The Drop Out

The Drop Out, an ABC News podcast, tells the story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her titanic fall from grace. I hadn’t been following the case at all besides seeing headlines and what I heard in passing while catching the latest news. The reporting is easy to follow and the story really moves. As for the story itself, it’s really mind-boggling how Holmes was able to fake-it-till-you-make-it and the cast of characters involved in the story are straight out of a novel. The podcast spans two seasons, one from the beginning of the Elizabeth Holmes self-mythologizing until her arrest and the other is ongoing and deals with her current trial. The Drop Out is a serious binge listening candidate. 

Overheard at National Geographic podcast

National Geographic’s Overheard gets another shout out this week. We’re big music lovers here at Scientific Inquirer and an episode that discusses the amazingly long and rich history of musical instruments. Most of it focuses on the ancient and obscure. Bronze Age Chinese Bells, the baritone conch, and rock gongs from Africa demonstrate how ingenius hominins were even before Garage Band came into existence.

Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria

A meta-podcast if there ever was one, though not in the current use of the term “meta.” This episode is a science podcast talking about talking about science. Got it? Host Cara Santa Maria’s guest is Wendy Zukerman from Gimlet Media’s Science Vs. Podcast. Even though there’s quite a bit of talking shop, it’s still great to catch a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes of one of our favorite science podcasts. Who knew Science Vs. has its original inspiration involved Gweneth Paltrow.