Dr. Kirsten Sanford Science Media
39 episodes listed below
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The kickass science and technology radio show that delivers an irreverent look at the week in science and technology.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Dr. Kiki and company make science news useful by questioning what studies establish, where inference begins and why the distinction matters.
This Week in Science - The Kickass Science Podcast turns current research into a lively, multi-voice conversation led by Dr. Kiki. Its range is unusually mobile: animal behavior, the gut microbiome, misinformation, vaccine policy, artificial intelligence and extraterrestrial…
A bat hug gets an 'aww,' and you get to question what 'solitary' means.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A curious science round-up connects vaccine design, storage demands, and the everyday urge to chew.
This episode uses a gnawing need to chew as an entry point into a broader science week, moving from tamper-free viruses and origami-linked vaccine ideas to garbled space messages and human-centered computing.
Offshore wind becomes a sharp case study in how lost trust in science can redirect a person's path.
Offshore wind gives "Why Tilt at Windmills?" a sturdy center. The episode follows how trust in federal scientists and experts can fray, turning a clean-energy debate into a broader argument about science itself.
A solo science episode finds conservation potential in the curiosity sparked by cute wildlife videos.
Blair Bazdurich carries this solo episode from a playful set of identity questions about when a show, podcast, or science stops being itself into a sharper look at wildlife videos online.
A brain-cell investigation turns gene screening into a clear question about why CCN1 stood out.
Astrocytes give this science roundup a clean center of gravity. The episode begins with why these brain cells matter, then follows the research trail toward CCN1 and why it stood out.
A lively science conversation where missing context becomes part of the archaeological reconstruction.
What Will We Never Know? handles uncertainty as a subject worth examining, not a gap to smooth away. The episode starts with a playful sweep through exploding cucumbers, zoonoses, and sensitive crabs, then settles into a sharper archaeological puzzle: dried preserved remains in…
A conversation about certainty that keeps circling back to regulation, profit, and the common good.
This Week in Science is at its best when it asks when enough is enough and lets that question spill into Olympics banter, the economics of making and selling to consumers, and the chemicals in everyday life. From there, Dr.
A solo science hour that turns one olive-like supernova into a careful, lively look at what the first data can and cannot show.
The solo episode follows astronomers as they catch supernova SN2024-GGI in galaxy NGC3621 at the moment the blast is breaking through the star's surface. That early breakout gives the hour its clearest hook: the olive-like shape is easy to picture, and Dr.
Ancient teeth, human origins, and DNA drive a lively debate about what the record can actually prove.
This Week in Science centers on a familiar debate: what ancient teeth can reveal about human origins, and why DNA has already challenged a separate-evolution claim. Dr.
Research-tested practices for a happier, more meaningful life.
Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser build single reported stories around one scientific question.
Flora Lichtman interviews scientists, from gut-health researchers to Queen's Brian May.
Steven Novella and a rotating panel dissect weekly science news and debunk pseudoscience claims.
Long interviews with neuroscientists and philosophers on consciousness, decision-making, and whether AI is anything like a brain.
Bob McDonald anchors weekly multi-segment interviews on new research, from cricket courtship to moon missions.
The hosts kick things off with the promise of ape doctors, flying bird poo, and the mind’s eye.
Episode 1022 starts with a question.
Hosts Dr.
This Week in Science episode 1042, recorded Wednesday, January 7th, 2026, opens with Dr.
Dr.
Dr.
This Week in Science episode 1030, recorded Friday, September 19th, 2025, features Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania and Peter J.
The episode opens with tributes to recently deceased primatologist Jane Goodall, whose six-decade career revolutionized understanding of chimpanzee tool use, emotions, and individuality against scientific dogma.
This episode features an interview with science policy expert Adriana Bankston, discussing her work in Congress to advocate for evidence-based policies and federal research funding.
Blair hosts a solo episode focused on animal science, covering fringe-lipped bats in Panama that catch prey as heavy as themselves, female caribou that gnaw on their antlers for nutrients, sniffer dogs trained to detect illegal wildlife products with high accuracy, and fish that expend significant energy to hover in water.
This Week in Science Episode 1035, recorded October 29, 2025, is the TWISoween special hosted solo by Blair while Dr.
Live wine-and-science AMA format covering multiple breakthroughs: Epstein-Barr virus identified as driver of autoimmune disease through B cell self-antigen presentation mechanism; KLU-156 malaria drug shows 99.2% cure rate in 1,600-patient trial, significantly improving on standard artemisinin therapy; malaria remains top parasite killer with 246 million annual African cases and 569,000 deaths.
This Week in Science hosts Dr.
This episode of This Week in Science features an interview with Dr.
This Week in Science covers UK Biobank's 500,000-person metabolomics dataset for disease prediction, Blue Origin's Glenn landing success, interstellar comet observations, and critical analysis of a seagull behavior study.
This Week in Science hosts Dr.
This Week in Science Episode 1034 explores solar system formation driven by Jupiter's early migration, explains metabolic rate ceilings discovered in elite ultra-endurance athletes, and reveals urban squirrel adaptation using road noise for predator avoidance.
A rigorous investigation into misinformation: a Harvard-led meta-analysis claims to show acetaminophen causes autism based on studying associations rather than causation.
"Science is not a brand." Dr.
This episode covers recent science stories, including a quantum double slit experiment using atoms, a study on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy saving millions of lives, Wi-Fi fingerprinting for identification, ancient human teeth fossils in China, and the impact of dietary fats on cancer in mice.
Dr.
This Week in Science episode 1051, “Gnaw On This For a Bit,” opens with Dr.
Blair is flying solo tonight.
Astrocytes get the spotlight.
This Week in Science hosts Dr.