Science Magazine Podcast

Death in a gene-editing trial, and insect larvae surviving in deep waters

First up on the podcast, freelance science journalist Brendan Borrell [https://www.brendanborrell.com/] talks about his work reporting on the previously undisclosed death of a 6-year-old girl in a gene-editing clinical trial in China [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zbr2v4d%20] and the reasons her parents came forward. This story was produced in collaboration with Retraction Watch [https://retractionwatch.com/] and supported by the Science Fund for Investigative Reporting [https://www.science.org/content/page/science-fund-investigative-reporting]. Next on the show, Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Evan McKenzie [https://zoology.ubc.ca/person/evan-mckenzie], a researcher at the University of British Columbia, about an insect that evolved to avoid predators by modifying its respiratory system to withstand high pressure at depth [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aed0667%20]. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. Image credit: Daria Lada Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Health care in Malawi after USAID’s end, and a rocky exoplanet with an atmosphere

First up on the podcast, we continue our coverage of the fallout from cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), this time focusing on how one of the largest recipients of aid is coping 18 months later. Contributing Correspondent Catherine Offord talks about her trip to Malawi and the efforts to strengthen their health infrastructure [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.z3fxuup%20] in the wake of funding shocks. Next on the show, Collin Cherubim [https://www.etaearth.org/about-me], Ph.D. candidate in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at Harvard University, discusses what it means to find helium escaping from the atmosphere of a rocky planet [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea9708%20] in the habitable zone of a nearby red dwarf. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the [/content/page/about-science-podcast]Science [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Image credit: Thoko Chikondi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Owl wars and the immune system’s memory

First up on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall goes on an owl hunt in the woods of Northern California. After surviving logging and habitat destruction in the 1990s, the endangered Northern spotted owl has put conservationists in a bind: In order to protect the spotted owl, the only solution may be shooting barred owls [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zjuik7j]. Next on the show, looking back at the first 10 years of the journal Science Immunology [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciimmunol.aej2527]. Editor Seth Thomas Scanlon explores how the field has changed since the inception of the journal and talks about a special series of reviews on immune memory. Check out the special issue cover here [https://www.science.org/toc/sciimmunol/11/121]. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. Image credit: Danny Hofstadter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

How Antarctica got its ice sheets, and what happens when geopolitical relationships turn chilly in the Arctic

First up on the podcast, relationships turn chilly in the polar research haven of Svalbard in Norway. Senior International Correspondent Richard Stone joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the impacts of geopolitical shifts on the scientific output [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zbi5fkr] of this region so important to the study of climate change. Next on the show, producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Thomas Gernon [https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5x7llb/professor-thomas-gernon], a geologist at the University of Southampton, about how ice sheets formed in Antarctica [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz6758] during a time when the temperatures were relatively warm. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the [/content/page/about-science-podcast]Science [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Cracking color vision, U.S. science policy changes, and a trailblazing biography

First up on the podcast, ScienceInsider editor Jocelyn Kaiser joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss big policy stories from the past month, including a proposal from President Donald Trump’s administration to increase the involvement of politicians in grantmaking. Next on the show, Science Senior Editor Michael Funk joins to discuss a trio of papers on the light-detecting proteins responsible for color vision. 1. Ohashi et al., Science 2026 [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz3996] 2. Peng et al., Science 2026 [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz8141] 3. Schmidt et al., Science 2026 [https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz3624] Finally, in our books segment for this month, host Angela Saini talks with science writer Georgina Ferry, who wrote a biography about crystallographer Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin [https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/dorothy-crowfoot-hodgkin-patterns-proteins-and-peace-a-life-in-science-georgina-ferry/205edf4aa10651cc?ean=9781448217601&next=t&], the first and only woman scientist from the United Kingdom to win a Nobel Prize. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy [https://podigy.co/]. About the [/content/page/about-science-podcast]Science [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Podcast [/content/page/about-science-podcast] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]