Microbes and monsters
From Growing up WEIRD Podcast by Guen Bradbury and Greg Dickens
April 7, 2026 · 27 min
About this episode
This episode discusses the impact of microbiomes on children's health and behavior, including the effects of early-life stress and fecal microbiome transplants on Autism Spectrum Disorders.
In this microbiome-heavy episode, recorded on the bike, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how fathers shape children’s long-term health, on how early-life stress affects the development of the gut-brain axis, and on how fecal microbiome transplants affect Autism Spectrum Disorders in children. We then talk about microbes - why they are important, why children need to look after them, and why they are like Santa Claus. Finally, we talk about how we understand repetitive behaviours in animals and children. For more information on how to help children care for their microbiomes, see this article: For more information on setting children’s guts up for better long-term health, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/gut-feelings Topics covered * How young men’s experiences shape their own and their partners’ health behaviours during pregnancy and beyond * How early-life stress affects IBD, GERD, and other disorders of the gut-brain axis * How fecal microbiome transplants affect symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder * Why microbiomes are important * How to help children care for their microbiomes * How we understand repetitive disorders in children and animals…
People in this episode
Hosts: Guen Bradbury, Greg Dickens
Topics covered
- microbiome
- children's health
- gut-brain axis
- fecal microbiome transplants
- repetitive behaviors
- early-life stress
Keywords
- microbes
- children's microbiome
- gut health
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- fecal microbiome transplants
- repetitive behaviors
- early-life stress
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Autism Spectrum Disorder, IBD, GERD
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