Five O'Clock with Theral Timpson

Theral is joined today by the founder and CEO of Nucleus, a company which began offering whole genome sequencing to everyone for $400 earlier this year. Why should you have your genome sequenced? For that matter, what is your genome, and what is “sequenced?” Kian is a young founder who became passionate about genetics when his cousin suddenly died, and it was later revealed by her doctor that know...

Some of us groove out on life in the country.  The city has its congestion and myriad problems: crime, high rent, noise.  There are so many things one has to think about in the city—for example, a parking space and, oh yeah, clean air.  Gone are the myriad stars at night.  But country life has its challenges.  In Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel on this topic, Main Street , a girl from St. Paul, Minneso...

We’re on vacation this week, so we’re rerunning a podcast from early last summer with Native American chef, Sean Sherman.  For those of you who are into fine cuisine, Sean could inspire you in using local and natural ingredients. Sean made news with his restaurant in Minneapolis, Owamni which won the James Beard Award in 2022 for best new restaurant using only “pre-colonial” ingredients, food basi...

How do you define minority in the political sense?  Is it merely a group with fewer than half the population?  Are polygamists minorities in America beyond the simple math with all that the political term confers? Shirlee Draper is a former member of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints community.  When the group was taken over by Warren Jeffs, now jailed for life, she bailed.  It wasn’t easy.  Sh...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fivewiththeral.com There is nothing more human than the creation and appreciation of music, says today’s guest,  Richard Timpson.  A few years ago, as part of his undergraduate degree, he wrote a thesis entitled Modeling Expressive Musical Performance with Transformers .  Today, Richard is a software engineer working at Salesforce w...

Theral pushes “record” during another chat with friend Sean Tanamera.   From current events to rapping ancient poetry, relax to the rhythm of amicable conversation. Special Offer from the Sponsor: Let’s face it, after a night with drinks, I don’t bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice: I can either have a great night OR a great next day. That is until I came across Zack a...

Are the brain and mind the same thing? Is the universe fine-tuned for consciousness?  What is consciousness?  These are some of the questions that Robert Lawrence Kuhn has asked leading scientists and philosophers for years on the PBS and YouTube series Closer to Truth .  We’re excited to welcome Robert to Five O’Clock to preview a new series, Philosophy of Biology, which premiered this month on P...

At a recent biotech conference, I met Ukrainian American Rostyslav Semikov.   He agreed to come to Five O’Clock to talk about the war going on in his country, what he says is their “War of Independence, their 1776.”Rostyslav’s parents live in Ukraine near the Zaphorisia nuclear power plant.  Not only are bombs dropping around them, but there could be a horrible nuclear accident. “Every time we tal...

Chapters: 0:00 Malvasia Blanc, a winner in this year’s harvest. How do you choose varietals? 8:20 What is the diurnal shift? 13:35 Why single varietals? 17:20 Today’s trends 22:15 Wine for Thanksgiving? Southern Utah is home to some of the nation’s choice national and state parks, including Zion and Bryce Canyons. But there are more than park trails. The region now boasts one of America’s newest w...

Chapters:0:00  Tonebase and celebrity pianists5:45 Seymour Bernstein21:10 Thoughts on Glenn Gould35:45 The classical music listenerWill we look back on the pandemic as the great age of YouTube?  Of all the online platforms, YouTube has delivered me the most value.  The promise of the internet was that it would connect us with our peeps, with those of like mind.  Whereas Facebook re-connected us wi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fivewiththeral.com Chapters:0:00 Natural kinds15:30 Generative AI22:15 Our sponsors29:00 TiktokHost Theral Timpson and guest Sean Tanamara explore their friendship in a conversation about philosophy and current trends. Five O'Clock with Theral Timpson is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, cons...

Chapters: 0:00 Hangover biology8:12 Concern over GMOs: what is “natural?”26:36 The age of synthetic biology33:20 Who’s making the decision:  me or my microbes? Many of us enjoy a glass of wine over dinner. Sometimes two. Sometimes more. And we all have our own hangover cures. Lots of water. Some folks say salt helps if you have a headache. Zack Abbott is a scientist entrepreneur and CEO of ZBiotic...

Chapters:0:00 On DNA . . .10:45 The human mosaic: We’re all cousins20:25 Days of COVID - A scientist looks inward30:05 Lab leak?  The issue of biosecurity43:52 Why do we humans resist knowledge?52:15 Ancestry and racism1:02:45 Root is bringing genetic insights for free1:08:55 Umfeld: Animals and consciousness Today I’m pleased to welcome a friend to the show, someone who has been a podcast guest o...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fivewiththeral.com 0:00 Origin of life: Assembly theory provides the mechanism for selection before genes come along. 14:25 Criticism of assembly theory? 26:50 Cancer and death 40:49 Why would aliens have different mathematics? This interview with Glasgow-based professor of chemistry, Lee Cronin, was originally recorded on our siste...

Chapters:0:00 Why not more Native American restaurants?4:48 True wild rice, elk, bison, and Owamni’s menu9:27 "Control the food, control the people”—Henry Kissinger13:00 Not just food, but knowledge of food16:40 Engaging with modern capitalism to preserve ancient wisdom25:22 Is there support in the Native American community?27:35 "Be aware of the land."Why aren’t there more Native American restaur...

Chapters:0:00 Why Southern Utah?5:00 How is genomics changing medicine?11:03 New genomics center at Utah Tech17:37 When should one get pharmacogenetics testing?25:10 Impact on cancer care33:32 Early cancer detection36:42 What about diabetes and cardiology?42:17 The future of genomics Most of us have family and friends who have died from cancer. We also know many who survive it. Whenever there is a...

Chapters: 0:00 Marx is not our contemporary, but from a past world that no longer exists 10:52 Two personal losses that shape the young Marx 17:35 The early journalist who writes against communism 21:45 In Paris, the communist is born 24:30 Finding "the proletariat" 31:00 Have Marx’s ideas had staying power? 34:15 Pushing back on historicism 37:13 Marx in today’s politics 43:50 What to read? Is Ma...

Chapters: 0:00 The story behind Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto: fearing his homosexuality 10:30 Do we let artists off the hook? 17:55 Are there Tchaikovskys around today? 27:45 Classical music was written by people like us - it’s for everyone 33:30 How does great music stop us in our tracks? Welcome to our first episode of the Five O’Clock Podcast.  I’m your host, Theral Timpson, and I'm delighted...