Big Picture Science

We admire the ornamental beauty of flowers in a garden, but those blooms are more than lush color. The seemingly fragile, delicate petals are part of a resilient, adaptive innovation that arrived on the scene 250 million years ago and transformed life on the planet. Much life, including us, would not have evolved without flowering planets. Yet the power of the petal is often overlooked. How does our perspective on nature’s web change if we give flowers the credit they deserve? Celebrated biologist David Haskell shares the story of how nature’s revolutionaries evolved their vibrant hues and intoxicating scents to lure bees, butterflies and other animals into cooperative partnerships.  Guest: David George Haskell – biologist, professor at Emory University, and author of “How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries" You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A growing online movement of sunscreen skeptics believes that sunblock is toxic, even suggesting that it might cause skin cancer. Medical experts, concerned by rising skin cancer rates, are rushing to push back against these claims. Meanwhile, new research suggests that too little sunlight could be detrimental to health and links it to some cardiovascular disease and cancer. How do we navigate through the darkness of these seemingly conflicting messages about sunlight? We enter the slippery world of skin care to break down the science of sunlight and sunscreen and uncover some surprising effects that UV rays have on our bodies.   Guests:  Brian Underwood – journalist and Beauty and Grooming Director of Men’s Health and Women’s Health, and author of the article, The Anti-Sunscreen Movement is Coming for You   Rowan Jacobsen – science writer and the author of “In Defense of Sunlight”   Dr. Michelle Henry – cosmetic dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon, Clinical Instructor of Dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College  You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!  Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extreme heat is taking its toll on the natural world. We use words like “heat domes” and “freakish” to describe our everyday existence. These high temperatures aren’t only uncomfortable - they are lethal to humans, animals, and crops. In search of an answer to our episode’s question, we discuss the dilemma of an ever-hotter world with an author who has covered climate change for more than twenty years.  Guest:  Jeff Goodell – author of “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet.”  Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake  Originally aired October 2, 2023  Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The abrupt defunding of USAID in 2025 caused global shockwaves. The cuts thrust recipient countries who were dependent on foreign aid for medical care into health crises. One area that has been particularly hard hit is Malawi, a country in southeastern Africa where doctors and community organizers are struggling to fill the gaps in essential services left in the wake of the USAID cuts. The loss of local outreach clinics and lack of fuel for ambulances has caused severe delays—and sometimes tragic outcomes—in providing care to mothers and children. A year out from the cuts, we look at how Malawi is rethinking its relationship to foreign aid as it considers how to continue providing vital health services.  In the first of a series supported by the nonprofit Pulitzer Center and in collaboration with Science Magazine, we provide an on-the-ground look at the impact of USAID defunding on health services in key spots across the globe.   Guests:   Catherine Offord – journalist, Science Magazine. Her article, “An Uncertain Path,” appeared in the July 16 issue of the magazine   Voices heard in the show:   Fanizo Simenti – community health worker at Katenje Health Post, Kasungu district   Emily Mvula – former recipient of services provided by USAID MOMENTUM   Issah Omar Nicks – nursing officer overseeing the maternity ward at the Makiyoni Health Center, Salima District   Aran Nkhata – medical clinician in charge of Makiyoni Health Center, Salima District   Flywell Elenesto – cold chain technician for Salima District, Malawi   Sungeni Thole – nurse midwife technician at Makiyoni Health Center, Salima District   Anthony Masamba – MP and chair of The Parliamentary Committee on Health   Show theme by Jun Miyake. Episode image by Thoko Chikondi.  You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!  Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether in miles or pounds, meters or kilograms, we take daily measure out our lives. But how did these units ever come to be, and why do we want to change them? From light-years to leap seconds, we look at the history of efforts to quantify our lives and why there’s always room for greater precision. Plus, we debate the virtues of staying imperial measurements vs. going metric.   Guest:  James Vincent - Author of Beyond Measure, the Hidden History of Measurement  Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake  Originally aired March 24, 2023  Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What physical activity gives you joy? Whether it’s walking, running, dancing or swimming, your body evolved to do it. We are made for movement. But there’s a cost, as anyone with a sore neck or aching back knows. From the tiny muscles in our skin, which raise the hair on our arms, to the intricate mix of bone, blood vessels, and nerves in our neck, natural selection has struck a delicate and sometimes wacky balance between utility and form. In this episode, we explore how parts of the body - our muscles, neck and feet - came to be, and what forces prompted the evolution of efficient yet imperfect bodies.  Guests:  Kent Dunlap - Professor of biology at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and author of “The Neck: A Natural and Cultural History”  Bonnie Tsui - Journalist and author of “On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters”  Jeremy DeSilva - Anthropologist at Dartmouth College and author of “First Steps, How Upright Walking Made Us Human”  Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake  Originally aired June 30, 2025  You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!  Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earthworms may be small, limbless, and blind but, as Darwin observed nearly 150 years ago, they play a critical role in soil ecology. Darwin’s 19th century insights about the slimy invertebrates are far-reaching, serving as the backbone of modern ecology as a whole. In recent years, scientists are putting their ears to the ground, listening to worms to monitor soil health. Meanwhile, laboratory studies on another kind of worms—flatworms—are providing insights about how memories are stored, and how stem cells self-renew. We get our hands dirty for this episode about the biology and ecology of worms.   Guests:  Philip Ball – science reporter, author of “Beautiful Experiments: An Illustrated History of Experimental Science”   Jacqueline Stroud – soil scientist, University of Warwick, U.K.  Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado – molecular biologist at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, whose focus is on stem cells and regeneration  Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science.  You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices