Best Creative Zombie Studios Podcasts (2025)

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The Seafaring Life Of ‘Modern-Day Captain Nemo,’ Robert Ballard 30:08

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2d ago30:08

30:08

In excerpts of two conversations from the Science Friday archives (originally recorded in 2000 and 2009), oceanographer Robert Ballard joins Host Ira Flatow to discuss the 1985 expedition in which he discovered the wreck of the Titanic. He also emphasizes the value of combining the efforts of oceanographers, engineers, and social scientists to stud…

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Understanding Sunscreen Ingredients And Which Ones You Need 18:38

3d ago18:38

18:38

Summer is here, which means it’s the season for soaking up the sun. But it’s important to do so responsibly, considering the strong link between sun exposure and skin cancer. There are a lot of sunscreens on the market, so Hosts Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow join dermatologist Jonathan Ungar to discuss what ingredients to look for and how they work…

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In ‘Jurassic World Rebirth,’ Paleontology Is Still The Star 13:55

4d ago13:55

13:55

The latest Jurassic World movie, “Jurassic World Rebirth,” is out today. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson (“The Avengers”) and Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”). Their characters make a dangerous journey to an island chock-full of dinosaurs to get their hands on some dino blood for a life-saving heart medicine. But unfortunately for them, and luckily …

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IFH 809: No Budget, All Hustle: The Filmmaking Grind of Staci Layne Wilson 43:58

5d ago43:58

43:58

In this colorful and deeply personal episode, Staci Layne Wilson shares her remarkable journey from a childhood surrounded by Hollywood legends and horseback riding to becoming an award-winning filmmaker and bestselling author. Born and raised in Los Angeles to a famed musician father (Don Wilson of The Ventures) and a glamorous pin-up model mother…

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What Does It Mean To Have A Chatbot Companion? 19:36

6d ago19:36

19:36

AI is not just for automating tasks or coming up with new recipe ideas. Increasingly, people are turning to AI chatbots for companionship. Roughly half a billion people worldwide have downloaded chatbots designed specifically to provide users with emotional and social support. And while these human-chatbot relationships might ease loneliness or sim…

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The Leap: Mars? It Was A Miracle We Got To Florida 23:43

6d ago23:43

23:43

Geologist Steve Squyres risked his career and millions of dollars to get two rovers roaming on Mars. But the mission almost didn’t make it to the launch pad. Steve and NASA engineer Jennifer Trosper describe the many obstacles the team faced in getting Spirit and Opportunity ready, from ripped parachutes to fuzzy camera feeds, and the problem-solvi…

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After Her Grants Got Cut, This Researcher Is Suing The NIH 13:07

9d ago13:07

13:07

Since January, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has made sweeping cuts to science. It's hard to keep track of how many research grants were canceled, but they add up to hundreds of millions—possibly billions—of dollars of research funding lost. Some scientists, like Dr. Katie Edwards, are taking the fight to the courts. Edwards studies inter…

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New Telescope Captures The Cosmos In Groundbreaking Detail 12:38

10d ago12:38

12:38

The first images from the brand new Vera C. Rubin Observatory have finally been unveiled, and they show us the cosmos like never before. The camera captures so much detail that its first complete image contains about 10 million galaxies. Host Flora Lichtman talks with Dr. Federica Bianco about our dazzling new view of the night sky, how the camera …

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How Scientists Made The First Gene-Editing Treatment For A Baby 18:56

12d ago18:56

18:56

Last month, scientists reported a historic first: they gave the first personalized gene-editing treatment to a baby who was born with a rare life-threatening genetic disorder. Before the treatment, his prognosis was grim. But after three doses, the baby’s health improved. So how does it work? What are the risks? And what could this breakthrough mea…

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IFH 808: Behind the Screams: How Shae Smolik Brought The Hatred to Life! 24:12

12d ago24:12

24:12

Shae Smolik, a talented young actress from Iowa, shared her journey from local modeling to leading a feature film in Los Angeles. Starting with commercials and gradually advancing to TV and web series, Shae embraced each step with enthusiasm and resilience. Her audition technique—spontaneous and emotionally driven—reflects an innate gift for perfor…

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Ancient Bone Proteins May Offer Insight On Megafauna Extinction 19:23

13d ago19:23

19:23

Australia is known for its unusual animal life, from koalas to kangaroos. But once upon a time, the Australian landscape had even weirder fauna, like Palorchestes azael, a marsupial with immense claws and a small trunk. There was Protemnodon mamkurra, a massive, slow-moving, kangaroo-like creature. And Zygomaturus trilobus, a wombat the size of a h…

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The Leap: You Do Realize… That’s Impossible 23:47

14d ago23:47

23:47

As a grad student, Suchitra Sebastian wasn’t sure she wanted to be a physicist. But when one of her experiments gave an unexpected result, she was hooked. Suchitra’s former PhD student Beng Sing Tan describes the late-night experiments that led to an “impossible” finding—a potentially new state of matter. Theoretical physicist Piers Coleman tells u…

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What We’re Learning From The James Webb Space Telescope 17:47

17d ago17:47

17:47

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) started collecting data nearly three years ago, and it has already transformed our understanding of the universe. It has spotted the earliest galaxies ever seen, and, closer to home, captured auroras around Jupiter. So what’s the latest from the JWST? In this live broadcast, Hosts Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow …

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How ‘Super Agers’ Stay Sharp And Active Longer Than Their Peers 30:49

18d ago30:49

30:49

Ever noticed how some people get to their 80s and 90s and continue to be healthy and active? They spend their days playing mahjong, driving to lunch, learning shuffle dancing, and practicing Portuguese. Those are “super agers,” seniors who stay fit well into old age. How do they do it? Is it luck or genetics? In this live broadcast, Hosts Flora Lic…

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A Dino’s Last Dinner And Eavesdropping Birds 20:46

19d ago20:46

20:46

While there are a lot of dinosaur fossils, and a lot of plant fossils, the precise connection between the two has been something of a mystery. Now, researchers report that they’ve found what’s called a cololite, fossilized gut contents, in the remains of a sauropod—a massive, long-necked plant-eater. The dino’s last meal dates back 95 to 100 millio…

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IFH 807: Making Your Own Damn Movies: Inside Dave Campfield’s Troma-Fueled Filmmaking Path 57:52

20d ago57:52

57:52

When two Daves walk into a podcast, you don’t expect to stumble upon a meditation on art, failure, persistence, and horror-comedy. But that’s exactly what happened in this electric and delightfully unfiltered conversation with Dave Campfield, a filmmaker, actor, and host of the Troma Now Podcast, best known for his work in the cult Caesar and Otto …

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What Are The Best Practices For Prostate Cancer Screening? 18:46

20d ago18:46

18:46

Last month, former President Joe Biden announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The news sparked a larger conversation about what exactly the best practices are to screen for prostate cancer. Turns out, it’s more complicated than it might seem. Host Ira Flatow is joined by oncologist Matthew Cooperberg and st…

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The Leap: Garbage In, Garbage Out 29:38

21d ago29:38

29:38

Biochemist Virginia Man-Yee Lee has spent a lifetime in the lab, figuring out what happens in the brains of people with neurodegenerative diseases. She’s made key discoveries about Parkinson's, ALS, and Alzheimer's.The secret to her success? Happiness. “If you're not happy, you don’t know what you’re capable of,” Lee says. Neurologist Ken Kosick re…

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RFK Jr. Reshuffles CDC Vaccine Panel With Vaccine Skeptics 25:26

24d ago25:26

25:26

On Monday, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the panel that advises the CDC on who should get certain vaccines and when. Then on Thursday, he appointed eight new members, some of whom have been critical of vaccines in the past. So who exactly is new on the panel and how are medical experts reacting? Sophie Bushwick f…

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What’s Next For China’s Space Program? 19:24

25d ago19:24

19:24

This week, China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft sent back its first image from space. It’s headed to a rendezvous with the asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, one of Earth’s “quasi-moons,” where it will collect samples in 2026. The mission comes after several successful lunar missions, including a lunar rover and a sample return mission from the far side of the moon. Ho…

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The Ruin And Redemption Of The American Prairie 18:31

26d ago18:31

18:31

The prairie might just be the most underappreciated landscape in the United States. Beginning in the early 1800s, the majority of these grasslands were converted into big industrial farms. Now, some unaffectionately refer to it as “flyover country.” Host Ira Flatow talks with Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty, authors of Sea of Grass: The Conquest, …

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IFH 806: Shooting Sharks in Your Living Room: The Art of DIY Filmmaking with Ron Bonk 58:41

27d ago58:41

58:41

In this episode, we dive into the wild, wonderful world of Ron Bonk, an indie filmmaker and founder of SRS Cinema known for the cult horror-comedy House Shark. Ron shares his journey from studying accounting and criminal justice to becoming a self-taught director, driven by a passion for storytelling and a deep love for genre cinema. With no Hollyw…

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Bedbugs Have Been Bugging Us Since Before Beds 18:48

27d ago18:48

18:48

Bedbug infestations are not just a modern problem—these pests have been with early human ancestors for 245,000 years, causing problems long before the invention of beds. Lindsay Miles, an entomologist at Virginia Tech, has found that changes in bedbug population size mirrored those of humans, proving they might be our first pest. Miles talks with H…

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The Leap: A Scientist’s Quest To See Every Organism On Earth 25:55

28d ago25:55

25:55

Manu Prakash is many things—biologist, engineer, inventor, philosopher—but what he isn’t is conventional. Following his instincts has led Manu to his most ambitious project yet: mapping the whole tree of life, with the help of everyone on this planet. Step one: make a cheap microscope anyone can use. Foldscope co-inventor Jim Cybulski describes the…

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Are We Prepared To Fight ‘The New Polio’? 25:17

1M ago25:17

25:17

A mysterious disease called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) has been appearing in emergency rooms for about a decade. The disease has caused otherwise healthy children to lose the ability to move their arms and legs, and some become completely paralyzed. AFM is caused by a virus that's a cousin of the polio virus, earning it the nickname "the new poli…

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How Science Communication Can Step Up Amid Federal Cuts 18:21

1M ago18:21

18:21

It’s a precarious time for science in the United States. Federal funding is being slashed, career scientists are being laid off, and researchers are considering leaving to work abroad. On top of that, public trust in science and experts has declined. Besides acknowledging the federal attacks on science, a lot of scientists are also asking themselve…

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How Cannibalistic Tadpoles Could Curb Invasive Cane Toads 18:49

1M ago18:49

18:49

South American cane toads were brought to Australia in 1935 to help eradicate native beetles that were destroying sugar cane crops. The toads didn’t care much for the beetles, but they did spread across the coast of Queensland and beyond, with no natural predators to stop them. Their own deadly toxin devastated local reptiles along the way, and the…

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IFH 805: Why Your Film Isn’t Getting Made (And What to Do About It) with Ron Newcomb 1:15:39

1M ago1:15:39

1:15:39

When the moon is high and the muse is low, we often find ourselves in deep conversation with our own souls, asking, "Why do I do this?" And on today’s episode, we welcome the steadfast and visionary Ron Newcomb, a former Marine and police officer who has traded in his uniform for a camera, answering that very question not just with thought—but with…

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Turning The Binoculars On Birders 18:24

1M ago18:24

18:24

Birding is a hobby that attracts a very particular group of people: the kind who get up at sunrise, go into the woods, and wait for hours for a little tiny feathered friend to fly past. Author and illustrator Rosemary Mosco guides us into the world of birding with her new book, The Birding Dictionary. Plus, biologist Sara Lipshutz fills us in on th…

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The Leap: Be Bold Or Just Don't Do It 26:22

1M ago26:22

26:22

As a young plant scientist, Joanne Chory shook up the research establishment with her unconventional approach to figuring out how plants work. Her methods and success changed the field, and led her to her biggest project yet—tackling climate change, with the help of millions of plants. Colleagues Steve Kay, Detlef Weigel, and Jennifer Nemhauser des…

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What Huge Cuts To NSF Funding Mean For Science 19:58

1M ago19:58

19:58

Grant funding by the National Science Foundation has been cut by more than half this year, bringing the foundation’s science funding to its lowest level in decades. Katrina Miller, who covers science for the New York Times, joins Host Flora Lichtman to unpack the cutbacks and discuss where the funding changes might lead. And, the FDA has cleared a …

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What Happens When Air Traffic Control Systems Go Dark? 16:58

1M ago16:58

16:58

At the end of April, air traffic control radar surveillance and radio communication systems at Newark Liberty International Airport went dark for over a minute. A week and half later, radar went down again briefly. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since cut down the number of flights in and out of Newark. But, how does our air traffic …

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Could The NIH Plan For A ‘Universal Vaccine’ Really Work? 27:56

1M ago27:56

27:56

At the beginning of May, the National Institutes of Health, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced a plan to develop a universal vaccine platform. Think: a single shot for flu or COVID-19 that would last years, maybe a lifetime. The plan—called Generation Gold Standard—has a reported budget of $500 million, and a tight deadl…

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IFH 804: How I Made a Cult Zombie Movie for $75 and Took On Hollywood with Marc V. Price 1:32:52

1M ago1:32:52

1:32:52

When a zombie filmmaker makes you laugh so hard you forget you're talking about death and destruction, you know you're in for something special. On today’s episode, we welcome Marc V. Price, a fiercely independent British filmmaker whose claim to fame is making a cult zombie feature called Colin for just £45. That alone should make you lean in. But…

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The Leap: This Is Going To Kill Your Career 23:53

1M ago23:53

23:53

Betül Kaçar started her scientific career as a biochemist, working on an enzyme found in zebrafish. But then she found her calling: investigating some of the hardest questions in evolutionary biology by resurrecting ancient life forms. NASA administrator Melissa Kirven-Brooks recalls the fellowship application that put Betül on her radar. And evolu…

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The Science Of That Big Stunt From The New ‘Mission: Impossible’ 19:02

1M ago19:02

19:02

The “Mission: Impossible” franchise is known for its big stunts, and the newest film is no exception. Producer Kathleen Davis talks to the film’s stunt coordinator, Wade Eastwood, about the science behind one big underwater scene. Plus, psychologist Kenneth Carter joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about what makes high-adrenaline adventurers tick. …

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Meet A Pioneer Of Modern Weather Prediction 18:51

2M ago18:51

18:51

Climate scientist Jagadish Shukla grew up in a small village in rural India, where people starved if the monsoon season didn’t bring rain. To help his village, he set out to become a scientist and discover a way to predict the seasons—an unthinkable idea at the time, in the 1960s and ‘70s. Shukla became a pioneer in modern weather forecasting, and …

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Are Physical Buttons And Knobs Making A Comeback? 20:10

2M ago20:10

20:10

In recent years, digital touchscreens have replaced many of the buttons and knobs that control various functions in cars. But when Host Ira Flatow went shopping for a new car, he noticed that physical controls seemed to be making a comeback. But will the rise of technologies like voice recognition and automation make cars more button-centric, or le…

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IFH 803: From Wrestling Rings to Public Access Mayhem: The Wild Ride of Mad Man Pondo 56:35

2M ago56:35

56:35

The world is far more peculiar than most of us dare to admit. Somewhere between a demolition derby and a wrestling ring, between the crackle of VHS tapes and the shriek of late-night public access, lies a man who has turned mayhem into meaning. On today’s episode, we welcome the unparalleled and unfiltered Mad Man Pondo, a professional wrestler and…

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Scientists Identify Genes For Tomato And Eggplant Size 18:48

2M ago18:48

18:48

Tomatoes come in all kinds of colors, sizes, and flavors. But what’s going on at the genetic level? What makes a tomato red or yellow? Tiny or giant? Researchers are mapping the genomes of 22 varieties of nightshades—the family of plants that includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. They located the genes that control the size of tomatoes and eg…

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The Leap: The Volcano Whisperer 28:26

2M ago28:26

28:26

As a teenager living in St. Vincent, Richie Robertson saw first-hand what a volcanic eruption did to life on the island. Forty years later, he was the scientist the community turned to when the same volcano roared back to life. Richie’s colleague, Stacey Edwards of the UWI Seismic Research Centre, explains how Richie earned the trust of the communi…

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Lesser Prairie Chicken May Lose Endangered Species Status 18:28

2M ago18:28

18:28

The lesser prairie chicken was granted endangered species status in 2023. Now the Department of the Interior is moving to revoke those protections. What can this bird known for its flamboyant courtship rituals tell us about the Trump administration’s approach to environmental policy and protections for endangered species? Host Flora Lichtman is joi…

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Tracking The Hidden Dangers Of Fighting Fires 18:30

2M ago18:30

18:30

Firefighting is a career with an inherent cancer risk, but a full understanding of what those risks are has been elusive. An important registry designed to help understand the link between firefighters and cancer was taken offline on April 1 because of federal cuts, then restored six weeks later. Host Flora Lichtman discusses this with firefighter …

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Identifying New Plants, And The Scientific Secrets Of Superfoods 29:59

2M ago29:59

29:59

What does it take to create and maintain one of the largest repositories of botanical information in the world? For starters, it can mean helicopter-ing into remote nooks of the Amazon, hiking through rough terrain, looking for strange fruits and flowers, and climbing trees to pluck specimens from the branches. Then there’s all the science required…

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IFH 802: Studios, Scores & Secrets: The Untold Story of Rotten Tomatoes with Patrick Lee 44:27

2M ago44:27

44:27

When the lights of the cinema dim and the hum of anticipation fills the air, something magical happens—stories come alive. And sometimes, the stories behind the storytellers are the most fascinating of all. On today's episode, we welcome Patrick Lee, a man whose quiet curiosity and geeky love for film statistics helped shape the very lens through w…

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Designing Hyperrealistic Body Parts, From Eyeballs To Placentas 17:34

2M ago17:34

17:34

Medical sculptor Damon Coyle walks around with a Mary Poppins bag of body parts. Fake ones, that is. At the University of Missouri, his lab creates hyperrealistic body parts designed to help medical providers practice for real-world surgeries and procedures. They make things like lifelike arms for practicing blood draws or a set of eyeballs for ocu…

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The Leap: I Was Considered A Nobody 27:18

2M ago27:18

27:18

Biochemist Kati Karikó spent decades experimenting with mRNA, convinced that she could solve the problems that had kept it from being used as a therapeutic. Her tireless, methodical work was dismissed and she was ridiculed. But that work laid the foundation for the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines that saved millions of lives, and was recogni…

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Cuts To NASA And A Fast-Track For Deep Sea Mining 25:11

2M ago25:11

25:11

Proposed budget cuts for NASA would jeopardize space research. And an executive order could change the political tides for deep sea mining. On May 2, the Trump Administration proposed a 24% budget cut for NASA. It would slash funding for science while setting billions aside for initiatives to send humans to the moon and Mars. New Scientist editor S…

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How Do Bacteria Talk To Each Other? 23:30

2M ago23:30

23:30

Bacteria have been around for billions of years. Could they have come up with complex behaviors that we just don’t understand yet? Could they have their own language? Their own culture? Their own complex societies playing out right under, and in, our noses? Microbiologist Bonnie Bassler has been studying these questions for more than 30 years. She …

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Functional Fashion From An Artist And A Caterpillar 18:45

2M ago18:45

18:45

A passion for fashion among the “bone collector caterpillar,” who wears a coat of body parts, and an artist who makes fabrics that remember. We inch into the world of extreme outerwear with the newly-discovered “bone collector caterpillar,” which wears a coat of many co…llected body parts. Why, Hanipillar Lecter? Entomologist Dan Rubinoff, who alon…