Vagabond Science

What happens while we sleep? Michael Grandner - University of Arizona

Sleep is critical to the functions of life. It's when much of the rebuilding, recovering, adapting takes place. I discuss with my guest, Michael Grandner (Director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, Director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the Banner-University Medical Center) the processes involved in sleep and their importance to virtually every marker of health

Bioactive food: what’s beyond the basic nutrients? Rosa Pérez - University of Vigo

What makes food, besides the calories, vitamins, and minerals? Is there more to it? Simply, yes. I discuss with my guest, Rosa Pérez-Gregorio (Senior researcher at University of Vigo and LAQV-REQUIMTE-University of Porto) the complex chemistry of digesting bioactive compounds in our food.

Biology and evolution of vision, featuring BUTTERFLIES - Adriana Briscoe (UC Irvine)

Vision is an incredible complicated biological process nearly ubiquitous in nature. How were they created, and how is it utilized in different animals in nature. I discuss with my guest Adriana Brisco (Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at UC Irvine) the micro and macro biological processes involved in creating vision.

America’s political and media landscape – Deana Rohlinger (Florida State University)

What motivates how people engage politically? What are the ideas behind the labels we see constantly thrown around. I discuss with my guest (Deana Rohlinger, Professor of Sociology at Florida State University) some environmental conditions that influence people, especially role of the media in shaping discourse and how that manifests into political action.

The inherent messiness of democratic systems - Carl Knutsen (University of Oslo)

How do democracies function best? We have to find ways to represent the will of the people. And then we have to keep it from sliding toward authoritarianism. I discuss with my guest (Carl Knutsen - Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo) the underlying mechanisms forming democracies.