The Pulse Specials

Series produced by WHYY

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Host Maiken Scott leads this one-hour, weekly tour of the people and places at the heart of health and science.

It’s a show for curious people who ask: "Yeah, why is that?" Often surprising and always captivating, The Pulse makes science and discovery personal. Produced at WHYY in Philadelphia, the show features scientists, doctors, innovators and storytelling from across the country.

For information about The Pulse please contact Steve Martin at steve@sfmconsulting.com or call 703.715.0827.


103 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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By 2030 about 60 percent of people will live in urban centers. We flock to cities for their energy and opportunity, but that bustle can take a toll...

Bought by WGCU, Northeast Indiana Public Radio, WMRA, Spokane Public Radio, WBEZ and more


  • Added: Jan 18, 2018
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 7
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To celebrate the newest sequel in the space opera saga, The Pulse is searching for the science in “Star Wars.” Along way, we discover that, while t...

Bought by KUHF, New Hampshire Public Radio, KCUR, and South Dakota Public Broadcasting - Radio


  • Added: Dec 19, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 4
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On this episode, The Pulse visits people standing watch over the world around them. There’s a certain kind of person who decides to be the one to h...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass.


  • Added: Dec 11, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 1
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The Pulse takes a look at one of our most important and amazing human tools. What does neuroscience tell us about how language works, and how we ac...

Bought by WMRA and Troy Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 06, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 2
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On this episode of The Pulse, we explore the ways faith and religion intersect with science. Sometimes the collision is fraught with misunderstandi...

Bought by WKAR, Spokane Public Radio, KUHF, WMRA, and WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass.


  • Added: Nov 20, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 5
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What’s on your plate can say a lot about your likes, dislikes — and what you believe in. Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian. Grillmaster. Sushi Lover. Kosher. Pa...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass.


  • Added: Oct 25, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 1
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We used to think of nerds as unattractive, pimply or tragically unfashionable — but somehow over the years — the meaning changed. Today we embrace ...

  • Added: Oct 19, 2017
  • Length: 50:30
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Everywhere we go, in just about everything we do, we make trash. The Pulse explores the hard work of cleaning up. It’s a science, you know. We visi...

Bought by WMRA


  • Added: Oct 06, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 1
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The words ‘Mississippi River’ evoke images of a mustachioed Mark Twain — or the whistle of a steamboat calliope. But that river doesn’t exist anymo...

Bought by WWNO and WLPR


  • Added: Oct 01, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 2
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On this episode, The Pulse explores opportunities for another life in health, science and technology. What does it take for things — and people — t...

Bought by KRCU Public Radio


  • Added: Sep 26, 2017
  • Length: 50:28
  • Purchases: 1
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When we decide something is important enough to hold on to, often it’s science or technology that helps us protect the things we cherish most. The ...

  • Added: Sep 20, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
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It’s Labor Day, which means we’re celebrating the hard-working people who keep the engines of productivity humming. This special from The Pulse at ...

Bought by KZMU Moab Community Radio, KMXT, WKMS, KICI Iowa City, KUOW and more


  • Added: Aug 25, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 24
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The land and vistas around us tell a story about weather, the seasons, and light, but also about human influence, climate change -- and shifts in o...

Bought by KCPW Salt Lake City, WUTC, WRGY, KWMR, and KREV-LP


  • Added: Aug 18, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 5
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Lots of us have big plans to get the most out of summer — but we only have three short months to go to the beach trip, take a canoe trip, or fly to...

Bought by KJZZ and KREV-LP


  • Added: Aug 18, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 2
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Gambling. Drugs. Prostitution. Booze. As a society, we have always regulated behaviors we consider vices. Those regulations were once grounded in m...

Bought by WWNO and KRCU Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 14, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 2
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On this episode, we get stranded on an urban ‘heat island’ and learn what cities are doing to cool them down. How is the growing global demand for ...

Bought by KREV-LP and KRCU Public Radio


  • Added: Aug 01, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 2
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On July 29th, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act and soon we sent men where only our imaginations had taken u...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and WMRA


  • Added: Jul 21, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 2
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Shortages can bring minor inconveniences, like expensive avocados or almonds. In healthcare, they can mean the difference between getting the care ...

Bought by KUAF Public Radio


  • Added: Jul 21, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 1
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Sleep is the new skinny. Americans are obsessed with a good night's rest- after decades of viewing sleep as a waste of time for people who have not...

Bought by KTSW 89.9, KAZU Seaside, Calif., KVSC, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., and KUHF


  • Added: Jul 10, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 5
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Some problems are so big, so entrenched and complicated, you can start to feel like Sisyphus - condemned to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity –...

Bought by KUOW


  • Added: Jun 14, 2017
  • Length: 50:29
  • Purchases: 1