
Program Menu

Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott. The Pulse will take you behind the doors of operating rooms, into the lab with some of the world’s foremost scientists, and back in time to explore life-changing innovations. The Pulse delivers stories in ways that matter to you, and answers questions you never knew you had.
New episode every Friday at 9 a.m.
-
Hosted by Maiken Scott
Recent Articles
The life and death of daredevil ‘Mad Mike’ Hughes
The daredevil known as “Mad Mike” Hughes died in a rocket crash in 2020. He was an amateur rocket builder on a quest to prove that the Earth is flat.
2 days ago
Listen 12:06Museums aren’t getting as many animal specimens. Scientists say that’s bad
The decline in new specimens is especially noticeable in the study of mammals. One journal article called it a “perfect storm” for the field.
3 weeks ago
Listen 9:16Finding hope in the legacy of E.O. Wilson
Writer Caleb Johnson visited E.O. Wilson in February of 2020, where he spoke to the late scientist about his views on biodiversity, conservation — and the end of life.
3 weeks ago
Listen 15:29In rainy Washington state, weak laws squash tenants’ rights to mold remediation
Washington’s landlord-tenant law shrugs at tenants and winks at landlords, especially when it comes to mold. Not so in New York and California.
4 weeks ago
Listen 07:08Could magic mushrooms cure COVID-related smell loss?
Users report that psilocybin restored their sense of smell. We ask scientists what could explain this seemingly healing effect.
4 weeks ago
Listen 15:37How a Broadway superhero faced a life-threatening diagnosis
When Jake Odmark was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, his career took a back seat. But accepting the diagnosis led to a more stable future.
2 months ago
Listen 8:55How one man savored the silence pandemic lockdown brought
Noises can be painfully loud for people with hyperacusis, a rare hearing condition. When the March 2020 shutdown quieted the environment, less sound meant less suffering.
2 months ago
Listen 6:47Get angry, and use it? When emotion helps us win
When the margin of victory is slim, elite athletes look to harness the power of emotions
3 months ago
Listen 9:30How TikTok’s pupil test works, and what it tells us about love and attraction
A TikTok trend that claims to test if you’re really in love may have some real science behind it.
3 months ago
Listen 6:21How a glitch on a dating app brought one couple together
Tinder told this couple they were less than a mile away and sparked an intercontinental romance.
3 months ago
Listen 6:38Does the feedback in creative writing workshops make for better writing?
This story is from The Pulse, a weekly health and scie ...
4 months ago
Listen 12:06‘Too sick to rest’: How long COVID helped one doctor learn to slow down
For a Philadelphia physician, rest seemed out of the question during the early part of the pandemic. But she learned an important lesson about the need to slow down.
4 months ago
Listen 19:20A physiotherapist traveled the world studying sleep, and says most of us do it wrong
Lose the pillow, and while you're at it, maybe the mattress too. Michael Tetley's 20 year old paper argues for nature-informed sleep positions to eliminate pain.
4 months ago
Listen 15:59How backyard chickens blur the lines between farm animal and pet
In some cities, like Philadelphia, people run afoul of the law by keeping chickens. But back in the old days, it was the natural order of things.
4 months ago
Listen 11:03How informal adoptions became a mainstay of African American family life
This story is from The Pulse, a weekly health and scie ...
4 months ago
Listen 9:47Partners
