Short Wave

The psychology behind why you dread small talk

Do you avoid small talk in the office, or with your neighbor in the elevator? If so, you might want to give it a chance. According to a study just published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology [https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000521.pdf], even when participants were primed that a conversation would be boring, it turned out to be more interesting than they anticipated. Today on the show, we get into that, plus why scientists gave lobsters painkillers, and a clue about the formation of the Grand Canyon.  Interested in more science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org]. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

A new approach to brain health, one neuron at a time

Neuroscientist Paul Nuyujukian [https://bil.stanford.edu/paul-nuyujukian] likens the brain to a stadium full of people. To eavesdrop on the crowd you could put a microphone in the middle of the stadium. But to understand the conversations you need to record individual people. He thinks about the brain the same way. To understand brain disease, he studies neurons—one at a time. And his insights are shedding light on a big global issue—stroke. The World Health Organization predicts one in four adults [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/stroke] will have a stroke in their lifetime. Strokes can cause death, or lead to paralysis or speech problems. But there’s still a lot researchers don’t know about how the brain recovers from an event like a stroke. Nuyujukian directs a lab at Stanford University that studies how the brain controls movement, including after neurological events like stroke. We get into how he does this, and why he hopes his research could eventually help people who’ve been paralyzed.  Email us your questions about the brain – or anything else to do with science at shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org]. We may turn it into an episode in the future! Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Is there still a gender gap in medical research?

When you go to the doctor’s office, your doctor has to figure out which treatment is best for you. Physicians rely on medical research and clinical trials to make sure those treatments are safe and effective. But that research has not always been inclusive, which impacts patient care. Women and people of color were only required to be included in medical trials funded by the NIH starting in 1993. Now, studies are more inclusive – but how we study sex and gender in research is still controversial. In this episode, we unpack how medicine sorts the sexes – and why it’s not as simple as it seems. If you liked this episode, check out our previous one unpacking biological sex [https://lnk.to/yirSfo].  Interested in more science behind medicine? Email us your questions at shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org].  Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. Listen to Short Wave on Spotify [https://n.pr/3HOQKeK] and Apple Podcasts [https://n.pr/3WA9vqh]. This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Are you pooping all wrong?

Talking about poop can be taboo, and this social norm may be hurting our health. Dr. Trisha Pasricha [https://www.trishapasricha.com/#dataItem-irq95dvw] says around 40% of people in the U.S. have bathroom issues so bad it affects their daily lives. Pasricha, a gastroenterologist, says her patients' bathroom and bowel education ends during potty training and doesn’t continue into adulthood. This is why she wrote the book You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong [https://www.trishapasricha.com/youvebeenpoopingallwrong]. In this episode, Pasricha speaks with host Regina G. Barber [https://www.npr.org/people/1082526815/regina-g-barber]about the three P’s of pooping: pliability, propulsion and pelvic floor. They address whether to squat and whether certain fiber is the answer to better bathroom breaks. If you liked this episode, check out our episodes on urine myths [http://lnk.to/pj4jSn] and recurring UTIs [http://lnk.to/QnCc1F]. Interested in more health science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org]. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

Who's to blame for all this plastic?

How did plastic become so ubiquitous? The answer lies deep beneath the surface of the earth. In her new book Plastic Inc. [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/747797/plastic-inc-by-beth-gardiner/], environmental journalist Beth Gardiner [https://www.bethgardiner.com/bio] lays bare the key connection between plastics and the fossil fuel companies behind them. Today, we dive into the history of the multi-billion dollar industry that brought us plastic, their plans to create even more and what could be done to turn the plastic tide. Interested in more stories about the materials that make up our world? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org [shortwave@npr.org]. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave [http://plus.npr.org/shortwave]. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]