Critically Speaking

With up to 1 in 5 people having dyslexia, dyslexia impacts people every single day. In this episode, Therese Markow and Lorraine Hightower discuss what distinguishes dyslexia from other learning disa…

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. David Beversdorf discuss what exactly autism is, the theories of the causes of autism, and what we do know from research of autism. Numerous non-evidence based…

The last few decades have been filled with confusing information about women's hormones and what's happening with them across a woman's lifetime. How early are male versus female hormones produced? H…

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Cheryl Hawkes discuss the increasing scientific evidence that maternal obesity affects the developing fetal brain.  While many of the effects manifest early, i…

In this episode, Therese Markow discusses where the safest seat is on an airplane (and what safety means in different contexts). She passes on the current recommendations for reducing COVID exposure …

We've all either heard about, or know, someone whose home is filled with things they have no use for, but won't, or can't, discard. When taken to the extreme, this is a part of hoarding disorder. Whi…

Not all animals see colors the same way we do. Some have less ability to see color and others have better color vision. Color vision will likely fit with the fitness of a particular species. Can they…

Most organisms have ways to fix a wound. But what about regenerating missing tissues or limbs after that wound has healed? What about crippling spinal cord injuries?   Well, today we'll hear about th…

While many of us are familiar with detection dogs, whether working with first responders, military units, in airports, or even just in movies, canine detection is also expanding and evolving into med…

When most of us think of climate change, we think of global warming - that everything's getting hotter. We also know that this is a simplification. Other climate features, like rainfall and humidity,…

No one likes to be lied to. And most folks would love a quick method to detect if somebody lied to them. But it's not so simple. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Mark Frank, a specialist in no…

Most people use their right hand to perform various tasks like eating, writing, playing sports. But there's also a minority of people who primarily use their left hands for these things. Why are left…

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. James Alcock discuss what near death experiences are and the increase of them in recent years due to improvements in medical technology. While near death exper…

Many people were out of work for a year or more owing to the pandemic.  Now they are looking for work and are concerned about the health risks associated with various employment opportunities. In tod…

The obesity epidemic in the US and elsewhere shows no signs of abating. Overweight and obese people now make up more than half of the people in the United States. Everywhere you look, people are larg…

We’ve been hearing more and more in the news about murder hornets, but we haven’t been hearing too much about the details of these insects. Where did they come from? Who do they kill? Where do they l…

Obesity and its accompanying health problems clearly are associated with overeating, especially of high sugar and fatty foods, and a sedentary lifestyle. But it turns out that while we need to be car…

When we hear the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, often the image of a combat veteran comes to mind, but a relatively new field is emerging - that of pediatric PTSD. This is a field of growing im…

Breast cancer is on the rise, especially in women under 40. This is pretty scary and the increase points to something environmental. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Kris McGrath talk about…

Audience questions answered 

1.  Why are some people attacked by mosquitoes, while people sitting next to them aren’t bothered?  This question, from Neil in Jupiter, Florida is something people wond…