Critically Speaking

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Joel Gallant discuss the history and evolution of HIV treatment and prevention. He highlights the changes of treatment from early AZT, to the extensive multi-drug regimens of the 90s, and the current single-pill treatment with minimal side effects. They also discuss the racial and regional disparities of new HIV cases in the US. Despite progress, challenges persist, including stigma, lack of healthcare access, and resistance to treatments. Dr. Gallant also gives more information on hope for ending the epidemic and hope for a cure.

Key Takeaways:

• With early diagnosis and treatment of HIV, AIDS is not commonly seen anymore, though it still exists.

• “HIV is a retrovirus, meaning that it has enzymes that allow it to transcribe RNA into DNA, the reverse of the usual process in which DNA is transcribed into RNA. The viral DNA can then be inserted into the DNA of human cells.

• With more research, we’ve seen a steady improvement with more, safer drug choices, and better and easier combinations. Most people can be treated with a single pill once a day and are expected to live a normal lifespan in good health.

• In the US, no one has to go without treatment based on inability to pay. Even people who are uninsured and live in states that didn't expand Medicaid can get comprehensive HIV care, including medications, through clinics established by the Federal Ryan White Care Program.

"We do know that treatment is highly effective at preventing transmission, including sexual and mother-to-child transmission. It’s so effective that the CDC says that if your viral load (how we measure how much virus there is in your blood) is fully suppressed on treatment (having an undetectable virus) then you cannot transmit  HIV. Treatment is 100% effective as prevention." —  Dr. Joel Gallant

Episode References: 

• Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program: https://ryanwhite.hrsa.gov/ 

Connect with Dr. Joel Gallant:

Professional Bio: https://www.iasusa.org/faculty/joel-e-gallant-md-mph/ 

Website: https://www.axcesresearch.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-gallant-b6875432/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow, Dr. MacKenzie Pellin, Dr. Laurie Malone, and Dr. Patricia Ungar explore how dogs can detect early signs of cancer and COVID-19. They discuss their collaborative research, how the dogs are trained, and the types of diseases that these medical scent dogs can help to identify. They also discuss how the dogs' accuracy rivaled or exceeded other tests, but logistical challenges exist in public screening. The potential for early cancer detection and mass COVID screening is highlighted, emphasizing the need for further research and public acceptance.

 Key Takeaways:

• Medical scent dogs began first with observation as it was noticed that many dogs indicated carcinomas in their owners.

• Longnose dogs tend to be more beneficial than others, such as a French Bulldog or those with a shorter snout, in scent detection. 

• While the initial training can take several months, dogs have a long scent memory. If you want them to train a new scent, that can take a couple of months. 

• Dogs could detect covid infection prior to symptoms or testing

"The goal is early detection, but to be efficient and really valuable for a screening test, tests need to be accurate, it needs to be easy, and it should be cost-effective too." —  Dr. MacKenzie Pellin

Episode References: 

• The use of sniffer dogs for early detection of cancer: a One Health approach: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375576717_The_use_of_sniffer_dogs_for_early_detection_of_cancer_a_One_Health_approach 

Connect with Dr. MacKenzie Pellin:

Professional Bio: https://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/people/mackenzie-pellin/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenzie-pellin-962a66b6/ 

Connect with Dr. Patricia Ungar:

Website: https://www.scentsolutiondogs.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-ungar-dvm-cva-10598929b/ 

Connect with Dr. Laurie Malone:

Professional Bio: https://scholars.uab.edu/4812-laurie-a-malone 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-malone-a9754821a/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Hussam Mahmoud discuss the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires, citing the 2023 Maui fire and the 2024 Ventura County fire. Dr. Hassam Mahmoud, an expert in wildfire control, explains that wildfires have risen by 5% annually since 2001 and are now more intense. He highlights that 90% of wildfires in the US are human-induced. Dr. Mahmoud discusses his research focusing on a model to predict fire spread in urban areas, considering factors like wind, building materials, and vegetation. This model, which has accurately reproduced historical fires, aims to identify "super spreaders" to target mitigation efforts effectively. The approach could potentially reduce wildfire damage by identifying critical structures and implementing preventive measures.

 Key Takeaways:

• Human-caused fires are far more common than weather-caused fires, up to 90% in the United States.

• There are things that can be done in both communities and in wildlands that can help to control wildfires. Preventing and controlling wildfires is more than just a one-person effort.

• Even if you make your house fireproof, there is still a probability of the house burning. But you can minimize the chance of the house burning. 

• Communities should look at fire prevention as a collective effort for a collective impact.

"I am incredibly hopeful that in the future we will get to the point where we minimize losses to a great extent. Maybe it will happen. We're not there yet, but I'm confident we'll get to that point." —  Dr. Hussam Mahmoud

Episode References: 

• TEDxMileHigh: Hussam Mahmoud Wildfires and Pandemics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55uop7jsJaQ 

Connect with Dr. Hussam Mahmoud:

Professional Bio: https://www.engr.colostate.edu/~hmahmoud/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hussam-mahmoud-4b16754 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Keith McCormick discuss what you need to know about osteoporosis and bone health. Dr. McCormick explains what causes osteoporosis, the importance of early bone density tests, and breaks down some of the lifestyle factors that affect bone health. They discuss the need for personalized treatment beyond only medication, and Dr. McCormick advocates for patient empowerment and comprehensive understanding to improve treatment outcomes. 

 Key Takeaways:

• 50% of women will get osteoporosis. 20% of men will get osteoporosis. 

• People should be getting bone density tests in their forties, not waiting until their fifties or sixties. The sooner it is discovered you are having symptoms, the sooner you can begin to treat and prevent. 

• Bone strength is a combination of bone density and bone quality. Get both the DEXA and Trabecular Bone Score or TBS.Usually physicians don’t request the TBS but it is very important.  Ask for it.

• Testing should include blood tests for bone turnover markers. Your blood is telling a larger story and it can get complicated. 

• Systemic inflammation also can be tested as it can contribute to loss of bone density.

• The more times you stimulate your body, the more you will stimulate the osteoblasts. 

"It's important to understand that you, the patient, are the boss, and you're paying that person, you're asking that person for help and that they should be working with you." —  Dr. Keith McCormick

Connect with Dr. Keith McCormick:

Website: https://www.osteonaturals.com/  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/r-keith-mccormick-dc-433a2526/ 

Twitter: https://x.com/OsteoNaturals 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OsteoNaturals/  

Books: 

Great Bones: Taking Control of Your Osteoporosis: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Bones-Taking-Control-Osteoporosis/dp/B0BS8RJ2V3 

The Whole-Body Approach to Osteoporosis: https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Body-Approach-Osteoporosis-Strength-Harbinger-ebook/dp/B0056JX49Y 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Elizabeth Scott discuss the impact of cognitive distortions on stress. Dr. Scott explains what cognitive distortions are, how they lead to increased stress and emotional difficulties and gives examples of different types of distortions. They discuss how the distortions can be mitigated. They also talk about why addressing cognitive distortions is crucial for mental and physical health, reducing stress, and improving overall well-being. Finally, Dr. Scott provides free or minimal cost resources to help you change cognitive distortions and regain power over your mind.

 Key Takeaways:

• Cognitive distortions are patterns of thinking that skew our perception of reality. They are shortcuts of the brain, but they aren’t always accurate and can lead to increased stress and emotional difficulties.

• Cognitive distortions often prevent us from enjoying the good things in life through distortions such as catastrophizing,  jumping to conclusions, emotional reasoning, or disqualifying the positive, among many others. 

• Your brain's attempt to protect you from disappointment and from setting yourself up to be hurt can actually create stress. Remember, stress response is triggered when our mind thinks there's a threat, whether there is one or not.

• Over time, we can rewire our brains to think more positively and accurately. Intentionally focusing on the things that are going well and moments of gratitude, will help your brain to help notice the good as well as the bad.

• It is never too early to teach children about thoughts and recognizing patterns.

"Once we can identify these distortions, we can challenge them and begin to think more realistically and positively." —  Dr. Elizabeth Scott 

Check out Dr. Scott’s link for a new course Designed for anyone tired of being held back by negative thought loops. Take charge of your thoughts.

 https://drelizabethscott.com/mindset-makeover-masterclass-landing-page/

Episode References: 

• Woebot: https://woebothealth.com/ 

• CBT Thought Diary: https://www.thinkwithclarity.com/ 

• The Five Minute Journal: https://www.intelligentchange.com/collections/all/products/the-five-minute-journal 

Connect with Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D.:

Twitter: https://x.com/ElizabethScott 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AboutStressManagement/ 

Website: https://drelizabethscott.com/  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.elizabethscott/ 

Book: 8 Keys to Stress Management: amazon.com/Keys-Stress-Management-Mental-Health-ebook/dp/B00AJUKO5M 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In a world full of media, which may contain misinformation or fake news, there are conspiracy theories abounding. However, conspiracy theories, and the spreading of those theories, are not a new practice, it has been around and transmitted in any way that people communicate. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Joseph Uscinski talk about the origin of conspiracy theories and how these formal theories differ (and are similar) to the fake news and misinformation that fills our media screens today. They discuss some of the earliest US conspiracy theories, as well as some of the more modern ones, and how they are different now, with our current political climate, from what they may have done in the past. They also discuss why people believe these conspiracy theories, as well as why people believe in them, even in the face of refuting evidence. 

 Key Takeaways:

• The internet did not introduce the spread of conspiracy theories. They will always be spread in any way that people communicate.

• Our worldviews impact the media that we access, which then can filter which conspiracy theories we are likely to believe.

• The two most consistent predictors of those who believe in conspiracy theories are education and level of income.

"Most of the arguments about evidence, really aren’t about evidence - they’re just about subjective judgments about evidence, which gets us away from evidence and gets us back into how people interpret information and what the world views are they bring into interpreting that information." —  Dr. Joseph Uscinski

Connect with Dr. Joseph Uscinski:

Twitter: @JoeUscinski 

Website: JoeUscinski.com 

Books: American Conspiracy Theories & Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. John Sweller discuss the decline in student preparedness for college and how the modern education system, which has shifted from knowledge acquisition to inquiry-based learning, is at the root of that decline. Dr. Sweller explains his Cognitive Load Theory, breaks down the differences between working memory and long-term memory, and why ineffective teaching methods continue to survive. Finally, they talk about the changemakers in education and how political and bureaucratic intervention can drive educational reform.

 Key Takeaways:

• Education changed about 1-2 decades ago. The emphasis switched from the acquisition of knowledge to how to acquire knowledge itself. We need to emphasize the acquisition, not the discovery, of knowledge in education. 

• Students who are subjected to inquiry-based educational approaches do substantially worse on international tests than students who are exposed to a knowledge-rich curriculum. The more emphasis your education system places on inquiry learning, the worse the students do.

• If you don’t show students how to do something and they don’t figure it out themselves, it cannot go into long-term memory. 

• The best way to obtain information is to obtain it from somebody else. If you want to efficiently have somebody learn something, the best way to do it is to have somebody explicitly explain it. 

"An educated person who can do things, think about things, solve problems, which otherwise they couldn't dream about solving, is somebody who's got enormous amounts of information in long-term memory, and that immediately tells us what education should be about. You need to have lots of information in long term memory, and an educated person is different from an uneducated person because of that and solely because of that." —  Dr. John Sweller

Episode References: 

• Greg Ashman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-ashman-phd-790b59ab/ 

Connect with Dr. John Sweller:

Professional Bio: https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/john-sweller 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Hussam Mahmoud discuss the vulnerability of bridges to climate change. When we think about climate-related disasters, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires come to mind. Probably the last thing we think about is a bridge collapsing, but we should. With over half a million bridges in the US, each with a life expectancy of 75 years, it is more important than ever to consider the role of climatic factors on bridge stability. Dr. Mahmoud discusses how flooding, extreme temperatures, erosion, and extreme heat are affecting the bridges and he emphasizes the need for proactive inspection and maintenance to mitigate these risks.

 Key Takeaways:

• There are approximately 600,000 bridges across the US. Of the long-span bridges, there are about 6,000. Many of these bridges are old, some are in poor condition, and all are affected by climate change. 

• Owing to the passenger and huge amount of industrial traffic crossing bridges, a collapse could cost trillions of dollars to the economy.

• Bridges are built for a life span of about 75 years, with proper maintenance and care. There was a bridge-building boom in the 1960s and earlier - and the majority were built over 50 years ago.

"Generally speaking, bridges are relatively very safe. Even if you lose an element or something that is carrying the load ends up breaking or cracking, bridges are phenomenal in being able to redistribute the load and figure out how to carry the load with the remaining elements." —  Dr. Hussam Mahmoud

Connect with Dr. Hussam Mahmoud:

Professional Bio: https://www.engr.colostate.edu/~hmahmoud/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hussam-mahmoud-4b16754 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Ximena Lopez discuss the challenges faced by transgender youth, emphasizing the importance of gender-affirming care. Dr. Lopez explains the difference between sex and gender, noting that gender dysphoria is distress caused by a mismatch between one's gender identity and sex assigned at birth. She describes treatment options, including puberty suppression and hormone therapy, which can significantly improve mental health and reduce suicidality, particularly in teens. Dr. Lopez also criticizes state bans on gender-affirming care for minors and cites numerous studies showing its benefits, as well as discusses the inconsistencies in hormonal therapy for children and teens. 

 Key Takeaways:

• In medicine and psychology, gender and sex are two different things. While aligned in most people, they are not aligned in those individuals on the transgender, nonbinary, or intersex spectrum. 

• Adults who transitioned later in life typically knew they were different when they were young, but didn’t have the language or awareness. 

• When a child comes out as transgender, most parents are typically in denial. It is not until their child or teen is depressed and often suicidal, that the parents are willing to take the next steps with their child. 

• Gender-affirming care at the beginning of puberty can help to pause the puberty of the incorrect gender where changes happen that cannot easily, if at all, be reversed later in life.

• Puberty suppression can be reversed on the off chance the individual changes their mind. 

"Most of the stress comes from the adult world, and if the adults are transphobic and influence their kids to be transphobic, then we can also see kids who are transphobic, and then they can bully and discriminate. If it's a very affirming school where there are policies to protect transgender students, and the teachers and all the staff are on board, then that promotes well-being." —  Dr. Ximena Lopez

Episode References: 

• TEDMED Talk: How one pediatrician is supporting transgender youth:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViqvPknY4HE 

Connect with Dr. Ximena Lopez:

Professional Bio: https://profiles.ucsd.edu/ximena.lopez 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Janine LaSalle discuss Dr. LaSalle’s research on autism, focusing on prenatal gene-environment interactions. She explains that autism affects one in 36 children and talks about how genetic and prenatal environmental factors, such as maternal health and chemical exposures,  play a role in autism. Dr. LaSalle discusses how they use placental DNA to identify epigenetic marks linked to autism, aiming to predict probability of autism before birth in order to intervene early. The conversation highlights the importance of understanding these factors to develop early intervention strategies.

 Key Takeaways:

• It's almost impossible to compare autism incidents across time because the diagnostic criteria have changed many times over this span. There's no definitive laboratory test for autism.

• A number of genes have been identified that increase the risk of autism, genes that affect prenatal neurodevelopment.

• Maternal obesity, maternal asthma or fever during pregnancy, and preterm birth are a few examples of maternal health factors implicated in autism. Environmental exposures during pregnancy that increase risk for autism include air pollution and some pesticide exposures - these have the best evidence because they can be measured easily.

• Prenatal identification of newborns at risk for autism allows treatment to begin immediately after birth to improve their developmental trajectories.

• While little boys have a much higher incidence of autism and ADHD, the mechanism underlying the sex difference is not understood. 

"The best explanation for most cases of autism is really the combination of common environmental factors and common genetics." —  Janine LaSalle, Ph.D.

Connect with Janine LaSalle, Ph.D.:

Professional Bio: https://health.ucdavis.edu/medmicro/faculty/lasalle/ 

Website: https://mmi-lab.ucdavis.edu/ 

UCDavisMind Institute: https://health.ucdavis.edu/mind-institute/

UCDavis Genome Center: https://genomecenter.ucdavis.edu/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-lasalle-70149415 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Scott,  discuss narcissism, its clinical definition and the characteristics of “malignant narcissism”. Dr. Scott explains that narcissism involves patterns of grandiosity, a need for constant admiration, a lack of empathy, high levels of manipulation, and the narcissist’s “kryptonite” - criticism. They view themselves as the victim, never at fault. Despite their arrogance, they are very insecure. Dr. Scott also discusses why treatment is challenging and why therapy often focuses on managing symptoms rather than the deeper core issues. They can’t see that they have a problem, and thus are resistant to treatment

 Key Takeaways:

• The myth of Narcissus illustrates the danger of excessive self-focus, which is the hallmark of narcissism in clinical terms and is becoming increasingly common in some aspects of our modern society. 

• Narcissists are very good at manipulation. They consciously will do things to sort of manage their image in the eyes of others. They may appear to show empathy at times in a relationship, but it's usually more of a means to an end than a genuine concern for the feelings of others.

• Criticism is like a kryptonite to a narcissist, so even the mildest critique can provoke a strong defensive reaction: anger, denial, or shifting the blame to somebody else.

• You cannot change a narcissist's behavior, but you can control your own responses to it. Think about limits and then give yourself leeway within those to protect your own mental health. 

"[Narcissists] might mimic empathetic behaviors to achieve their own ends, but it's more about manipulation than genuine caring. So they can understand maybe what empathy looks like, but not really get how it feels and how it's supposed to feel and how those behaviors are supposed to be rooted in something inside them." —  Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D.

Connect with Elizabeth Scott, Ph.D.:

Twitter: https://x.com/ElizabethScott 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AboutStressManagement/ 

Website: https://drelizabethscott.com/  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.elizabethscott/ 

Book: 8 Keys to Stress Management: https://www.amazon.com/Keys-Stress-Management-Mental-Health-ebook/dp/B00AJUKO5M 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Dr. Adam Schiavi is an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His areas of clinical expertise include anesthesiology, neurological critical care, disorders of consciousness and brain death diagnosis, clinical ethics, critical care medicine, and traumatic brain injury.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Adam Schiavi discuss how the definition of death has changed throughout history, what the current definition is, and how that is determined by the medical technology of the time. Brain death is the current definition of death, medically, but what happens to a body after brain death is determined can vary depending on the state you live in. This can be a trying time for families and for the providers involved with the now-deceased patient as the definition of death is not understood by everyone. They also discuss how brain death differs from other states of consciousness and how people often confuse the terminology of those different states, as well as the ability to hope for healing from all but brain death.

 Key Takeaways:

• The total cessation of all functions of the brain is the current definition of brain death in the United States. This definition is based on a clinical exam testing all parts of the brain, typically done by somebody certified in doing brain death determinations.

• You have to have a reason for the neurologic exam to be declining. Without a reason, you can't call somebody brain dead.

• You can replace every organ in the body, but you cannot replace the brain and when the brain dies, the body dies all the time 100% unless those organ systems are artificially supportive. 

"Our culture changes with technology and the way we define death is a part of culture. As that culture has shifted, the way we define death has also shifted with our new technologies of how we can actually determine whether people are dead." —  Dr. Adam Schiavi

Connect with Dr. Adam Schiavi:

Johns Hopkins Bio: Adam Schiavi, MD, PhD, MS   

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Katie Pelch discuss the harmful and pervasive effects of PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals." Found in various consumer and industrial products, contaminating air, water, and soil, they never break down. Dr. Pelch works for the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) and has been studying PFAS throughout her career. Along with their many uses PFAS have been linked to serious health issues, including cancer and reduced vaccine effectiveness. The NRDC advocates for banning non-essential uses of PFAS and encourages public awareness and involvement in regulatory efforts. Dr. Pelch shares with us the prevalence of PFAS, its dangers, and the regulation or lack thereof.

 Key Takeaways:

• When you heat the nonstick cookware above a certain temperature, some of the PFAS can migrate from the pan and into the food you’re going to eat, or they could enter the air that you breathe.

• Exposures from the air that we breathe and from our skin have generally been less well studied, but there is evidence to suggest that PFAS do enter our skin.

• Per the CDC, at least 98% of people in the United States have PFAS in their bodies. 

• The EPA stepped up in a big way this year by finalizing the regulation of six PFAS in drinking water. This ban was preceded by many states proactively setting enforceable limits to PFAS in drinking water, some banning the unnecessary use of them entirely by 2032. 

"Not only are PFAS persistent in the environment, but they're also persistent in our bodies, and in most cases, we don't have a great way to get PFAS out of our bodies. So the two most highly studied PFAS can last in our bodies for years." —  Dr. Katie Pelch

Episode References: 

• Dark Waters: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9071322/ 

• The Devil We Know: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7689910/ 

• Environmental Working Group: https://www.ewg.org/ 

• PFAS Exchange: https://pfas-exchange.org/ 

Connect with Dr. Katie Pelch:

Professional Bio: https://www.nrdc.org/bio/katie-pelch 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiepelch 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Alex Hinton explore the potential for genocide in the U.S., highlighting historical and contemporary atrocities. Dr. Hinton emphasizes that genocide can target groups based on social constructs such as race, gender, and sexuality, among others. They discuss the rise of white supremacism and hate speech, and Dr. Hinton identifies risk factors such as political upheaval, economic instability, and armed militias. Dr.Hinton also stresses the importance of critical thinking and depolarization to prevent genocide, and suggests an easy way for everyone to do so without committing 40 hours per week to stay abreast of all of the issues and topics. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Genocide and mass violence are not typically planned from the beginning. They often evolve from other behaviors stemming from upheaval and past atrocities, scapegoating, grievance, and legitimation of formed hierarchies. 

• Hate speech is everywhere—left, right, and center. Wherever someone is on the political spectrum, they can agree it's bad. The problem is that people sometimes disagree about what constitutes it. 

• People are busy. Trying to keep informed can be a full-time job. One little thing everyone can do pretty easily to begin to do this in general, as we enter the political cycle, just pick a left-leaning, more centrist, and right-leaning news media source then on the top of the hour, turn on the TV, and flip between them and see the headlines.

"Ideology is central to all genocides, in some sense. Ideologies provide legitimation to disempower groups, and to legitimate different forms of hierarchy within a society and in the extreme. That then lays the basis for saying that groups are inferior." —  Dr. Alex Hinton

Episode References: 

• We Charge Genocide - The 1951 Black Lives Matter Campaign: https://depts.washington.edu/moves/CRC_genocide.shtml 

• 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act: https://www.uscirf.gov/resources/factsheet-citizenship-amendment-act-india 

Connect with Dr. Alex Hinton:

Professional Bio: https://sasn.rutgers.edu/alex-hinton

Twitter: https://x.com/AlexLHinton  

Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights: https://x.com/Rutgers_CGHR 

Check out Dr. Hinton’s writings mentioned in this episode: 

• It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the US: https://www.amazon.com/Can-Happen-Here-Rising-Genocide-ebook/dp/B08L9JHRN6 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Alex Hinton discuss the complexities of genocide, its definitions, and the role of perpetrators. Dr. Hinton gives us the conventional, legal, and social scientific definitions of genocide and gives examples of how these affect the legal battles and social impact of different incidents, highlighting the Khmer Rouge mass killings in Cambodia. They also discuss the moral and legal implications of perpetrators and why none of us can be complacent in our understanding of genocide.

 Key Takeaways:

• There are three main definitions of genocide. Most recognize it as mass deaths, often perpetrated by a state figure. The UN legal definition requires intent. And the social scientific definition expands beyond the UN definition.
• While genocide is an atrocity, not all atrocities are genocides. Similarly, not all mass murders are genocides.
• When legally looking at the genocide perpetrators, the courts typically go after the architects and lower-level individuals are often brought in as witnesses. However, the question of who the perpetrators are is a moral and ethical question still being debated.
• Education is key - the dynamics that gave rise to Auschwitz are all around us and we are all part of them. We must be self-critical, reflexive people as a first step to make sure that we don’t have a recurrence.

"It's a potentiality that exists for ourselves and for our societies. You know, it's not comfortable. Many people will say ‘no,’ but that's the starting point of prevention, because only when you have that realization can you effectively begin to take action to stop genocide from taking place." —  Dr. Alex Hinton

Episode References:

• Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning: https://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-Solution/dp/0060995068 
• To Save Heaven and Earth: Rescue in the Rwandan Genocide by Jennie E Burnet: https://www.amazon.com/Save-Heaven-Earth-Rwandan-Genocide/dp/1501767119/ 

Connect with Dr. Alex Hinton:

Professional Bio: https://sasn.rutgers.edu/alex-hinton

Twitter: https://x.com/AlexLHinton  

Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights: https://x.com/Rutgers_CGHR 

Check out Dr. Hinton’s writings mentioned in this episode:

• Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide: https://www.amazon.com/Why-Did-They-Kill-Anthropology/dp/0520241797 
• Perpetrators: Encountering Humanity’s Dark Side: https://www.amazon.com/Perpetrators-Encountering-Humanitys-Stanford-Studies/dp/1503634272 
• Anthropological Witness: Lessons from the Khmer Rouge Tribunal: https://www.amazon.com/Anthropological-Witness-Lessons-Khmer-Tribunal/dp/1501765698/ 
• It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the US: https://www.amazon.com/Can-Happen-Here-Rising-Genocide-ebook/dp/B08L9JHRN6 
• Pol Pot’s Secret Prison: https://www.ronslate.com/pol-pots-secret-prison/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Alan Rogol discuss the complexities of gender, sex, and identity in elite sports, with a focus on the societal expectations and controversies surrounding gender eligibility in sports. Dr. Rogol touches on some of the history of women’s identities in elite sports, including some from the recent 2024 Paris Summer Games. Throughout the discussion, Therese and Dr. Rogol highlight the need for inclusive politics and having a respectful approach to athletes’ identities. This is a complicated topic, still undecided as to what is fair and acceptable. 

 Key Takeaways:

• When women were allowed to compete in the Olympics, originally it was only allowed in three events: croquet, golf, and tennis. All were considered socially appropriate, with no bodily contact, and while wearing normal clothes of full, layered skirts. 

• Sex and gender are not the same thing. Gender is self-identified, an expression, and is changeable. There are also varieties of sex - sex at birth, sex of rearing, legal sex, and chromosomal sex. 

• Many of the girls who find out they have an XY chromosome after being identified as female at birth often don’t find out until later in life. Because  while they had testosterone, they also had a gene that prevented their bodies from responding to it. These girls never developed as males, and in fact went through female puberty, but lacked a uterus.

• The IOC has many drugs that are banned except for certain situations. These include testosterone, endocrine drugs, growth hormones, and insulin among others. 

"It is not the level of absolute testosterone that you have that counts. What counts is the stuff that is biologically active, and that is very complicated, and that's why numbers aren't so helpful." —  Dr. Alan Rogol

Episode References: 

• Personal Account: A woman tried and tested by Maria José Martínez-Patiño: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673605678415.pdf

• The New York Times: Running in a Body That’s My Own by Caster Semenya: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/21/opinion/running-body-semenya.html 

• Critically Speaking Episode 9: You Go Girl: Testosterone with Dr. Alan Rogol: https://criticallyspeaking.libsyn.com/009-dr-alan-rogol-you-go-girl-testosterone 

Connect with Dr. Alan Rogol:

Professional Bio: https://med.virginia.edu/faculty/faculty-listing/adr/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-rogol-49b18018/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Charles Easley IV discuss the significance of a father’s lifestyle before conception and its effects on prenatal development. This comes about not by mutations in the sperm DNA, but through heritable changes in the way the father’s genes are turned on and off during the development of the fetus.  THese changes are referred to as epigenetic. So it’s not just about the mom, They thus explore the paternal origins of health and disease, highlight animal studies and human cohort studies that demonstrate intergenerational transmission of epigenetic changes, and discuss the dangers of toxic chemical exposure on male sperm.

 Key Takeaways:

• To study the paternal effects on the fetus, we are able to do animal studies in the lab, however, for human studies, we can only study in cohorts after the fact, such as with the Dutch Famine, Michigan PBB, or, lately, the effects of COVID-19.

• Gary Miller is one of the leaders studying how paternal exposure prior to conception can have profound effects on the lifespan and healthy aging of future offspring.

• While we cannot pinpoint all the chemicals as having a lasting effect yet, it is important to try to be as healthy as you can. Certain chemicals, such as BPA and certain pesticides, have been studied to have an effect.  And not just the mother during pregnancy.

"We've got a lot more evidence to suggest that what the father does prior to conception can have a profound effect on the genes that are expressed during development, and can have profound effects on how these organs develop in the offspring." —  Dr. Charles Easley IV

Episode References: 

• The Dutch Famine Birth Cohort: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7934722/ 

• The Michigan PBB Cohort: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/3929/cdc_3929_DS1.pdf 

• The Poisoning of Michigan by Joyce Egginton: https://www.amazon.com/Poisoning-Michigan-Joyce-Egginton/dp/0870138677 

Connect with Dr. Charles Easley IV:

Professional Bio: https://publichealth.uga.edu/faculty-member/charles-a-easley/ 

Website: https://www.easleylab.com/ 

Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Daniel Aaron discuss the inadequate oversight of food additives by the FDA, particularly the agency's GRAS or “Generally Recognized as Safe” process, which allows unsafe additives to reach the market without proper scrutiny. Dr. Aaron highlights industry conflicts of interest, the lack of reporting requirements, the need for stricter regulation to protect public health, and discusses what is needed for the FDA to be better able to make impactful changes. 

 Key Takeaways:

• The majority of food additives in the US are not vetted by the FDA. Since 1958, food additives have been presumed safe until proven otherwise. 

• The Clean Eating movement in the US is indicative of the skepticism of the American food supply. 

• While the FDA used to maintain a list of GRAS substances, today, reporting to the FDA is not required. 

• Europe uses a more precautionary approach to food additives. The EFSA must approve all chemical substances prior to their use in foods. 

• Food additives are known to cause synergistic harm. However, the FDA poorly regulates single additives so it is not surprising that its consideration of interacting chemicals is insufficient.

"The FDA is the most accountable to corporate power. The largest impediment, in my view, to food regulation is funding. FDA’s Food Center has been underfunded for decades. Further funding from Congress is needed, but our legislators often are supported by industry that doesn't necessarily want a more robust review of food additives." —  Daniel Aaron, M.D., J.D.

Episode References: 

• Bystanders to a Public Health Crisis: The Failures of the U.S. Multi-Agency Regulatory Approach to Food Safety in the Face of Persistent Organic Pollutants by Katya S. Cronin: https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty_publications/1725/ 

• EFSA: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en 

• FDA Food Center: https://www.fda.gov/food 

Connect with Daniel Aaron, M.D., J.D.:

Professional Bio: https://faculty.utah.edu/u6052921-DANIEL_G_AARON/hm/index.hml 

Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Alexis Temkin, Senior Toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group, discuss toxic chemicals we can’t see or detect in our food and daily-use products.  Dr. Temkin describes common pesticides and other chemicals used in agriculture and how they enter the human body. She also shares resources provided by the Environmental Working Group that can help keep you and your family safer. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Chemicals in cosmetics and other daily-use products are often considered safe until proven otherwise. It often takes years before the harm is discovered and the chemical banned

• Pesticides are introduced into our bodies through the food we consume. 

• Despite a lack of EPA regulations, consumers can decrease their exposure to potentially harmful pesticides.

• Always wash your fruits and vegetables. It may not remove all pesticides, but it is good practice and will reduce at least some of your exposure to the chemicals. 

"It’ll depend on the pesticide, but we’ve seen exposure to pesticides being linked to a variety of health harms. That could include brain and nervous system toxicity, we’ve seen associations with increased cancer after exposure to certain types of pesticides, impacts on reproduction, and dietary pesticide consumption has also been associated with cardiovascular health." —  Dr. Alexis Temkin

Episode References: 

• EWG Consumer Guides: https://www.ewg.org/consumer-guides 

• Center for Biological Diversity: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/ 

• EWG’s 2024 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php 

Connect with Dr. Alexis Temkin:

Professional Bio: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/our-experts/alexis-temkin-phd 

Website: https://www.ewg.org/ 

Email: [email protected]  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexis-temkin-46345750 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Tara Zimmerman discuss how to “Fake News” proof children so that they can better interpret the vast amount of information available in the digital age, especially around misinformation and disinformation. They emphasize the importance of critical thinking skills, building those critical thinking skills, and how those important skills can be taught and practiced with children of all ages. In this digital age with so much information at our fingertips, media literacy and critical thinking are more important than ever and Dr. Zimmerman discusses how to empower everyone to make more informed decisions and draw more informed conclusions from what they see and hear every day. 

 Key Takeaways:

• When we hear information from someone we know and generally agree with, we are more likely to perceive that information as true. That same information coming from someone you have a history of disagreeing with, the more likely you are to disbelieve that information.

• Humans have developed a tendency to believe the information shared with us unless there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary. One person cannot know everything, so we trust others to pass on information to survive. 

• We can't possibly think critically about every single piece of information we're exposed to. The key is to determine what information is vital versus what information is superfluous to us.

• Bias happens to everyone, no matter their social class, race, gender, intelligence, education level, or anything else. 

• As a society, we need to normalize being open to new information and changing our opinions when necessary. 

"I believe the best way to help society overall is to focus on teaching children how to think critically about all the information that they encounter, because by helping them develop the skills and the habits of critical thinking early on, they will make the biggest long term effect on how society responds to information." —  Dr. Tara Zimmerman

Connect with Dr. Tara Zimmerman:

Professional Bio: https://apps.twu.edu/my1cv/profile.aspx?type=twp&id=JyyM03CAxnlQZrrdrpan7Q%3d%3d 

Website: http://www.tarazimmerman.net/ 

Email: [email protected] 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-zimmerman-813421152/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

A serious type of turbulence has been encountered during commercial airline flights has been in the news lately. “Pancake turbulence”.  Hard to detect in advance. Most recently, an Air Europa flight from Madrid to Uruguay was hit by “strong turbulence” and had to make an emergency landing in Brazil, In another recent event. a flight bound from London to Singapore with 211 passengers and 18 crew members encountered turbulence that resulted in the death of a passenger, and the hospitalization and critical care of about 20 more with spinal injuries. What's this type of turbulence all about? How concerned should we be about flying? Dr. Thomas Gwynn, head of the Department of Applied Aviation Sciences at the distinguished Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,  explains about this type of turbulence and how turbulence may be increasing with global warming.

 Key Takeaways:

• Turbulence result from eddies in the atmosphere and can be light, moderate, severe, and extreme.

• Chop turbulence is usually more moderate and rhythmic, similar to driving a car over a rumble strip. It can be annoying but isn’t usually dangerous. 

•  While onboard radar can help determine storms enabling pilots to avoid them, pancake turbulence, such as what affected these recent flights, cannot be detected by instruments.  Pilots can only learn of these from other pilots.

• Some studies seem to suggest that turbulence could be increasing with climate change. 

• No form of travel is without some level of risk, but flying is still, statistically, the safest mode of travel. 

"The smaller the aircraft, the more vulnerable it's going to be to turbulence. For commercial airliners, generally, they have roughly the same vulnerability. So what really determines the vulnerability is something called the wing loading. The least vulnerable aircraft is going to be heavy aircraft with smaller wing sizes like your large jets. The greater weight makes it harder for the airflow to disrupt or move the aircraft." —  Dr. Thomas Guinn

Connect with Dr. Thomas Guinn:

Professional Bio: https://faculty.erau.edu/Thomas.Guinn 

Email: [email protected] 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-guinn-37686439 

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Mary Rysavy discuss all aspects of obesity during pregnancy. This is a significant concern that is growing. A study of 2000 deliveries in a single year highlighted the need for proper care and management of obese pregnant women to minimize risks and help ensure a healthy delivery. With 60% of women having a BMI over 30, and 16% having a BMI over 40, this is becoming a larger concern for both expectant mothers and for the hospitals and care providers. They also discuss the complications that mothers and babies can face during and after birth, how weight can impact those complications, and why it is so important for physicians to talk about obesity with their patients directly, but with compassion. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Mothers with obesity are more likely to have to deliver by C-Section, have greater blood loss, and experience preeclampsia.

• The study found that obese mothers had worse complications during delivery. 

• While fetal monitoring in obstetrics is a highly debated topic, we know it helps to prevent stillbirth. It is our best tool when we see when mom or baby are in trouble to help. 

• Obesity is a medical condition. But it is also emotional and psychological and there are many components to it beyond only the medical side. Many feel shame about it even when there are aspects outside of their control. 

"The biggest, most important thing to do is to talk about it. As physicians, we have to be willing to bring this up so that patients understand that this is not a cosmetic issue that we’re concerned about. We just want them to be safe and healthy, and we want them to know what they can do to be as healthy as possible." —  Dr. Mary Rysavy MD

Episode References:

Steffen HA, Swartz SR, Kenne KA, Wendt LH, Jackson JB, Rysavy MB. Increased Maternal BMI at Time of Delivery Associated with Poor Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes. Am J Perinatol. 2024 Mar 21. doi: 10.1055/a-2274-0463. 

Connect with Dr. Mary Rysavy MD:

Professional Bio: https://med.uth.edu/obgyn/2022/10/28/mary-b-rysavy-md/ 

Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

In this episode, Therese Markow, Dr. Jerald Kay, and Dr. Joel Yager discuss the various forms of ambition. They discuss lack of ambition, mismatched ambition, and delve into some of the potential negative consequences of Machiavellian ambition and how to deal with malignant narcissists. 

 Key Takeaways:

• There are biological underpinnings to ambition, but much of what we know about ambition is built on repeated interactions as children. 

• Not everyone who is Machiavellian is ambitious. Not everyone who is ambitious is Machiavellian. But when you have people who have dark triad characteristics it can mean trouble for those around them. 

• There are levels of narcissism. Some are treatable. The last division of severe narcissistic personality is called malignant personality disorder and is relatively untreatable.

"It’s both nature and nurture. We know ambition runs in families. And we know kids that are adopted into families with ambitious parents turn out to be more ambitious than if they weren’t adopted into those kinds of families." —  Dr. Joel Yager

Episode References: https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/fulltext/2023/04000/ambition_and_its_psychopathologies.1.aspx

Connect with Jerald & Joel:

Dr. Jerald Kay Professional Bio: https://people.wright.edu/jerald.kay 

Dr. Joel Yager Professional Bio: https://som.cuanschutz.edu/Profiles/Faculty/Profile/1789 

Email Dr. Jerald Kay: [email protected] 

Email Dr. Joel Yager: [email protected] 

Connect with Therese:

Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Infertility is on the rise, leading otherwise healthy young couples to seek a form of assisted reproductive technology appropriate for their particular situation. This increase infertility of considerable concern. Is one sex affected more than the other? What are the long-range implications if the trend keeps going? Is it only humans that appear to be affected? And the critical question is why? In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Shanna Swan, author of the new book Count Down, answer many of these questions, including discussion of the types of chemicals and other factors that may contribute to the rising infertility.

 Key Takeaways:

• The number of “good” sperm observed in human populations (as indicated by the WHO) has dramatically decreased. Other characteristics for function, such as abnormal shape, inability to swim correctly, and chromosomal abnormalities are increasing as well.
• Male and female infertility is about 50/50.
• Newborn babies are being born “pre-polluted” with up to 100 environmental chemicals. 
• One solution you can undertake yourself is to determine where your food comes from, as that’s what’s going into your body.

"I'm convinced that a large proportion of the decline we're seeing is due to chemical exposures, man-made chemicals." —  Dr. Shanna Swan

Connect with Dr. Shanna Swan:

Professional Bio: mountsinai.org/profiles/shanna-h-swan  

Website: shannaswan.com 

Book: Count Down - shannaswan.com/countdown

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shanna-swan-phd-339a4258

Instagram: instagram.com/drshannaswan

Twitter: twitter.com/DrShannaSwan

Reference:

Environmental Working Group: ewg.org

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Dr. Richard P. Phelps is founder of the Nonpartisan Education Group, editor of Nonpartisan Education Review (http://nonpartisaneducation.org), a Fulbright Scholar, and fellow of the Psychophysics Laboratory. He has authored, or edited and co-authored Correcting Fallacies about Educational and Psychological Testing (APA); Standardized Testing Primer (Peter Lang); Defending Standardized Testing (Psychology Press); Kill the Messenger (Transaction), and several statistical compendia. Phelps has worked with several test development organizations, including ACT, AIR, ETS, the OECD, Pearson, and Westat. He holds degrees from Washington, Indiana, and Harvard Universities, and a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Richard Phelps discuss the education system in the United States, especially in comparison with Western Europe and other industrialized societies. They look at how Common Core, No Child Left Behind, and the changes to the SAT test have affected the curriculum, learning, and student preparedness both for further education as well as life after school. These trends in educational standards and standardized tests continue to impede our students compared to those of the industrialized world. Students from all levels and backgrounds are affected by these programs and the changes that need to be made are discussed.

 Key Takeaways:

• The U.S. is falling behind other countries, even those with less spending on education.
• Common Core and No Child Left Behind have caused progress to be lost in elementary and secondary education standards.
• The SAT has become less of an aptitude test and more of an achievement test, and can discriminate against talented students from underrepresented groups that attended lower quality high schools.

"Most information is not on the world wide web, much of what is there is wrong, and search rankings are easily manipulated by money and interests." —  Dr. Richard Phelps

Connect with Dr. Richard Phelps: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RichardPPhelps

Website: https://richardphelps.net/ &https://nonpartisaneducation.org/

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard_Phelps

SSRN Scholarly Papers: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1592150

Academia: https://204.academia.edu/RichardPhelps

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardpphelps/

LinkedIn Learning: https://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?searchfrom=header&q=Richard+P+Phelps

Connect with Therese:

Website:  www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected] 

In this culture where dreams and nightmares are such a part of our everyday language, the question becomes, what is dreaming? We all dream, so what does it mean, and how does it impact other areas of our lives, such as our mental health? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Michael Nadorff discuss these questions, as well as diving deeper into the different cycles of sleep, the changes in our dreams and sleep as we age, different types of nightmare therapies, and the relationship between nightmares and suicide.  

 Key Takeaways:

• All dreams, good and bad, occur during the REM cycles of our sleep. The amount of REM sleep increases as the night goes on and, consequently, dreams get longer too.  
• Sleep loves the cold. If you fall asleep in too warm of an environment, during REM sleep when your temperature drops, you are more likely to wake up feeling overheated. 
• Having nightmares significantly increased the likelihood of future suicide attempts in those who had previously attempted suicide. 

"REM is so important to us that, if you are sleep deprived, your body actually prioritizes REM, and it makes it even that much more intensive." —  Dr. Michael Nadorff

Connect with Dr. Michael Nadorff:

Professional Bio: psychology.msstate.edu/people/michael-r-nadorff/  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Various forms of cold therapy, from ice on wounds to cold showers, have been successfully used for ages. And ice baths help athletes after an event. But these temperatures don't fall below freezing, or 32°F, and are usually above this. Recently, tanks providing whole body cryotherapy have been promoted for a wide range of health problems, some serious and progressive. This involves subjecting the body to anywhere from minus 160°F to 250°F, for several minutes. While this extreme exposure, even if for only a minute or so, definitely causes physical reactions, there have been no clinical trials to demonstrate their efficacy for the medical conditions supposedly helped. Furthermore, the tanks are not FDA approved.

 Key Takeaways:

• Whole body cryotherapy is being promoted for a wide range of medical conditions.
• The WBC tanks are not FDA approved medical devices.
• The facilities offering WBC rarely have any medical personnel present during the treatments.
• No standard clinical trials have been conducted demonstrating their efficacy, as claimed, for the medical conditions mentioned.
• People considering using the treatment should consult their physicians, rather than the internet, as to the benefits, prior to spending the money to expose themselves to these extremes.

"Don't get all your information from celebrity testimony or social media promotions. Things that pass for research on the internet are not what serious investigators would define as quality research." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 one of these environmental factors and how our individual underarm hygiene may play a role in our risk for breast (and prostate) cancers earlier in life. Dr. McGrath has had a long time interest in this trend and they discuss some of his work on the relationship between underarm shaving and the use of deodorants and antiperspirants.

 Key Takeaways:

• The majority of breast cancer is environmental or lifestyle. Only 5-10% of breast cancer is due to genetic causes. So what are the factors?
• Both breast cancer and prostate cancer are hormone-driven cancers.
• More research needs to be done, but there already is a significant and scary relationship between underarm hygiene and beast and prostate cancers. 

"In my paper, I showed that the earlier you began underarm habits, shaving your underarm and applying antiperspirant deodorant three times a week or more, the diagnosis of breast cancer began at a younger age, especially if you started using these products before the age of 16." —  Dr. Kris McGrath

Connect with Dr. Kris McGrath:

Professional Bio: feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=15819  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

What's the placenta? Some people think of it as a bag filled with fluid that protects the fetus inside from accidental blows, or a structure that sends maternal nutrients to the fetus while removing its waste products. Well, it's actually much more than this. When we may think that the placenta is protective, it can also create detrimental effects to the fetus - effects that can be lifelong. In fact, the placenta is a complex organ on its own and we've only recently been discovering some of the things that the placenta really does, and also what it can't do. Every new person that has arrived on this planet developed in a placenta, so to ensure the health and wellbeing of future generations, understanding what goes on with the placenta has become more critical. Today's guest is a leader in the field of placental biology. Dr. Cheryl Rosenfeld is professor of biomedical sciences and her cutting edge research on the multiple roles of the placenta and fetal development provides critical guidance for prenatal maternal lifestyle and care.

 Key Takeaways:

• The placenta does have some ability to metabolize things, and it does offer some buffering capacity to the fetus.
• The placenta is an endocrine organ. It also produces neurotransmitters. 
• Endocrine disrupters can be found in household items and everything around us. Understanding the green chemistry movement can help us lead a healthy life style. 

"Even though we can't really, completely, eliminate our exposure to environmental chemicals. We can try to offset it by living with good healthy practices." —  Dr. Cheryl Rosenfeld

Connect with Dr. Cheryl Rosenfeld:

Professional Bio: https://biomed.missouri.edu/cheryl-s-rosenfeld-phd-dvm/ 

The United States Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Society:  https://www.usdohad.org/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Just about everybody has bumped their head at least once in their life. A number of these bumps on the head, especially those resulting from more obvious head injury, are more serious than most of us imagine. What is a concussion? When should head trauma receive more attention? Given the recent reports about long term effects of head injuries in athletes, and the risks of head traumas for sports and accidents, let's learn a little bit more. After all, each of us has a head. Today's guest neuro psychiatrist, Dr. Jon Lieff, has been treating head injuries for decades, he even founded several programs for treating patients with head injuries. And interestingly, he's also the author of a book called, The Secret Language of Cells, a fascinating and very accessible description of how the cells in our body talk to each other in health and in illness.

 Key Takeaways:

• Here is no exact definition of a concussion - we do not have the imaging devices accurate enough to see the tiny breaks in neurons and axons and it is based on the symptoms as a judgment call by the doctor. 
• Studying brain injury is still individual and still difficult.
• Some people are more resilient to head injuries over others. For example, young women and girls are particularly vulnerable for head injuries. 

"Younger kids should avoid hitting their head. They’re more sensitive to it. They’re not going to notice it as much, and there is very good information that multiple hits are far worse than one or the occasional." —  Dr. Jon Lieff 

Connect with Dr. Jon Lieff:

Professional Bio: https://jonlieffmd.com/about 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonlieffmd 

Website: https://jonlieffmd.com/ 

Book: https://jonlieffmd.com/book/the-secret-language-of-cells 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonlieffmd/ 

Additional Resources: https://jonlieffmd.com/resources 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Millions of women are undergoing ovarian stimulation to harvest either their own eggs or to donate, for monetary compensation, to egg banks that can help infertile couples, gay couples, and single infertile women to, through in vitro fertilization, conceive.  Donors can receive considerable payments for their donations and, in fact, many young women undergo multiple cycles of ovarian stimulation treatments.  These payments can help with student loans, living expenses, and other things.  The treatments consist of hormone injections for over a week in order to get the ovaries to produce a lot of eggs.  The short term risks, like the painful ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, are infrequent and women are usually informed of this.  But there have been mixed reports as to the long term risks of cancers associated with these hormone treatments. The studies are mixed because they have not been conducted with sufficient rigor. Women undergoing treatments, either to retrieve their own eggs or to donate, are mostly unaware of these long term risks as they can manifest some years later.  Women need to be fully informed before undergoing injection with ovarian stimulation hormones.

 Key Takeaways:

• Egg donation clinics are mostly "for profit" organizations and businesses.
• There needs to be a national registry of all egg donors in the US.
• The registry must contain the ages, types of hormones used, number of cycles of stimulation, history of birth control pill use, ethnicity, and the clinic where they donated.
• Only then can we conduct the long term studies to clearly assess risks and properly inform women about the potential risks of these treatments.

"We already know that long term hormone replacement therapy is a risk for breast cancer and other female cancers. It's only logical to wonder if a possibility exists that the hormones injected to harvest eggs also increase the risk of certain cancers down the road." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Resources: 

1. Schneider J, Lahl J, Kramer W. Long-term breast cancer risk following ovarian stimulation in young egg donors: a call for follow-up, research and informed consent. ReprodBiomed Online. 2017 May;34(5):480-485.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28473127/
2. https://www.statnews.com/2017/01/28/egg-donors-risks/
3. https://www.cbc-network.org/issues/making-life/egg-donation-and-exploitation-of-women/
4. Brinton LA, Sahasrabuddhe VV, Scoccia B. Fertility drugs and the risk of breast and gynecologic cancers. Seminars in Reproductive Medicine. 2012 Apr;30(2):131-145.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4106369/

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In a world full of media, which may contain misinformation or fake news, there are conspiracy theories abounding. However, conspiracy theories, and the spreading of those theories, is not a new practice, it has been around and transmitting in any way that people communicate. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Joseph Uscinski talk about the origin of conspiracy theories and how these formal theories differ (and are similar) to the fake news and misinformation that fills our media screens today. They discuss some of the earliest US conspiracy theories, as well as some of the more modern ones, and how they are different now, with our current political climate, from what they may have done in the past. They also discuss why people believe these conspiracy theories, as well as why people believe in them, even in the face of refuting evidence. 

 Key Takeaways:

• The internet did not introduce the spread of conspiracy theories. They will always be spread in any way that people communicate.
• Our worldviews impact the media that we access, which then can filter which conspiracy theories we are likely to believe.
• The two most consistent predictors of those who believe in conspiracy theories are education and level of income.

"Most of the arguments about evidence, really aren’t about evidence - they’re just about subjective judgments about evidence, which gets us away from evidence and gets us back into how people interpret information and what the world views are they bring into interpreting that information." —  Dr. Joseph Uscinski

Connect with Dr. Joseph Uscinski:

Twitter: @JoeUscinski 

Website: JoeUscinski.com 

Books: American Conspiracy Theories & Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Among the biggest health fears adults have are getting a diagnosis of cancer or developing Alzheimer's disease. An estimated 6.2 million Americans aged 65 and older, actually are living with Alzheimer's today. That number could double by 2050. The worldwide number is estimated to be about 50 million. Alzheimer's develops later in life, and class can last anywhere from three to 10 years before the patient dies. And currently, there's no cure for the disease. Well, today's guest is uniquely suited to address these questions and tell us what's on the horizon in terms of research and treatment. Dr. Ryan Townley, of the neurology department at the University of Kansas Medical Center is a primary investigator at the university's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Not only does he see patients, but his role as Associate Director of the Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Consortium puts him in a unique position, he's at the cutting edge of the potential new treatments being tested. In todays’ episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Townley discuss the causes, symptoms, risk factors, and treatments (both current and in trials) of Alzheimer’s. 

 Key Takeaways:

• We know that amyloid plaques are kind of a hallmark of the disease, but we don't know if they're causative of the disease or the symptom.
• 35 to 40% of patients that develop Alzheimer's disease don't have an APOE e4 allele.
• Some supplements, individually, have gone through clinical trials. However, none of them have been done through classic clinical trials and supplements are not regulated and may not contain what they say. 
• Sleep, and good sleep, is the most overlooked important lifestyle factor in preventing Alzheimer’s disease. 

"Our early detection methods are really going to have to improve for us to make a major dent in changing the course of this disease." —  Dr. Ryan Townley

Connect with Dr. RyanTownley:

Professional Bio: https://www.kumc.edu/rtownley.html 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLJVcSxZ7GWxGLl6ouwVlVg 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-townley-51b74872/ 

Article: Alzheimer’s Disease, Aduhelm, and The Fear of False Hope

https://ordinary-times.com/2021/06/10/alzheimers-disease-aduhelm-and-the-fear-of-false-hope/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

When we hear the term tumor or cancer, the image that often comes to mind is a bunch of bad cells next to normal ones, and growing. Like many things, it's just not that simple. How do the normal cells turn bad? Can our immune systems detect the cancer cell and kill it? Why does some, initially successful, chemotherapy stopped working? Why does cancer spread? These are all great questions, since cancers of one kind or another, will affect so many of us either as patients, friends, or loved ones. Well, basic science is providing some critical answers. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Ajit Nirmal discuss just these questions. 

 Key Takeaways:

• If we didn't have an immune system, we'd all get cancer. 
• Drug resistance continues to be the principal limiting factor to achieving cures in patients with cancer.
• Once a normal cell has turned cancerous, it is likely dividing much faster than a normal cell. This rapid cell division is error prone, and can lead to accumulation of mutations at a much faster rate.

"I truly believe, with adequate basic understanding of the molecular underpinnings of cancer evolution, and how the tumor microenvironment helps it or promotes it, we will be able to predict the best course of action to target all cancer cells up until the very last one, and consequently to the patient." —  Dr. Ajit Nirmal

Connect with Dr. Ajit Nirmal:

Professional Bio: https://scholar.harvard.edu/ajitjohnson/home 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajitjohnsonnirmal/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Evidence is emerging that fluoride, a chemical that helps prevent dental cavities or caries, also is a neurotoxin that can cross the placenta and enter the developing brain. Recent studies reveal that excess fluoride during fetal development can result in impaired intelligence and cognition in children.

 Key Takeaways:

• Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay.
• An excess during gestation can produce dental "fluorosis" , discolored and even pitted teeth in the children
• Fluoride is also a neurotoxin, detectable in the parts of the brain involved in learning and memory
• Recent studies show an association between fluoride in maternal urine during pregnancy and impaired behavior in children
• People are getting more fluoride now because it is used in beverages, personal care products, and polluted air.

"Strong associations exist between the level of maternal urinary fluoride, in other words, how much the mother was exposed to, and the test scores of their children." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Further Reading: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6923889/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5915186/

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

What happens when we remember something?  Therese Markow talks with neuroscientist Dr. Ben Albensi about how memory works, involving both chemical and structural changes.  They talk about the signals in the brain, the connections among different brain regions underlying memory, and the role of sleep in consolidating the memory process.  Dr. Albensi also describes what happens when a person suffers amnesia.

 Key Takeaways:

• Memory begins in the brain region called the hippocampus, from which chemical signals and neural connections then extend to other regions.
• These connections are important for memory.
• Enriched environments result in more connections.
• Sleep is critical to the memory process.

"We’ve learned from scientific evidence and experiments that sleep is critical to quality of memory and memory consolidation." —  Dr. Ben Albensi

Connect with Dr. Ben Albensi: 

Hôpital St-Boniface Hospital Profile: Dr. Benedict C. Albensi  

Email: [email protected] 

Cell Phone: 973-668-0206

LinkedIn: Benedict C. Albensi, PhD, BCMAS, CRQM

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Infertility is on the rise, leading otherwise healthy young couples to seek a form of assisted reproductive technology appropriate for their particular situation. This increase infertility of considerable concern. Is one sex affected more than the other? What are the long-range implications if the trend keeps going? Is it only humans that appear to be affected? And the critical question is why? In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Shanna Swan, author of the new book Count Down, answer many of these questions, including discussion of the types of chemicals and other factors that may contribute to the rising infertility.

 Key Takeaways:

• The number of “good” sperm observed in human populations (as indicated by the WHO) has dramatically decreased. Other characteristics for function, such as abnormal shape, inability to swim correctly, and chromosomal abnormalities are increasing as well.
• Male and female infertility is about 50/50.
• Newborn babies are being born “pre-polluted” with up to 100 environmental chemicals. 
• One solution you can undertake yourself is to determine where your food comes from, as that’s what’s going into your body.

"I'm convinced that a large proportion of the decline we're seeing is due to chemical exposures, man-made chemicals." —  Dr. Shanna Swan

Connect with Dr. Shanna Swan:

Professional Bio: mountsinai.org/profiles/shanna-h-swan  

Website: shannaswan.com 

Book: Count Down - shannaswan.com/countdown

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shanna-swan-phd-339a4258

Instagram: instagram.com/drshannaswan

Twitter: twitter.com/DrShannaSwan

Reference:

Environmental Working Group: ewg.org

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Many people have addictions. While much of the time we think of substance addictions, such as drugs or alcohol, there is an increasing rise in behavioral addictions as well, which are often not viewed in society as addictions however real they are and however many issues they cause. Where are these addictions coming from? How do they form? How can they be treated?  In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Amanda Giordano, author of A Clinical Guide to Treating Behavioral Addictions, discuss just these questions and go into further details regarding the topics, including cyber sex addiction, genetic predispositions to addiction, and how the itnernet has affected the rise of behavioral addictions. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Our brains pay attention to what causes a release of dopamine and pay more attention to those behaviors, increasing the desire and motivation to seek out those rewards associated with that release. 
• There is a difference between high involvement in a behavior and addiction in a behavior. If it doesn’t hit the 4 C’s of addiction (compulsion, loss of control, negative consequences, cravings) it may not be an addiction. 
• There are resources available for behavioral addictions, like there are for substance addictions. 
• We're seeing that online relationships don't take the place of the offline connection and that need to belong.

"For the longest time, addiction was seen as a moral failing or the result of a character flaw. Unfortunately, that view is still very present today. But we know that it's not a morality issue - it's a biological, psychological and social issue." —  Dr. Amanda Giordano

Connect with Dr. Amanda Giordano:

Professional Bio: https://people.coe.uga.edu/amanda-giordano/ 

Blog: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understanding-addiction   

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amandaleegiordano  

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Clinical-Guide-Treating-Behavioral-Addictions/dp/0826163165 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Sexual assaults of women, men, and children are always in the news. We know a lot about this when it comes to little children, but for adults, especially women, what constitutes a sexual assault? Lack of consent, forced intimate relations? How does one prove an assault took place? Often the information provided by medical forensic experts is brought to bear on these cases. Today's guest, Dr. Felice Gersh, is not only a distinguished OBGYN and Integrative Medicine Specialist, but she often serves as an expert witness when medical forensics are required to clarify if or what type of sexual assault took place. This is an important, interesting, and sometimes very fuzzy topic. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Gersh discuss this process and the challenges of sexual assault cases.

 Key Takeaways:

• When reporting acute sexual assaults, there are special nurses in the hospital called SANE nurses, sexual assault nurse examiners, that will do a detailed forensic examination on the victim. These exams are standardized nationally.
• In the courtroom, you speak about genitalia as the body parts they are. It makes everyone feel more comfortable when you speak of things anatomically rather than treating them as hush hush. 
• As a forensic medical expert, it is important to report the facts and what can or cannot be possible, not to decide if someone is innocent or guilty. 

"My job [as a medical forensic expert] is really an educator. My job is to review the evidence, then explain everything in as clear, plain, and understandable language as I can to a jury so that they will understand what the evidence really means." —  Dr. Felice Gersh

Connect with Dr. Felice Gersh:

Professional Bio: https://integrativemgi.com/about-dr-felice-gersh/ 

Website: https://integrativemgi.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrFeliceGersh 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeMGI/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felice-gersh-md-b0422b13/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.felicegersh/ 

Book: PCOS SOS: A Gynecologist's Lifeline To Naturally Restore Your Rhythms, Hormones, and Happiness

https://www.amazon.com/Pcos-SOS-Gynecologists-Naturally-Happiness/dp/1911443119/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

As the world experiences the continuation of the COVID-19 virus, we see a growing number of COVID-19 survivors who continue to have symptoms for weeks and even months after the acute phase of their disease subsided. These individuals have gained the name COVID-19 Long Haulers. What's this all about? What's happening to these patients and how can they be helped? Well, there's no better person to address these issues than today's guest, Dr. Jason Maley. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Jason Maley discuss just these questions and Dr. Maley’s research and clinical work focuses on recovery and the long term outcomes for these patients and their families after COVID-19.

Key Takeaways:

• Long Haul COVID symptoms can manifest differently depending on each person. While there are common patterns, each patient is unique. 
• We know how to treat the symptoms of Long COVID-19, but we do not yet know how to treat the underlying conditions. 
• Currently, the best studies have found evidence of inflammation and injury in the brain, but not evidence of the virus itself, however, research is still ongoing. 

"There are theories, and some papers have been published that are early and not yet definitive, discussing the possibility of antibodies directed against other parts of patient’s bodies, autoimmune antibodies, that could play a role in Long COVID and be explaining why, in the absence of the virus itself, people continue to have months or even years of symptoms." —  Dr. Jason Maley

Connect with Dr. Jason Maley:

Professional Bio: https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/160605 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jhmaley?lang=en 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-maley-b2486786 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Some people live more than a hundred years with no health problems and very little cognitive decline.  How come?  While healthy lifestyles certainly play a part in healthy aging, these “centenarians” share a number of special biological attributes.  Furthermore, these attributes, along with attaining an age of 100 or greater, show a strong genetic component.  Dr. Stacy Andersen of the Boston University School of Medicine has been studying these centenarians and the factors that are associated with not only their attaining an advanced age, but doing so with no history of major physical or mental health problems.  In her interview, Dr. Andersen discusses what she and her colleagues have discovered about this unusual group of older people.

 Key Takeaways:

• Centenarians are people who have reached 100 years of age, while “supercentenarians” are 110 and older.
• Recent studies of these groups of adults reveal that during their lives they have “escaped” the diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular problems, dementia, and diabetes that cause earlier mortality among adults born at the same time.
• Dr. Anderson discusses her work on the genetic bases for being an “escaper”, as well as the lifestyle and personality characteristics they have in common.

"The older you get, the healthier you’ve been." —  Dr. Stacy Andersen

Connect with Dr. Stacy Andersen:

BUMC Bio: profiles.bu.edu/Stacy.Andersen  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

The last decades have seen a continuing rise in really serious and often fatal health problems. The list is long: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, infertility, autoimmune diseases, autism, just to name a few. While vulnerability to disease often has an underlying genetic predisposition, there have to be environmental triggers to set these diseases in motion. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Aly Cohen discuss just these topics and what we can look for on a daily basis, as well as the small changes that we can, individually, do to make our lives a little healthier. 

 Key Takeaways:

• It's estimated there are about 95,000 chemicals available on the US market for everything we use from cleaning products, makeup, and everything we use.
• The US has only banned 5 chemicals since 1976. European countries have banned around 1200, on average.
• There are resources out there to help you to vet the products you are using in your life such as The Environmental Working Group and Skin Deep Database.

"The goal is less is more - use fewer products, the products that you use, if you want to use them, just vet them." —  Dr. Aly Cohen

Connect with Dr. Aly Cohen:

Website: https://thesmarthuman.com/ 

TedTalk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSCeP0hyuTI 

Show: https://thesmarthuman.com/podcast/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSmartHuman 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSmartHuman 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb6NhglVIu6ruM19QNhpJDw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aly-cohen-md-facr-0b570749/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmarthuman/ 

Book: https://thesmarthuman.com/dr-aly-cohen-and-dr-fred-vom-saals-new-book-available-now/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Should everyone go to college? Well, for years, this was considered an important goal in life - a college education. The idea being that with a college degree, a better paying job would result. There are so many college majors from art to business to engineering to language arts, among others. How does one know, besides what they happen to be interested in, if the degree they get is actually going to yield the expected employment benefits? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Richard Phelps discuss what a college degree signals to employers, inefficiencies in the current US elementary and secondary school systems, the struggle that today’s school counselors have with traditional career guidance, as well as looking at how college systems work in the United States and around the world. 

 Key Takeaways:

• On average, college grads have higher lifetime earnings than non college grads, but there is overlap. Certified technicians in robotics or computer numerical controlled machining probably have higher lifetime earnings on average then college grads who majored in poetry or fabric art.
• Shorter programs can provide a career credential to students who would otherwise drop out with nothing to show for their time served
• The best career tech programs are found where career tech courses are offered in dedicated regional vocational schools. This can vary from state to state are more easily done in states, such as in the Northeast, where there is a denser population of students. 

"Supporters of the one size fits all US system, often label the European and East Asian systems as elitist...And they'll say that our system is a more democratic Second Chance system. That contrast may have been valid 67 years ago, but I don't think it is anymore." —  Dr. Richard Phelps

Connect with Dr. Richard Phelps: 

Twitter: @RichardPPhelps

Website: RichardPhelps.net & NonpartisanEducation.org

Research Gate: Richard P Phelps

SSRN Scholarly Papers: Richard P. Phelps

Academia: Richard P Phelps

LinkedIn: Richard P Phelps

LinkedIn Learning: Richard P Phelps

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow answers questions from the listeners! Today, she discusses why you can sell plasma or semen, but not something like a kidney. She also talks about the current hot topic of inflammation, including chronic inflammation, and what is and is not, and reminds us all, that knowledge is power for a healthy life.

 Key Takeaways:

• It's illegal in the United States to sell a kidney. Laws against kidney selling are designed to keep you healthy, and to keep economically disadvantaged people from being exploited.
• Data from a large number of studies suggests that over time, chronic untreated, internal inflammation can lead to many serious age related diseases, not just heart disease and cancer, but also neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. 
• Knowledge is power - if you think it is inflammation, get tested and you will know rather than potentially treating yourself for the wrong thing.

"Knowledge is power. While there are many benefits to avoiding so called inflammatory foods, and to taking some supplements that may appear to reduce inflammation, it's better to find out if you have inflammation and, if you do, what's causing it." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Dr. Therese Markow talks with psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Daniel Blumberger about depression that does not respond to medications and behavioral cognitive therapy.  Approximately one third of patients suffering from major depression are “Treatment Resistant”.

Fortunately, there are a range of brain stimulation techniques that help the majority of these patients. Electroconvulsive therapy or ETC, has evolved into a much more benign procedure than depicted earlier in movies and has the best outcomes in patients with major depression.  New techniques, involving stimulation of the brain magnetically, such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) also can be effective and are being refined for broader use.  Depression is a serious and sometimes fatal disease, and there is hope for those resistant to pharmaceutical approaches.

 Key Takeaways:

• Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, is a debilitating disorder that can be fatal
• About a third of those suffering from MDD, do not respond to. pharmaceutical treatments.
• The majority of these patients benefit from ECT, which now has been greatly improved.
• A newer group of brain treatments, using magnetic stimulation, also are useful for Treatment Resistant Depression.
• Sufferers should ask their physicians about access to these non-pharmaceutical treatments.

"It is very important to intervene early when someone isn’t responding to medication. The more treatments that someone doesn’t respond to, the less likely that they will respond to each subsequent course of treatment. The longer things linger, the harder it is to get someone better." —  Dr. Daniel Blumberger

Connect with Dr. Daniel Blumberger:

CAMH Profile: Dr. Daniel Blumberger  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Daniel Blumberger

Date of appointment May 8, 2020

Date created May 3, 2020

Critically Speaking Guest Interview

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=16987289&action=appt&id%5B%5D=29e531037007b14b2f367229a9f7cb65

Name: Daniel Blumberger

Phone: (415) 535-8501

Email: [email protected]

Guest Intake Form

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Provide a link to your website or online professional profile/bio: https://www.camh.ca/en/science-and-research/science-and-research-staff-directory/danielblumberger

Provide any links to social media or publications such as articles or books you would like to share with the audience.: 

Please provide your professional affiliation and areas of expertise and you would like it to appear in our show notes.: Medical Head and Co-Director, Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto

Is there anything specific you’d like to share with our audience?: no

Are there specific questions you'd like Therese Markow to ask you? Please include them here.: 

By selecting yes, you grant permission to Therese Markow to record the interview, post content on the internet obtained during the interview, and promote the content. Once published, any editing will not be possible.: yes

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 disabilities, how to identify and diagnose dyslexia, as well as the impact that dyslexia has on not only individuals, but also society as a whole. As a dyslexia advocate, Lorraine Hightower has spearheaded movements to identify kids with dyslexia early, to advocate for them within the educational system, and help parents of dyslexic kids navigate their journey. This ultimately allows for kids to reach their full potential and avoid unfortunate outcomes as they become adults.

Key Takeaways:

• Dyslexia is neuro-biological and is genetic in origin. It can often be identified even before kindergarten, though is more often identified in early elementary. 
• Dyslexia impacts different individuals in different ways and the severity can vary wildly.
• When given appropriate interventions or taught reading differently, the outcomes can be very positive for students with dyslexia.

"When these children are not taught how to read in our public school systems, the consequences extend well beyond this one individual and it does become a societal problem as well." —  Lorraine Hightower

Connect with Lorraine Hightower:

Professional Bio: https://www.lorrainehightower.com/lorraine 

Website: https://www.lorrainehightower.com/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LorraineMHightowerLLC/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorraine-hightower 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 cures for autism are becoming more common and understanding the facts of autism is becoming more critical. In this discussion with Dr. Beversdorf, we will understand more about what is autism, what are the symptoms, who first discovered it, what really causes it (and what doesn’t), and what effective treatments may be out there. 

 Key Takeaways:  

• Vaccines do not cause autism. We do know there is a genetic component and several environmental factors that appear to be important. 
• There is a variability aspect of autism. It may be extremely important to be able to track patients to see what they respond to in treatment research to see why and how they are responding. 
• Without more research, we will not be able to create personalized treatment plans for the bio markers. There are a number of organizations around the world that working to achieve this research, which is where the answers will be coming from. 

"Two, almost opposite biological aspects, could even be coming to this final common pathway of repetitive behaviors. If you blindly target the repetitive behaviors with a drug, without being aware of this biology, you will get nowhere, because one will get better and one will get worse." —  Dr. David Beversdorf 

Connect with Dr. David Beversdorf: 

Professional Bio: Dr. David Beversdorf 

Twitter: @MU_CogNeuroLab 

Facebook: MU Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory 

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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? How birth control pills modify hormones and related metabolic processes? What about hormones and postmenopausal women?  In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Felice Gersh discuss these questions and more. As an OBGYN and a dual certified integrative gynecologist, Dr. Gersh shares information on the effects of hormones in female puberty, the rise of acne as a disease of western, modern society, and the importance of menstrual cycles as a sign of underlying health conditions. 

 Key Takeaways:

• From 12 weeks gestation, the placenta produces the hormones of embryonic formation.
• The menstrual cycle is a vital sign of reproductive age, female health - like blood pressure, vital signs, weight, or temperature. How well the menstrual cycle of a young, reproductive aged female is functioning is a vital sign of her underlying health status. 
• In postmenoposal women, if we give estrogen vaginally, we can help both the bladder and the vagina to be significantly more functional and healthier.
• In menopause, all estrogen should be given transdermally. 

"You need hormones, and you need them in the beautiful rhythms and the right amounts that nature was designed to give us in order for a proper development and functioning." —  Dr. Felice Gersh

Connect with Dr. Felice Gersh:

Professional Bio: https://integrativemgi.com/about-dr-felice-gersh/ 

Website: https://integrativemgi.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrFeliceGersh 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeMGI/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felice-gersh-md-b0422b13/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.felicegersh/ 

Book: PCOS SOS: A Gynecologist's Lifeline To Naturally Restore Your Rhythms, Hormones, and Happiness

https://www.amazon.com/Pcos-SOS-Gynecologists-Naturally-Happiness/dp/1911443119/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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, in infant temperament and childhood cognitive (IQ) decrements, other effects do not show up until years later, in adult psychiatric and neurodegenerative problems.  The physical bases for these changes in fetal brains also are clearly evidenced in laboratory model systems, such as mice, where the maternal diets can be controlled and the offspring not only can be given behavioral tests, but their brains can be dissected to reveal the changes in the blood vessels caused by obese mothers.

 Key Takeaways:

• Children born to obese mothers have lower IQs and poorer motor, spatial, and verbal skills.
• Mice and rodents have similar brain development to humans, which is why rodent study models are so beneficial to science.
• Brain maturation takes many years. Your brain is fully formed at birth but continues to mature and change into your mid-twenties.

"Because of the rise in obesity globally, a lot of people have started to look, rather than looking at famine…, to now shift our attention to looking at the long-term effects of obesity because 30% of women around the world, over the age of 18, are now considered to be obese." —  Dr. Cheryl Hawkes

Connect with Dr. Cheryl Hawkes: 

Lancaster University Profile: Dr. Cheryl Hawkes  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

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 as well as the safest seat in different types of plane crashes. 

 Key Takeaways:

• There is a difference between safety from COVID-19 and in a crash. 
• There is some reduction in risk of infection by sitting by the window if you are sitting in economy. Wear your mask.
• Go to the bathroom before you fly so you don’t have to get up and expose yourself to more people.
• Exit proximity and fitness are important factors in surviving a plane crash. 

"For both issues, avoiding COVID and having the highest survival after a crash, the safest seats seem to be the window seats at the exit row." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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. While hoarding is a word that is thrown around in our common vernacular (such as people hoarding toilet paper early in this pandemic), there is more to hoarding than what most people know. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Mary Dozier discuss what hoarding is, how it can manifest itself, and what we currently know about hoarding disorder. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Unlike many psychiatric disorders, hoarding disorder actually tends to worsen as we get older. 
• People tend to hoard the same things that most people hold on to, just in greater quantities. 
• One of the primary reasons that people seek out treatment is often that people want to be able to have other people to their homes. 

"Having attachments to objects, by itself, isn't necessarily problematic. The problem begins when the attachment is so great, and the number of objects is so many, that the individual is unable to go about their daily lives." —  Dr. Mary Dozier

Connect with Dr. Mary Dozier:

Professional Bio: psychology.msstate.edu/people/mary-dozier

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 recognize other members of their group? Can they avoid predation? Is their feeding specialized on particular flowers or colorful insects? We talk about these questions today.

 Key Takeaways:

• Color detection depends on the number and types of cones in the eye, while rods detect movement.
• Dogs and bulls, having only two types of cones as opposed to three in humans, see as if they were a color blind person.
• The bright green or red toys we buy for a dog are more for us to find the toy than the dog. The red cape is not what makes the bull charge.
• Some birds have four cones and can see at different wavelengths and can see below the ocean surface

"Animals see colors if it is important to them for their survival and reproduction - in other words, to find food, to detect, avoid, or fool predators, as well as in courtship rituals." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 the process of wound healing and subsequent regeneration, and how findings in lower organisms can help us to understand and enhance regeneration in humans. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Karen Echeverri discuss what happens when you get a wound, the role the immune system plays in regeneration, and the difference between  vertebrate and invertebrate regeneration. They also discuss how regeneration shows up differently in axolotls, zebrafish, and even humans. 

 Key Takeaways:

• The axolotl is the champion of regeneration - it can regenerate portions of internal organs, tail, and lesions in the brain and spinal cord. 
• The amount of regeneration time is in proportion to the size of the animal. 
• Understanding the different mechanisms  of regeneration in various animal species is the key to developing effective treatments for these serious human injuries.

"Our highest regenerative ability is, when we're youngest, so young babies have the highest regenerative potential. There is some evidence that very young children can regenerate the partial digit tip. As the child grows older, and again, their immune system becomes more developed, they also lose that regenerative ability." —  Dr. Karen Echeverri

Connect with Dr. Karen Echeverri:

Professional Bio: http://www.neuroscience.umn.edu/people/karen-echeverri-phd 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-echeverri-4a837514 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 medical detection. But what, exactly, makes a dog good in detection, and how do they do it? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Paul Waggoner, of the Auburn University Canine Performance Sciences Center, discuss these questions and many more. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Not all dogs make great detection dogs, although all dogs have greater olfactory detection abilities than humans. 
• Dogs are unique in their social affinity with people because they have coevolved socially with people. This makes them easier to train.
• Detection dogs keep us safe from many dangers.
• A well trained detection dog can be very expensive and their handler must be trained as well.
• In using dogs for medical detection training, the challenge is to maintain a dog’s ability to distinguish between the cancer scent and the odor associated with the particular individuals.

"What tends to separate dogs that are capable of detection work and those that are not, is a history for what they've been selectively bred for hundreds of years to do." —  Dr. Paul Waggoner

Connect with Dr. Paul Waggoner:

Canine Performance Sciences: https://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/research/cps/ 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/L-Waggoner   

Donate to Canine Performance Sciences:  www.vetmed.auburn.edu/research/CPS or https://www.auburngiving.org/ designating the gift for CPS.

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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, change as well. While the term global is used, there's considerable variation from one geographic area to another with respect to what kinds of changes are happening. An important, but often overlooked, aspect of climate change is its influence on infectious disease. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Luis Escobar discuss what these diseases are, how we can see a growth in the bacteria that are directly influenced by climate, and how different elements play a role in the rate and spread of these diseases.

 Key Takeaways:

• We know that there are many types of bacteria that are directly influenced by climate because when temperature in the water increases, the number of bacteria increases.
• We can use chlorophyll to measure the changes in the color in the oceans, lakes, or rivers. We can use satellite data to track changes in chlorophyll which is important as climate change is occurring globally.
• The distribution of disease vectoring insects and their pathogens changes with global warming.
• Climate, local policy, and culture can all play different roles in how disease spreads and grows throughout the world. 

"Mosquitos are the most lethal animals and kill more people than any other animal in the world. Mosquitos transmit many diseases, including malaria, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, zika, chikungunya, and filariasis." —  Dr. Luis Escobar

Connect with Dr. Luis Escobar:

Professional Bio: https://www.globalchange.vt.edu/dr-luis-escobar/   

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 non-verbal communication and the department chair and a professor at the University of Buffalo, discuss the many aspects of lying. They talk about lies versus deception and how the definition of the rules of deception can change by culture. They also discuss lying in interpersonal relationships and in the criminal justice system (including what makes an effective interrogator), and how managing emotions and credibility plays a role in lying. 

 Key Takeaways:

• A lie is a deliberate attempt to mislead without prior notification. 
• Without understanding someone’s baseline, it is harder to notice deviations in behavior that may indicate a lie. 
• Depending on how you look, juries (and other individuals) may be more likely to believe you are guilty of an action.
• Good interrogators tend to be good rapport builders

"There is no such thing as a pinocchio response. There is no human response that is exclusive to deception." —  Dr. Mark Frank

Connect with Dr. Mark Frank:

Professional Bio: http://www.buffalo.edu/cas/communication/faculty/frank.html   

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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-handed people left-handed? Is it genetic? Are their brains different? Are they smarter? Do they live longer or die earlier? Well, there's a lot of information about left handers circulating in social media, especially making all kinds of claims about left handed people. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Clare Porac, one of the world’s experts in handedness, answer these questions. Dr. Porac has extensively studied a range of different aspects of handedness and lateral reality reflected by her several 100 academic publications and two books.

 Key Takeaways:

• There are worldwide variations on handedness because there are cultural variations on handedness. Worldwide, there is about a 10% rate of left handedness.
• When it comes to fetal thumb sucking, right thumb suckers tend to be right handed. Left thumb suckers do not have a correlation to handedness. 
• If you want to switch your handedness, it takes practice, but it is possible to at least achieve a level of the other handedness. 
• Do you really think left handers are more intelligent?  Live longer?

"The incidence rate of pure left-handers, people who do everything with their left hand,  is really quite low, probably below 5% of the population. Most left handers do something with their right hand. That could be because, their lateral reality is more fluid, since they are not strongly right-handed. Or it could be because they're adapting to a right handed world." —  Dr. Clare Porac

Connect with Dr. Clare Porac:

Professional Bio: https://behrend.psu.edu/person/clare-porac-phd

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hilefthander?lang=en 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4lefthanders 

Book: Laterality: Exploring Left Handedness https://www.amazon.com/Laterality-Exploring-Left-Handedness-Clare-Porac/dp/0128012390 

Book: Lateral Preferences and Human Behavior https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FB3D6WK/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2 

Book: In Strange Places

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091B77337/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Blog: https://sites.psu.edu/clarep/ 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 experiences (NDEs) have been known about for a long time, we, as a scientific community, are starting to understand more about what they mean for neurological processes. However, despite knowing the science of what is happening, NDEs and how they are experienced are subject to one’s own beliefs, context, and even religious framework. Dr. Alcock and Therese also discuss the the relationship between near death experiences, hallucinations, and even reactions to various drugs and how they create powerful subjective experiences. 

 Key Takeaways:

• In surveys taken in the United States, about 3% of people have reported having near death experiences. This number can be difficult to assess as they are based on memory and the surveys are taken, sometimes, years after the incident in question.
• It is difficult to prove the near death experiences in research studies due to the subjectiveness of what is being perceived. 
• Even with the science that we do know, those who have near death experiences (including neurologists who have studied the brain) report the reality of the feelings and perceptions that are felt in these experiences. 

"Context is important. Our interpretation is important. And it's very difficult, if not impossible, for any individual to distinguish between reality and subjective fantasies in those situations." —  Dr. James Alcock

Connect with Dr. James Alcock:

Wikipedia Page: James Alcock  

Book: Belief: What it Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions are so Compelling 

Magazine: Skeptical Inquirer

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 today’s episode, Therese Markow answers listener questions regarding occupational cancer risks. She discusses the types of occupations that can expose individuals to the cancer causing substances, and what we can do to try and minimize our risks. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Radiation, chemicals, and viruses can all cause cancer.  
• Be aware of the potential radiation risks in your work environment and take the precautions that are needed whenever possible. 
• There are many types of volatile organic compounds or VOCs. But particular careers are associated with higher exposure to carcinogenic VOCs. If one works in one of those sectors, there are precautions to take to reduce risks.  

"We've all been through so much in the last year with the pandemic. Let's be aware of where other risks linger as we go back to the workplace, wherever that may be." —  Therese Markow, Ph.D.

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 large, like it's the new normal. Yet the costs of health problems associated with obesity are huge, and numerous, ranging from hospitalization and medicines to absenteeism at work. Also, it doesn't help when advertisements and beauty contests targeting overweight or obese women, especially, are more and more prevalent. What kind of message does that sound? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Walter Willett discuss this epidemic, the marketing behind many of the poor food choices made by the general public, and how all sectors of society need to be involved in creating a healthier population. 

 Key Takeaways:

• A lot of the obesity epidemic gets it starts in early childhood, and children continue to get more and more obese as they get older. They're victims of a society that is pushing through very sophisticated kinds of marketing of unhealthy foods that shorten the lives of people who consume them. 
• Even before the pandemic, life expectancy has actually decreased in the United States and we have fallen behind many other developed countries. 
• The real costs to many of these value added foods are the health cost of the consumers, especially kids, and the habit that gets developed and continues on into adulthood.

"What we really need to do is make SNAP better for the participants, and that will be better for everybody. Our whole society does depend on having a healthy population." —  Dr. Walter Willett

Connect with Dr. Walter Willett:

Professional Bio: hsph.harvard.edu/walter-willett

Book: amazon.com/Eat-Drink-Be-Healthy-Harvard/dp/0743266420

Book: amazon.com/Eat-Drink-Weigh-Less-Delicious/dp/1401308929  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 live? How big are they? What are the risks of these murder hornets? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Ed Vargo discuss these questions and more. Bees, wasps, and hornets are all part of the same insect order, hymenoptera, but there are thousands of different species, both social and solitary of these insects. Dr. Vargo breaks down some of the differences and talks about the risks of the murder hornets and what we can do against them. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Solitary wasps tend to be non-aggressive, they want to be left alone. Social wasps, that live in colonies, can be more aggressive as they are protecting their nests. All hornets are social and live in colonies. 
• Unless you are very allergic, it takes 30-50 stings to kill a human being. 
• While it is unlikely we will be able to eradicate the murder hornets in North America, by making ourselves aware, we might be able to slow their spread. 

"All wasps are predators that feed their brood, the developing larvae, prey, usually in the form of arthropods. They go out and they hunt, and they kill and eat." —  Dr. Ed Vargo

Connect with Dr. Ed Vargo:

Professional Bio: Texas A&M University: Urban and Structural Entomology Program at Texas A&M University  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 careful with respect to what we eat, when during our waking hours we are eating also has a significant effect on weight gain and general health. The same amount and types of calories can have vastly different health effects depending upon when they are consumed. The light-dark cycle influences our sleep wake circadian rhythm, but the time of day we eat controls another metabolic circadian rhythm. Today we talk with a discoverer of this eating-mediated circadian rhythm, Dr. Satchin Panda of the Salk Institute in La Jolla. Dr. Panda has laid this system out for us in his book, “The Circadian Code : Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight.”

 Key Takeaways:

• The same amount of calories consumed throughout the day leads to more weight gain that does eating them meals within a 10 hour time frame. 
• This is called time restricted eating or TRE.
• In addition, a number of health indicators are better with TRE, leading to reduced risk for diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
• Consuming ice cream before bed, or raiding the refrigerator in the middle of the night, are among the worst practices. Better to have the ice cream earlier in the day.

"The field of nutrition science, over the last 100 years, has verified and validated that the quality and quantity of nutrition are extremely important for health. And now this new concept also tells us that the timing of food is equally, or even more, important." —  Dr. Satchin Panda

Connect with Dr. Satchin Panda:

Professional Bio: salk.edu/scientist/satchidananda-panda

Website:  panda.salk.edu

Book: amazon.com/Circadian-Code-Supercharge-Transform-Midnight/dp/163565243X

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 importance as we recognize that traumatized youth need treatment for this. Spearheading research in this area is Dr. Ryan Herringa. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Herringa discuss the history of PTSD, how it often manifests in both adults and children, as well as the types of traumas that can cause pediatric PTSD. They also discuss the long term implications and risks for pediatric PTSD, as well as the structural and functional changes to the brain due these lingering traumas.

 Key Takeaways:

• Development will have an impact on how PTSD is expressed in kids.
• Parents, caretakers, and teachers are more likely to notice PTSD in the children in their lives. 
• There is increasing recognition and awareness of pediatric PTSD, however, there is more work to be done in being able to train people to administer therapies, to pick up on PTSD, and have systems that will be able to reach all of these kids.  

"Any type of trauma that involves the potential for serious injury or threat of life, in oneself (in the child) or, potentially, to someone else (such as a loved one or family member) can cause PTSD in a child." —  Dr. Ryan Herringa

Connect with Dr. Ryan Herringa:

Professional Bio: psychiatry.wisc.edu/staff/herringa-ryan

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryan-herringa-b2a31320

BRAVE Research Center: brave.psychiatry.wisc.edu

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 one of these environmental factors and how our individual underarm hygiene may play a role in our risk for breast (and prostate) cancers earlier in life. Dr. McGrath has had a long time interest in this trend and they discuss some of his work on the relationship between underarm shaving and the use of deodorants and antiperspirants.

 Key Takeaways:

• The majority of breast cancer is environmental or lifestyle. Only 5-10% of breast cancer is due to genetic causes. So what are the factors?
• Both breast cancer and prostate cancer are hormone-driven cancers.
• More research needs to be done, but there already is a significant and scary relationship between underarm hygiene and beast and prostate cancers. 

"In my paper, I showed that the earlier you began underarm habits, shaving your underarm and applying antiperspirant deodorant three times a week or more, the diagnosis of breast cancer began at a younger age, especially if you started using these products before the age of 16." —  Dr. Kris McGrath

Connect with Dr. Kris McGrath:

Professional Bio: feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=15819  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 wonder about.  Mosquitoes are attracted to CO2 as well as body odors.  Supposed remedies, like taking B vitamins or eating garlic, lack scientific evidence to back them up.  The differences between people are largely genetic.  Identical twins exhibit highly similar attractiveness or unattractiveness while fraternal twins do not.  Now, to find the genes underlying these differences in hopes of using them to protect people. Pregnant women and people with obesity seem to be more attractive to mosquitoes, as are people who have had a beer. 

1. How come some vertebrates, like salamanders, can regenerate an arm, while other vertebrates, like humans, can’t? From Jocelyn in Edmonton, Canada…..good question and an area of intensive investigation.  Regeneration is a complex process, involving many genes and their regulation.  In some cases, we do have the same genes that allow amphibians to regenerate but they have been turned off or modified such that they don’t allow regeneration.  In other cases, some of the genes involved in regeneration have been lost over evolutionary time.  Keep listening because in the future we will have an entire episode dedicated to regeneration. 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Most of us take for granted that the seafood we eat is healthy and better for the atmosphere.  But there are hidden costs in our increasing consumption of seafood that we don’t see.  Why?  Because these costs are accrued on the high seas and under the sea, where few journalists endeavor to cover them.  Sea slavery, overfishing, pollution, and loss of revenue for people already struggling to make a living are extensive, but not well known.  Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigative reporter Ian Urbina has seen these horrors firsthand and talks with us today about his book “The Outlaw Ocean” and his foundation of the same name.

 Key Takeaways:

•  Approximately 50 of our seafood is farmed, and the other 50 percent arrives to consumers via practices involving human abuse and serious environmental damage. 
• Much of the farmed fish eat fish-meal that is derived from massive overfishing of fish less desirable for eating (but nonetheless ecologically important) and other species, such as whales, sharks, turtles) caught up in the fishing process.  Cooked, ground up, and used to feed the farmed fish.  
• We tend to think about greenhouse gases as being the driver of global change, but these practices are wreaking severe havoc on the planet, underwater.
• Human abuse and slavery are often involved in the fleets that harvest from the sea.  Invisible people, disposable people.
• Because all of the above take place out of sight, the damage usually goes unseen for lack of journalistic coverage.  It’s expensive to document but critical that it’s brought to light.

"There is a dark irony to aquaculture and raising fish on land and in pens. It was meant, and supported for many years by environmentalists, as a way to slow the rate of depletion of the wild fish. Now, because those aquaculture fish are being fed pelletized wild-caught fish, it's actually speeding up the rate of ocean depletion." —  Ian Urbina

Connect with Ian Urbina:

Twitter:  twitter.com/ian_urbina

Facebook: facebook.com/IanUrbinaReporter

Website: theoutlawocean.com

Book: theoutlawocean.com/book

YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCykiIhv2wP4-BftEiKb241Q

Instagram: instagram.com/ian_urbina

Subscribe to The Outlaw Ocean Project News Letter: http://urbina.io/3th01mf

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. James Alcock to the show, this time, he is here to discuss the paranormal and parapsychology. Throughout their discussion, Therese Markow and Dr. Alcock explain what is meant by paranormal, different types of supernatural phenomena and paranormal abilities, and the types of experiments that attempt to prove these abilities exist. There is a long history of paranormal beliefs that has evolved throughout the years, culminating in what we now call parapsychology. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Despite the lack of scientific evidence that paranormal phenomena are real, it is difficult to convince those who want to believe because it is impossible to prove a negative.  For example, How can you prove that Santa Claus doesn’t exist?
• No universities in the USA or Canada  have a department in parapsychology.  In some schools courses in parapsychology are offered.. 
• Statistics cannot give causation, they can only say when there is a significant departure from what you would expect by chance.  In the case of parapsychology experiments, statistical evidence falls short. 

"There's no other area of science where the phenomena are based on negative definitions." —  Dr. James Alcock

Connect with Dr. James Alcock:

Wikipedia Page: James Alcock  

Book: Belief: What it Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions are so Compelling 

Magazine: Skeptical Inquirer

Link to relevant article:  https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://skepticalinquirer.org/__;!!Mih3wA!RHu5rIp1RgLXolzIlcKGsg5PlFaPu1afl6y6NJJWumPGtrUUz1HnNCeN6a9S9Jo$

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Dr. Adam Schiavi is an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His areas of clinical expertise include anesthesiology, neurological critical care, disorders of consciousness and brain death diagnosis, clinical ethics, critical care medicine, and traumatic brain injury.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Adam Schiavi discuss how the definition of death has changed throughout history, what the current definition is, and how that is determined by the medical technology of the time. Brain death is the current definition of death, medically, but what happens to a body after brain death is determined can vary depending on the state you live in. This can be a trying time for families and for the providers involved with the now-deceased patient as the definition of death is not understood by everyone. They also discuss how brain death differs from other states of consciousness and how people often confuse the terminology of those different states, as well as the ability to hope for healing from all but brain death.

 Key Takeaways:

• The total cessation of all functions of the brain is the current definition of brain death in the United States. This definition is based on a clinical exam testing all parts of the brain, typically done by somebody certified in doing brain death determinations.
• You have to have a reason for the neurologic exam to be declining. Without a reason, you can't call somebody brain dead.
• You can replace every organ in the body, but you cannot replace the brain and when the brain dies, the body dies all the time 100% unless those organ systems are artificially supportive. 

"Our culture changes with technology and the way we define death is a part of culture. As that culture has shifted, the way we define death has also shifted with our new technologies of how we can actually determine whether people are dead." —  Dr. Adam Schiavi

Connect with Dr. Adam Schiavi:

Johns Hopkins Bio: Adam Schiavi, MD, PhD, MS

Email: [email protected]  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

Garrett Broad is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University and the author of More Than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change (University of California Press, 2016). His research investigates the role of storytelling and communication technology in promoting networked movements for social justice. Much of his work focuses on local and global food systems, as he explores how food can best contribute to improved neighborhood health, environmental sustainability, and the rights and welfare of animals.

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Garrett Broad discuss the emerging culture around cellular meat and the changing space for this product in the marketplace.  Therese and Dr. Broad discuss how the animal cells are acquired, the process of growing the “meat" in a lab, and the types of products currently, and possibly in the future, grown in laboratories.  They also discuss how food activists can make beneficial impacts on food justice and food sovereignty and change "food deserts" or "food swamps” and the communities in which they are embedded. 

 Key Takeaways:

• In food deserts, the problem is the nutritional quality of available foods, as well as the cultural and economic interests of the area.
• Ground “meat” is the most likely type of food that we are going to be seeing from cell-cultured products, most likely mixed with plant-based products.
• Cultured animal products have the potential to reduce animal suffering, but the impacts on the planet are not yet certain.
• Still in development are the specific rules for FDA and USDA oversight of the safety and quality of the cellular products.

"I don’t think there’s any way cell-cultured meat gets to market in any serious way without getting off of FBS (fetal bovine serum)." —  Dr. Garrett Broad

Connect with Dr. Garrett Broad:  

Twitter: @GarrettBroad

Website: GarrettBroad.com

Book: More Than Just Food: Food Justice and Community Change

Articles: Why We Should Make room for Debate about High-Tech Meat

Plant-based and cell-based animal product alternatives: An assessment and agenda for food tech justice

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

When we hear someone call on the phone, we often recognize them by their voice. They don't even have to announce their name. So what exactly is a voice? How's it produced? Why is your voice different from other people? We take so much for granted about being able to speak and hear that we don't even stop to think about where voices come from what causes the uniqueness of a person's voice. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer answer many of these questions and so much more. 

 Key Takeaways:

• As kids, our voices start out gender-neutral. Kids are smaller so they have really short vocal folds. The tissues don't quite have the differentiation they acquire with use, growth, and time. Girls and boys really change, height and size, similarly up until adolescence. 
• Pitch range is linked  to the variable ways in which we grow and our our ultimate sizes. The morphology, so to speak, of our body makeup can predict our pitch and our pitch ranges.
• What gives us the impression of male or female, however, is word choice. If we are visibly observing that individual there may be body posturing and gestures are mannerisms that we accept as being more masculine or feminine, and speaking style, how we use our pitch and our prosody differently as males and females.

"We commonly think of the primary attribute of being male or female is being pitched, but, actually, there's so much more to it." —  Dr. Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer

Connect with Dr. Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer:

Professional Bio: healthcare.utah.edu/fad/mddetail.php?physicianID=u0978011

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-julie-barkmeier-kraemer-25879b17

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Over the last few years, a number of colleges and universities have dropped the requirement for all or part of the SAT or ACT exam as part of their admissions requirements.   This movement appears to be increasing. It's logical to wonder about the large-scale implications of eliminating the requirement of these tests, the benefits, and the downsides. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Richard Phelps, discuss this trend of eliminating standardized tests, the origins of this movement, and the potential consequences we may see as a result of these changing requirements. 

 Key Takeaways:

• No college restricts admission decisions to admission test scores alone. They also consider grade point average, your class rank, the historical performance of students from each high school, and the quality and rigor of courses taken. Typically, these factors are given higher priority and admission decisions than test scores.
• Making test scores optional raises a college's ranking. Once rival colleges eliminate the requirement, a college has little choice but to join them.
• The less test scores are used in making admission decisions, the more predictive those test scores become, and the less predictive high school grades become because the variance in the ability of the entering students grows and the variance in high school grades narrows.

"College administrators may be reticent to admit they adopted a test-optional policy in order to raise their rankings and increase ethnic diversity, and, coincidentally, lowered their academic standards.." —  Dr. Richard Phelps

Connect with Dr. Richard Phelps: 

Twitter: @RichardPPhelps

Website: RichardPhelps.net & NonpartisanEducation.org

Research Gate: Richard P Phelps

SSRN Scholarly Papers: Richard P. Phelps

Academia: Richard P Phelps

LinkedIn: Richard P Phelps

LinkedIn Learning: Richard P Phelps

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Postpartum depression is a significant public health concern that affects approximately 10-15% of new mothers. For the most part, societal attitudes toward postpartum depression have changed as the conditions become more recognized. However, not only the mother suffers, but the impact on the infant can also be detrimental and long-lasting. In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Diane Putnick discuss many of the questions around postpartum depression including: Why do some women suffer postpartum depression and others don't? Will it go away on its own? How long does it last? The answers to these questions are not only surprising but critical to get proper care for the mother and those for the infant as well. 

 Key Takeaways:

• There is not great data about who gets treatment for postpartum depression because it's hard to estimate how many women are suffering in silence and never actually get diagnosed.
• It's really important for people to know that if you're experiencing these long-term symptoms, you're not alone.  
• Research hasn’t shown any evidence that postpartum depression is on the rise. If anything, it actually may be on the decline.

"I think people also confuse the baby blues with postpartum depression. The big difference between the baby blues and postpartum depression is the severity and the persistence of the problem and the symptoms." —  Dr. Diane Putnick

Connect with Dr. Diane Putnick:

Professional Bio: nichd.nih.gov/about/org/diphr/officebranch/eb/putnick  

Publons: publons.com/researcher/2870386/diane-l-putnick

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/diane-putnick-051aa262

References:

Mom’s Mental Health Matters: nichd.nih.gov/ncmhep/initiatives/moms-mental-health-matters/moms

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Infertility issues are on the rise, leading otherwise healthy young couples to seek a form of assisted reproductive technology appropriate for their particular situation. Increasing infertility has been documented for some time. And since it doesn't appear to be slowing down, it's of considerable concern. Is one sex affected more than the other? What are the long-range implications if the trend keeps going? Is it only humans that appear to be affected? And the critical question is why? In today’s episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Shanna Swan, author of the new book Count Down, answer many of these questions, including talking about the types of chemicals and other factors that may be contributing to these infertility issues.

 Key Takeaways:

• The criteria number for good sperm (as indicated by the WHO) has dramatically decreased. There are also other criteria, such as shape, ability to swim correctly, and no chromosomal abnormalities.
• Male and female infertility is about 50/50 for who is responsible and both should be tested just as often as the other.
• Newborn babies are being born “pre polluted” with, up to, 100 chemicals. 
• Figure out, if you can, to the extent you can, where your food has come from, and make it as simple as possible because that is what is going into your body.

"I'm convinced that a large proportion of the decline we're seeing is due to chemical exposures, manmade chemicals." —  Dr. Shanna Swan

Connect with Dr. Shanna Swan:

Professional Bio: mountsinai.org/profiles/shanna-h-swan  

Website: shannaswan.com 

Book: Count Down - shannaswan.com/countdown

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shanna-swan-phd-339a4258

Instagram: instagram.com/drshannaswan

Twitter: twitter.com/DrShannaSwan

Reference:

Environmental Working Group: ewg.org

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

Everyone's felt lonely at some point in their lives, but severe and chronic loneliness are different. In fact, loneliness in the United States has reached epidemic proportions, having doubled in the last 50 years, and with severe loneliness comes a range of other health risks. In today’s conversation with Dr. Dilip Jeste, one of the lead researchers at the University of California - San Diego School of Medicine Therese Markow and Dr. Jeste discuss the reasons for this loneliness epidemic, how it affects other aspects of health, and how loneliness affects adults at all age ranges. 

 Key Takeaways:

• The scale for loneliness does not contain the word “lonely” in any of the items. 
• Before the 1800s, the word loneliness did not exist. Oneliness was used instead and meant that you could be alone, but you did not feel distressed.
• In 2016 and 2017, the lifespan in the United States fell for the first time since the 1950s - it was not because of some new cancer, or heart disease, or even infection. It was because of suicides, opioids, and loneliness

"Loneliness is associated with increased risk of physical, mental, and cognitive disorders...if you reduce loneliness, the prevalence of those diseases will fall." —  Dr. Dilip Jeste

Connect with Dr. Dilip Jeste:

UCSD Bio: profiles.ucsd.edu/dilip.jeste  

Book: amazon.com/Wiser-Scientific-Roots-Wisdom-Compassion/dp/1683644638

Website: wiserthebook.com

TedMed: tedmed.com/speakers/show?id=526374

Compassionate Community Movement: charterforcompassion.org

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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 cures for autism are becoming more common and understanding the facts of autism is becoming more critical. In this discussion with Dr. Beversdorf, we will understand more about what is autism, what are the symptoms, who first discovered it, what really causes it (and what doesn’t), and what effective treatments may be out there. 

 Key Takeaways:  

• Vaccines do not cause autism. We do know there is a genetic component and several environmental factors that appear to be important. 
• There is a variability aspect of autism. It may be extremely important to be able to track patients to see what they respond to in treatment research to see why and how they are responding. 
• Without more research, we will not be able to create personalized treatment plans for the bio markers. There are a number of organizations around the world that working to achieve this research, which is where the answers will be coming from. 

"Two, almost opposite biological aspects, could even be coming to this final common pathway of repetitive behaviors. If you blindly target the repetitive behaviors with a drug, without being aware of this biology, you will get nowhere, because one will get better and one will get worse." —  Dr. David Beversdorf 

Connect with Dr. David Beversdorf: 

Professional Bio: Dr. David Beversdorf 

Twitter: @MU_CogNeuroLab 

Facebook: MU Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory 

Connect with Therese:  

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net 

Twitter: @CritiSpeak  

Email: [email protected] 

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

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. While hoarding is a word that is thrown around in our common vernacular (such as people hoarding toilet paper early in this pandemic), there is more to hoarding than what most people know. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Mary Dozier discuss what hoarding is, how it can manifest itself, and what we currently know about hoarding disorder. 

 Key Takeaways:

• Unlike many psychiatric disorders, hoarding disorder actually tends to worsen as we get older. 
• People tend to hoard the same things that most people hold on to, just in greater quantities. 
• One of the primary reasons that people seek out treatment is often that people want to be able to have other people to their homes. 

"Having attachments to objects, by itself, isn't necessarily problematic. The problem begins when the attachment is so great, and the number of objects is so many, that the individual is unable to go about their daily lives." —  Dr. Mary Dozier

Connect with Dr. Mary Dozier:

Professional Bio: psychology.msstate.edu/people/mary-dozier

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this culture where dreams and nightmares are such a part of our everyday language, the question becomes, what is dreaming? We all dream, so what does it mean, and how does it impact other areas of our lives, such as our mental health? In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Michael Nadorff discuss these questions, as well as diving deeper into the different cycles of sleep, the changes in our dreams and sleep as we age, different types of nightmare therapies, and the relationship between nightmares and suicide.  

 Key Takeaways:

• All dreams, good and bad, occur during the REM cycles of our sleep. The amount of REM sleep increases as the night goes on and, consequently, dreams get longer too.  
• Sleep loves the cold. If you fall asleep in too warm of an environment, during REM sleep when your temperature drops, you are more likely to wake up feeling overheated. 
• Having nightmares significantly increased the likelihood of future suicide attempts in those who had previously attempted suicide. 

"REM is so important to us that, if you are sleep deprived, your body actually prioritizes REM, and it makes it even that much more intensive." —  Dr. Michael Nadorff

Connect with Dr. Michael Nadorff:

Professional Bio: psychology.msstate.edu/people/michael-r-nadorff/  

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

We all believe in something, from Santa Claus, to the global shape of the earth, to babies needing to be taken care of for survival. While some of our beliefs are intuitive or have evidence, many are not. Sometimes the evidence that we believe to be true is faulty. In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. James Alcock discuss how these beliefs are built, how we interpret situations to create beliefs, and why we, as a society, have so many common beliefs. As humans, we like to believe we are rational beings, but so many of our beliefs are happening automatically, without our conscious thought or from common teachings that we are all exposed to from those in authority. Therese and Dr. Alcock also discuss further complications regarding belief, such as conspiracy mentalities, imagination inflation, and memory contamination and the role that these elements of complication can play in trying to suss out what to believe in this world full of many shades of gray. 

 Key Takeaways:

• We cannot learn everything in one lifetime so, as a society, we come to rely on authorities and shared, inherited beliefs. 
• There is no evidence that people can bury trauma. The problem with trauma is people can’t forget. 
• Due to mental desire to belief and idiosyncratic movements, humans often see things that are “magic” or “unexplainable” due to our own actions.

"The problem is, if we don’t have the capacity and we don’t have the motivation to critically examine the evidence, then we won’t distinguish between evidence that really is factual and evidence which is wrong." —  Dr. James Alcock

Connect with Dr. James Alcock:

Wikipedia Page: James Alcock  

Book: Belief: What it Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions are so Compelling 

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

That gender inequality still exists is no secret. Women continue to be underrepresented in corporate and academic settings. The factors underlying the situation are complex, meaning that it’s not just gender.  Women don’t all look alike, some are deemed more attractive than others. Being attractive can be a serious disadvantage for women, but not for men. A new study shows that attractive women are thought by some people to be untrustworthy or deceitful, which can influence job interview outcomes and even promotion and retention. Today, Therese talks with Dr. Leah Sheppard of the Washington State University Carson School of Business about the “Femme Fatale Effect.” 

 Key Takeaways:

• Attractive women can be at a disadvantage in the workplace.
• Men and women observers rated attractive women as less trustworthy and even deceitful, compared to unattractive women.
• This disadvantage is known as the Femme Fatale Effect.
• While men may find an attractive woman more desirable as a mate, at the same time they may feel, consciously or subconsciously, that because other men also will find her attractive, she might have more opportunities to be unfaithful.

"It's good to have an awareness of the ways you might come across, but I think everyone has to be true to who they are. You can't live your life just making modifications based on what you think other people are going to be thinking about you. The truth is, everyone has some advantages and some disadvantages in terms of how other people are going to view them." —  Dr. Leah Sheppard

Connect with Dr. Leah Sheppard:

Website: DrLeahSheppard.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/leah-d-sheppard-phd-19a20336

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.  

In this episode, Therese Markow responds to questions from two listeners.  One listener asked why some vaccines are good for life while others have to be administered annually.   Another listener asked if some people have a natural inborn immunity to COVID.  In addition to addressing these questions, she also emphasizes the importance of basic scientific research and why it is imperative that scientists from around the world freely share their information with one another. 

 Key Takeaways:

• The types of viruses and their mutations affect the type of vaccine that we get and how often we need to get it. 
• Because the COVID-19 virus is so new, we do not have enough information to fully understand the whys and hows of virus action.
• In all cases a virus must enter the cell in order to replicate and cause illness.. Mutations in the viral genome can enhance or prevent the virus from entering. 

"We have to do our part to minimize the risks." —  Dr. Therese Markow

Connect with Therese:

Website:   www.criticallyspeaking.net

Twitter: @CritiSpeak

Email: [email protected]

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.