2 will air on the first Tuesday of September.
Remember to follow In Plain English on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest announcements! If you are able, please co...
Join expert Hilary Agro and guests Vera Thornton and Brigid Lydon as they discuss the far-reaching impacts of the drug war and the importance of harm reduction.
You can download the paper on our website.
Remember to follow In Plain English on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest announcements! If you are able, please consider becoming a Patron to help support In Plain English!
And check out our Where to List...
Join expert Jonathan Mitchell and guests Nicolas Scrutton Alvarado and Raymond Uymatiao to learn about the beneficial bacteria in your gut that can help protect against diseases like cholera.
You can download the paper on our website.
Check out Jonathan's podcast Microbe Moment!
Check out Nicolas's podcast In the Spotlight!
Remember to follow In Plain English on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest a...
In the 9th episode of In Plain English, expert Kelly-Anne Moffa and guests Leenah Abugisisa and Alexander Albury delve into the ups and downs of California's cap-and-trade policy and its impact on climate change.
You can find the paper, "Leakage from Sub-national Climate Policy: The Case of California’s Cap-and-Trade Program", on our website.
Remember to follow In Plain English on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram to ke...
In the 8th episode of In Plain English, expert Abby Kimball and guests Jakayla Folarin and Olayinka Idowu discuss the fascinating world of parasites and the surprising ways in which they connect all life, from ants to elephants.
You can download the paper for this episode on our website.
If you want to learn more about this topic, check out the book Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer.
In the 7th episode of In Plain English, expert Grace Ward and guests Caitlin Murphy and Marc Blanc discuss why the history of domestication we think we know is wrong, and what that says about our world today.
You can find the paper, "Reconsidering Domestication from a Process Archaeology Perspective" by Bogaard et. al., on our website.
If you want to learn more about this topic, check out the book The Dawn of Everything by ...
In the 6th episode of In Plain English, expert Teodora Stoica and guests Emma Sward and Abby Kimball explore what we know about how the brain changes with age, how we study the aging brain, and how we can promote healthy cognitive aging.
If you liked this episode, be sure to check out Teodora's blog Curious Cortex!
Remember to follow In Plain English on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest announcements!...
In the fifth episode of In Plain English, expert Ralph White III and guests Maura Lydon and Alexa Ruel explore the unexpected ways in which estrogen can affect the growth and spread of prostate cancer.
If you liked this episode, check out Ralph's podcast Scientifically Sound on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1549609843 and follow Scientifically Sound on Twitter @4theSci_Sound and Instagram @scienti...
In the fourth episode of In Plain English, we discuss the potential cosmic origins of Earth's oceans. Expert Will Saunders and guests India Bland and Nick Wolslegel delve into the paper "How much water was delivered from the asteroid belt to the Earth after its formation?" by Rebecca Martin and Mario Livio, exploring whether asteroids could have brought all this water to Earth.
Join our expert Alexa Ruel and our guests Kelly-Anne Moffa and Mo Carr to discuss the paper "Interplay of Approximate Planning Strategies". During our discussion, we touch on whether the human brain works like a computer, why people avoid large negative outcomes even when they could lead to even larger positive ones, and more!
You can catch up on our previous episodes, download the papers, and send us questions at our websi...
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