Speaker 1: Hi, Hi, I'm Erin Well and I'm Erin Almond Updike
Speaker 1: and this is this podcast will kill.
Speaker 2: You un conventional style.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels really weird Erin. We're very It's very awkward.
Speaker 1: It's very awkward. We have not recorded in this same
Speaker 1: space since twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: Yes, right before you left for Finland.
Speaker 1: That was six years ago.
Speaker 2: It was like the very beginning of season two with
Speaker 2: the last time that we were together in the same room.
Speaker 2: It is very weird. I feel like more nervous. I know,
Speaker 2: my cold sweating I.
Speaker 1: Put onto the owner, but probably not enough the same.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fun though, and unconventional a because we
Speaker 1: are in the same place recording would be because this
Speaker 1: is not our typical episode format case. You may have
Speaker 1: noticed from the title of this episode, which we don't
Speaker 1: know what it is yet, but it's going to be
Speaker 1: something to the effect of ask the errands whatever it
Speaker 1: is you want to ask them. And there are a
Speaker 1: lot of things you wanted to ask us. Yeah, a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of things, which is thrilling.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much to everybody who submitted your questions.
Speaker 2: We read every single question. We are going to try
Speaker 2: our best to answer as many of them as we
Speaker 2: can today.
Speaker 1: Yes. Also, I just also want to say thank you
Speaker 1: so much for all of your little comments too. They
Speaker 1: made our.
Speaker 2: Day absolutely, our week, our month, my year, lives yeah everything.
Speaker 1: It was amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. The last time we did this, the only time
Speaker 1: we did this was in twenty nineteen, twenty nineteen, and
Speaker 1: I think it's safe to say a lot has happened then.
Speaker 1: And we're going to get into all of that and
Speaker 1: all of your other questions. But before we do that,
Speaker 1: it's quarantine. It's still quarantiny time.
Speaker 3: Eron.
Speaker 1: What are we calling this one right now? We're drinking
Speaker 1: just non alcoholic.
Speaker 2: Non alcoholics mes cown nigronies. They're a little bit weird, no.
Speaker 1: Lie, we tell it like it is on this podcast.
Speaker 2: We didn't come up with a name for them. We're
Speaker 2: drinking of plus e Burita.
Speaker 1: The Errands cheers, so I guess for the quarantini slash
Speaker 1: plasy rita. The Errands like, drink whatever you like. What's
Speaker 1: your favorite thing that you've been drinking lately?
Speaker 2: What's your favorite quarantini that we've ever made?
Speaker 1: Erin me, Yeah, this is a hard one. I erin
Speaker 1: my I feel like my memory, in part because of
Speaker 1: the podcast, is so overloaded that I cannot remember anything.
Speaker 1: There was a really good peach whiskey one that I
Speaker 1: made recently, but I think my go to answer for
Speaker 1: that is the Gunneria one Burning Love.
Speaker 2: That's my go to too. Yeah, I mean so good,
Speaker 2: it's good. Okay, it's great. Have a spicy marg.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't think we have any other podcast business,
Speaker 1: I mean the usual. Our website exists, and it's got
Speaker 1: some things on it like bookshop dot Org, affiliate account,
Speaker 1: our Goodreads list a, all of our transcripts. It's got
Speaker 1: sources for each and every one of our episodes, links
Speaker 1: to music by Bloodmobile, Patreon, diat Say merch, We've got
Speaker 1: some pretty cool merch, pretty big merch.
Speaker 2: Probably more coming out soon, so check.
Speaker 1: It, check it.
Speaker 2: Well, shall we get into some listener questions?
Speaker 1: Let's do it. Let's take a quick break and then
Speaker 1: get started. It started.
Speaker 2: So we have our little listy here, so we're gonna
Speaker 2: we're just gonna read through our little listy, shall we.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 2: Megan and Audrey and several other people. This isn't a
Speaker 2: real question because so we just combined a whole bunch
Speaker 2: of them. They would like to know personal life updates
Speaker 2: airin EIRIN five years ago. It was twenty nineteen. You
Speaker 2: weren't living here where we are, in your beautiful house,
Speaker 2: So tell us about your life.
Speaker 1: Let's see. Okay, I'm going to try to be succynct
Speaker 1: because I could talk about all I could talk about
Speaker 1: all these questions at great length. But in twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: I quit my postdoc in Finland and you know, academia
Speaker 1: just wasn't for me, bottom line. And then I moved
Speaker 1: back to the US. I moved to Chicago initially, and
Speaker 1: then when COVID hit, I drove out to Colorado to
Speaker 1: meet up with a friend free grad school, a longtime
Speaker 1: friend from grad school, and then uh, basically moved to Denver.
Speaker 1: And now we're married.
Speaker 2: You guys, also, they are meant to be together. That's
Speaker 2: what I'm going to say. Okay, it's a beautiful love story,
Speaker 2: and we love it so much.
Speaker 1: We love you, John, love you John. Yes. So now
Speaker 1: we've been in Denver since well John's been in Denver
Speaker 1: since twenty twenty. I've moved fully the year after. And
Speaker 1: now we have a dog who's toenails you're probably hearing
Speaker 1: click on the floor of our sun room.
Speaker 2: Yep, he's great.
Speaker 1: Yay, yeah, yay. What about you, Aaron? A lot has
Speaker 1: happened for you.
Speaker 2: A lot has happened for me as well. Let's see,
Speaker 2: I don't remember exactly when our first ask the Errands
Speaker 2: came out. I want to say it was summer summer. Okay,
Speaker 2: so in summer of twenty nineteen is when I had
Speaker 2: my first kid. So I don't know if I had
Speaker 2: one yet when we recorded.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you did.
Speaker 2: In any case, he's still here with us, and now
Speaker 2: he's a giant kid, not a baby. And then I
Speaker 2: finished med school. We moved from Illinois back to San Diego,
Speaker 2: thrilled to be back there. I finished my whole residency,
Speaker 2: which is good, wild that much time has passed. And
Speaker 2: then I had another kid in a while back. Now
Speaker 2: he's again a toddler and no longer a baby. And yeah,
Speaker 2: that's like a short version of my life updates.
Speaker 1: It's great, it's great, right, I love it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, finished med school, finish residency, had two kids.
Speaker 1: Podcast podcast, yeah, podcast, All right, thanks for the question.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what's next?
Speaker 1: Okay, So we have a question from Kashina Mackenzie, Maddie Ruby,
Speaker 1: Chelsea and others. We love how many of the questions
Speaker 1: were like very similar because we were like, okay, great,
Speaker 1: you do want to know some things about us. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm just going to read one of these questions. It
Speaker 1: seems like it's been years since we've heard what you've
Speaker 1: both been up to professionally. Are either of you engaged
Speaker 1: in any research, taking breaks working in your chosen fields
Speaker 1: in the same vein What are your hopes for the
Speaker 1: future academically or professionally? Ooh, I like that question. Hey,
Speaker 1: any questions? Oh, I have to start. You don't have to.
Speaker 2: But so, I just finished my residency, which means I'm
Speaker 2: done with all of the training part of my medical career,
Speaker 2: and I am starting in clinical practice in family medicine
Speaker 2: in like the next month or so, and then I'm
Speaker 2: doing the podcast and that is that's that's the job
Speaker 2: right now, and I'm hoping to be able to keep
Speaker 2: doing both.
Speaker 1: So far, so good, Yeah, so far, so great. Yeah, Eric,
Speaker 1: So I now my I guess my full time job.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing any research anymore, any academia anymore at all.
Speaker 1: I'm doing podcasts full time. Since twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what a beautiful year that was.
Speaker 1: It's great and hopes for the future academically or professionally.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, I think we just want to keep
Speaker 1: this podcast going as long as we possibly can. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we love making it, and I think that we may
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm jumping ahead, and there is a question for
Speaker 1: like how long do you think that this podcast can
Speaker 1: keep going? But every year the list grows longer and longer,
Speaker 1: thanks in large part also to listeners who write in
Speaker 1: and say, hey, can you cover this? Hey can you
Speaker 1: cover that? So I really just want to keep being
Speaker 1: able to do science communication forever and always.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we really love getting to make this so that's
Speaker 2: a big part of our current and future career. Yes, yes, okay,
Speaker 2: I love this. Next question Catherine S and.
Speaker 1: Jackie Jackie Jackie love you.
Speaker 2: They asked kind of similar questions. Did a certain person
Speaker 2: in your life inspire you to follow the science path
Speaker 2: or were you always drawn to it even as a
Speaker 2: little kid.
Speaker 1: I think I was always drawn to it. I mean
Speaker 1: it kind of went from medical to biology at different points.
Speaker 1: I watched Beakman's World growing up. Oh my god, I
Speaker 1: forgot about that show. Yeh, I totally watched that show.
Speaker 1: I loved Beacon's World, like a lot of Bill Nye
Speaker 1: Bill Nye. I had like a vet kit and like
Speaker 1: a doctor kit and everything, and I would pretend to, like,
Speaker 1: you know, treat my dogs and stuff. But no, I
Speaker 1: think even in high school, I was drawn to the
Speaker 1: field of science and biology in particular. And I don't
Speaker 1: know if it was like great teachers or just the
Speaker 1: idea of understanding how the world works around us.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean same. I've always been
Speaker 2: a science nerd. Yeah, I'm gonna my friend, good friend
Speaker 2: Jackie that I've been friends with since middle school, asked
Speaker 2: one of these questions, so I'm gonna shout out to
Speaker 2: my roots of just how nerdy we were in high
Speaker 2: school during our ap bio class, which like, first of all,
Speaker 2: you're taking ap bio, you're probably a nerd. Love it,
Speaker 2: And we were, and we used to have study groups
Speaker 2: together and we wanted to make t shirts that said
Speaker 2: hydrogen bonds Rule the World, because that's how amazed I
Speaker 2: was when I learned about hydrogen bonds. Like still to
Speaker 2: this day when I think about them, I get very excited.
Speaker 1: Can we make those t shirts. That would be awesome.
Speaker 2: Actually, it's been a dream since high school. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I have always been a science nerd for sure.
Speaker 1: Love that. Love that. This next question kind of follows
Speaker 1: up with that. So, like we talked about what science
Speaker 1: nerds we were as kids, but Aisha, Jess, Nicole, Kelly, Daisy,
Speaker 1: and Maggie want to know if there was a particular
Speaker 1: moment or experience in our lives that made us realize
Speaker 1: that we wanted to pursue the careers that we have.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I totally have that. So I was definitely like
Speaker 2: a science nerd from the beginning, went into undergrad wanting
Speaker 2: to do aquatic biology marine biology, fully expected I was
Speaker 2: going to be a shark biologist. I was like all in.
Speaker 2: And it was a particular class. I feel like I've
Speaker 2: told this story so many times, Sorry if it's boring
Speaker 2: at this point, but a particular class on the ecology
Speaker 2: of parasites that one hundred percent rocked my world made
Speaker 2: me interested in the field of diseases and epidemiology, and
Speaker 2: that is what led me down the path eventually of
Speaker 2: Masters in Public Health and an mdphd. And everything that
Speaker 2: has come of that has been that class.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, Ecology of Parasites.
Speaker 2: It was such a good class. If you're at UCMB
Speaker 2: and it's still there, please take it.
Speaker 1: I had wanted to go into nursing initially when I
Speaker 1: was an undergrad, and then I had to take as
Speaker 1: part of that an intro to microbiology course And it
Speaker 1: was at eight am Monday Wednesday Friday, and I had
Speaker 1: to ride my bike up this hill, which is probably
Speaker 1: not that big of a hill because it was like
Speaker 1: central Kentucky. But I found myself not sleeping in and
Speaker 1: actually wanting to go to this class and not missing
Speaker 1: a class, which I was sometimes known to do with
Speaker 1: other classes. And so I switched my major to biology,
Speaker 1: being like, I want to know more about the world
Speaker 1: of microbiology. I want to know all about these diseases.
Speaker 1: And then I also just started to become more interested
Speaker 1: in the human impact when I joined a plague lab
Speaker 1: studying your cineapestis, and I wanted this big picture view
Speaker 1: of like, but how has plague affected things on a
Speaker 1: landscape scale and then throughout history? And then that led
Speaker 1: me into my master's in epidemiology, and that's when I
Speaker 1: was like, but what about the environment? What is that?
Speaker 1: What role does that play? And that is when I
Speaker 1: did disease ecology, and then of course in later in
Speaker 1: our which we'll get talked probably a little bit more
Speaker 1: about later, but at the end of our PhDs, we
Speaker 1: were like science communication, like, how can we actually talk
Speaker 1: about this stuff in a way that is fun for us?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I feel like that gets into another question that
Speaker 2: several of you asked, including Jess, Nicole and Kelly, which
Speaker 2: was like, what was the most pivotal moment of your
Speaker 2: academic or professional careers and why? And I feel like
Speaker 2: Aaron years is like really good?
Speaker 1: Is it? I wonderful for thinking of the same pivotal moment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so okay, your pivotal moment changed both of our careers. Yeah, okay, yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: like Aaron has changed our lives.
Speaker 1: Aaron has changed our lives as well. No, yes, it
Speaker 1: was okay. So in November of twenty eighteen, I moved
Speaker 1: to Finland to start my postdoc and I really enjoyed
Speaker 1: the work there. I liked that the research. My postdoc
Speaker 1: advisor was phenomenal, really wonderful person. But I had gone
Speaker 1: back in February a few months later to uh Texas
Speaker 1: to go to my friend's wedding and I had such
Speaker 1: a great time and like hanging out, meeting up with
Speaker 1: people that I hadn't, like, you know, been around for
Speaker 1: a number of years. And I was getting on the
Speaker 1: plane back to Finland and I was thinking to myself,
Speaker 1: what am I going back to? And I loved the
Speaker 1: like I was intrigued by the research. I thought it
Speaker 1: was fascinating, but it was the constant sort of cycle
Speaker 1: of writing grants, writing papers, analyzing the data, always having
Speaker 1: to get that you know, get that thing in having
Speaker 1: all of a million deadlines, and I just did not
Speaker 1: connect with that at all. And I thought there's got
Speaker 1: to be something else. I can't do this forever, and
Speaker 1: so I quit my post doc and I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll do the podcast in the meantime for like a
Speaker 1: little bit, and then I'll find something else. And then
Speaker 1: that has now been five years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like I mean, when we decided to
Speaker 2: make this podcast in twenty seventeen, we did not ever
Speaker 2: anticipate that it could become our careers. But there was
Speaker 2: a point at which and it was during this time
Speaker 2: when you were like, I don't really want to be
Speaker 2: doing this. Could we make this podcast something that is
Speaker 2: viable as our careers. And at the same time, I
Speaker 2: was still in medical school and knowing that things were
Speaker 2: only going to get busier, and I was like, I
Speaker 2: want to keep making this podcast, but I can't do
Speaker 2: it the way that we've been doing it because it
Speaker 2: was just too much of a burden for both of
Speaker 2: us to keep doing what we are doing. And so
Speaker 2: by you then deciding to take that leap of quitting
Speaker 2: your like stable, real academic job and becoming the podcast
Speaker 2: full time, it has allowed for this podcast to still exist.
Speaker 1: So it has.
Speaker 2: Literally changed both of our lives for the better. Like
Speaker 2: it's phenomenal, and I it's it.
Speaker 1: Is it is. I will say, like it is still
Speaker 1: surreal to me every single time that like this is
Speaker 1: what we get to do.
Speaker 2: I know it is.
Speaker 1: It is the best thing. It is the best thing,
Speaker 1: and like you know, any job is a job, right,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that, like every day is wonderful and
Speaker 1: I'm never annoyed at having to take quarantine pictures or
Speaker 1: whatever it is, but it is the it's like finding
Speaker 1: that thing that I connect with and I am able
Speaker 1: to feel fulfilled about has been It's been an incredible
Speaker 1: experience I love it. And also, my friend Katie was
Speaker 1: the one whose wedding I went to in February of
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, and if you listened to our lactose intolerance episode,
Speaker 1: she provided the first hand account, which is still one
Speaker 1: of my all time favorite, one of the best first
Speaker 1: hand accounts. Such a great storyteller, It's amazing. Oh I
Speaker 1: love it. Okay, So I love this next question because
Speaker 1: I feel like a piggybacks onto that and I want
Speaker 1: to know your answer to this too, especially Aaron. So
Speaker 1: Daisy asked, do you currently have the career you thought
Speaker 1: you'd have when you first applied to college? Like not?
Speaker 1: I didn't know, absolutely not. Like short answer, no, what
Speaker 1: did you think you wanted to be when you went
Speaker 1: into college? In college?
Speaker 2: I wanted to be a shark biologist?
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, it's like day one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, uh, at least as much as I can remember, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't remember if there was any other specifics of like, No,
Speaker 2: I wanted to study sharks. I wanted to be a
Speaker 2: shark biologist. Wow, so this is not what I expected
Speaker 2: to be doing. I specifically told my mother after freshman
Speaker 2: year that I would never go to med school. So
Speaker 2: of course, I didn't need to take all three quarters
Speaker 2: of OKEM, so I took a summer course instead and
Speaker 2: she was like okay, and I was like, I'm never
Speaker 2: going to grad school.
Speaker 1: I'm never.
Speaker 2: I thought I was never going to go to grad
Speaker 2: school and be a shapologist. I didn't know what I
Speaker 2: was doing, but I definitely thought I would never go
Speaker 2: to med school. And now like I am, I am
Speaker 2: done with residency.
Speaker 1: You're an MdeR doctor doctor mdphd.
Speaker 2: So no, I do not have the job that I expected,
Speaker 2: and I'm very happy about that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what about you? No not, I'm yeah. I didn't
Speaker 1: know science communication existed until after we were doing the
Speaker 1: podcast for a year. Yeah yeah, uh no, I when
Speaker 1: I remember it, when I applied to the University of
Speaker 1: Kentucky for undergrad which is where I ended up going,
Speaker 1: I put in my major as a double major of
Speaker 1: anthropology and English.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, right, that's even different than nursing, you know.
Speaker 1: And then I got there and I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: maybe that's not I want to do nursing. I don't know,
Speaker 1: you know, I was eighteen, Like, how do you are
Speaker 1: you supposed to choose your entire life at eighteen? But Aaron,
Speaker 1: we're going to have a full circle moment.
Speaker 2: I'm going to skip like a million pages ahead and
Speaker 2: ask you the question that I want to ask you
Speaker 2: that someone else.
Speaker 1: Let me see who asked it so I can shout
Speaker 1: out you.
Speaker 2: To say thank you, Sheila, thanks for asking. You said
Speaker 2: that you were an English major when you first started,
Speaker 2: so you always knew that you were going to.
Speaker 1: Write a book. So when are you going to release
Speaker 1: your book? Aaron? Well, I have to like write one first,
Speaker 1: and I have to write a book proposal first. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been floating around in my mind for a really
Speaker 1: long time. I have said this for years, yes to people,
Speaker 1: to friends. I do really want to do that, and
Speaker 1: I just need to actually do it. So if anyone
Speaker 1: has any tips for like how to actually do that
Speaker 1: and accomplish that, and you know, let me know. We
Speaker 1: can't wait to read it. Yeah, I don't know what
Speaker 1: it's going to be about yet. Preon's would everyone read
Speaker 1: a book about prion?
Speaker 2: I would? I'd love to.
Speaker 1: Thanks done.
Speaker 2: Who's next?
Speaker 1: Who is next? Sophie?
Speaker 3: Henry Hi Sophie, So Sophie asks, what is the best
Speaker 3: piece of advice that either or both of you have
Speaker 3: received in going to grad school, med school, or working
Speaker 3: in science in general.
Speaker 1: Okay, I have now co opted this and we have
Speaker 1: like put it into our presentations, which is, don't let
Speaker 1: perfect be the enemy of good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a really good one.
Speaker 1: And also I actually think that we stole this or
Speaker 1: I stole this from Brian Allan, our PhD advisor, because
Speaker 1: he would whenever we were like stressing about grants or
Speaker 1: papers or whatever, he would be like, just put it
Speaker 1: down and then we can work on it. Just having
Speaker 1: something down. It doesn't have to be perfect, like, don't
Speaker 1: wordsmith till the end of time, right, just get started.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know if this is specific to like
Speaker 2: grad school or anything, but I know and I think
Speaker 2: that this advice came from a friend that it is
Speaker 2: okay to change your mind personally and professionally. I think
Speaker 2: I've changed my mind about almost everything that at some
Speaker 2: point I was like absolutely not or absolutely always, and
Speaker 2: I've like one hundred percent changed my mind on things.
Speaker 2: And I think that's a part of growth, and it
Speaker 2: is okay.
Speaker 1: It is, and I think that's really important in the
Speaker 1: specific context, not just like personal context, you know, life context,
Speaker 1: but in career as well, if you're if you're like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm not sure why I started this
Speaker 1: in the first place, don't be afraid to explore other options, right,
Speaker 1: and to be even if you're like, oh, but I
Speaker 1: wanted to do this thing since I was a kid,
Speaker 1: So it's going to change your mind to not want
Speaker 1: to do that anymore more you were a kid.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and I think what's so awesome is that,
Speaker 2: like all of the things that you have done up
Speaker 2: until whatever point you decide to change your mind are
Speaker 2: still going to be valuable things, like they're just going
Speaker 2: to maybe be applied in a different context.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I love that question.
Speaker 2: Well, that's really similar to Carrie's question, which I think
Speaker 2: a number of other people asked too, which is what
Speaker 2: advice would you give to your undergrad self.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think same thing, like, don't be afraid
Speaker 1: to change your mind is a great piece of advice
Speaker 1: for that. But also this is like such a boring
Speaker 1: thing and I would not have taken it because I
Speaker 1: know I received this advice a lot of the time
Speaker 1: but never took it, which was, Oh my gosh, work
Speaker 1: on your time management skills. You don't have to be
Speaker 1: studying all night long, all the time, if you actually, like,
Speaker 1: you know, block off times in your in your day.
Speaker 1: I never ever did that until doing the podcast.
Speaker 2: Yeah yet, and I mean I still don't do that.
Speaker 2: I still like very bad at it and a chronic procrastinator,
Speaker 2: So I could probably be better about that.
Speaker 1: I think I would.
Speaker 2: Give a similar advice to the idea that like, you
Speaker 2: don't you it's okay to change your mind, and like
Speaker 2: you don't have to panic every time that you don't
Speaker 2: know what's coming next. I spent I think a lot
Speaker 2: of time panicking. I still do. Oh yeah, when it's
Speaker 2: like you don't know it, like you know that something's
Speaker 2: about to change, but you don't know how it's going
Speaker 2: to go. That's that is life. It's life, and it's okay,
Speaker 2: and it's okay that it's scary. But you don't have
Speaker 2: to panic every time.
Speaker 1: Arin there are many different pathways and futures that can
Speaker 1: sort of like intersect, and it's not like you're shutting
Speaker 1: a door forever.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's so true. Oh my gosh, profound Erin, profound.
Speaker 1: Erin, I have a question for you. Actually I don't,
Speaker 1: but it's from Jess and Kelly. Okay, if you weren't
Speaker 1: science communicators slash doctor. Okay, what other career would you
Speaker 1: be interesting sit and exploring?
Speaker 2: Can I still say shark biologists?
Speaker 1: Okay? But like what else right now? Do you want
Speaker 1: to be a shark biologist? Right now?
Speaker 2: I mean, there are days when I wonder why did
Speaker 2: I ever leave marine biology? Yeah that's fair. Yeah, there
Speaker 2: were more days like that when I lived in Illinois.
Speaker 2: But there are honestly so many jobs that I think
Speaker 2: are fascinating that like, whenever I learn about a new job,
Speaker 2: I'm like, wow, I didn't even like consider that as
Speaker 2: a career path. That could be such a cool job.
Speaker 2: But I can't think of any off the top of
Speaker 2: my head right now. I know, yeah, what about you, Erin?
Speaker 1: I have always loved the idea of like working in
Speaker 1: a used bookstore and creating curated recommendations for people. But
Speaker 1: also there are it's just like so many things right
Speaker 1: you watch I love going on, Like some of the
Speaker 1: reddits that I love are people who are amazing at crafts. Oh,
Speaker 1: whether it's crochet or knitting, or ceramics or working, and
Speaker 1: I I just am like, well, I wish that I
Speaker 1: had spent my I guess I could still do it,
Speaker 1: but I wish I had spent more time, you know,
Speaker 1: doing this at an earlier age, to experiment, like what
Speaker 1: I liked, what I didn't like, et cetera. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I feel like there are so many things out there,
Speaker 1: and the more that I learned, the more I'm like, Wow,
Speaker 1: that could be a really cool thing to explore. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's like, there's so much out there.
Speaker 2: Okay. I love this question so much erin especially because
Speaker 2: it comes from Sloan who's been listening to us since
Speaker 2: middle school and is now in college, so we are old,
Speaker 2: we are.
Speaker 1: In a way that I love it. Yes, I'm thrilled
Speaker 1: by it.
Speaker 2: But they asked, how have you felt like your views
Speaker 2: on infections and everything that we've covered have shifted since
Speaker 2: the start of this podcast, and really, how does this
Speaker 2: podcast inform how we go about our own lives? And
Speaker 2: other people have asked similar questions.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how do I like encapsulate everything? It's it's a
Speaker 1: really great question because I think it it is so
Speaker 1: one thing that we don't necessarily always do is like
Speaker 1: self reflect Onah, Like, how can I put myself in
Speaker 1: the mindset of the person I was before starting the
Speaker 1: podcast and what I knew about infections and the history
Speaker 1: of disease and so on. But I think the bottom
Speaker 1: line for me is empathy and realizing that so, like,
Speaker 1: these diseases are not just diseases, and they're not just
Speaker 1: like a timeline of events, It is people. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: that a lot of the way that we learn about disease,
Speaker 1: particularly as you get like more and more advanced in
Speaker 1: graduate degrees, it removes the actual humanity from any part
Speaker 1: of it. And so I think doing this podcast has
Speaker 1: been a great exercise in the constant reminder of, like,
Speaker 1: these are diseases that are happening to people, and who
Speaker 1: are living with these diseases.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel exactly the same Aaron, And I feel like,
Speaker 2: especially getting to learn you do such a wonderful job
Speaker 2: going over the history of everything that we cover, just
Speaker 2: gonna cry. And I really feel like that context is
Speaker 2: something that I always missed and I would not have
Speaker 2: gotten anywhere else in my training in my life, and
Speaker 2: so especially as like a physician, I feel so strongly
Speaker 2: that the context that doing this podcast provides, like on
Speaker 2: a weekly basis, has made me a better healthcare provider.
Speaker 2: It has made me a better human I think that
Speaker 2: it has. It just provides so much context of understanding,
Speaker 2: like how horrible and terrible the world can be sometimes
Speaker 2: and how that affects so many things, Like everything is
Speaker 2: so much bigger than we realize if you look deep
Speaker 2: into the history of it. And so yeah, I think
Speaker 2: it's empathy all the way. And it's not like that's
Speaker 2: not the answer I would have expected from like we're
Speaker 2: going to start a podcasts called this podcast Will Kill
Speaker 2: You about disease, Like that sounds it's.
Speaker 1: Like, oh, I wash my hands more right, Like yeah, probably,
Speaker 1: but no, I do empathy. It's empathy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Oh Maggie, Maggie, thank you for this question. Uh, it's
Speaker 1: a really relevant one. Yep. Do either of you ever
Speaker 1: experience imposter syndrome when you explain things on the podcast
Speaker 1: and get worried that maybe you're getting anything wrong and
Speaker 1: might get bad feedback. If so, how do you handle that? Yes?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we I won't speak for you, but I know
Speaker 2: we both you can, Okay, we both absolutely experience a
Speaker 2: lot of imposter syndrome. And also just like we try
Speaker 2: really really really hard to be as accurate as we
Speaker 2: can and to provide as much context and story as
Speaker 2: we can, and we know that not only might we
Speaker 2: get things wrong, but there are going to be things
Speaker 2: that we leave out out of every single episode, and
Speaker 2: so it's something that we're very conscious of that, like
Speaker 2: we're there are things that we're going to leave out,
Speaker 2: and so we just like we just try our best.
Speaker 2: And I think what we keep in mind is something
Speaker 2: that you said earlier erin, which is like, don't let
Speaker 2: perfection in the way of good. And so we try
Speaker 2: and think that by at least providing as much and
Speaker 2: as good of information as we can, we're doing something
Speaker 2: good by putting that information out there and worry less
Speaker 2: about what we might be leaving out or getting wrong,
Speaker 2: because the other thing is that if we get something wrong,
Speaker 2: you guys let us know, which is phenomenal and then
Speaker 2: we can correct it.
Speaker 1: And yeah, yeah, I don't know if I have anything
Speaker 1: to add on that, but absolutely get I get worried,
Speaker 1: I get imposter syndrome, and yeah, we just sort of
Speaker 1: like we do go into each episode very intentionally wanting
Speaker 1: to like the amount of reading and research that we
Speaker 1: do that we then sort of narrow down to be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: what do we present, right, it is a very intentional choice,
Speaker 1: and we don't always get it right right because we
Speaker 1: are limited in it with time as well and with
Speaker 1: just sort of like bandwidth and everything too, but also
Speaker 1: because some of these concepts you need so many years
Speaker 1: to become an expert in. And so I think that
Speaker 1: like we we do kind of struggle with this balance
Speaker 1: sometime of being like, we are not experts, but we
Speaker 1: are telling you this information, and so how can we
Speaker 1: make sure that we're giving you the most accurate information
Speaker 1: and that if you want to learn more, here are
Speaker 1: our sources.
Speaker 2: Right. Oh, Aaron, here's a fun one, right. He Austin
Speaker 2: wants to know what is your favorite funny story that
Speaker 2: happened because of the podcast or related to the podcast.
Speaker 1: Let's see. I think that some of my funny stories
Speaker 1: related to the podcast are when I'm around someone who
Speaker 1: finds who's like, oh, I listened to this podcast will
Speaker 1: kill you, and they're like, wait, you did this podcast
Speaker 1: will kill you? So that that happened? Uh man. Two
Speaker 1: of my stories have weddings in them that happened at
Speaker 1: a wedding last year. And we were talking about how
Speaker 1: well AI would be able to generate a description of
Speaker 1: the podcast and it was surprising. It was terrifying, right,
Speaker 1: like really good. Yeah. And someone at the table was like, wait,
Speaker 1: that's sounds familiar. I know that podcast. That's the only
Speaker 1: podcast episode I have ever listened to. And I listened
Speaker 1: to it before doing interviews to get me hyped. And
Speaker 1: it was the episode about snake venom, and I was like,
Speaker 1: this is the best thing ever made me so happy.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it so much. Mine is a lot more awkward.
Speaker 2: I think that's classic me. One time I was at
Speaker 2: so if you're if you're listening, uh, I want to know.
Speaker 2: I want to know if you remember this.
Speaker 1: I was love this.
Speaker 2: I was at a Shakeshack, not like the brand Shakeshack,
Speaker 2: but this place called Shakeshack, which is up on the
Speaker 2: cliffs near Corona Damar, and I was getting Shakespeare. I
Speaker 2: pulled in to get some milkshakes and I was a
Speaker 2: little chilly, so I went to the car to grab
Speaker 2: a sweater. But the only sweater that was in there
Speaker 2: was my husband's this podcast will kill You logo sweater.
Speaker 2: And I don't usually wear our merch like in public
Speaker 2: public because I'm so awkward, but I was wearing it,
Speaker 2: and then I was walking back from the car, and
Speaker 2: someone walked past and said, oh my god, I love
Speaker 2: that podcast. Obviously didn't know who I was, but I
Speaker 2: just panicked and I was like, I get them up
Speaker 2: there and then and I had my dog with me,
Speaker 2: and I just kind of ran away.
Speaker 1: I can see this perfectly in my mind's I just
Speaker 1: ran away. So that was you, Hi.
Speaker 2: I think about it like almost every week about how
Speaker 2: terrible and awkward I was.
Speaker 1: Yay, Okay, next question, great question. Okay, so we've got
Speaker 1: the next few questions. Yeah, we just took a little
Speaker 1: skim over and they're kind of all similar thematically, and
Speaker 1: so it's kind of we're gonna let's do one, two, three,
Speaker 1: bom boom boom. Right, all right, so diego, Kaz, Patty,
Speaker 1: and Sarah all want to know various questions about our
Speaker 1: favorite diseases, the scariest diseases, the scariest hypothetical diseases, and
Speaker 1: the most interesting type of infectious disease transmission. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: which is a tough one. Mm hmmm. H What do
Speaker 1: you think erin transmission? I think I would have to
Speaker 1: say vector borne disease. Yeah, I mean, I spent six
Speaker 1: years of my life studying it, and I do still
Speaker 1: find it fascinating.
Speaker 2: I do too, especially just thinking about all of the
Speaker 2: pathogens that are adapted to multiple different hosts, like necessarily
Speaker 2: for transmission. I find that just so fascinating evolutionarily and ecologically, well.
Speaker 1: Just like the trade offs, and like I think this
Speaker 1: applies to just patterns of transmission, right, what are the
Speaker 1: trade offs between being super specific to one host versus
Speaker 1: being able to be transmitted to a wide variety of hosts,
Speaker 1: or what if some vector born diseases that are specifically
Speaker 1: adapted to one vector one host, Like, there are so
Speaker 1: many different ways that disease can be transmitted and happen,
Speaker 1: and it's fascinating to think of the evolutionary history behind that. Yep,
Speaker 1: I agree.
Speaker 2: In terms of most terrifying diseases, I still think and
Speaker 2: this is maybe like not a fully fair question because this,
Speaker 2: I guess is a hypothetical, but like could very much exist,
Speaker 2: will maybe someday, is like the hypothetical disease if from contagion. Right, sure,
Speaker 2: the movie Contagent, where it was a pathogen that's transmitted
Speaker 2: by like airborne or droplet transmission, so like easy to
Speaker 2: spread has a very high mortality rate and can be
Speaker 2: transmitted before somebody is symptomatic.
Speaker 1: Right. We had said this long ago, I think in
Speaker 1: our influenza episode. We talked about it in our neupavirus episode,
Speaker 1: and I think that with COVID we really did get
Speaker 1: to kind of like witness that on a global scale,
Speaker 1: it's terrifying. It's terrifying. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yep. Hm.
Speaker 1: So like that's like this hypothetical example in terms of
Speaker 1: some of the pathogens I think that we've covered that
Speaker 1: are terrifying in a different way. Are the ones that
Speaker 1: are you know, the ones we always talk about like rabies, right,
Speaker 1: parasite manipulation of host behavior or pathogen manipulation of host
Speaker 1: behavior where there is nothing that you can do. I
Speaker 1: also still think prey are very just not not so
Speaker 1: much scary, but just like but how yeah. It really
Speaker 1: does sort of like stretch the boundaries of what we
Speaker 1: consider it to be infectious diseases or like what is
Speaker 1: a disease that is contagious? It's just what is a pathogen?
Speaker 2: Right? I guess, like like Tasmanian devils, Like what is
Speaker 2: a pathogen? What is a cancer? It's oh man, Okay,
Speaker 2: now we have just some really fun ones. Darcy wants
Speaker 2: to know, what are disease names that you think would
Speaker 2: be a beautiful person name.
Speaker 1: Okay, first one that came to mind was your sinia
Speaker 1: not yes, Okay, here's another one. What what about ari
Speaker 1: Aris could be actually in the right context and you
Speaker 1: call them toulee? I think that's cute.
Speaker 2: Oh. Similarly, Alexis wanted to know what if you had
Speaker 2: to have your last name.
Speaker 1: Be a disease? What disease would it be?
Speaker 2: Your last name, which I feel like is a little
Speaker 2: different than like a first name. I don't think i'd
Speaker 2: picked Tulee.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what like? What else?
Speaker 2: I can't think of any I'm just because we're put
Speaker 2: on the spot.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I still am gonna go with Arius as Yeah
Speaker 1: it works, Aaron, your sinea doesn't work. No, Aaron, pestis
Speaker 1: could work.
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: Yeah, well good stuff, great stuff. Okay. So the next
Speaker 1: few questions are also linked thematically. All about books, All
Speaker 1: about books, which I am thrilled. I'm thrilled about, even
Speaker 1: though right now I'm also having a little internal panic
Speaker 1: because I don't have liked to be like, what have
Speaker 1: I read? Because Aaron I cannot remember I cannot remember.
Speaker 1: But okay, so rhiannon wants to know about favorite or
Speaker 1: best books about microbe slash microbiology. Besides, I contain multitudes,
Speaker 1: Ed Young.
Speaker 2: I mean erin you have to answer this question because
Speaker 2: you know, I haven't had time to read a book
Speaker 2: since at least before my school so that's really embarrassing
Speaker 2: to admit on the podcast. But there it is. You know, I.
Speaker 1: Don't know, Like, so what I'm struggling with right now
Speaker 1: is the qualifier of books about microbes microbiology.
Speaker 2: I think, just what's your favorite science book?
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm going to name two ones about microbes and
Speaker 1: ones about it Give it to me, Okay. The one
Speaker 1: about microbes is Spillover by David Kwaman. Okay, I read
Speaker 1: that before. I read that at some point during my PhD,
Speaker 1: before COVID obviously, and I thought it was absolutely terrifying
Speaker 1: but enlightening in terms of like how it's the one
Speaker 1: is one health right, you know, and that that framing
Speaker 1: was still something that we think about every single day
Speaker 1: so important. My favorite non microbe science book is probably
Speaker 1: an Immense World by Ed Young. I think about this
Speaker 1: book all the time. I think it is one of
Speaker 1: the most beautiful examples of science writing, and not just
Speaker 1: like in the sentence construction, but in how well Edyong
Speaker 1: is able to convey information. That is, he's able to
Speaker 1: not just be surface level but also actually teach you
Speaker 1: something along the way while entertaining you.
Speaker 2: You should see this sparkle in her eyes. And if
Speaker 2: you haven't listened to the book Club episode where Aaron
Speaker 2: got to interview ed Young, you definitely need to listen.
Speaker 1: It's just such a great book and it really made
Speaker 1: me think about the world in a new way.
Speaker 2: Well, similarly, Aarin, of all the books that you've read
Speaker 2: what in the last like five years? Oh, she can't.
Speaker 2: She can't pick a favorite. Sorry, Orianna, there's too many
Speaker 2: good ones. Okay, Okay, just gonna try.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Like literally, when we were going through this list
Speaker 1: of questions, that question stuck out to me and I
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, I have to go through what I
Speaker 1: have read, and I can't find a favorite. I have
Speaker 1: a really hard time picking favorites about anything. But I
Speaker 1: would say I have two that I can remember in
Speaker 1: the last year or so that I've read that I've
Speaker 1: really loved. One is Matrix by Lauren Groff. Okay, I
Speaker 1: loved it. Check it out. That's fiction and then nonfiction.
Speaker 1: I really liked a book about the Donner Party called
Speaker 1: The Indifferent Stars Above, and I really appreciated how sensitive
Speaker 1: the author was and how empathetic the author was with
Speaker 1: the story, because you can really tell a donor party
Speaker 1: story that is like incredibly horrifict yeah, and like very
Speaker 1: kind of voyeuristic or something like that, where you're just
Speaker 1: like gratuitous violence and everything. In this I really felt
Speaker 1: like he did such a great job of putting you
Speaker 1: in the mindset of what it must have been like
Speaker 1: to be there, what it might have been like.
Speaker 2: Okay, love that. If you're not following Aaron Walsh on Goodreads,
Speaker 2: I don't know what to tell you it.
Speaker 1: Don't write reviews. Maybe I should. I don't even rate
Speaker 1: most of the books, Okay, okay, so okay. This next
Speaker 1: question is for me by Kristen, and it's about why
Speaker 1: I Aaron Welsh do not like Richard Preston books. So
Speaker 1: I have read a few, and I have found them
Speaker 1: somewhat helpful at times. The thing that I don't like,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to call out just the hot zone
Speaker 1: in particular, and it might even be like, let me
Speaker 1: just even be more, you know, I'll give more benefit
Speaker 1: of the doubt. The copy that I have has literally
Speaker 1: no sources at the end of it, and so I
Speaker 1: think that that is where it is. There's any science
Speaker 1: book that is conveying information in a way that is
Speaker 1: supposed to be educational or informative should have sources, whether
Speaker 1: those sources are from conversations or from papers or from whatever.
Speaker 1: So that's why I have a you know, teeny tiny
Speaker 1: issue with that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to get like a season desist letter
Speaker 2: or something.
Speaker 1: Show me the sources.
Speaker 2: Okay, now we're just going to go fully silly, Nina,
Speaker 2: Thank you. I don't want to answer this question. If
Speaker 2: you were starving and your only options were a sandwich
Speaker 2: prepared with unwashed hands or a delicious three course meal,
Speaker 2: but every bite you took has a long hair in it, Ugh,
Speaker 2: which one would you pick? Oh?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, no hesitation. Three course meal with hairs it would
Speaker 1: just be like eating a fish with like where you
Speaker 1: have to pick out the bones. I don't eat.
Speaker 2: I can't. I don't like that.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's more work.
Speaker 2: It's also not the same as fish with bones because
Speaker 2: it's a hair from someone's head or body.
Speaker 1: Okay, but like you know, I guess. Okay, two questions,
Speaker 1: what type of hair? Every bite? Every bite? I mean
Speaker 1: you'll take giant bites and there's one hair.
Speaker 2: But similarly, you're talking about unwashed hands, who's unwashed hands?
Speaker 2: How unwashed?
Speaker 1: Right? When was the last washing? And how dirty?
Speaker 2: And whose hand? Like is it my unwashed hands? Is
Speaker 2: it my toddler's unwashed hands?
Speaker 1: Is it? We're talking full soiled or just like lightly
Speaker 1: mildly dust. Oh, I don't know, it's that this is
Speaker 1: a hard question. Oh not for me. Three of course,
Speaker 1: gourmet meal. I absolutely, it wouldn't be gourmet. Doesn't it
Speaker 1: say three courses with the hair?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 1: Agree to disagree? Yeah, okay, okay. Rachel and Alana want
Speaker 1: to know how much time it takes to prepare for
Speaker 1: an episode, finding the research, reading the articles and books,
Speaker 1: and writing our summaries. A lot, A lot, a lot,
Speaker 1: And it varies a lot based on the episode. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So for some of the bigger topics that we've covered,
Speaker 1: like menopause, like IVF, like.
Speaker 2: Three episodes, I think that took us like a month
Speaker 2: or more.
Speaker 1: It did, Yeah, But I would say in general, yeah,
Speaker 1: I a few solid days, like three to four solid
Speaker 1: days of reading and writing. As I'm reading notes like so,
Speaker 1: I'll like bullet point a lot of things, and then
Speaker 1: it takes me usually a couple days to summarize. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then there's the whole day, like I usually take
Speaker 1: a day of finding initial sources, and then as I
Speaker 1: start to read and I'm like, oh, those citations look interesting,
Speaker 1: I should go find those papers. Oh those citations, and
Speaker 1: it's just like you do go down the road at all. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you do have to. It is sometimes hard to be
Speaker 1: like that's enough, We're going to tell this story and
Speaker 1: not the whole story.
Speaker 2: I remember when I was interviewing for residency programs, some
Speaker 2: of them asked me like, oh, are you planning on
Speaker 2: still doing the podcast during residency, because obviously residency takes
Speaker 2: a lot of hours per week And I was like, oh, definitely,
Speaker 2: and they were like, well, how many hours do you
Speaker 2: spend and I think I said, oh, I don't know,
Speaker 2: maybe ten hours per week. It was like such an underestimate.
Speaker 2: I ca Anyways, Yep, we survived it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a lot, but it's also really like it's
Speaker 2: fun work.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of work.
Speaker 2: But it's fun work just.
Speaker 1: Getting to read like something and learn something new every week,
Speaker 1: which we didn't get to do in grad school. I
Speaker 1: feel like it was very much in your.
Speaker 2: Field, right.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: Ooh, Vivian wants to know what is something that you
Speaker 2: learned about doing this podcast that pops up frequently in
Speaker 2: your mind, and they provided their first answer. I think
Speaker 2: about maggots all the time. Now, yes, I'm the same.
Speaker 2: I also share my top quality pre on facts at barbecues.
Speaker 2: I want to go to your barbecue.
Speaker 1: One of us love those. I think, honestly. The thing
Speaker 1: that happens every single day and now I'm embarrassed for
Speaker 1: the second call out of an Immense World by Ed
Speaker 1: Young is the when I walk my dog. I genuinely
Speaker 1: every single time he stops and sniffs for what feels
Speaker 1: like ten minutes one spot. I'm like, but this is
Speaker 1: for him, this is for him. He's smelling much more
Speaker 1: than I could ever smell. This is enrichment. So I
Speaker 1: think that's probably the things that I think about the most.
Speaker 1: It is every single day.
Speaker 2: Oh, I love that. I feel like there's a lot
Speaker 2: of things that I think about a lot. I think
Speaker 2: maybe the most though, is me, like just the whole
Speaker 2: concept of a backstory behind things like hysteria. M M.
Speaker 2: I think about that a lot. I think about our
Speaker 2: endometriosis episode. I think about how much the medical system
Speaker 2: has wronged people with a uterus like. I think about
Speaker 2: that and it infuriates me on a daily basis.
Speaker 1: Wow, mine is Mine's like my dog snuffing an old turd.
Speaker 1: Yours is like the misogyny in medicine over time. Try
Speaker 1: I change my answer. No, no, no kidding, uh okay. Ruby
Speaker 1: wants to know if we have other hobbies. Well, I
Speaker 1: guess the question was, what other hobbies do we have?
Speaker 2: I have no hobbies, thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay, then I'll ask the second question, is it weird
Speaker 1: going to the doctor?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: Are you? Are you a doctor who doesn't like to
Speaker 1: go to the doctor?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Have you been that before becoming a doctor?
Speaker 2: Yes? I never liked doctors.
Speaker 1: I think people who don't like doctors end up being doctors.
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's a fun question.
Speaker 2: I am a terrible patient.
Speaker 1: Yep, Okay, I have a question for you. I'm just
Speaker 1: going with this now. When you get a doctor as
Speaker 1: a patient, can you tell not always? Okay?
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, not always.
Speaker 1: I've had that happen a lot.
Speaker 2: And I remember, like first year of residency, I had
Speaker 2: a patient who was like a second or third year
Speaker 2: resident or something, and I was talking with them about
Speaker 2: something for a really long time until we were like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm in like whatever other specialty. And I was like,
Speaker 2: I don't know why you just let me keep talking
Speaker 2: for so long, but.
Speaker 1: Okay, I love that. Yeah. Yeah, I've always wondered is
Speaker 1: it like, ah, yeah, you must also be. But what
Speaker 1: about you, Aaron? You have hobbies? I read this. My
Speaker 1: number one hobby is reading. That's a good hobby. And
Speaker 1: I garden in the summer when it's not a million
Speaker 1: degrees outside, which I feel like it has been in
Speaker 1: Denver for a bit of time, although depending on when
Speaker 1: this episode comes out, but probably will be cool. And
Speaker 1: people are like, why are you complaining it's perfect weather
Speaker 1: but no gardening? Reading? Uh, you know, camping whenever we can,
Speaker 1: which is not very much, but that's basically it. Reading
Speaker 1: is my number one hobby.
Speaker 2: That's a really good hobby.
Speaker 1: Does it count as a hobby?
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. Okay, yeah that counts as a hobby. I
Speaker 2: hang out with my family, but that doesn't count as
Speaker 2: a hobby.
Speaker 1: That's just a hobby.
Speaker 2: It's not.
Speaker 1: It's part of life. I like it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not a hobby. Okay, I feel like a hobby.
Speaker 2: I don't know anyways.
Speaker 1: Okay, so this next question I'm going to relate back
Speaker 1: to the question about what's it like to be a
Speaker 1: doctor going to the doctor and so on and stuff
Speaker 1: like that, because I feel like it has to deal
Speaker 1: with patient relationships cool or just like in your in
Speaker 1: your real life, my real life, in real life. Cassandra
Speaker 1: wants to know if you have encountered any anti vaxxers
Speaker 1: in your personal or professional lives and how we respond
Speaker 1: to that.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. I live in San Diego, so definitely
Speaker 2: I think the thing. And again I think that this
Speaker 2: is part of what the podcast has made me much
Speaker 2: better at. Is not only like explaining things, and I
Speaker 2: think we got some questions later on about explaining complicated
Speaker 2: things to people. But when I have patients, which I
Speaker 2: do very often, who either don't want to get a
Speaker 2: vaccine or who have questions about a vaccine or about
Speaker 2: any other medicine that I'm about to recommend to them,
Speaker 2: or thing that I'm going to tell them that they
Speaker 2: might not want to hear. I think that doing this
Speaker 2: podcast has really made me have more empathy for understanding
Speaker 2: that everybody has a story about why they came to
Speaker 2: believe the thing that they came to believe, even if
Speaker 2: it is the exact opposite of what I believe, and
Speaker 2: even if I think that I'm right or whatever. And
Speaker 2: so I think that the way that I tend to
Speaker 2: approach that, especially in my professional life, because in my
Speaker 2: personal life, I don't know, maybe I approach it the
Speaker 2: same way, but especially in my professional life, I think
Speaker 2: I always tried to come from a place of trying
Speaker 2: to understand where that person is coming from. So, do
Speaker 2: you have questions about this vaccine? Like I'm going to
Speaker 2: bring up the flu shot. I see that you haven't
Speaker 2: gotten your flu shot? Do you have any questions about it?
Speaker 2: And if they say no, I might move on. Or
Speaker 2: if I think that maybe I've gotten in I might
Speaker 2: ask them a question, have you ever gotten one before?
Speaker 2: Have you had a bad reaction? What have you heard
Speaker 2: about it? Like most of the time I have found
Speaker 2: that just by engaging with people from a place of
Speaker 2: understanding and empathy rather than like a judgment of oh
Speaker 2: my god, how have you never gotten your flu shot?
Speaker 2: Don't you know you're putting people at risk or whatever,
Speaker 2: or like fear mongering like never works, but just meeting
Speaker 2: people are there and then knowing that, like, if you
Speaker 2: foster that kind of relationship, then you probably have an
Speaker 2: opportunity to talk to them about it again. And it
Speaker 2: might take many times of talking with someone about a
Speaker 2: topic that they feel really strongly about before you feel
Speaker 2: like you're breaking down a wall or something. But a
Speaker 2: lot of times you can get there, especially when it's
Speaker 2: someone who's just worried or has questions or is afraid
Speaker 2: and not like some people who just are never going
Speaker 2: to engage with you, and that's okay. There's some people
Speaker 2: who you just don't I and I generally just don't write.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say, like, you know, the people that
Speaker 1: I interact with, which is not very many, I am,
Speaker 1: you know, and I acknowledge, like many other people probably
Speaker 1: that I live in a bubble, right. The people that
Speaker 1: I spend the most time with in my day to
Speaker 1: day life are on the same page when it comes
Speaker 1: to vaccines and public health and the importance of public health.
Speaker 1: And during the times when I do interact with someone
Speaker 1: who is has mixed feelings or is strongly anti vaccine,
Speaker 1: It's challenging. It's challenging because it feels it feels like
Speaker 1: you're up against so much. And I think that sometimes
Speaker 1: it is a struggle to be like, Okay, how much
Speaker 1: energy do I have right now? How much bandwidth do
Speaker 1: I have to try to convince this person? And is
Speaker 1: it convincing this person or is it just answering their
Speaker 1: questions or asking them where they got their information and
Speaker 1: so relatives. I think this is one where it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I hear you out, I hear you out. Are they
Speaker 1: receptive but knowing that sometimes they're not going to be right?
Speaker 1: And that's okay, Like it's okay for for you to
Speaker 1: just say I can't do this right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like I have a lot of experience
Speaker 2: doing this because it's like part of my job when
Speaker 2: I'm being a doctor, right, like to try my best,
Speaker 2: like to have a conversation with someone, and like I
Speaker 2: know that vaccines are important for individual and public health,
Speaker 2: So like I'm gonna I'm gonna have a conversation. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna try, but like I'm not about to have a
Speaker 2: fight with someone on the internet. No, no, no, so yeah,
Speaker 2: it's it's picking your battles a little bit too. Yeah. Yeah, right, okay,
Speaker 2: well this does Aaron. Our next question from Pamela, and
Speaker 2: I think Laura had a very similar question. How do
Speaker 2: you go about breaking complex science and history into a
Speaker 2: language that a general audience can understand? And do you
Speaker 2: have recommendations for people who might want to get into psycom?
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, breaking complex science and history into language the
Speaker 1: general audience can understand. You know, I think this is
Speaker 1: something that is so important and that is under prioritized
Speaker 1: in training, in grad school training. Yeah, in our experience,
Speaker 1: in our experience. You know, we went to grad school.
Speaker 1: We graduated from grad school six years ago. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: a long time time. But I think that there are
Speaker 1: many different things that you can practice. And what we
Speaker 1: do is that when I am reading all this information,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking of the story that I want to tell,
Speaker 1: Like how do these pieces fit together? How do I
Speaker 1: hook Aaron at the beginning and the rest of our listeners,
Speaker 1: Like what is the interesting thing I'm going to lead with?
Speaker 1: And then how do I explain it after that. One
Speaker 1: of the biggest problems that scientists run into is using
Speaker 1: jargon or over using jargon, right. And it's really easy
Speaker 1: to do that because that's what we've been trained in,
Speaker 1: these overly complex concepts that we spend so much time learning,
Speaker 1: you know, you forget how you learn them. And to
Speaker 1: have that to be able to say something like hypoxia,
Speaker 1: call out, call out my husband John. That's a good
Speaker 1: example to say hypoxia. There's a lot of information that
Speaker 1: goes into that one word, and it's a shortcut. And
Speaker 1: so jargon and these these complex concepts are shortcuts, and
Speaker 1: we rely on those because they make communication more precise
Speaker 1: and clear in a scientific context, But when it comes
Speaker 1: to chatting with like the general audience, it's not it's
Speaker 1: not helpful. And so when we're telling stories, you know,
Speaker 1: we have the almost like it's a it's an advantage
Speaker 1: of we're coming cross this information almost for the first
Speaker 1: time ourselves. So when I'm reading about the history of
Speaker 1: hemochromatosis or neurovirus or something like that, I've never read
Speaker 1: about this before, or if I had, it's not been
Speaker 1: as in depth, and so I'm learning it at the
Speaker 1: same time that I am thinking what I want to
Speaker 1: teach Aaron, right, And putting it in an order that
Speaker 1: to me makes sense, And so I think that's one
Speaker 1: of the biggest helpful things, is just sort of keeping
Speaker 1: in check with myself, like, Okay, how am I reframing
Speaker 1: this in my own mind? And then how can I
Speaker 1: use that then to teach Aaron?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do a very similar thing. And I also
Speaker 2: I also use my husband a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you, Brett.
Speaker 2: I will be like, can I just read this to you?
Speaker 2: Can you tell me if this makes sense? And like
Speaker 2: check in with someone. So I think a lot of
Speaker 2: times it is practice, right, It's like practicing your story,
Speaker 2: bouncing ideas off of someone to make sure that something
Speaker 2: is clear or if there's a better way that you
Speaker 2: can explain it, and just making sure that we're not
Speaker 2: using jargon as much as.
Speaker 1: Possible, which I know I am guilty of a lot
Speaker 1: of times we all are. It's like, and this is
Speaker 1: not something so you know, this kind of answers the
Speaker 1: second question or goes into it. So recommending what would
Speaker 1: we recommend to scientists who wanted to get into sycom
Speaker 1: like podcasting is just like practicing at it and not
Speaker 1: being too worried that you get it wrong, right, Like
Speaker 1: because It takes a long time, but you have to
Speaker 1: practice and you have to ask for feedback. You can't
Speaker 1: just be like, go out in the world and start
Speaker 1: doing science communication and not want to and not get
Speaker 1: any feedback, because you need to know what things you
Speaker 1: need to improve on and what things, what things are working,
Speaker 1: what things aren't working. And also, you know, I think
Speaker 1: this is an advice that we give in workshops, which
Speaker 1: is just like, be intentional about all that you do,
Speaker 1: about the words that you're using, about the questions that
Speaker 1: you're getting, and about what you like about different forms
Speaker 1: of SIcom you know what works for you, Who are
Speaker 1: your favorite creators, why are they your favorite creators, what
Speaker 1: are your favorite stories? Like all of this is just
Speaker 1: being very intentional with your science communication.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Leah would like to know, are there any specific
Speaker 2: areas of epidemiological research that you're excited to see evolve
Speaker 2: and develop in the next few years or decades? So many,
Speaker 2: so many. Yeah, in medicine, and I think this is
Speaker 2: true in public health as well. I think that we
Speaker 2: are really starting to understand how important communication and feedback
Speaker 2: and like things other than just diseuse metrics and stuff is.
Speaker 2: Like the human side.
Speaker 1: I guess of it all.
Speaker 2: I think it's so important, and so I think I
Speaker 2: hope that that will continue to be something that people
Speaker 2: focus on and research and like the human impact of
Speaker 2: all of these different chronic and acute illnesses that we
Speaker 2: see and how people like live with them and experience
Speaker 2: them and things like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's a great I think that's a
Speaker 1: great answer. Online the online the internet is double edged
Speaker 1: sword or like many edged sword. But I feel like
Speaker 1: one of the things that has has been great is
Speaker 1: raising awareness and sharing experiences that I think has highlighted
Speaker 1: some of the ways that medicine and science has failed, right,
Speaker 1: you know, failed patients, failed the general public, and how
Speaker 1: we can do better at that. And I think that
Speaker 1: there are you know, is it going to take time, Yes,
Speaker 1: but I think that there are people who are really
Speaker 1: invested in making this a better situation for everyone, because
Speaker 1: we have to have everyone on the same page if
Speaker 1: we don't want this rise in anti science. I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm lecturing, but like I feel very strongly also.
Speaker 2: Can I say, like universal health care in the US?
Speaker 2: Can I say that, I really really hope yes, But
Speaker 2: that's a thing, ye that we see soon.
Speaker 1: I would also like to add these AI and machine
Speaker 1: learning oh death, and like how that's going to help
Speaker 1: just make sense of some of the patterns that we
Speaker 1: may not see or help like things with drug discovery,
Speaker 1: which we've already talked about a few times on the podcast.
Speaker 1: I think there's so much potential there.
Speaker 2: Talk about double edged sort that gonna have to be
Speaker 2: careful but has a lot of potential. I know, like
Speaker 2: so much, so much potential and woof.
Speaker 1: Okay, with great technology comes great consequences responsibility. Yeah, yeah too.
Speaker 1: Oh this question is just the best. Okay, Okay, I
Speaker 1: love this. Andrea and Eloise have asked and I'm a
Speaker 1: quote word for words. He's very cute. Yea quote. I
Speaker 1: listened to your podcast with my mom in my comfiest outfit,
Speaker 1: a homemade TPWK why shirt we tied eyed, my shark
Speaker 1: Jammi's and comfy song.
Speaker 2: I love that. I want and I.
Speaker 1: Wanted to know what's your comfy outfit. I'm not wearing
Speaker 1: it right now, I'm wearing jeans same.
Speaker 2: I don't know why we chose this.
Speaker 1: I'm sweating, sweating. My comfious outfit is just like, oh,
Speaker 1: actually I have I just popped into my head, give
Speaker 1: it to me. This is so embarrassing. I full Kirkland gear. Yes,
Speaker 1: I have my Kirkland branded sweatpants Kirkland signature. They're the
Speaker 1: gray version. They're the comfiest sweatpants I own. I wear
Speaker 1: them as much as I possibly can. And my Costco
Speaker 1: embroidered sweatshirt that when I bought in Costco, the you know,
Speaker 1: the person who was scanning me and like doing the
Speaker 1: checkout was like, oh, yeah, everyone's buying these as white
Speaker 1: elephant gifts because who would want to own one of these?
Speaker 1: And he's like, is that what you're buying this for?
Speaker 1: And I was like, no, this one's for me, not sponsored, No,
Speaker 1: just genuinely love Costco and Kirkland branded gear wear. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, that's my comfiest outfit.
Speaker 2: That's a really good comfious outfit. I don't think I
Speaker 2: have one as specific. I can't top that erin, I don't.
Speaker 1: Have like a comfius T shirt, Like, what is your
Speaker 1: go to T shirt?
Speaker 2: I think my go to Like the comfiest thing is
Speaker 2: when I steal one of my husband's T shirts.
Speaker 1: Oh for sure those are always mine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, So I one of his T shirts and
Speaker 2: then like a pair of very loose Actually, I have
Speaker 2: this one pair of shorts that I They're like, I
Speaker 2: could never wear them in anything remotely considered public because
Speaker 2: they're just like very very small and very loose.
Speaker 1: Are this someone's from your mom? No?
Speaker 2: I don't think so, Okay, No, I bought. I think
Speaker 2: I bought these like right before I delivered my first
Speaker 2: kid as like comfy clothes to wear postpartum, and just
Speaker 2: like still wear them all the time. Also several pairs
Speaker 2: of postpartum likings.
Speaker 1: Although okay, anyways, Oh, I love that question though it's
Speaker 1: a really good ones.
Speaker 2: Elsie would like to know how many times has someone
Speaker 2: commented or spoken to us and said that they were
Speaker 2: diagnosed after listening to an episode.
Speaker 1: You know, this has been one of the most incredible
Speaker 1: and I'll say it against surreal moments of this podcast
Speaker 1: where we do get emails, we get messages where people say,
Speaker 1: I listened to this episode and it kind of resonated
Speaker 1: with me in terms of my symptoms. So I went
Speaker 1: talked to a doctor and I have this condition. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so it's you know, it's several, it's any people. It
Speaker 1: is a surprising number of people. And I feel like
Speaker 1: that is what has been so incredibly powerful, Like.
Speaker 2: It breaks my heart and fills my heart at the
Speaker 2: exact same time, because I don't want anyone to have
Speaker 2: to live with all of these things that we cover.
Speaker 2: And I cannot believe how thankful I am, or maybe
Speaker 2: thankful is not the right word, but how grateful I
Speaker 2: am that we were able to help somebody in that
Speaker 2: way of being able to like be empowered with more
Speaker 2: information and things like that, Like it's really.
Speaker 1: It's it's.
Speaker 2: One of the best parts of the job. That truly
Speaker 2: And when people get their flu shots for the first
Speaker 2: time after listening, yes, or like, oh, I need to
Speaker 2: check out my boosters, right, do I need my tea
Speaker 2: Depp or so many of you who now are like
Speaker 2: having careers in public health and epidemiology and science and medicine.
Speaker 1: Like I we read every.
Speaker 2: Single one of those comments, you guys, and it we're
Speaker 2: not doing a good job of explaining how incredible and
Speaker 2: amazing it is.
Speaker 1: I think we're it's it's overwhelming, Yeah, and we don't
Speaker 1: know how to articulate how.
Speaker 2: How think how thank you?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Like how it just I still cannot believe it, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it still feels it feels not real. Yeah, Like
Speaker 1: there are times because Aaron and I record this well
Speaker 1: most often in other places, and it's just us talking
Speaker 1: to each other, right, it is just us talking to
Speaker 1: each other, right. And occasionally we'll do you know, seminars
Speaker 1: or keynotes or workshops or whatever, and it's like this
Speaker 1: is you know, we have an audience, right, But for
Speaker 1: the most part, it still feels like it is just us.
Speaker 1: And so then when we get these emails from people
Speaker 1: all around the world, it is I don't I don't
Speaker 1: have the words.
Speaker 2: No, I don't think we're doing a good job our
Speaker 2: ticulating ourselves. But we are just so immensely grateful for
Speaker 2: every single one of you listening. You don't understand the
Speaker 2: impact that you have had in our lives.
Speaker 1: Yes, so so thank you.
Speaker 2: We love it. Okay, well I'm going to cry, so
Speaker 2: we should move on. Oh a fun one erin sure
Speaker 2: Selena wants to know what is.
Speaker 1: A book or movie that you wish you could read.
Speaker 2: Or watch again for the first time. I have an
Speaker 2: answer for this. I have read books in my life.
Speaker 2: I just haven't been able to read the last few
Speaker 2: years because I just read papers like for the podcast. Anyways,
Speaker 2: Golden Compass, Great Golden Compass, and like that whole trilogy
Speaker 2: I reread every few years because I just love it
Speaker 2: so much. And if I could experience that, especially the
Speaker 2: third book, my heart being ripped out of my body
Speaker 2: for the first time again, I would love that.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah, okay, okay, I just had to
Speaker 1: take a full on computer break to worth it. We
Speaker 1: want a true as you know, and I still I
Speaker 1: still have like several I feel like I'm going to
Speaker 1: do the two first. I like, I feel like Fingersmith
Speaker 1: and the Sparrow, great books. Love those. Wish I could
Speaker 1: read those again for the first time because of the
Speaker 1: way it evolved throughout the narrative evolved throughout the book.
Speaker 1: But the other book that I think I wish I
Speaker 1: could read again for the first time because it was
Speaker 1: so surprising to me was Cloud at Lists.
Speaker 2: So, okay, I remember you telling me to read this, Yes, okay.
Speaker 1: So what happened was when and this might be now
Speaker 1: spoiling it for like the experience for people, So if
Speaker 1: you don't want that, just skip ahead, like me thirty
Speaker 1: seconds to a minute when I was in between my
Speaker 1: undergrad and my masters and I was having to like,
Speaker 1: do a bunch of microscope work in this neuroscience lab.
Speaker 1: I would listen to books on CD back then, Wow,
Speaker 1: uh yeah yourself a little bit. Oh yeah. And I
Speaker 1: picked out Cloud Outless because the cover looked interesting.
Speaker 2: That was it.
Speaker 1: I knew nothing about it, didn't have good reads back then,
Speaker 1: and I just popped in the first CD. And then
Speaker 1: I got to the end of the first CD, you know,
Speaker 1: end of Disc one, switched to Disc too. I put
Speaker 1: in Disc Too, and I was like, oh, are you
Speaker 1: kidding me? Somebody scratched up the entire CD. It was.
Speaker 1: It was a totally different narrator, totally different story. And
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't understand what is going on here,
Speaker 1: but I have nothing else, so I'm just going to
Speaker 1: go with it. And it turns out that that's the
Speaker 1: way the book is. It breaks off abruptly in between chapters.
Speaker 1: And that made the entire experience, not going into it
Speaker 1: knowing that made the entire experience so much more compelling
Speaker 1: and surprising. And I you know how I hate spoilers
Speaker 1: more than anything, well, not more than anything else, but
Speaker 1: they're one of my biggest pet peeves on this earth.
Speaker 1: Saying that there's a twist in a book is a spoiler.
Speaker 1: I stand very firmly in that, you know, that's my
Speaker 1: very strong position. Yeah, and so this has also made
Speaker 1: me realize how much not knowing something about a book
Speaker 1: or a movie or a TV show, that's that's my
Speaker 1: preferred state of being right before I you know, partaking.
Speaker 2: Right shares it. It shapes the experience.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh so that was a very long answer, but
Speaker 1: I wanted to give context. No, I agree.
Speaker 2: I like that too, when you don't know anything about
Speaker 2: what it's going to be, like.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Aaron, Yeah, I this is such a great question.
Speaker 1: Kiara wants to know if we could have only one
Speaker 1: type of sandwich for the rest of our lives, what
Speaker 1: sandwich would you pick?
Speaker 2: And why? This is a very difficult question for me.
Speaker 2: I know it's not hard for you.
Speaker 1: Got it, got, cut it back, Go go Italian sandwich
Speaker 1: with like provolone, you know, pickled maybe like jardonara on
Speaker 1: their vinegar, just like cured meats, pickled vegetables, melted cheese.
Speaker 2: I think that this only feels difficult to me because
Speaker 2: I feel like my answer is very boring and I
Speaker 2: feel like I should have a sexier answer. But I
Speaker 2: think that my if I go to my heart of hearts,
Speaker 2: my answer is the sandwich that I wanted so badly
Speaker 2: both times that I was pregnant and I was like
Speaker 2: terrified of listerious so I wasn't eating any lunch meat,
Speaker 2: and that is turkey sandwich on sourdough bread or like
Speaker 2: something similar with like I don't know, a cheddar cheese,
Speaker 2: a lot of mayo. I don't need bacon on it.
Speaker 2: Some avocado would be great, some lettuce that's crunchy. I
Speaker 2: don't care that much about tomatoes. Plus or minus. It's
Speaker 2: like a it's a turkey sandwich. Is a boring turkey sandwich?
Speaker 1: I mean? Is an Italian sandwich sexy? It feels like it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: with like jardinia and like some peppers like ooh ooh
Speaker 1: you know No I love a turkey sandwich.
Speaker 2: I yeah I do too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Anyways, I love this question because like we've been we've
Speaker 1: been reviewing these questions as they've come in, and so
Speaker 1: this I feel like has generated a lot of conversation
Speaker 1: outside of Yes the podcast, see it's the other great answer. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think anyone has said like a meatball
Speaker 2: sub yet. Know what about grilled cheese. Ooh, I forgot
Speaker 2: about grilled cheese. That would be my kid's answer for sure.
Speaker 2: Oh but then there's pep and j Right, I'm okay
Speaker 2: with not eating pep and ja. Ever again, I had
Speaker 2: so much during fieldwork that I.
Speaker 1: Am okay, okay.
Speaker 2: Well, thinks Shira would like to know. What is something
Speaker 2: interesting that each respective Aaron doesn't know about the other.
Speaker 2: I don't know we have anything.
Speaker 1: I really don't know, like especially something interesting. Thing is
Speaker 1: there's nothing interesting about me. I'm like, I own this
Speaker 1: many pairs of socks, Like you don't know how many
Speaker 1: pairs of socks I own.
Speaker 2: But that's not I know that you wont know way
Speaker 2: too many pairs of socks, is what I know about you?
Speaker 2: I love I'm gonna shout out dark dart, but I
Speaker 2: think here's the thing, is, like we know everything there
Speaker 2: is to know about each other.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you.
Speaker 2: Aaron loves weird flavors like grape it's delicious so gross, Nerds,
Speaker 2: ropes and nerds, jelly oh God, nerds.
Speaker 1: Jelly beans need to go off of the shelves because
Speaker 1: it is a problem. I love them. Yep.
Speaker 2: Anyways, yeah, okay, So next question, Heather would like to know.
Speaker 2: Oh this is similar speaking of nerds ropes. Yes, what
Speaker 2: desserts do you like? And I would love it if
Speaker 2: we got to eat them at Mile High API C conference.
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, I love this year and I feel like
Speaker 1: you have great answers for this.
Speaker 2: I love almost every dessert. Yes, I love let's see,
Speaker 2: I love cheesecake. I love a chocolate dessert. I love
Speaker 2: almost any kind of pie. I love cream pies.
Speaker 1: I love fruit pies, fruit pies a little.
Speaker 2: Less than cream pies, if I'm being honest, chocolate pies.
Speaker 2: You know what's funny is I don't love a cake,
Speaker 2: but I will always eat a cake.
Speaker 1: You don't love a cake? Nope, I don't love a cake.
Speaker 1: Are you including cheesecake in that?
Speaker 2: No, cheesecake is separate.
Speaker 1: Is cheesecake a cake?
Speaker 2: Yes, but cheesecake is not cake. It's not okay, Okay, No,
Speaker 2: this is good. Yeah, Like I'm talking like a layer cake,
Speaker 2: like a cupcake cake. You know that's a different than
Speaker 2: a cheesecake. All right, I love cookies.
Speaker 1: There's not a dessert. So those are your favorite desserts.
Speaker 2: There's a long Listen. Favorite is a strong word, like
Speaker 2: you were saying about books. That's how I feel about
Speaker 2: to share it.
Speaker 1: Here's a question, is I don't have good reads for desserts?
Speaker 1: But you could say, maybe, all right, if is there
Speaker 1: a dessert where if you saw like a table of desserts,
Speaker 1: you would be like, no, I'm okay if even if
Speaker 1: that's the only dessert on the table, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Like, is there a dessert that I would reject?
Speaker 2: Or like a.
Speaker 1: Style of donut we'll say, you know, like that kind
Speaker 1: of thing.
Speaker 2: No, especially not donut. I love donuts. I don't actually
Speaker 2: think that there is, and it's to a fault, like
Speaker 2: even maybe the like cruddiest of like conference cookie, you
Speaker 2: know the ones.
Speaker 1: The ones that have like let sugar cookies with the frosting,
Speaker 1: or like.
Speaker 2: Just like a you're at a conference at like a
Speaker 2: cruddy hotel and they bring out the like tray of
Speaker 2: cookies and you can tell that they're like meally, you
Speaker 2: know you know what.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. No, you don't.
Speaker 2: Someone out there does that Those might be the only
Speaker 2: thing that if I were super full, I wouldn't eat.
Speaker 2: Is like a cookie okay, that doesn't look like a
Speaker 2: good cookie. Okay, But otherwise all those little like not
Speaker 2: I would eat most desserts.
Speaker 1: All right, Yeah, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Speaker 1: If you could have one ice cream flavor? I love?
Speaker 1: This is my favorite type of question, if you could
Speaker 1: have one ice cream flavor, one sandwich.
Speaker 2: Because here's the thing, is you like these kind of
Speaker 2: hypothetical questions and I don't.
Speaker 1: It's not going to happen. I know it will be
Speaker 1: allowed to have whatever ice cream you want.
Speaker 2: Dressful I I don't. I don't have an answer to that.
Speaker 1: I love.
Speaker 2: I love ice cream so much. I can't pick one flavor. Okay,
Speaker 2: that's fine to have to I'm stressed out. George would
Speaker 2: like to know are there any episodes that we'd like
Speaker 2: to revisit, re record, add on to, or go back
Speaker 2: and connect more explicitly to episodes that we recorded later.
Speaker 1: Question. That's a doozy of a question, and I think
Speaker 1: the short answer is yes, Yes. I think it would
Speaker 1: be really interesting to approach well, to approach some of
Speaker 1: the diseases we've already covered, particularly in the earlier early
Speaker 1: episode seasons. Yeah, from a different perspective, Yeah, like from
Speaker 1: more of a either, like from a the like I
Speaker 1: would like I would love to do a germ theory
Speaker 1: episode where it's like, what are the actual steps instead
Speaker 1: of just like and everyone knows germ theory happened, then
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: Aaron, we could still do that could okay, like we
Speaker 2: didn't cover and we've talked about germ theory.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I would also love to
Speaker 1: revisit in more depth some of the ones that we did,
Speaker 1: because I feel like there are so many stories that
Speaker 1: we didn't tell.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's true of so many I think
Speaker 2: that was what was fun about re kind of redoing Influenza,
Speaker 2: our very first episode, right because yeah, especially in our
Speaker 2: early season, we just know how much we left out
Speaker 2: because we didn't know what we were doing.
Speaker 1: We know what we're doing, but yeah, I think just
Speaker 1: different perspectives of things, and I feel like we've been
Speaker 1: doing that more like the history of the stethoscope or
Speaker 1: what is a fever? Stuff like that, where it's like,
Speaker 1: let's take this and then spin it a little differently
Speaker 1: instead of just our usual format, and I've been really
Speaker 1: having it it's with That would be really fun. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree, Thank you for that. Gank Taren would like
Speaker 1: to know what our favorite thing is that we have
Speaker 1: learned recently.
Speaker 2: I want to steal yours that you taught me earlier today.
Speaker 1: Go ahead, But did you know.
Speaker 2: That cows can swim? Aaron just taught me this as
Speaker 2: we were reading through these questions and showed me a
Speaker 2: video of cows like jumping off of both.
Speaker 1: Yeah. That was the most surprising part of it is
Speaker 1: that they left off of the no alsitation A cow
Speaker 1: a cow like a regular looking cow, A beautiful looking cow.
Speaker 1: I am to an island.
Speaker 2: To grace it did not the way they went underwater
Speaker 2: and came back up. Wow, I did not.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you were real nervous the first cow leap. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not well.
Speaker 2: And when the two leapt off at the same time,
Speaker 2: I was like, how's that gonna go?
Speaker 1: Great? They were fine. Yeah, that is one of my
Speaker 1: favorite things. Yes, that's what I was going to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, we have a couple of questions.
Speaker 1: We're almost done. We only have a couple of questions.
Speaker 2: Lest Yes, Sydney and Carol would both like to know
Speaker 2: will we do any live shows or have we ever
Speaker 2: thought of going on tour or doing more seminars?
Speaker 1: Well, okay, definitely yes to the seminars and workshops, I
Speaker 1: come workshops and putting those together to try to you know,
Speaker 1: like basically take what we have learned this bizarre podcast
Speaker 1: experience that was totally unexpected and helped teach other people
Speaker 1: to work on their pyecom skills. So totally absolutely, seminars
Speaker 1: et cetera live show tour would be really fuck what
Speaker 1: would you all want them? Let us know? It sounds
Speaker 1: really nerve wrecking? Does sound nerve wracking? Like we're not performers,
Speaker 1: Like we got into this because we're scientists. Even right now,
Speaker 1: we're sweating and we're like just in a room with
Speaker 1: each other.
Speaker 2: We're just nervous, sweating this whole entire time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, yeah, but we are.
Speaker 2: I think there was a question earlier about like what's
Speaker 2: your hopes for the future, And I am really excited.
Speaker 2: We've been trying working really hard on kind of like
Speaker 2: expanding all that we have learned about science communication into
Speaker 2: these like workshops and seminars that I'm like super excited
Speaker 2: about moving forward. So yeah, if you have an organization
Speaker 2: or are part of a university or whatever and you're interested,
Speaker 2: shout out to our tech page on this podcast. We
Speaker 2: till You dot com we would love to come talk totally.
Speaker 1: Okay, we have one last question. Oh my gosh, this
Speaker 1: has been really fun.
Speaker 2: I know, better than I expected, even though I'm nervous sweating.
Speaker 1: I'm nervous sweating, but also it's just felt really good,
Speaker 1: like I don't know, I know, to talk about some
Speaker 1: of these things, especially the three course meal versus that. Okay,
Speaker 1: last question. My last question comes from Casey, and it
Speaker 1: is what are you most proud of about the podcast?
Speaker 2: Every one of you listening? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I am.
Speaker 2: Also, I sometimes feel ridiculous just how proud I feel
Speaker 2: of this podcast. Me too, Like I love so much
Speaker 2: that we are able to keep doing this, And it
Speaker 2: is one hundred percent because of every person listening.
Speaker 1: Absolutely it is. I mean I can't I can't even
Speaker 1: add any to that, like that is it is all
Speaker 1: of you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Can we be proud of you? Yeah?
Speaker 2: We are?
Speaker 1: Huh yeah? Oh wow, this was fun here, This was
Speaker 1: really fun. Yeah, I loved it. I love doing this
Speaker 1: podcast with you.
Speaker 2: Too, forever, Aaron. No, I have a second thing I'm
Speaker 2: really proud of. Oh actually this is really important. I
Speaker 2: know you do, and I'm.
Speaker 1: Can I can I guess what you're about to say,
Speaker 1: yeah that we're still really good friends throughout this whole thing.
Speaker 1: We get to be best friends still. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: That is that. So when this was part of the
Speaker 2: conversation that we had when you decided to do this
Speaker 2: podcast full time, it's like we knew that that was
Speaker 2: going to be very stressful and a lot like okay,
Speaker 2: now we're business partners, yeah, and we knew that that
Speaker 2: was going to be really hard and stressful, and we said, Okay,
Speaker 2: if we are going to do this, our first priority
Speaker 2: has to be that we stay friends.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we did. We did.
Speaker 2: We just spent how many days like together non stop?
Speaker 2: And I still love you.
Speaker 1: I still love you too.
Speaker 2: We're so cute. We should stop now.
Speaker 4: Yeah all right, Yeah, I mean I don't know how
Speaker 4: to end this other than like thank you all again.
Speaker 2: And sorry that we didn't get to every single question.
Speaker 2: There were so many great ones. Thank you all again
Speaker 2: for so many of your questions. Thank you for all
Speaker 2: of the kind messages that you wrote. Yes, yeah, we said,
Speaker 2: it means the world so much.
Speaker 1: It really does, and we also appreciate you like yeah, yes,
Speaker 1: letting us keep doing this, Yeah, writing to us about
Speaker 1: other things other than questions. Like, we love getting emails
Speaker 1: from you, messages from you. Yeah, yeah, we should. We
Speaker 1: need to, We need to cut ourselves. We've got to
Speaker 1: wrap this up.
Speaker 2: Thank you also to Bloodmobile for providing the music for
Speaker 2: this episode, every single one of our episodes.
Speaker 1: Thank you to Leana Sculacci and Tom Bryfogel for all
Speaker 1: the incredible audio mixing.
Speaker 2: Couldn't do it without yet. Thank you to everyone at
Speaker 2: Exactly Right Network.
Speaker 1: Thank you to you listeners. We've said it a million times,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna say it again. Thank you, thank you, thank.
Speaker 2: You, and a special shout out as always to our patrons.
Speaker 2: Your support means the world to us.
Speaker 1: Totally wow. Well, until next time, wash your hands you
Speaker 1: feel the animals