In Plain English Podcast

Open Science Series: A Conversation with Bryan Copits

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…

Season 2, Episode 6: An Open Science Round Table

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 This outdated approach to sharing science slows advancement by locking research behind paywalls, and prevents the public from being able to read the research that their tax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,…

Open Science Live Stream TOMORROW 2/27 @ 10 am ET

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…

Season 2, Episode 5: Why Should I Care About Surface Tension?

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…

Bad Science: the Bogus Case for More Cops

In this bonus episode of In Plain English, I talk with defense lawyer Alec Karakatsanis about the paper “The Injustice of Under-policing 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 read Alec’s response…

Bonus Episode: The Politics of Space

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…

Season 2, Episode 3: Virus Evolution: from Local Outbreak to Global Pandemic

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. 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…

Season 2, Episode 2: Exhausted Immune Cells: the Weary Veterans of Chronic Infection

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. If you liked this episode, be sure to follow Christina Niavi on Twitter…

Season 2, Episode 1: Do You Wanna Dance? Why Music Makes Us Move

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! 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…

Episode 13: When Research Gets it Wrong, Part 2

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?” Click here to listen to Part 1. Remember to follow In Plain English on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram to keep up with the latest announcements!…