‘Science Vs’ Creator and Host Wendy Zukerman
When it comes to podcast success stories, Wendy Zukerman is one of a kind.
A veteran science journalist working in Australia, she unexpectedly fell into the world of podcasting in 2015 and is now best-known as the creator and host of the award-winning production Science Vs, which is produced by Gimlet Media in New York City.
With information constantly changing, it is hard to decipher what’s true or false in the science world, and it is even harder to stay on top of it all. Zukerman breaks down the facts and debunks common myths in ways the everyday listener can understand. With over 100 episodes ranging from topics including climate change, gun control, and being transgender, Zukerman blows up opinions and replaces them with science, puns, and fun.
She took some time to talk more about the podcast with OFM, some of her favorite topics to cover, and a recent episode about blue balls that gained an incredible amount of traction.
Can you begin by telling us more about Science Vs and why it’s worth checking out?
We basically take ideas that people care about and put them under the scientific microscope. Whether it’s CBD, a fad diet like fasting or the ketogenic diet, and then we’ll ask you, do you really need to be on that diet? Is it really going to help you out? CBD, is it really that good for you? Magic mushrooms, can it really cure your depression? We dive into the science, but we try to keep it fun as well. We take science seriously, but not ourselves [laughs].
How did Science Vs begin? What’s its origin story?
Back in 2015, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was looking to start podcasting, which tells you a lot about how podcasting has grown. Back then, it was kind of a freshening thing for Australia. Like, should we invest in this thing called podcasting? They did, and they wanted to make a science podcast. I was approached because I was a science journalist, still am, but I was doing various radio interviews and becoming known as someone who can talk about science. I was asked if I had an idea for a science show, and it was around the same time when Gwyneth Paltrow suggested that women should steam clean their vaginas.
At the time, it was very surprising and funny, but it was also taken a little bit seriously. People were like, hahaha, but should I? I thought it would be really fun to do a show that looks at these things, have a laugh, but also asks important questions. My original pitch was kind of like science vs Gwyneth Paltrow, and then it was picked up. It did very well in Australia, and then a producer at Gimlet Media heard it, and they asked if I wanted to come to New York to make it. I never expected it would become a career.
Ultimately, what do you hope listeners take away from the podcast?
This is incredibly dorky to say, but I hope they learn to love what science can bring them. Science is known to be very boring at times, but I think science can truly help us live happier and healthier lives. We get all these promises about new diets and what we should be putting into our bodies, but if we literally look at the science, do we need to do this? Do you need to worry about this? Do you need to jump onto this new fad? How can we use evidence to help us live the lives that we want to live? That’s what I want people to take away from Science Vs.
What are some of your favorite topics to cover and are there any specific episodes that are most memorable to you?
I tend to really like the episodes where we talk about sexy things. We recently did an episode on blue balls, we’ve done one on the G-spot, one on orgasms, and I love doing these because in America, these topics are so taboo. I love using science to just break apart these taboos. Like, yelling the word clitoris and be like, it’s OK! I love that science gives you that opening to dive deeply into topics and not have to talk around them. We are not being gratuitous; we are literally just telling you about your anatomy. We get such a lovely response from our audience, and the researchers who study this stuff are also hilarious.
I saw that the blue balls episode gained quite a bit of traction. What did you learn?
I was very surprised, and I honestly did not think we would get an entire episode out of it. When I first pitched it, I was like, maybe six minutes about blue balls, but we ended up doing half an hour on it, and I learned that there is very little science about it. I have never researched a topic with less information. When I research, I go to Google Scholar and look for the scientific papers. Because there was so little science on it, we at Science Vs said, let’s do our own survey.
We didn’t know the answer to how common it is and how bad it is for people who get it, so we did this survey, and more than 2,000 people responded. There was nothing written about if you’ve got a vagina and have experienced something similar to blue balls. We discovered that, and we kind of did discover it because science didn’t know about it before, but in our survey, 43 percent of people with vaginas said they felt something similar to blue balls. When they get super aroused and don’t cum, they feel congestion or uncomfortableness. One percent said the pain was severe.
Then in our penis group, 61 percent experienced something like blue balls, and seven percent said it was severe. There’s a lot to think about, and when we dove into the mechanism for blue balls, I interviewed a lot of sex health researchers, urologists, surgeons, and the most common explanation was its blood rushing to the genitals. Because it’s not leaving, it’s causing congestion.
Do sexy topics tend to draw in more listeners than others?
Yes, everyone loves sexy [laughs]. They are our most popular episodes, which does not surprise me. When we dropped the G-spot episode, I was like, is anyone listening? Then I looked at the numbers and was like, oh, they are! They’re just not saying anything.
One of our other most popular episodes was the magic mushrooms episode where we look at how it’s been tested as a cure for depression. That was an exciting episode because I thought mushrooms were just a drug that you trip on, but recently, scientists have been trying it out as a treatment for depression when nothing else has worked. I went in being pretty skeptical because if you go online, there’s a lot of hype around it, which tends to dial up my skepticism, but the research is in this space. It does not work for everyone, but some have seen positive results.
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Are there any topics you tend to stay away from?
No. We’ve tackled everything from gun control and nuclear power to blue balls. I think when you tackle blue balls, you are really open to the gamut! If it’s something that’s interesting and people care about it, then I am willing to go for it.
This year, you were one of the first nominees of The Podcast Academy’s new Ambie Awards. How did it feel to be nominated?
It was exciting! I knew I wasn’t going to win, but it was nice to be picked!
What makes Science Vs so appealing to LGBTQ audiences?
I think it appeals to anyone who is interested in knowing what’s the truth around something. We did an episode on being transgender and the science around it, and we received a lot of support from the transgender community. A lot of trans people were sending this episode to their cis families being like, this is what’s going on. We did this episode when there was a lot of hype and sayings that little children are being put on hormones too early. How dare they!
Talking to the researchers and doctors in this space, they’re like, this is bonkers. We’re not doing anything but supporting children. There’s this long process before any surgery is involved. All this hype is just ridiculous when you look at the actual patients we’re talking about. Obviously, if you are in the trans or LGBTQ community, you know this already. So, we were primarily speaking to parents of people who didn’t know, and we got a lot of support there.
On the show, we really make sure to use inclusive language. Throughout the episode, it’s not men and women because that’s actually not science. You are talking about people with penises, people who have vaginas, and people who have genitalia in between. That is something very important we put throughout the show.
What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with Science Vs?
I just hope we keep making people fall in love with science. When I think of LGBTQ issues, I recently read about Texas making another move to ban trans athletes from competing, and that is a topic I really want to jump into. Even when good media is representing this, I feel like they are still getting it all wrong. The focus is entirely in the wrong place, and I would love to talk about that more. Obviously, there is science around testosterone and how much that helps you. Overall, I just want to keep showing people that these issues that they think they know the truth about, they often don’t. There is science to tell them that.
New episodes of Science Vs drop each Thursday exclusively on Spotify. Follow the podcast on Instagram and stay up-to-date with Zukerman on Twitter.
Photos Courtesy of Gimlet Media and Social Media
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