Scientista

What happens when a lung and critical care physician trades the exam room for the House floor? For Congresswoman Maxine Dexter of Oregon, the answer is a kind of governing most politicians never learn to do: form a hypothesis, act on the evidence, then go back and check whether it actually worked.  In this episode, hosts Dr. Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina talk with Dexter about the throughlin...

A deadly Ebola outbreak is tearing through the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo — and alongside the virus, something almost as dangerous is spreading: disinformation. False claims that the outbreak was engineered by NGOs chasing funding, that Ebola is a hoax, that doctors are the ones doing harm.  In this Scientista Currents episode, Monica Medina sits down with infectious disease expert Dr. N...

Most people think saving the ocean is about counting fish. Sarah Glaser and Gabby Ahmadia spent years learning it's about something harder: people.  On World Ocean Day, the two WWF vice presidents join Sweta and Monica to unpack what's really threatening the ocean — industrial fishing, marine heat waves, and a warming climate that's pushing fish toward the poles and conflict in thei...

Nikki Romanik helped build America's pandemic preparedness infrastructure from inside the White House. She's watching it come apart from the outside. In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Sweta and Monica sit down with Dr. Nikki Romanik, Former White House Pandemic Preparedness Deputy Director and Chief of Staff, as hantavirus makes global headlines and the systems designed to respo...

Trust in institutions is eroding. Climate action is more polarized than ever. And somewhere along the way, the environmental movement may have lost the plot on how to tell its own story. In this special live recording of the Scientista Podcast from EarthX 2026, host and behavioral scientist Dr. Sweta Chakraborty is joined by Whitney Strauss, Executive Director of the AdvoCare Foundation, and Dr. E...

Weather forecasting is more accurate than ever—and at the same time, getting harder. In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, we sit down with Ginger Zee, Chief Meteorologist at ABC News, to go inside how forecasting actually works—and why it’s becoming more complex. From storm chasing to live national broadcasts, Ginger explains how meteorologists translate raw data into decisions people rely o...

Karen Pierce, former UK Ambassador to the United States, and Juliet Gerrard, former Chief Science Advisor to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, joins the Scientista Podcast for a live recording from the Johns Hopkins Science Diplomacy Summit.   From COVID and AI to trust, leadership, and women leading with science, this episode explores how evidence becomes action on the global stage. Than...

What happens when a song written decades ago suddenly feels like it was written for today? In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Monica Medina and Sweta Chakraborty sit down with singer and interpretive artist Maxine Linehan to talk about music, meaning, and timing. The conversation centers on her stripped-down reinterpretation of Sunday Bloody Sunday —and why its lyrics are resonating in a n...

This week on the Scientista Podcast, Monica and Sweta speak with Isabel Klee, author of Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About and the storyteller behind @simonsits. They talk about foster dogs, rescue storytelling, her unexpected partnership with Oscar de la Renta, and why fostering can change lives, both canine and human. Thank you for listening! Learn more about Scientista here: www.scie...

What does it mean to defend science in Washington? On this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Monica Medina and Dr. Sweta Chakraborty sit down with Gretchen Goldman, President and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Goldman has spent her career working at the intersection of science, policy, and public accountability—ensuring that evidence informs the decisions that shape people’s lives. In...

On this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Monica Medina sits down with Lauren Sullivan, co-founder of REVERB, to explore how climate change is already reshaping the live music industry. From extreme weather canceling tour dates to the growing footprint of fan travel, the conversation unpacks what happens when global climate risk meets life on the road. Lauren shares how REVERB works with artists,...

In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Dr. Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina speak with ecologist Marielle Anzelone and urban forester Georgia Silvera Seamans about the overlooked biodiversity of New York City. As leaders of the New York City Biodiversity Task Force and co-authors of Oaks, Our City and Us , they discuss how native plants, wildlife, and neighborhood green spaces support both...

Sarah Kapnick is the Head of Global Climate Advisory at J.P. Morgan—and before that, she spent more than a decade as a climate scientist in government, including serving as Chief Scientist at NOAA. In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Dr. Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina talk with Sarah about what it means to translate climate science into real-world decision-making. Drawing on her experi...

What happens when 1.6 million moms decide clean air is non-negotiable? In this episode of the Scientista Podcast , we speak with Dominique Browning, founder of Moms Clean Air Force, about building one of the most powerful parent-led environmental movements in the country. From fighting methane pollution and plastic burning to defending the Clean Air Act, Dominique explains why protecting children’...

In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, we’re joined by former Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and her senior advisor Karen Skelton for a wide-ranging conversation on energy, national security, and how policy actually gets made. We spend time on a lesser-known detail shaping the Greenland conversation: a 2021 law that restricts mining of ore linked to uranium, effectively limiting access...

Fear has dominated the way we talk about climate change for decades. But fear doesn’t motivate most people to act—it overwhelms them. In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina are joined by Anne-Therese Gennari, known as the Climate Optimist , for a conversation about why fear-based climate messaging fails—and what works instead. Drawing on behavioral science a...

Scientista: Highlights from 2025 brings together moments from conversations across the year with leaders, decision-makers, and cultural figures shaping what happens next. Hosted by Dr. Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina, the Scientista Podcast explores how people navigate power, responsibility, and judgment in complex systems — from policy and climate to culture and economics. Thank you for liste...

In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, hosts Dr. Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina reflect on their journey with Scientista, discussing their vision for empowering women in science and the importance of community support. They share personal stories, insights from their favorite guests, and outline future initiatives aimed at fostering inclusivity and leadership among women in STEM fields. T...

Do we actually need billionaires? On this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Dr. Sweta Chakraborty speaks with Abigail Disney about extreme wealth, hoarding, and the cultural narratives that allow inequality to persist. Abigail has been outspoken for years about the harm caused by concentrated wealth, and in this conversation she explains why accumulation at the highest levels stops serving human...

Abby Hopper spent nearly a decade leading the solar industry’s most influential advocacy organization — and now, she’s stepping into a new chapter. In this episode of the Scientista Podcast, Dr. Sweta Chakraborty sit down with Abby to reflect on her path from big-law attorney to clean-energy leader, and the turning points that reshaped her career along the way. She shares how becoming a mother of...

Ann Drake and MarySue Barrett are creating the Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay, a new hub where women leading in technology, infrastructure, business, and space can come together to tackle real-world challenges. They join Sweta and Monica to talk about the power of convening women, the importance of building networks early, and why evidence-driven solutions must lead the way. Thank you f...

In this episode, Dr. Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina sit down with Dr. M. Sanjayan—ecologist, award-winning storyteller, and former CEO of Conservation International—for a conversation about what it takes to lead in one of the toughest, most important sectors on earth. Sanjayan reflects on a childhood spent exploring the forests of Sierra Leone, the scientific rigor that shaped his career, and...

This episode is part of our Best Of the Scientista Podcast series, where we revisit some of our most impactful conversations. Jennifer Klein, Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia SIPA and former Director of the White House Gender Policy Council, joins the Scientista Podcast to reflect on the fight for the 28th Amendment, the global backlash against gender equality, and what it meant to b...

“AI will tell you to walk across the English Channel… it’s not intelligent. It is pattern recognition.” NRDC Chief Science Officer Dr. Ticora Jones joins the Scientista Podcast for one of our most candid conversations yet. Dr. Jones talks about what AI really is (and isn’t), the collapse of USAID under Trump’s second term, why global development work depends on genuine collaboration—not American s...

How do you explain science when people stop believing in facts? Amber Sullins, chief meteorologist at ABC15 Phoenix and a five-time Emmy Award winner, joins Dr. Sweta Chakraborty and Monica Medina to talk about the changing climate of communication itself. From confronting misinformation to covering record-breaking heat, Sullins shares how empathy, persistence, and plain language can rebuild trust...