First up on the podcast, Senior International Correspondent Richard Stone joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the surprising commonalities between our immune systems and the tools bacteria use to defend themselves against viruses. These unexpected parallels have become rich ground for researchers investigating new molecular biology tools and model systems for immune research.
Next on the show, Dominic Rohner, a professor of economics at the Geneva Graduate Institute and University of Lausanne, talks about the impact of cuts in international aid on violent conflict in Africa. His team harnessed the natural experiment of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) work stoppage ordered by the Trump administration in early 2025 to find links between the sudden withdrawal of high levels of aid to increases in conflict.
See also Science’s 2025 news series on the impact of USAID cuts on children.
Finally, Valerie Thompson, Science’s books and media editor, interviews undergraduate student and author Theo Baker. Baker wrote the book How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University, which covers the heavy involvement of Silicon Valley investors in Stanford University and his investigation of research misconduct by former Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne. See the full review here.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
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Some people are good at putting themselves in another person's shoes. Others may struggle to relate. But psychologist Jamil Zaki argues that empathy isn't a fixed trait. This week, we revisit a favorite episode about how to exercise our empathy muscles. Then, Leslie John answers listener questions about the benefits of opening up to others, in our latest installment of Your Questions Answered.
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Episode illustration by Getty Images for Unsplash+ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This is the abbreviated version of Checkup's call-in about the boxes, bins and forgotten belongings adult kids have left behind. This episode looks at how families negotiate inter-generational storage wars and how to decide what stays, what goes and who's responsible for it all.
We rewind to May 1994, when Ontario was on the brink of a major shift in LGBTQ+ rights. Days before the legislature debated a bill to grant same‑sex couples full legal recognition, Canadians called Cross Country Checkup to weigh in. This archive episode reveals how the country was thinking, arguing and evolving — and what it tells us about how far we’ve come.
Spring cleaning is stirring up a familiar family tension: the boxes, bins and forgotten belongings adult kids have left behind. This episode looks at how families negotiate these cross-generational storage wars and how to decide what stays, what goes and who's responsible for it all.
Flight cancellations, tight budgets and the US travel boycott are shaking up summer travel plans for many Canadians. This episode breaks down what's driving the turbulence - and provides smart summer travel hacks travellers should consider before booking.
For most of human history, people went about their daily lives with a worm or two (or fifty) in their guts. Only in the past century, with pharmaceuticals and sanitation practices, have we made significant strides towards deworming the whole of humanity. And that’s typically been thought of as a good thing, because having too many worms in your body can–quite literally–suck the life out of you.
But is it possible to have… too few worms? Science wonders if deworming ourselves has actually led to an increase in certain chronic diseases. On this episode, we dive into Necator americanus, a.k.a. the American Hookworm, and its mysterious relationship with each of us.
We trace the hookworm’s 118-year journey from a demonized economic depressant, to its use as a desperate D.I.Y. immunosuppressant, to its potential as a medical treatment for a number of chronic diseases, everything from asthma to MS.
We’re bringing back two stories from our 2009 episode Parasites plus new research on hookworms and autoimmune diseases, reported by Molly Webster
Special thanks to Ethan Hein for the use of his remix of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21. Plus, Doris Pierce, and Dan and Alice Hadley.
EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Pat Walters and Molly Webster
with help from - {{wREPORTERS}}
Produced by - Matt Kielty
with help from - Rebecca Rand
Fact-checking by - Diane A. Kelly
and Edited by - Arianne Wack
EPISODE CITATIONS:
Articles -
Effect of experimental hookworm infection on insulin resistance in people at risk of type 2 diabetes (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37495576/) by Giacomin PR et al. Nat Commun. 2023 Jul 26
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Not exactly. But their runaway success with games like Wordle says something bigger about the way we live now. (Part one of a series, “We Are All Gamers Now.”)
SOURCES:
Alex Hardiman, chief product officer at The New York Times.
Jonathan Knight, S.V.P. and general manager for New York Times Games.
Eric Zimmerman, game designer, professor of game design at the N.Y.U. Game Center.
RESOURCES:
"Wordle Is a Love Story," by Daniel Victor (New York Times, 2022).
The Rules We Break: Lessons in Play, Thinking, and Design, by Eric Zimmerman (2022).
Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can't Live Without Them, by Adrienne Raphel (2020).
The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia, by Bernard Suits (2005).
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, by Katie Salen Tekinbas and Eric Zimmerman (2003).
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