The Measure of Everyday Life

You might know how difficult it can be to wake a sleeping teenager. It turns out that teenagers in the U.S. may not be getting enough sleep, though. On this episode, we talk with public health researcher Rachel Widome of the University of Minnesota about her work.

Depression affects many people around the world with implications for daily interactions between people. What do we know about long-term consequences of depression for our health? On this episode, we talk with Jody Greaney of the University of Delaware about her work to assess how depression might be connected to our future heart health.

We have been building dams for hundreds of years, many of which you can find today across the U.S., and yet we often haven't investigated how to use these technologies to balance societal concerns and benefits. On this episode, we talk with Smit Vasquez Caballero, an economist at RTI International who recently evaluated an innovative collaboration between The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Army C...

Many people need help as they age and many families count on a combination of their own caregiving and professional assistance. What about people who don't have access to help? On this episode, we talk with Dr. Kristen Giombi of RTI International about work she and her colleagues have done to find out who uses caregiving services and who does not. 

It is easy to take the air we breathe for granted, as it is with us every moment of our lives, and yet that air is vital not just for our daily activities but also for the long-term health of our brains. On this episode, we talk with Dr. Haneen Khreis of the University of Cambridge and Texas A&M University about her investigation into potential links between air quality and dementia. 

Changes in our climate are forcing many communities to grapple with the possibility of uprooting and relocating. H ow exactly are communities able to manage governance issues such moves entail? On this episode, we talk with Christopher Galik of North Carolina State University about his work with co-author Brad Johnson to answer that question. 

Sexual assault affects people of all ages, including adolescents. On this episode, we talk with   Shael Norris, Founding Director of SafeBAE, a survivor-founded and youth-led organization dedicated to preventing sexual violence among teens.

Some of us stay up late, but how much time do we spend awake without artificial light? What can we learn from being awake in the dark? On this episode, we talk with author Leigh Ann Henion about her book,  Night Magic: Adventures among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark . 

If you are a parent or a coach, you sometimes might wonder whether a child is really trying their best. What if we could tell by looking at their face? On this episode, we talk with Michael Willoughby and Timothy Slade of RTI International about their work to consider thermal imaging to measure effort. 

Rising healthcare costs are a concern in many parts of the world. Engagement with nature, as in taking a walk in the woods, spending time with a pet, or even mindfully thinking about past experiences outdoors, might offer a surprising tool to cope with some of those concerns. On this episode, we talk with two researchers who are assessing how exposure to nature can improve our health and wellbeing...

How should we think about death and how it happens? Americans now die more often than our peers in other wealthy countries. What does that shortened mortality say about our lives? On this episode, we talk with Elizabeth Wrigley-Field of the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Population Center. 

Emotion, including fear, is an important part of us. What we fear and how we react can be shaped and influenced, though. On this episode, we talk with Ruth DeFoster of the University of Minnesota, co-author, with Natashia Swalve, of The Fear Knot: How Science, History, and Culture Shape Our Fears and How to Get Unstuck .

Billions of people do not have access to medicines that could save their lives. The Med Aditis Foundation is a non-profit organization that builds partnerships to improve access to high-quality medicines. On this episode, we talk with Bob Blouin, President and CEO of the Med Aditis Foundation.

In schools across the United States, active shooter drills have been common for years and yet we don't know all that we could about the effect of such drills on students and educators. On this episode, we talk with two members of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus Study focused on this phenomenon: Melissa Brymer of the UCLA–Duke National Center for Child Traumati...

Have you ever felt any sort of shame in admitting you have used an artificial intelligence tool? On this episode, we talk with Jessica Reif of Duke University, lead author of a new paper in  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that explores how people feel about co-workers using AI and what they do about it.

Healthcare professionals do heroic work and so finding ways to support them can help all of us. Evidence now suggests that mindfulness techniques might help. On this episode, we talk with Misty Rae, an emergency physician with the North Mississippi Health System, about mindfulness and the future of medicine.

When many people think about the science of life, they think of concepts such as DNA or genes. Proteins also play a vital role in our everyday existence that might surprise you. On this episode, we talk with Shahir Rizk and Maggie Fink, authors of The Color of North: The Molecular Language of Proteins and the Future of Life. 

Our healthcare system comprises people -- including patients who need help and healthcare professionals who help them -- and yet our discussions about healthcare in the U.S. often focus on abstract concepts such as financial cost or new technologies.  On this episode, we talk with the leader of an organization aiming to change that conversation: Dr. Kathleen Reeves, President and CEO of the Arnold...

We have been making progress in incorporating emotional responses into measures of public perceptions to predict behavior. On this episode, we talk with Tomas Gonsorcik, Global Chief Strategy Officer at DDB Worldwide, about innovations in considering how what we feel says something about what we tend to think and do. 

Whenever we use the Internet, we potentially share personal data in exchange for information that can, in turn, shape future information presented to us. What are the implications of that arrangement for society? On this episode, we talk with Jose Marichal, professor at California Lutheran University and author of the new book, You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem: Renegotiating the Socio-Techni...

How we talk about suicide matters. How we talk about prevention and support also matters. On this episode, we talk with Aurora Occa of the University of Kentucky about her work to help college students by considering how we frame opportunities for support.

We hear often hear about stress and burnout in healthcare. We don't hear as often about kindness. What roles could kindness play in the future of our healthcare system? On this episode, we talk with Nora Jones of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and the Pincus Foundation about evidence that kindness matters in serving patients and promoting wellbeing.  

How to be a good parent has been a topic of conversation for decades but raising children now includes online influences as well. How is the Internet shaping how we think about parenting? On this episode, we talk with Ranjana Das of the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. She is author of Parents Talking Algorithms: Navigating Datafication and Family Life in Digital Societies .

Even as people use online technologies in their everyday lives, they sometimes worry about potential pitfalls, including concerns about trusting other people. On this episode, we talk with two innovators who are seeking to improve public health by improving transparency in sexual relationships through a new platform called PlumCheck: Celine Gounder of the Kaiser Family Foundation and CBS News, and...

As we seek to know ourselves, who should help us with that exploration? M any different perspectives on empirical research,  philosophy, and contemplation can be helpful as we try to understand our minds and ourselves. On this episode, we talk with Vladimir Miskovic, co-author of DREAMING REALITY: How Neuroscience and Mysticism Can Unlock the Secrets of Consciousness with Steven Jay Lynn.