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The Pulse: Daily Summaries Delivered
by WHYY
Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken SDK. The Pulse takes 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.
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- Yesterday49 min
When Healthcare Meets the Law: Abortion, Cannabis, and Corporate Medicine
On this episode, we look at the intersection of health, medicine, and the law. We explore how the upcoming rescheduling of marijuana may impact research on the drug, hear the story of a doctor who faced manslaughter charges in the 1970s for providing an abortion, and learn about legislation that some states are using to try and keep private equity out of medicine. Near the end of 2025, President Donald Trump made an announcement that marijuana advocates had been waiting decades to hear — plans by the federal government to move cannabis from schedule 1 to schedule 3, a much less restrictive legal category that would allow scientists to more easily conduct research on the drug’s therapeutic value. Pulse reporter Liz Tung digs into the history of how cannabis first became a federally illicit drug, what impact that status has had on research, and how much of a difference rescheduling will really make. We talk with Britt Carpenter, a recovery advocate and executive director of Philly Unknown Project, about how medical marijuana helped him get off opioids after years of addiction — and how the stigma against marijuana may prevent others from doing the same. Abortion has been in a state of legal flux ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, putting many providers at risk of criminal prosecution. That might seem like a new development — but doctors faced similar pressures in the tumultuous years after Roe v. Wade was first decided. Reporter Linda Marsa tells the story of one young physician named Kenneth Edelin who became a national focal point of the debate after facing manslaughter charges for performing an abortion. It seems like a simple, common sense idea — that medical decisions should be made by doctors, not investors. But it’s an idea that’s been increasingly under threat, thanks to the rise of private equity in medicine. Now, some states are pushing back, with legislation aimed at curbing corporate influence in healthcare. Pulse reporter Alan Yu breaks down a recent court case out of Oregon that tested one such law, how it was decided, and what it could mean other states moving forward.
- 1 weeks ago49 min
Engineering Happiness into Our Daily Lives
Think about the last time you were really happy — where were you? What were you doing? Who were you with? And, most importantly, how can you recreate that feeling?Happiness can feel like lightning in a bottle — beautiful in the moment, but hard to find and harder yet to sustain. So what is it that makes for a happy life? And how do we engineer our lives for greater contentment, fulfillment, and joy?On this encore episode: the science of happiness and how we can experience more of it every day. We talk with psychologist Eric Zillmer about why certain places bring us joy, and how to engineer happiness in our lives. We hear about one reporter’s experiment to bring more moments of serendipity in her life. And, writer Daniel Coyle explains why community is at the heart of what it means to flourish.Drexel University psychologist Eric Zillmer created a “happiness map” of Philadelphia with the help of his students. He says it holds greater lessons on why certain places bring us joy, and how we can reverse-engineer happiness into our days. Zillmer directs the happiness lab at Drexel University.Writer Daniel Coyle built his career on exploring what it is that makes people successful — but when both of his parents died a few years ago, Coyle found himself unmoored, questioning what makes for a happy and meaningful life. The resulting journey led to his newest book, “Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment.” We talk with Coyle why he says community is at the heart of flourishing, how to create the right conditions for happiness, and why he says life isn’t a treasure hunt — it’s the process of treasure creation.
- 2 weeks ago49 min
The Strange Science of Color — And Our Quest to Understand It
On this episode, we explore the world of color — from how we perceive it, to our efforts to describe and differentiate its many shades. We talk with a lexicographer about efforts to standardize synthetic colors, and how we describe them, and investigate how we know that the colors we see are the same as the ones everyone else sees. The Pulse host Maiken Scott adds some pops of color to her all-black wardrobe with help from Jill Rafter, a color consultant with House of Colour, who breaks down seasonal palettes and how to choose your ideal hues based on your skin’s undertones. We talk with lexicographer Kory Stamper about her deep dive into the origins of ultra-specific color definitions, and the fascinating history of how major global changes, ranging from industrialization to international warfare, led to a government effort to standardize not just the production of synthetic colors, but also how we talk about them. Stamper’s new book is “True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color – from Azure to Zinc Pink.” How do we know that the colors we see are the same as the colors other people see? Pulse reporter Liz Tung talks with University of Pennsylvania researcher David Brainard about the science of how we perceive color, what we know — and don’t know — about our shared perceptions, and the philosophical questions this raises about the nature of subjective experience. Pulse producer Nichole Currie talks with Cricket Matthews, who experiences grapheme-colors synesthesia, a unique neurological trait in which letters, numbers, and words trigger specific colors in your mind.
- 3 weeks ago49 min
May 14, 2026
When disaster strikes and the chips are down, who makes it out alive? On this episode, we explore what it takes to survive a crisis. We hear the incredible story of a 17-year-old girl, who after surviving a plane crash, faced a harrowing journey though the Amazon to safety, why some people experience hallucinations when facing death, and how we’re wired to behave in emergencies. On Christmas morning in 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke woke up deep in the jungle, injured, in shock, and utterly alone. She was the sole survivor of a plane crash that had dumped her in the Peruvian Amazon — and now she would have to find her way to safety all by herself. Writer Ellen Cochrane documented Koepcke’s incredible, 11-day journey back to civilization in her new book, “Follow the Water: The Unbelievable True Story of a Teenager's Survival in the Amazon.” We talk with journalist and lifelong adventurer John Geiger about the “Third Man Factor,” a phenomenon in which people in extreme, often life-threatening situations find themselves being helped and guided by a mysterious presence. Geiger’s book is “The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible.” Journalist Amanda Ripley has spent decades covering disasters, ranging from plane crashes to natural disasters. After interviewing hundreds of survivors and experts, she breaks down the three stages of how we respond to disasters, what they say about how we're wired, and the strategies that help people survive. Her book is “The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — and Why?”
- 4 weeks ago49 min
The Complexity of Motherhood
How do you sum up the experience of motherhood, and all of the changes it brings, both big and small? It’s a transformation that affects everything — hormones, body image, relationships, feelings, money, career — even the answers to larger, existential questions like, “Who am I in this world, and what is my role?”On this episode, we explore the impact of motherhood. We talk with a psychologist about “matrescence” — a term used to describe the multi-faceted transformation ushered in by motherhood — and why it comes as a surprise to so many mothers. We find out how motherhood rewires the brain, and how those changes affect the way we think and behave. And we hear about a new play that challenges ideas about motherhood and women’s health. After interviewing women about their experiences of motherhood, Aurélie Athan came across a term that seemed to describe all of the changes: Matrescence. Athan is a reproductive psychologist and a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. When health-and-science journalist Chelsea Conaboy first became a mother, she was surprised to find that the maternal instinct she’d heard about for years wasn’t kicking in. That led Conaboy to investigate some of our long-held beliefs about motherhood — and how they influence our ways of thinking and behaving. Her book is called “Mother Brain: How Neuroscience Is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood.” We talk with writer and actor Andrea Peterson about her new play, (plan c) — a dark comedy that explores the gray areas of motherhood, from medical issues to fears about maintaining independence to relationship troubles. The world premiere of (plan c) with Pygmalion Productions is running now at the Rose Wagner Black Box Theater in Salt Lake City, Utah. When Katie Pratt was 3 years old, she was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation, a rare brain condition in which the cerebellum bulges through an opening in the skull into the spinal canal. Katie’s mom, Wendy, had a hunch about what the solution would be — but it wasn’t until doctors opened up Katie’s skull that they discovered she was right. Katie interviews her mom about the experience, and her incredible flash of mother’s intuition.
- Apr 30, 202649 min
Healing with Psychedelics: Veterans, PTSD, and the Science of Mind-Altering Drugs
For decades, psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA were regarded as dangerous drugs of abuse — but that’s started changing as research increasingly reveals their ability to help treat serious mental health issues. On this episode, we listen back to past conversations about the science behind these drugs’ therapeutic potential, along with powerful stories of healing. When Marcus Capone retired from the Navy SEALS in 2013 after more than a decade of service, he found himself at loose ends, and battling a deep depression. He cycled through antidepressants and other prescription medications, but nothing worked — until his wife suggested a radical alternative: psychedelic-assisted therapy. Capone describes his experience with ibogaine, how it changed him, and why he thinks it worked when nothing else did. Capone is the co-founder and chairman of VETS: Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, and is featured in the documentary “In Waves and War” now on Netflix. Psychiatrist and researcher Rachel Yehuda explains the science behind psychedelic-assisted therapy, and what she’s learned about its potential to treat PTSD in veterans. She leads the PTSD clinical research program at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in New York City. MDMA — otherwise known as ecstasy or molly — is best known as a party drug, but in recent years, scientists have begun investigating it as a treatment for PTSD. We talk with science journalist Rachel Nuwer about the history of MDMA, the science behind its therapeutic potential, and how it helped change one woman’s life. Nuwer’s book is called “I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World.” Cluster headaches can be debilitating — but a little over a decade ago, a group of sufferers, who call themselves “Clusterbusters,” began investigating the potential of psilocybin, otherwise known as magic mushrooms, to treat their intractable pain. We talk with sociologist Joanna Kempner about her research into the group and their mission, documented in her book “Psychedelic Outlaws: The Movement Revolutionizing Modern Medicine.”
- Apr 23, 202649 min
40 Years After Chernobyl: What Caused the Disaster — and How It Changed Nuclear Energy
Forty years ago, news was only beginning to emerge that an accident had occurred — one that could put millions of people at risk. A reactor at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, then part of the Soviet Union, had exploded, releasing a plume of radioactive gases and particles into the atmosphere and spreading some of the most hazardous radionuclides known to humanity.We look back at what caused this devastating nuclear accident, and explore its legacy with Adam Higginbotham, author of “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster.” He describes the perfect storm of Soviet secrecy, design flaws, and a series of bad decisions and mistakes that led to the accident, and how it shaped the future of nuclear energy. We’ll find out how a special fungus discovered in the reactor could help protect astronauts from cosmic radiation. And we’ll also hear why and how nuclear energy is making a comeback in the U.S. — including at Three Mile Island, the site of another nuclear accident.
- Apr 16, 202649 min
So Many Cravings, So Few Rewards: Understanding How Dopamine Works
Science writer Michaeleen Doucleff was sitting on a beautiful beach with her daughter, but she couldn’t relax. She kept reaching for her phone, checking it over and over. She was frustrated but couldn’t stop. Why was she doing this? In her new book, “Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child's Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods,” Doucleff explores how devices can hijack our brain’s reward system to keep us coming back for more, even after the pleasure is gone.
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About The Pulse
Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken SDK. The Pulse takes 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.
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