The Pulse

Series produced by WHYY

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Weekly subscribable series.

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

The Pulse is 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 703.304.8479

For help subscribing please contact PRX at prxhelp@prx.org.


390 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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Thanksgiving is near, which means many families will come together with loved ones over a shared meal that celebrates abundance. But along with the...

  • Added: Nov 18, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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On this rebroadcast of The Pulse - Humans have been obsessed with Mars from a distance for thousands of years. At first, maybe it was the fact that...

  • Added: Nov 08, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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There are 19 million veterans in the U.S. who have served in the armed forces. For many, the military gave them a sense of shared purpose, a strong...

  • Added: Nov 04, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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A lot of us had our first taste of remote medical care during the pandemic — telemedicine checkups performed right in our own homes. It has its adv...

  • Added: Oct 28, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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The search for solutions to address climate change is urgent. People want action now, something that will move the needle. But every solution that’...

  • Added: Oct 21, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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On this rebroadcast of the Pulse - The modern world is made possible by a web of electromagnetic radiation. Your phone, computer, TV, cable box, ra...

  • Added: Oct 13, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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Jessie Flynn decided she’d had enough. For years, multiple sclerosis had taken more and more away from her life — her ability to move, her freedom,...

  • Added: Oct 07, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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On this rebroadcast of The Pulse - Who becomes a physician in this country — and who never gets that chance? It’s a question a lot of medical schoo...

  • Added: Sep 29, 2021
  • Length: 58:59
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As a materials scientist, Anna Ploszajski was trained to analyze materials on a number of levels — their atomic structure, their chemical propertie...

  • Added: Sep 23, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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It’s one of the first questions we hear on detective shows after a heinous crime has occurred: “What’s the motive?” For hundreds of years, criminol...

  • Added: Sep 16, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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The passing of 20 years since the 9/11 terror attacks has meant that some of the wounds cut by that day have closed — others have not. Thousands of...

  • Added: Sep 07, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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Sometimes, work can feel like Groundhog Day — different variations of the same thing, day after day. Same commute, same hours, same people, same co...

  • Added: Sep 02, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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On this rebroadcast of The Pulse- Energy fuels our lives in ways that seem almost magical. It can transform darkness into light, cold into warmth, ...

  • Added: Aug 25, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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We’ve heard it again and again — kids are resilient. But they’re also sensitive, with social and emotional needs every bit as complex as adults'. T...

  • Added: Aug 19, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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We’ve all heard the saying: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The problem is that’s not how the world works. Just about everything, from the way p...

  • Added: Aug 12, 2021
  • Length: 58:59
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On this rebroadcast of The Pulse: Who are you? There are dozens of ways to answer that question, from your name and nationality, to your relationsh...

  • Added: Aug 04, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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Every time you go to see a new doctor, you have to fill out forms that ask your name, your age, your family history — and your race and ethnicity. ...

  • Added: Jul 29, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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Language is how we connect — to each other, to the past, to the future — how we create culture, communicate ideas, and make decisions. Scientists a...

  • Added: Jul 22, 2021
  • Length: 59:00
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It seems like every week, we hear about new breakthroughs in cancer treatment — new discoveries, new medications, new hopes for a cure. The war on ...

  • Added: Jul 15, 2021
  • Length: 58:59
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On this rebroadcast of the Pulse - Left to their own devices, viruses are pretty much helpless. They need cells to infect in order to replicate. Bu...

  • Added: Jul 06, 2021
  • Length: 59:00