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Curious minds select the most fascinating podcasts from around the world. Discover hand-piqd audio recommendations on your favorite topics.
piqer for: Global finds Health and Sanity Doing Good
Bangalore-based Rashmi Vasudeva's journalism has appeared in many Indian and international publications over the past decade. A features writer with over nine years of experience heading a health and fitness supplement in a mainstream Indian newspaper, her niche areas include health, wellness, fitness, food, nutrition and Indian classical Arts.
Her articles have appeared in various publications including Mint-Wall Street Journal, The Hindu, Deccan Herald (mainstream South Indian newspaper), Smart Life (Health magazine from the Malayala Manorama Group of publications), YourStory (India's media technology platform for entrepreneurs), Avantika (a noir arts and theatre magazine), ZDF (a German public broadcasting company) and others.
In 2006, she was awarded the British Print-Chevening scholarship to pursue a short-term course in new-age journalism at the University of Westminster, U.K. With a double Masters in Globalisation and Media Studies from Aarhus Universitet (Denmark), University of Amsterdam and Swansea University in Wales, U.K., she has also dabbled in academics, travel writing and socio-cultural studies. Mother to a frisky toddler, she hums 'wheels on the bus' while working and keeps a beady eye on the aforementioned toddler's antics.
Podcast Series: Big Picture Science
If anything needs a big picture perspective, it is science in all its many forms, be it the mysteries of the universe or the wonders of our own body. Piecing together research that is constantly evolving is not easy, and most of us do not have enough time and indeed the breadth of knowledge to comprehend what scientific discoveries really mean, why we should be aware of them and how they eventually affect us.
Which is why this podcast series is highly recommended. Run by the SETI Institute (famous for its extraterrestrial research), it employs wit, narration and a calming, casual tone to tell fascinating stories on topics ranging from robotics to neuroscience to our DNA and its many quirks. Sometimes, it asks other burning questions like in the recent episode where experts discussed whether in the age of Alexa and health apps, we still need doctors. How advisable is it for us to be our own health advocates, especially when it is that much easier and cheaper than trudging to the clinic?
An episode in early July discussed how even though it is technically possible to recycle just everything, no effort really has been made by anyone to achieve that goal, while a fun episode a week before ran through some of the most bizarre biological experiments that have been conducted to learn more about reproduction and gestation.
A special mention must be made here of the episodes devoted to debunk extraordinary and pseudo-scientific claims. An August 'Skeptic Check' episode discussed at length those products that claim to boost brainpower, and whether brain-training games and exercises deliver what they promise.
If science often appears too complex or dull to you and you need a big picture view of things, this podcast is where you should go.
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