Description
There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Spotify Studios that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to and cover everything from 5G and ADHD, to Fluoride and Fasting Diets.
Episodes
- 2026 / 6 / 25Raw Milk: Secret Superfood??Raw milk is having a major moment, with fans claiming it’s a gut-healing superfood that can prevent everything from asthma to allergies. But others are like HOLD ON — we pasteurize milk to make it safe!...
- 2026 / 6 / 18Caffeine: How Much Is Too Much?Today we’re revisiting caffeine. It’s a drug that tons of us take every day. So, is that a bad thing?? What is it really doing to our bodies and our brains? Plus — if we get it in the form of energy drinks,...
- 2026 / 6 / 11The Woman Who Felt No FearA group of scientists meet a very unusual woman. A key part of her brain isn’t working: the amygdala. This is the part of the brain that we think is responsible for feeling fear. And in fact, this woman does...
- 2026 / 6 / 4Peptides: The Ultimate Body Hack?Peptides are huge right now. Influencers are telling us they can work wonders for all sorts of stuff. Struggling with an annoying injury that won't heal?? Belly fat that's pissing you off? Low energy? Gut...
- 2026 / 5 / 28How Toxic Is the Air You Breathe?The Trump administration is rolling back restrictions on air pollution in the U.S., and some experts say this could affect the health of millions of people. And what makes air pollution especially dangerous...
- 2026 / 5 / 21Ibogaine: A Miracle Psychedelic?Ibogaine. Fans say this psychedelic is a game changer for treating a bunch of mental health conditions — that even a single trip to your friendly ibogaine clinic could cure you of lifelong struggles with...
- 2026 / 5 / 13Hantavirus: How Scary Is It??A weird virus has popped up on a cruise ship, and it’s making a bunch of us nervous. It’s a type of hantavirus called Andes virus, and scientists think that it’s infected almost a dozen people so far — three...
- 2026 / 5 / 7Tattoos: Are They Toxic?Tons of us are inked — one in three American adults has a tattoo — but lately, we’ve been hearing that tattoos are actually bad for us. We’re told that they mess with our immune system and could even lead to...
- 2026 / 4 / 30Boredom: Is It Good For You?We keep hearing that we need to be BORED more, with people online swearing that boredom can work magic — restoring your mind, and even supercharging your creativity. So, is boredom secretly good for us? We...
- 2026 / 4 / 23Vaping: Does It Really Cause Cancer?Headlines have been screaming about a new study suggesting that vaping could cause cancer — and that vaping could be just as dangerous as cigarettes. And if this were true, it would be a HUGE deal. We’ve been...
- 2026 / 4 / 16Running: Will It Wreck Your Body?Lots of us love — or love to hate — running. And we do it because it’s supposed to be healthy, right?! But then we hear tons of stories about runners getting hurt — sometimes so badly that they have to hang...
- 2026 / 4 / 9Artemis: Why Are We Really Going Back to the Moon?The moon race is back! NASA’s Artemis II mission just sent four astronauts around the moon. And other countries — and billionaires — are lining up to take a crack at returning to the moon too. But why are we...
- 2026 / 4 / 2How To Stop ScrollingThe apps on our phones do an amazing job of sucking us in. In fact, a big court case just found that some of these companies should be held responsible for basically designing products to be addictive. And...
- 2026 / 3 / 26The Great Mysteries of Sex with Mary RoachToday, best-selling author and nerd Mary Roach joins us to talk all about sex. We’ll uncover the secrets of the female orgasm (does “upsuck” exist?), detail the bizarre methods of pioneering sex researchers...
- 2026 / 3 / 19Colon Cancer: Should Young People Worry?Colorectal cancer has long been thought of as a disease of older folks. But that's changing — fast. Rates in older people are actually going down, and more and more people under 50 are getting this disease....
- 2026 / 3 / 12Sad Nipple Syndrome: A Booby BafflerPeople are reporting a very strange phenomenon: They say that when their nipples get touched, they feel this weird sinking feeling. People describe it like being homesick, or hung over. Some feel anguish and...
- 2026 / 2 / 26How Do You Get Pregnant With No Vagina?It's 1988 in Lesotho, and doctors at a hospital see something they thought was impossible. A 15-year-old girl shows up pregnant and in labor, but she's missing something pretty crucial to her delivery: a...
- 2026 / 2 / 19Brian Can’t Stop Fact-Checking His Mother-in-LawWe’ve all been there. Feeling stuck with a problem because no one in our life can relate. Or because the one person we need to talk to … won’t. Or can’t. Enter Yowei Shaw and the show Proxy. Proxy is built on...
- 2026 / 2 / 12Is Your Relationship … OK?Forget the questionable relationship advice from internet influencers. Today, we’re diving into the science of lasting love, fighting, and "red flags” to find out what really matters for a healthy...
- 2026 / 1 / 29What Do Tear Gas and ICE Raids Do to People?Federal agents have descended on Minneapolis in the U.S., and things have gotten chaotic — and deadly. The Trump administration says the agents are there to enforce immigration law, but officers have shot...
- 2026 / 1 / 22The Secret to Happiness?There's claims out there that all kinds of things can make us happy in life, from making money to having kids to buying your dream home. But what actually works?? What does it take to have a happy...
- 2026 / 1 / 15Vaccines: Does Europe Do Them Better?The U.S. just made a big change to its vaccine recommendations, cutting back on the number of shots it will routinely recommend for kids. The government says it wants to "better align" with countries like...
- 2025 / 12 / 18Is AI Making Us Stupid?AI tools like ChatGPT have taken the world by storm, with tons of people saying they use them regularly. This is especially true for students, many of whom say they use AI to get their schoolwork done. And...
- 2025 / 12 / 11Manifesting: How Powerful Are Our Thoughts?Influencers are out in full force, telling us how we can “manifest” anything we want using only the power of our thoughts. Want that dream car, dream boyfriend, or dream house? Act as if you already have it,...
- 2025 / 12 / 4Chiropractors: Are They Legit?Tons of people visit the chiropractor, saying it helps soothe pain in their neck or back. But we’re now hearing claims that chiro can do a whole lot more. Like, some say it can help kids with stuff like...
- 2025 / 11 / 27Should You Eat Like A Caveman? Plus — 10 Years of Science Vs!Today, we’re celebrating 10 years of Science Vs with … science! We’ll tell you all about the so-called orgasm gap, the incorrect idea that vaccines are linked to autism, and the incorrect idea that ivermectin...
- 2025 / 11 / 20Never Put Meatballs on Spaghetti, with Samin NosratEvery day we’re all doing a little bit of chemistry: when we bake potatoes, add a little salt to our pasta, or even bake a box cake. And award-winning chef Samin Nosrat just loves to nerd out over all this....
- 2025 / 11 / 13AI: Is It Ruining the Environment?The internet is abuzz with accusations that artificial intelligence is using up tons of energy and water. People are even protesting the building of new AI data centers, saying they’ll put a huge strain on...
- 2025 / 11 / 6Seed Oils: Should You Switch to Butter?We’ve been told that foods like butter and bacon are bad for us — because they're packed with saturated fats. And top dogs in nutrition say that a better option is vegetable oil, like canola oil. But lots of...
- 2025 / 10 / 30Daylight Saving Time: Should We End It?Daylight saving time is ending, and the darkness is coming for us all. And many of us dread this time of year; we think that switching up our clocks sucks. But beyond that, we hear that all this clock...
- 2025 / 10 / 23Semen Retention: Should You Stop Ejaculating?With “No Nut November” right around the corner, it's time to ask: What are the benefits of saving your seed and not ejaculating? People say that it'll boost your testosterone, giving you better libido — and...
- 2025 / 10 / 16Birth Rates: Are We Running Out of Babies??Birth rates are falling all over the world, and some people are freaking out, saying this could tank our society — and even spell the end of humans. In the U.S., so-called pronatalism is having a major...
- 2025 / 10 / 9Sugar: How Bad Is It Really?Sugar is getting tons of hate these days, from TikTok influencers telling us to cut added sugar out of our diets to RFK Jr. declaring that sugar is “poison.” But is sugar really that bad? And are certain...
- 2025 / 10 / 2The Full Moon: Is It Messing With Us?People swear that weird stuff goes down on a full moon. In fact, even SERIOUS folks like the nerds who work in ERs will tell you that something is off about those nights. And what’s amazing is that science...
- 2025 / 9 / 25How to Smell like a Dog, with Ed YongEver wonder why your dog just loves to sniff your junk? Well, it turns out it’s because other animals perceive the world in wild ways that we’re just beginning to understand. So today, we’re immersing...
- 2025 / 9 / 18Does Tylenol Cause Autism?RFK Jr.’s big report on autism is scheduled to come out this month, and we’re hearing that it might point the finger at Tylenol as a possible cause. And the science on this gets confusing fast. Because some...
- 2025 / 9 / 11AI Chatbots: Are They Dangerous?Many of us use artificial intelligence for help with research, work, or creative projects. But some people are getting a LOT more personal with their AI chatbots. We’re hearing stories of people treating...
- 2025 / 9 / 4Memory: How to Boost ItLots of us feel like our memories are garbage — like we’d forget our pants if they weren’t on our legs. But what if the science told us that forgetting stuff is totally normal? We dig into the weird science...
- 2025 / 8 / 28We Are So BackWe’re back, baby. In a world where we’re being swarmed by misinformation and it feels like science is under threat, we’ve got you. Science Vs is kicking off with all new episodes full of actual scientific...
- 2025 / 6 / 19Autism: The Real Reason It’s Going UpAutism rates are rising all over the world, and lots of people are wondering: why? In the U.S., HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said the cause is an "environmental toxin" and has vowed to get to the...
- 2025 / 6 / 12The Carnivore Diet: Can We Live On Meat Alone?A lot of influencers are going on all-meat diets, saying that all this meat is clearing up inflammation, healing their guts, and sharpening their focus. But others say, hold up — this diet is sure to lead to...
- 2025 / 6 / 5Creatine: A Hack To Get Jacked?Fitness buffs online can’t stop raving about creatine. They say it is THE supplement to get you shredded in no time — and that it can even boost your brain and memory too. Are they right? We dive into the...
- 2025 / 5 / 29Dire Wolves! They're Back?This year there was huge news when scientists at the company called Collosal brought back the dire wolf! Some say these cute, white pups are not really dire wolves, but that didn't stop a huge media buzz. One...
- 2025 / 5 / 22The War Keeps Raging Against ScienceStrange things have been happening to science in the US. An executive order is freezing research, a website with once scientific information now looks kinda like it's advertising a reality show … even...
- 2025 / 5 / 15Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?Bird flu has been in the headlines for ages, with scientists warning that we could be headed for a pandemic. But we’ve been hearing about this H5N1 virus for so long that it’s kind of starting to feel like...
- 2025 / 5 / 8Is There Really a Plastic Spoon in Our Brains?Headlines are screaming that we have tons of microplastics in our brains — the equivalent of an entire plastic spoon. OK, that sounds terrifying, but is it true? We talk to chemist Prof. Oliver...
- 2025 / 5 / 1Methamphetamine: The Most Misunderstood Drug?Methamphetamine has a scary reputation as one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs out there. But at the same time, it's an FDA-approved drug — and can even be used to treat ADHD in children. So just how...
- 2025 / 4 / 24Measles: How Worried Should We Be?Measles is spreading in the U.S., with hundreds of cases across more than 20 states. And tons of people online are arguing over how we should feel about it. Some say this is bad because measles is SO...
- 2025 / 4 / 17Telepathy: Is It For Real?A popular podcast called The Telepathy Tapes claims that telepathy is real — and tons of people are convinced. So we open our minds to the possibility of mind-reading and ask: Could this be real?? And if not...
- 2025 / 4 / 10Fluoride: Is Your Water Safe?The battle over whether we should be putting fluoride in our water has reached fever pitch. We’ve got U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and anti-fluoride activists saying it’s a neurotoxin that’s...