The Pulse

Hosted by WHYY

Technology Science Health Fitness

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Episodes

214

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott. The Pulse takes you behind the doors of operating rooms, into the lab with some of the world's foremost scientists, and back in time to explore life-changing innovations. The Pulse delivers stories in ways that matter to you, and answers questions you never knew you had. ]]>

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60 recent

September 10, 202649 min

Under Pressure: How Weather Affects our Health

As summer winds down, some people are celebrating the approach of fall, while others are dreading the shorter, colder days. We know that weather can affect our mood — maybe we're extra irritable when it's hot, or gloomy when it's gray — but it can also influence our overall health. On this episode, a look at how weather affects well-being and health, from its impact on menstrual cycles to chronic conditions like asthma and pain. Can extreme heat affect your menstrual cycle? The internet thinks so. In June, , a strange phenomenon went viral on social media — thousands of women experienced unexpected changes to their periods as temperatures soared. For some, it came early; for others, late. Still others missed it entirely, or reported having a second period shortly after their first. Pulse producer Nichole Currie investigates the potential connection. Writer Alison Espach was taking a dip in the ocean one summer when something strange happened — she emerged covered head-to-toe in hives. She dismissed it as a fluke, but then it happened again when she swam in a lake, and again in a river. We talk with Espach about the bizarre culprit: her sudden allergy to cold . Heat waves don't just make for uncomfortable temperatures — they often lead to poor air quality, which, in many places, has been exacerbated by wildfires. Pulse reporter Alan Yu talks with patients affected by air pollution, why it's dangerous to our health, and the people working to better track air quality. We talk with writer Lorraine Boissoneault about her new book of essays, " Body Weather: Notes on Chronic Illness in the Anthropocene ," which explores the ways in which her own chronic illnesses mirror the weather changes wrought by climate change. Psychologist Trevor Harley explains the science of how the weather affects our mental and physical health, the evolutionary roots of our sensitivity to the weather, and how we can use that knowledge to improve how we feel. His new book is “ Head in the Clouds: How the Weather Affects Our Minds and Mental Health .”

September 4, 202640 min

'I Could Have Been Lindsay Clancy’

A judge declared a mistrial in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy after jurors said they were deadlocked over whether she should be held criminally responsible for strangling her three children in January 2023: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, who was just 8 months old. The shocking case touched a nerve with millions of people who have been following the trial and asking: How could a mother kill her three young children? British journalist Katinka Blackford Newman also followed the trial closely, but she has a different perspective. She says her own story could have ended up like Clancy’s. Newman describes how she became completely delusional after experiencing adverse effects to psychiatric medications. Quickly, her perfectly ordinary life went completely off the rails and teetered on the edge of catastrophe. Later, we’ll discuss postpartum psychosis, a condition Clancy’s defense team said she was experiencing at the time of the murders. Susan Hatters-Friedman, a psychiatrist specializing in maternal mental health, weighs in on diagnosis and treatment of postpartum psychosis and the conversations happening around the trial.

September 3, 202649 min

The Search for Life on Mars: From Mars Mania to NASA’s Rovers

On this episode, a look back at our search for life on Mars. We hear about the Viking mission to Mars — the first to land a craft on the Red Planet — and the controversy over what it discovered, what drove a national obsession with the “Martian civilization” in the early 1900s, and how NASA repairs its rovers from millions of miles away. Back in the early 1900s, a strange phenomenon was sweeping the nation — “Mars Mania,” a belief shared by scientists and the public alike that Mars was home to a sophisticated civilization poised to guide us into the future. We talk with science writer David Baron about what was behind these beliefs, why it became a nationwide obsession, and what happened when scientists discovered the truth. Baron’s book is “ The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America .”

August 30, 202649 min

Jon Ronson, 101 Princesses, and a World of Unraveling Men

Journalist Jon Ronson's new book starts with a series of panicked text messages from his son — who had been lured to a massive, gothic-looking castle in Connecticut. A female friend had been invited to a party by a wealthy older man from Tinder. But there was no party. Instead, they were asked to join a reality show that was going to be called "101 Princesses" where women compete for the castle owner’s affection. Ronson tracked down the castle's owner and found a much bigger story waiting inside. He joins us to talk about "The Castle" and men searching for purpose in all the wrong places. He also tells us about the millions of men who've quietly dropped out of work and life altogether and profiles influencers who chase clicks and purpose online to disastrous consequences.

August 27, 202649 min

The Search for Wilderness

Sometimes, modern life can feel like an endless cacophony of distractions. We spend our days being inundated with noise and traffic, news and emails, obligations and hectic schedules. Many of us long to escape to nature or the wilderness — someplace simpler, quieter — where we can find peace and reconnect with what's really important. But can we ever truly get away? We tend to think of the wilderness as land that's untouched by human hands — vast, and pristine. But the more you seek out that version of nature, the blurrier the idea seems to become. Even the most remote landscapes on Earth carry traces of human history and human borders. And preserving the wilderness, and having access to it, also means managing it. On this episode, the paradox of the wilderness — how we try to protect and control the wild. We talk with writer Cal Flyn about the myth of untouched nature, and what drives us to experience it. She talks about how our views of the wilderness have changed over time, from fearsome and untamed lands to places of spiritual escape; what she discovered about the human histories of supposedly wild spaces; and what the paradox presented by our desire to both preserve and interact with nature means for how we think of the wild. Flyn’s new book is “The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness.” It started with a tip received by a dutiful New Hampshire Fish and Game warden — and quickly turned into a twisted tale of illegal baiting and hunting, one-upmanship, digital trophy rooms, and one of the biggest poaching cases in recent state history. New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Nate Hegyi tells the story in the podcast “Operation Night Cat.” We’ll hear an excerpt and talk to Hegyi about the case.

August 20, 202649 min

What's Really Going On Inside Animals' Heads?

Do animals feel love, anger, or empathy? Researchers have long dismissed such ideas as anthropomorphism, arguing that attributing human emotions to animals was unscientific. But as we learn more about animal sentience, that’s starting to change — and, in the process, we’re learning more than ever about the complex inner lives of animals, including why we may be more alike than we once thought. On this encore episode, we explore what researchers have discovered about what’s really going on inside other species’ heads. We talk with a primatologist about why she believes baboons and other animals possess a theory of mind; investigate whether crabs, lobsters, and shrimp are capable of experiencing pain; and hear about one beagle’s journey from lab subject to pet. Host Maiken Scott and reporter Alan Yu visit the Chamounix Equestrian Center in Philadelphia to test an app that claims to detect pain in horses. When primatologist Christine Webb was in college, she was taught that it was “unscientific” to investigate animal emotions — but that attitude has started to change. We talk with Webb about what’s causing that shift, what she learned from her mentor, the famed primatologist Frans de Waal, and the challenges involved with stepping outside our human biases to understand the inner lives of animals. Webb is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at New York University, and her new book is “The Arrogant Ape: The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why it Matters.” Reporter Sophia Schmidt pays a visit to the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, Pennsylvania to meet an unlikely pair of besties : Hunter, the red-tailed hawk, and Stan, the turkey vulture. We hear about why Hunter and Stan’s relationship is so rare, how they became friends (and, sometimes, more than friends), and what biological factors could be driving their behavior. It’s easy enough to believe that animals like cats and dogs have feelings — but what about less cuddly creatures, like crabs, lobsters, and shrimp? Pulse reporter Liz Tung talks with researchers who’ve been investigating the question of sentience in decapod crustaceans , and whether or not they’re capable of feeling pain. We talk with journalist Melanie Kaplan about her investigation into the world of animal research, spurred by her adoption of Hammy — a beagle who spent the first four years of his life in a lab. Her book is, “Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research.”

August 13, 202649 min

Quitting Antidepressants: From Withdrawal to Tapering One Step at a Time

Erica Gerard tried to find the right antidepressant for over two decades, one where the benefits outweighed the side effects. Finally, she decided to get off her medication. What followed was a harrowing journey she was not prepared for. On this episode, what people should consider before quitting. We also explore whether new tools could help doctors better match patients with medications. Journalist Erica Gerard was first prescribed Prozac in college after years of feeling sad, lonely and disconnected from her peers. The medication helped — but it also left her constantly exhausted and feeling as though she was watching her own life from behind a screen. After more than two decades, she decided she wanted to stop taking the medication. She documented her journey for The Pulse, and what she learned about tapering off safely. A new federal initiative aimed at getting Americans off antidepressants has put a spotlight on this issue. Psychiatrist Jonathan Slater joins us to discuss the complexities of de-prescribing these medications. He says there’s a lack of training and guidelines for tapering off safely, adding that the process requires individualized, monitored care with psychological support. When a mental health issue made it impossible for British author Madeline Dyer to focus on her writing career, a physician suggested she should try an antidepressant. She was reluctant to give it a shot, fearing it would make her less creative. The medication ended up helping her a lot, but she says it impacted her genre of choice.

August 11, 202629 min

The Science of Imagination: Transforming How We Think, Feel, and Live

In some ways, our imagination is like an all-access pass. It can transport us to a different place, it allows us to picture a beautiful beach, or a lush flower garden. We can envision what our lives may look like in the future or revisit the past. Psychologist Cassandra Vieten argues that using our imagination is not about immersing ourselves in a fantasy world. It’s a powerful tool that affects our physical and mental health, our relationships with others, and life trajectories and careers. Vieten joins us to talk about her research, and her new book, “Imagine That: Transform How You Think, Feel, and Live with the Science of Imagination.”

August 6, 202624 min

Think Inside the Box: How Limits Fuel Creativity

We tend to think that creativity flourishes in the absence of limits, when we have all of the freedom to innovate and dream big. But what if the opposite is true? What if constraints — from strict rules to tight deadlines — actually make us more creative? On this episode, we explore how limitations force us to think differently, solve problems in unexpected ways, and allow us to create our best work. We talk with science writer David Epstein about his new book “ Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better .” He explains how restrictions led to the invention of everything from impressionism to the iPod, and how to develop rules and limits for your own creative work that could encourage innovation.

July 30, 202649 min

The Future of Pain Relief: Managing Chronic Pain, Laughing Gas, and Safer Opioids

Millions of people in the U.S. have chronic pain that’s unresponsive to medical interventions. But there are new and comprehensive ways of treating pain. We explore how emotions, stress, sleep, and diet impact pain, a new option for easing labor pain, and emerging research that could reduce the addictive properties of opioids. We often think of pain as a physical ailment — but newer research shows that pain has as much to do with our brains as it does our bodies. We talk with pain researcher and psychologist Rachel Zoffness about how emotions shape — and construct — our experience of pain, and how identifying the unique biopsychosocial factors contributing to pain can ultimately help patients overcome it. Her new book is " Tell Me Where It Hurts: The New Science of Pain and How to Heal. " Giving birth is one of the most painful things many people will experience — which is why a majority of expectant mothers choose epidurals, IV opioids, or both to manage their pain. But recently, another option has been making its way into the delivery room— nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas. Reporter Andrew Stelzer explains how N02 stacks up against its competitors, and why a growing number hospitals in the U.S. are offering it as an option. Opioids work well on all kinds of pain — but, as the last few decades have shown, they also pose a severe risk of addiction. We talk with neuroscientist and addiction researcher Anjali Rajadhyaksha about a recent discovery that could make opioids safer.