Podcasts, for the most part, have yet to be overrun by corporations and political influence. It’s more of a free platform. Podcast shows are allowed to focus on their specific subject without worrying about the noise or the other sides. Here are some podcasts that do a great job. These are not all coronavirus podcasts but podcasts about science that are doing a great job covering the coronavirus from the Scientific perspective.
Science VS
Science Vs by Gimlet it’s my top favorite. They have real experts who work in the medical research field. You ever hear about a recent study that shows this or that, this show actually has the individuals who did the study. The host Wendy Zuckerman does a great job keeping easy to understand vocabulary and often asks guests to elaborate for listeners. A lot of examples are included as well.
Why do I recommend this first? They do a great job at citing their sources by linking to them in their show notes. Meaning, if you want to learn more, or have reason to second guess their ideas, you can look for yourself. When we are in school, we have to cite our sources, why wouldn’t we appreciate a show that does the same for us.
To science lovers, this show takes the prize as learning about studies and hearing from exports is what we love the most. To science interested listeners it may be difficult to keep up to date because there are seldom laughs or excitement but the show does a great job keeping the vocab understandable to keep it from being a bore.
Coronavirus Content: High
Typical Runtime: 25-30 Minutes,
Support Model: Ads
Entertainment Factor: Science Lovers: High \ Science Interested: Medium
Short Wave From NPR
Short Wave by NPR does a great job of getting scientific information into your ears very quickly and efficiently. It’s great to listen to during work breaks or when laying your head to rest largely due to its short form. The host Maddie Sofia is very thorough and just line Science VS does a great job bringing those difficult concepts down to an understandable level. It’s short, to the point, and entertaining.
Coronavirus Content: Medium
Typical Runtime: 15-20 Minutes.
Support Model: independent, non-profit.
Entertainment Factor: Science Lovers: High \ Science Interested: High
Science Rules! with Bill Nye
I’ve always enjoyed hearing from Bill Nye in any form. Even though he’s not a traditional “scientist” but an engineer, he knows and does what scientists to best. Leave the subject to the experts, he does this by having guest hosts who are in fact an expert in the field. The entertainment factor is high in this one since, people love Bill Nye because he’s relatable, entertaining to listen to, and regularly drops cheesy jokes. The science lover will likely tune in every week without fail since it does a great job having great guests and interesting subjects. It’s also a call-in show so you can call the show, leave a voicemail and potentially have your question aired and answered on the show.
Coronavirus Content: High
Typical Runtime: 20-30 Minutes, Some as long as 50+ minutes.
Support Model: Ads
Entertainment Factor: Science Lovers: High \ Science Interested: High
StarTalk Radio by Neil deGrasse Tyson
The TV show has yet to return but you can get your continued fill of science and laughs with StarTalk Radio. As advertised, StarTalk Radio combines science with pop-culture. Neil deGrasse Tyson is super easy to listen to and does a great job keeping the science accurate! His comedian co-host Chuck Nice keeps things funny enough to make you laugh while in traffic. Chuck has also become super darn knowledgeable himself, often citing articles he’s read or answering listener questions himself.
The guests are a mix of entertainers, comedians, political figures, and scientists. The entertainment factor is super high to the science interested because of the mix of guests but the science lover may prefer other shows due to that same mix. When I’m thirsty for science info, I would prefer to hear from people who represent science organizations instead of entertainers.
There are times that Neil goes on tangents without regard to his tone and doesn’t always realize that he interrupts other people. Scientists and science lovers aren’t exactly known for having great people skills so this doesn’t bother me much, but it could be abrasive to the science interested I’m not a particular fan of the sports edition shows, but I know the importance of opening the subject matter to capture more audiences. Listener questions are answers in the Cosmic Queries episodes.
Coronavirus Content: Medium
Typical Runtime: 40-50 minutes
Support Model: Ads, offers ad-free for Patreon contributors.
Entertainment Factor: Science Lovers: Medium-High \ Science Interested: Super High
Honorable Mentions
The Osterholm Update: COVID-19 by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy with Michael Osterholm. The host is a long time expert in epidemiology and knows his facts. He knows what the science supports but will not hesitate to let you know when the jury is still out on a subject. He does talk about and consider other factors including economic impact and school closures.
Podcast-19 by FiveThirtyEight subject matter consists of only Covid-19.
Hopefully, you’ll check out some of these coronavirus podcasts. If you’re like me, you like this kind of brain food too.
Featured Image by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels