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 703.715.0827.

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


375 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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School is a place where kids learn about health — everything from nutrition to avoiding STDs. But increasingly, schools across the country are taki...

  • Added: Aug 23, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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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 production from Th...

  • Added: Aug 28, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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It’s been a year since Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico, destroying lives and reducing many communities to rubble. The storm also affected...

  • Added: Sep 05, 2018
  • Length: 58:58
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They call it the golden years, but there’s a reason many of us dread old age — it can mean losing our health, our independence, our memories, and l...

  • Added: Sep 13, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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On this rebroadcast, we look at tech's impact on our lives, health, relationships - even our freedom. We start off inside a local casino, to see ho...

  • Added: Sep 19, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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Medicine, healthcare — even illness — vary from country to country. Those differences are driven by tradition, culture, even politics. On this epis...

  • Added: Sep 27, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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Advances in science don’t just happen — sometimes, real progress requires heroic measures. On this show, we explore the lengths people go to in the...

  • Added: Oct 04, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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Who has time to read the small print — to go over all the “stuff” that’s in our food, medicine, or supplements? And what’s carrageenan or hexyldecy...

  • Added: Oct 11, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
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Climate change could forever alter our planet sooner than we thought. A new report from the United Nations says that just 1.5 degrees Celsius stand...

  • Added: Oct 18, 2018
  • Length: 59:00
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On this rebroadcast, we're taking on the things that freak us out. There's biology behind the spooky feeling you get when a horror movie soundtrack...

  • Added: Oct 24, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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When’s the last time you saw a get-well card for psoriasis or eczema? Skin’s our biggest organ — and does lots of hard work keeping us healthy — bu...

  • Added: Nov 01, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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From penicillin to the moon landing, we have science to thank for humanity’s greatest achievements. But science has also helped advance things we c...

  • Added: Nov 08, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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Ever sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, look around at the shining faces of your family, and think to yourself: “How the heck am I related to these p...

  • Added: Nov 15, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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On this updated rebroadcast of The Pulse: A gun can change a moment, a life, a family, an entire neighborhood. Like a catalyst in a chemical reacti...

  • Added: Nov 21, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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Most of us take our drinking water for granted — switch on the tap, and out it flows. But in much of the world, that’s not the case. At home and ab...

  • Added: Nov 29, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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Our bodies are ours, but how we feel about them is largely defined by others — by the things people say, the culture we live in, the messages we ge...

  • Added: Dec 06, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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On this episode of the The Pulse, we examine violence — what sparks it, how it spreads, and where it can lead. We’ll learn about the spectrum of vi...

  • Added: Dec 13, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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For a lot of Americans, cats and dogs are more than just pets — they’re our fur babies. We’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep them happy an...

  • Added: Dec 20, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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On this rebroadcast of The Pulse - We think of sports as part of a healthy lifestyle — a chance to move our muscles, work up a sweat, release endor...

  • Added: Dec 26, 2018
  • Length: 58:59
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On this rebroadcast of The Pulse — They call it the golden years, but there’s a reason many of us dread old age — it can mean losing our health, ou...

  • Added: Jan 02, 2019
  • Length: 58:59