Leafing Through Science
Leafing Through Science
Podcast Description
Every two weeks, the new podcast series Leafing Through Science brings together host Hedi Young, Champalimaud Foundation neuroscientist and science communicator, with the authors behind some of the most fascinating non-fiction books in the life sciences. From new releases to timeless classics, we explore everything from the mysteries of consciousness and free will, to broken hearts, alien hands, and minds under siege. Expect page-turning ideas, head-spinning science, and stories that might just change how you see the world – and yourself.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores a wide range of topics within life sciences, including consciousness, bodily awareness, and neurological phenomena, as seen in episodes like the inaugural one with Moheb Costandi discussing his book Body Am I, which delves into the intricate sense of self and bodily ownership.
Every two weeks, the new podcast series Leafing Through Science brings together host Hedi Young, Champalimaud Foundation neuroscientist and science communicator, with the authors behind some of the most fascinating non-fiction books in the life sciences. From new releases to timeless classics, we explore everything from the mysteries of consciousness and free will, to broken hearts, alien hands, and minds under siege. Expect page-turning ideas, head-spinning science, and stories that might just change how you see the world – and yourself.
Sian Harding, a world leader in cardiac research, joins Hedi to reveal the heart as you’ve never seen it before, as they discuss her book The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart. From how social rank, air pollution, noise, and even your mother’s pregnancy diet can shape heart health, to the heart’s mini-brain or growing hearts in the lab from skin cells, they uncover the remarkable ways this muscular organ does far more than “just” pump blood.
They also talk about how the heart doesn’t only respond to emotions – it creates them too – and how a broken heart is more than just a metaphor, as we explore the mystery behind “Broken Heart Syndrome” and the heart’s response to emotional shock. Harding takes us on an eye-opening journey through the science that’s rewriting how we understand our body’s most poetic organ – and how it could help us tackle one of the world’s biggest health challenges.
Relevant links:
“The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart” by Sian E. Harding
Chapters:
(00:00) The Quake That Broke Hearts
(00:57) Introduction
(01:51) A Heart Like You’ve Never Heard Before
(04:04) The Influence of Social Status
(07:05) Pollution, Noise and the Heart
(10:20) Heart Health and Maternal Diet
(13:07) Mutations and “Second Hits”
(15:59) Inside the Engine Room
(17:58) Alive Without a Heart
(18:45) Artificial Hearts and Stolen Lifelines
(20:31) Living Without a Pulse
(21:13) The Beating Beauty Beneath the Glass
(22:06) Heart Cells Need Company (and a Workout)
(23:13) Hidden Hills and Valleys
(24:46) Heart Failure and Heart Attacks Explained
(28:35) The Cardiac Cost of Cancer Drugs
(30:14) The Heart’s Mini-Brain
(32:46) Heartbeat Timing and Subliminal Fear
(35:56) Broken Heart Syndrome
(38:56) Sudden Collapse on the Football Pitch
(41:03) Gender and the Heart
(44:01) Growing Hearts in the Lab
(49:53) “Disease in a Dish” Approach
(52:29) Gene Therapy to the Rescue?
(56:26) Wrapping Up
Episode Credits:
Creator & Series Producer: Hedi Young
Concept Development & Curation: Ana Rita Mendes, António Monteiro, Carla Emilie Pereira, Catarina Ramos, Diana Cadete, Hedi Young, João Van Zelst, John Lee, Marta Correia, Thaïs Lindemann and Teresa Fernandes
Host: Hedi Young
Guest: Moheb Costandi
Graphic Design: Marta Correia
Sound Design: João Van Zelst
Dissemination: Ana Rita Mendes and Diana Cadete
Disclaimer
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