Mind & Matter

Send us Fan Mail About the guest: Matt Kaeberlein, PhD is a Professor of at the University of Washington and CEO of OptiSpan. His research focuses on the biology of aging and longevity. Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Kaeberlein discuss: the biology of aging; mTOR, FGF1, growth & metabolism; sirtuins, NAD & NMN; longevity drugs like metformin & rapamycin; facts & myths about longevit...

Send us Fan Mail About the guest: Mark Bear, PhD is a Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, where his lab studies the visual system, neuroplasticity, and the pathophysiology of amblyopia and visual impairments. Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Bear discuss: the visual system in the brain, from the retina to visual cortex; critical periods of brain development; mechanisms of neuroplasticity; metaplasticit...

Send us Fan Mail About the guest: Kevin McKernan is the Chief Science Officer at Medicinal genomics and has been working the the biotechnology sector and conducting genomics research going back to his involvement in the Human Genome Project. Episode summary: Nick and Kevin discuss: basics of DNA and RNA biology; mRNA vaccines and how they work compared to traditional vaccines; the mRNA vaccine man...

Send us Fan Mail About the guest: Luc van Loon, PhD is a Professor of Physiology of Exercise and Nutrition and Head of the M3-research group at the Department of Human Biology at Maastricht University. His lab focuses on the skeletal muscle adaptive response to physical (in)activity, the impact of nutrition on metabolism, and related topics. Episode summary: Nick and Dr. van Loon discuss: amino ac...

Send us Fan Mail About the guest: Tommaso Di Ianni, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Radiology & Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. His lab uses ultrasound technology and deep learning to study the brain. Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Di Ianni discuss: the current state of scientific understanding of ke...

Send us Fan Mail About the guest: Scott Zimmerman is an optical engineer and photobiology expert Episode summary: Nick and Scott talk about: how light interacts with the body and affects our cells; melatonin as an antioxidant;  how red & near-infrared light affect mitochondria; sunlight, fire light, and artificial light; incandescent light bulbs vs. LEDs; negative health effects of artificial...

Send us Fan Mail About the Guest: Bruce Blumberg, PhD is a Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology at UC-Irvine. HIs lab studies epigenetics, gene x environment interactions, hormones & endocrine disruptors, obesogens & environmental toxins, and more. Episode Summary: Nick and Dr. Blumberg discuss: Embryonic development; hormones and hormone receptors; estrogen & xenoestrogens; e...

Send us Fan Mail About the Guest: Clare Bryant, DVM is a Professor of Innate Immunity at Cambridge University. Her lab studies the innate immune system, pathogen detection, inflammation, and chronic disease. Episode Summary: Nick and Dr. Bryant discuss: mechanisms of inflammation; inflammasomes & fatty acids; infection & disease; innate vs. adaptive immunity; chronic inflammation; allergie...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Guillaume (Will) de Lartigue is a neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. His lab studies the neurobiology of eating, including how the vagus nerve senses internal stimuli in the gut. They discuss: gut-brain communication; the vagus nerve; gut hormones like leptin & GLP-1; weight loss drugs like Ozempic; glucose vs. fructose vs. non-caloric sweeteners; how the...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Nicolas Glynos received his PhD in Molecular & Integrative Physiology from the University of Michigan, where he studied the psychedelic drug DMT in the mammalian brain. They discuss: the history of DMT research; the use of DMT in ayahuasca; whether DMT is found endogenously in animals; why plants produce DMT; pineal gland, DMT & melatonin; the latest research looking a...

Send us Fan Mail About the Guest: Terrence Deacon, PhD is a Professor in the department of Anthropology at UC-Berkeley. He has written many papers and multiple books about the evolution of human language, origins of consciousness, and related topics. Episode Summary: Nick and Dr. Deacon discuss various aspects of biological evolution, from natural vs. sexual selection to gene duplication and the c...

Send us Fan Mail About the guest: Robert Lustig, MD is a physician-researcher and expert of metabolic health. He is Professor emeritus of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), specializing in neuroendocrinology with an emphasis on the regulation of energy balance by the central nervous system. His research and clinical practice has focused on...

Send us Fan Mail About the Guest: Mark Mattson, PhD is a semi-retired neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins who ran a research lab at the NIH for many years. He wrote the book, "The Intermittent Fasting Revolution." Episode Summary: Nick and Dr. Mattson discuss: intermittent fasting & diet; ketosis & metabolic switching; aging & neurodegenerative disease; exercise, stress, and neur...

Send us Fan Mail Sean B. Carroll, PhD is an evolutionary developmental biologist at the University of Maryland, who recently stepped down as VP of Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is the author of many popular science books, such as "Endless Forms Most Beautiful." They discuss: developmental biology & genetics; evolutionary biology; genetics, genome size & gen...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. David Nichols is a retired chemist and father of Dr. Charles Nichols, a researcher studying psychedelics at Louisiana State University. They discussed: the history of psychedelics science from the 1970s to the present; DMT & 5-MeO-DMT; serotonin, inflammation, and psychedelics & anti-inflammatory drugs; psilocybin, ketamine, and other psychoactive drugs; and more More...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Chris Knobbe is a physician, diet & nutrition researchers, and author of, "The Ancestral Diet Revolution." He discusses: seed oils & their health consequences; different types of seed oils (soybean, corn, sunflower, etc.); omega-6 fats like linoleic acid; fatty acid metabolism and oxidation; obesity, diabetes & metabolic health; processed foods vs. whole...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Orrin Devinsky is a neurologist and Professor at the New York University School of Medicine. They discuss: dietary consumption trends in the US; processed vs. whole foods; vegetable oils & polyunsaturated fats; relationship between saturated fat, dietary cholesterol & heart disease; history of medicine in the US; obesity & diabetes; sugars, fructose, and metabolic...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Artemis Simopoulos is a physician and researcher specializing in endocrinology, nutrition, and metabolic health. They discuss: traditional hunter-gatherer diets vs. modern Western diets; dietary fats; omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats; sucrose & sugar; chronic inflammatory diseases, obesity & diabetes; vegetable & seed oils vs. other cooking oils; processed...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Carolina Tropini is an assistant professor of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia, where her lab studies the microbiome in health & disease. Topics covered: infant & vaginal microbiome, breast milk nutrients & C-sections vs. natural births; oral microbiome & cavities; gut microbiome & irritable bowel disease (IBD); fiber, sho...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. John Speakman is a biologist whose research focuses on energy balance, energy expenditure, genetic and environmental drivers of obesity and the energetic contribution to aging. They discuss: the history of the obesity epidemic in the US vs. China; changes in patterns of physical activity, diet, and energy expenditure in humans over time; how saturated fats vs. PUFAs affect bas...

Send us Fan Mail Nick talks to Dr. Ronald Krauss, a physician and researcher at UCSF who studies the relationship between diet & cardiometabolic health. They discuss: saturated vs. unsaturated fats; carbohydrates & fat synthesis; "good" vs. "bad" cholesterol; official US dietary guidelines and how they're established; funding of research by the food industry; and m...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Tobias Egner is a Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, where his lab studies cognition, working memory, and cognitive control & flexibility. They discuss: what cognition is and how it's studied experimentally; working memory & attention; cognitive flexibility, cognitive control & multitasking; memory, perception, and predictive coding...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. David Puts is a biological anthropologist at the Penn State University. His research focuses on the evolution and development of human sexuality and sex differences. They discuss: the biological basis of sex; gametes, sex chromosomes & sex hormones; the development of sexual orientation; the evolution of sexual dimorphism & behavior in primates; monogamy & polygyny...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Moses Chao is a professor at the New York University School of Medicine. His lab studies how the environment, neuronal activity, inflammation, injury and disease affect the nervous system. They discuss topics related to his new book, "Peripheral: How Your Nervous System Predicts and Protects Against Disease." Topics include: how the peripheral nervous system differs...

Send us Fan Mail Mikael Palner, PhD is a neuroscientist at the University of Souther Denmark. His lab studies the neuronal circuits involved in obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety . They investigate the effects of serotonergic psychedelic and non-psychedelic drugs that increase neuronal plasticity. They discuss: psychedelics & the brain; the neuroscience of stress, anxiety & compulsi...