Podcast for Inquiry S01E13: Emma Allen-Vercoe on the importance of microbes to human health

Dr. Allen-Vercoe (@EmmaAllenVercoe) talks about how to think of microbe populations across different people, and why they are important for digestion and overall health. She describes her research on the microbiome of the Yanomami, and why it is important. The role of serendipity in scientific progress is often underemphasized, and Emma shares how one such moment led to an enormous grant for colorectal cancer research. She explains her role in improving a disgusting but effective medical intervention. Finally, Emma summarizes her extensive efforts to fight pseudoscience and the need for personalized medicine in the years to come. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S01E12: David Good on the Yanomami and the Good Project

What is it like to stand astride two different worlds? Few people know better than David Good, born to an American father and Yanomami mother. Listen to David describe the experience of meeting his mother in the jungle after twenty years in suburban America and talk about the Yanomami equivalent of laws and means of settling disputes. Learn more about his efforts to protect the Yanomami way of life at The Good Project. 

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Podcast for Inquiry S01E11: Steven Pinker on Rationality and Humanist Values

Even as a young teenager, Dr. Steven Pinker (@sapinker) prized rationality as a virtue, and considered himself an anarchist. He changed that belief, however, when evidence indicated that anarchy was not a path to human flourishing. In this special episode, a co-production with the New Enlightenment Project, previous Podcast for Inquiry guest Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson returns as a co-host. Together, Lloyd and I explore with Dr. Pinker whether universities are betraying their mission, how the human brain spectacularly fails while also working wonders, the loose connections between science and technology with social and moral progress, and what humanity needs to do to continue to thrive for the next 50-100 years. 

Listen to our conversation here:

A video recording is also available: