Episode 201: See, I told you so!

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Lauren, Gem, and Laura talk about people who were disbelieved but were eventually vindicated. Topics include pilot David Steeves’ missing airplane, singer Sinéad O’Connor public denunciation of the Catholic Church, neurologist Stanley Prusiner’s discovery of prions, and neuropathologist Bennet Omalu’s findings of CTEs in NFL players.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

David Steeves’ Missing Airplane: David A. Steeves (Steeves House Museum) | David Steeves (Wikipedia) | Hero or hoax? Public doubted pilot’s story of survival (Los Angeles Times)

Sinéad O’Connor and the Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal: Sinéad O’Connor: Biography, Singer, Activist (Biography.com) | Sinead O’Connor Cause of Death Revealed: Natural Causes (Rolling Stone) | Sinéad O’Connor (Wikipedia) | Sinéad O’Connor on Saturday Night Live (Wikipedia) | Catholic Church sexual abuse cases (Wikipedia) | Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Wikipedia)

Stanley Prusiner and Prions: Heretical Theory on Brain Diseases Gains New Ground (The New York Times) | Novel Proteinaceous Infectious Particles Cause Scrapie (Science) | Prions (PNAS) | Stanley B. Prusiner (Wikipedia) | Prion (Wikipedia) | Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (Wikipedia) | Kuru (disease) (Wikipedia) | Fatal insomnia (Wikipedia)

Bennet Omalu and CTEs: Doctor behind ‘Concussion’ tackled racism and NFL (Los Angeles Times) | Concussion medic didn’t identify head trauma syndrome as Will Smith film claims, say doctors (The Guardian) | League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis (PBS Frontline) | The NFL Tried to Intimidate Scientists Studying the Link between Pro Football and Traumatic Brain Injury (Union of Concerned Scientists) | Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever (GQ) | CTE doctor Bennet Omalu has profited selling distorted science (Washington Post) | How the Sports World Learned to Ignore CTE (Global Sport Matters)

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Episode 200: Shades of Grey

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Ashlyn, Laura, and Lauren discuss the history of the show, comment on some of their favourite segments from episodes past, and finally get around to introducing themselves properly.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Gem’s Website: Gem Newman’s Writing | “Persistence of Vision” by Gem Newman | “Passepartout” by Gem Newman

Ashlyn’s Website: Noble & Whimsical

Our Favourite Episodes of LUEE: Episode 136: Patent Medicine (LUEE) | Episode 176: 🎵 Dontcha put it in your mouth! 🎶 | Bonus Episode: One Hundred Proofs | Episode 178: The Worst Tooth Fairy | Episode 152: SandwichCast!

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Episode 199: Definitely Not a Yeti

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Lauren, Ashlyn, Laura, and Gem discuss paranormal events and other mysteries that have recently been explained by science, including the Dyatlov Pass Incident, the Blood Rain of Kerala, the Bermuda Triangle, and how the Romans managed to make such excellent concrete.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

News: Alberta Medical Association pediatrics head condemns province’s proposed trans policy (Global News)

The Dyatlov Pass Incident: Has an Old Soviet Mystery at Last Been Solved? (The New Yorker) | Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident (Everand) | Dyatlov Pass incident (Wikipedia) | Kármán vortex street (Wikipedia) | Infrasound (Wikipedia) | Grade (Wikipedia)

Roman Concrete: The History of Concrete (InterNACHI) | Lime Clasts and Heat: The Romans’ Secret Sauce (Specify Concrete) | The Differences Between Modern Concrete and Roman Concrete (Forth Valley Concrete) | Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable? (MIT News) | Was Roman Concrete Better? (Practical Engineering) | Why Roman concrete is stronger than it ever was, while modern concrete decays (ZME Science) | Was Roman Concrete Especially Durable or Is Modern Concrete Exceptionally Crappy? (Treehugger) | 13 Reasons We Know Why Roman Concrete is Stronger than Its Modern Equivalent (Interesting Engineering) | Understanding Roman Concrete (Engineering Rome)

The Bermuda Triangle: What Is the Bermuda Triangle? A Scientist Has Solved the Mystery (Popular Mechanics) | What Is Known (and Not Known) About the Bermuda Triangle (Britannica) | Bermuda Triangle (Wikipedia) | Scientist ‘solves’ mystery of the Bermuda Triangle – by claiming there was no mystery in the first place (The Independent)

The Blood Rain of Kerala: Blood Rain, Blood Snow: Curse or Science? (International Microorganism Day) | Six Old English Chronicles (Wikisource) | Cometary panspermia explains the red rain of Kerala (arXiv) | Red rain in Kerala (Wikipedia) | Blood rain (Wikipedia)

The Kentucky Meat Shower: The Great Kentucky Meat Shower mystery unwound by projectile vulture vomit (Scientific American Blog Network) | Kentucky meat shower (Wikipedia) | Nostoc (Wikipedia)

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Bonus Episode: Mental Health After Social Transition

On this special bonus episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem Newman discusses the scientific evidence in favour of allowing trans youth to socially transition and the concrete steps that parents and teachers can take to support trans kids.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Content Warning: This episode includes discussions of transphobia, depression, and self-harm.

References:

  1. Veale JF, Watson RJ, Peter T, Saewyc EM. Mental Health Disparities Among Canadian Transgender Youth. J Adolesc Health. 2017 Jan;60(1):44-49. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.09.014. PMID: 28007056; PMCID: PMC5630273.
  2. Thoma BC, Salk RH, Choukas-Bradley S, Goldstein TR, Levine MD, Marshal MP. Suicidality Disparities Between Transgender and Cisgender Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2019 Nov;144(5):e20191183. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-1183. Epub 2019 Oct 14. PMID: 31611339; PMCID: PMC7011156.
  3. Olson KR, Durwood L, DeMeules M, McLaughlin KA. Mental Health of Transgender Children Who Are Supported in Their Identities. Pediatrics. 2016 Mar;137(3):e20153223. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-3223. Epub 2016 Feb 26. Erratum in: Pediatrics. 2018 Aug;142(2): PMID: 26921285; PMCID: PMC4771131.
  4. Durwood L, McLaughlin KA, Olson KR. Mental Health and Self-Worth in Socially Transitioned Transgender Youth. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017 Feb;56(2):116-123.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2016.10.016. Epub 2016 Nov 27. Erratum in: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018 Nov;57(11):899. PMID: 28117057; PMCID: PMC5302003.
  5. Connolly MD, Zervos MJ, Barone CJ 2nd, Johnson CC, Joseph CL. The Mental Health of Transgender Youth: Advances in Understanding. J Adolesc Health. 2016 Nov;59(5):489-495. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.06.012. Epub 2016 Aug 17. PMID: 27544457.
  6. Lee JY, Rosenthal SM. Gender-Affirming Care of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth: Current Concepts. Annu Rev Med. 2023 Jan 27;74:107-116. doi: 10.1146/annurev-med-043021-032007. Epub 2022 Oct 19. PMID: 36260812.
  7. Murchison G, Adkins D, Conard LA, Ehrensaft D, Elliot T, Hawkins LA, Lopez X, Newby H, Ng H, Vetters R, Wolf-Gould C. Supporting & Caring for Transgender Children [Internet]. Washington, DC: Human Rights Campaign; 2016 September [cited 2023 November 24]. Available from: http://hrc.im/supportingtranschildren
  8. Katz-Wise SL, Gordon AR, Sharp KJ, Johnson NP, Hart LM. Expert consensus guidelines for parents and caregivers: Navigating early childhood gender identity and expression [Internet]. Boston, MA: Harvard Medical School; 2021 [cited 2023 November 24]. Available from: http://www.genderandparenting.com
  9. Kosciw, J.G., Greytak, E.A., Bartkiewicz, M.J., Boesen, M.J. and Palmer, N.A. (2012) The 2011 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation’s Schools. Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), New York.
  10. Chan RCH, Suen YT. Effects of identity disclosure on school victimization and long-term educational outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex students in China. J Sch Psychol. 2023 Jun;98:96-112. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2023.02.005. Epub 2023 Mar 30. PMID: 37253585.
  11. APA Div 16 (School Psychology), APA Div 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity). School-Based Risk and Protective Factors for Gender Diverse and Sexual Minority Children and Youth: Improving School Climate [Internet]. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2015 [cited 2023 November 24]. Available from: https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/programs/safe-supportive/lgbt/resilience
  12. APA Div 16 (School Psychology), APA Div 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity). Supporting Transgender and Gender Diverse Students in Schools: Key Recommendations for School Administrators [Internet]. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2015 [cited 2023 November 24]. Available from: https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/programs/safe-supportive/lgbt/resilience
  13. Orr A, Baum J, Brown J, Gill E, Kahn E, Salem A. Schools in Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K–12 Schools [Internet]. Washington, DC: The Human Rights Campaign Foundation; 2015 [cited 2023 November 24]. Available from: https://www.hrc.org/resources/schools-in-transition-a-guide-for-supporting-transgender-students-in-k-12-s

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Episode 198: The Gender Agenda (is to stay alive)

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Ashlyn, Lauren, and Laura discuss sex and gender from a scientific and historical perspective, with a focus on the health and wellbeing of trans folks.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a podcast that explores the intersection of science and society.

Content Warning: This episode includes discussions of transphobia, depression, and self-harm.

The Gender Binary: Adventures in Time and Gender | Understanding Nonbinary People: How to Be Respectful and Supportive (National Center for Transgender Equality) | A Map of Gender-Diverse Cultures (PBS Independent Lens) | 12 Things People Get Wrong About Being Nonbinary (Teen Vogue) | The terminology of identities between, outside and beyond the gender binary – A systematic review (PMC) | Non-Binary Gender Identities in Different Cultures (Anthropology Review) | Gender Variance Around the World Over Time (Teen Vogue) | The Third Gender and Hijras (Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School) | Sex Redefined: The Idea of 2 Sexes Is Overly Simplistic (Scientific American) | Let’s talk about (biological) sex (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology) | Intersex (Wikipedia) | Güevedoce (Wikipedia) | Balkan sworn virgins (Wikipedia)

Social Transition: Mental Health Disparities Among Canadian Transgender Youth (PubMed) | Suicidality Disparities Between Transgender and Cisgender Adolescents (PubMed) | Mental Health of Transgender Children Who Are Supported in Their Identities (PubMed) | Mental Health and Self-Worth in Socially Transitioned Transgender Youth (PubMed) | The Mental Health of Transgender Youth: Advances in Understanding (PubMed) | Access to Health Care for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adults in Urban and Rural Areas in the United States (Sage Journals)

Social Contagion and Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria: How a theory about transgender contagion went viral (MIT Technology Review) | Sex Assigned at Birth Ratio Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents in the United States (American Academy of Pediatrics) | What does the scholarly research say about the effect of gender transition on transgender well-being? (What We Know) | Explaining Assigned Sex Ratio Shifts in Trans Children (Julia Serano) | Origins of “Social Contagion” and “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” (Julia Serano) | All the Evidence Against Transgender Social Contagion (Julia Serano)

History and Current Political Climate: Transgender history (Wikipedia) | Timeline of transgender history (Wikipedia) | Compton’s Cafeteria riot (Wikipedia) | Cercle Hermaphroditos (Wikipedia) | Karl M. Baer (Wikipedia) | Episode 178: The Worst Tooth Fairy (LUEE) | What Is Trans History? (Perspectives on History) | Trans People Have Existed for Thousands Of Years and Other Things You Should Know About Trans People (BuzzFeed) | 2023 Anti-Trans Bills: Trans Legislation Tracker | Over 120 Bills Restricting LGBTQ Rights Introduced Nationwide in 2023 So Far (American Civil Liberties Union) | The Impact of 2023 Legislation on Transgender Youth (Williams Institute) | Gender-affirming care comes with barriers and delays (CTV News) | Trans health care in Canada needs major improvements, advocates say (CTV News) | Gender-affirming health coverage by Canadian province, territory (Global News) | As misinformation campaign against transgender rights intensifies, Ottawa must act (CBC News)

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